Caldera ?s

[Behrmon]

Did a little post searching here but have some specific ?s re Caldera that I figured I'd just post. We are currently a multiple Roland shop (540/640), we print & cut solely off of the 2 machines right now. We produce mostly vehicle graphics, banners, decals & coro/foamcore signage. We currently use Versaworks (not really a rip). We will likely become a Roland/HP Latex/Summa shop down the road a bit (within a year?).

I plan to change out our rip to either Rolands stripped down Caldera (PrintStudio for the Mac supporting only Roland machines) which I believe will run about $1100. I'm curious about whether or not this would be money wasted vs purchasing Caldera version 10? I do not yet know the cost of Caldera ver 10.

Can anyone tell me if Caldera V10 will run on Mac OS Yosemite 10.10 or newer? Is there anything you don't really like about Caldera? I guess knowing the cost and whether or not it compatible with my OS would really help in deciding. Machine wise all the comparabilities are there.

Thanks for the input.

 

[noregrets]

I am running V9 on yosemite and overall it is pretty good. If you are planning on getting the HP machines in the near future then going with the full version will be better than the watered down Roland one.

I changed from ONYX to Caldera and havent looked back. It is pretty good, and V10 looks really good. There are a few Mac quirks as it is actually a linux application. I havent used it for cutting, but imagine that would be good

 

[Ditchmiester]

We switched from Onyx Thrive to Caldera last year. We have 2 HP L260's and a Summa S2 cutter run by a Mac Mini W/ Yosemite. This was the best move we have ever made in our digital department. The workflow and cutting is 10x what Onyx ever was. I would recommend it completely.

 

[InkjetAuction]

VisualRIP+ is the way to go....maybe.

If you're in RI, then I'm in your backyard (out of Dighton, MA).
PM me and I'll get you a 15 day full key for you to check it out. I'm a Independent Certified Trainer for Caldera.

If you intend on running equipment besides Roland, then I would consider a VisualRIP+ cross-grade from VersaWorks. This will start you out with drivers for two LFPs and one roll Cutter. Depending on how you are configured, you may need a 2nd cutter driver. This is software that will grow with you.

The RolandPrintStudio is obviously a licensed version of Caldera VisualRIP+ which will only work with Roland gear. It's clearly nice software. One benefit of the Roland solution is that it will come with all of the profiles that you are currently used to using with VersaWorks.

If you decide to go with VisualRIP, you will have to understand drivers may come with some pre-made profiles, however it is generally assumed that you'll be creating your own (or having them made for you). To help with this, VisualRIP (and RolandPrintStudio) includes the EasyMedia module which is XRite's V2 Prism (ProfileMaker) software. It's a wizard based solution... but you do need a supported spectrophotometer.

As for the platform, VisualRIP+ will run on either the included Debian Linux distribution or under Mac OSX 10.10 Yosemite but not El Capitan (10.11) yet.

I mostly work with large Grand Format shops all along the East Coast, and you would be surprised how many BIG printers (like the Vutek 3250gs) are run off of a MacMini i5 running Caldera RIPs. Click print and the file is on it's way in seconds.

Keep in mind that Roland knew that VersWorks was quickly falling behind, but they couldn't fix it. Every RIP out there was based on the Adobe PDF Print Engine except VW. The problem is that the software had been hacked up so much in the past 10 years that it has become impossible to fix... it would have to be be re-written. Instead of doing that, they decided to license a real nice, time proven solution.

VisualRIP is pretty nice, but it can be a little overwhelming to start. I'll help and get you some base profiles to test.

~E

...sorry for the long winded note. I hope this helps some of the confusion between the products.

Did a little post searching here but have some specific ?s re Caldera that I figured I'd just post. We are currently a multiple Roland shop (540/640), we print & cut solely off of the 2 machines right now. We produce mostly vehicle graphics, banners, decals & coro/foamcore signage. We currently use Versaworks (not really a rip). We will likely become a Roland/HP Latex/Summa shop down the road a bit (within a year?).

I plan to change out our rip to either Rolands stripped down Caldera (PrintStudio for the Mac supporting only Roland machines) which I believe will run about $1100. I'm curious about whether or not this would be money wasted vs purchasing Caldera version 10? I do not yet know the cost of Caldera ver 10.

Can anyone tell me if Caldera V10 will run on Mac OS Yosemite 10.10 or newer? Is there anything you don't really like about Caldera? I guess knowing the cost and whether or not it compatible with my OS would really help in deciding. Machine wise all the comparabilities are there.

Thanks for the input.

 

[jrsc]

If you switch from another rip caldera will give you a huge discount. I think it was something like half price. Just tell them you are want to switch from versaworks and want to do the trade in. They will want you to turn in your old rip software.

 

[Behrmon]

Thanks for the great replies folks!!!

InkjetAuction, I will sed you a PM for sure. In the mean time if you don't mind could you explain the difference between VisualRip+ and Version 10?

 

[InkjetAuction]

Calder is actually the company name... although pretty much everyone calls the RIP "Caldera".

Their rep product comes in a couple of different flavors... mostly differentiated by the sizes of the machines that it drives. VisualRIP+ is their large and wide format solution. GrandRIP is their grand format solution. Both products are essentially identical except for the drivers that they can run. Both products are in version 10.1.

The cross grade does offer you a significant discount but it's not half price as the previous poster has suggested.

-E

Thanks for the great replies folks!!!

InkjetAuction, I will sed you a PM for sure. In the mean time if you don't mind could you explain the difference between VisualRip+ and Version 10?

 

[Behrmon]

Calder is actually the company name... although pretty much everyone calls the RIP "Caldera".

Their rep product comes in a couple of different flavors... mostly differentiated by the sizes of the machines that it drives. VisualRIP+ is their large and wide format solution. GrandRIP is their grand format solution. Both products are essentially identical except for the drivers that they can run. Both products are in version 10.1.

The cross grade does offer you a significant discount but it's not half price as the previous poster has suggested.

-E

Ok so if I'm understanding correctly Version 10 is basically a collection of the offerings much like Adobe CC Suite is a collection of their apps? I wonder if Visual+ offers the same little things such as grommet placement and little things like that? I have some research to do to find out what a shop like ours will not get out of Visual+ Vs Ver10.

 

[InkjetAuction]

VisualRIP+ is in V10

I think that I may not have communicated correctly. You can't buy just v10.
You buy VisualRIP or GrandRIP. Both are in version 10.1.

The only difference is the size of the printers that they drive. They both come with grommets marks (even small shops use this), Tiling+, EasyMedia, ContourNesting, etc.

If you went with Caldera, you would buy VisualRIP+. There is no lower option for wide format.

~E

Ok so if I'm understanding correctly Version 10 is basically a collection of the offerings much like Adobe CC Suite is a collection of their apps? I wonder if Visual+ offers the same little things such as grommet placement and little things like that? I have some research to do to find out what a shop like ours will not get out of Visual+ Vs Ver10.