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Estimating Vinyl Cut Time

S

Sigma Signs

New Member
Hi! This is my first post on here. I've just started out and have purchased a 24" vinyl cutter. I've looked through pages and pages on here, and done a search, but couldn't find what I was looking for as an answer to my query.

My question is this: Is there any software that can tell you how long it will take to cut a particular design? I understand that you can change the speed of the cut, etc., but since this is all mathematical equations, anyway, it should know already how long it will take to cut a design at a particular speed.

Of course, this information is useful when it come to determining how to price jobs.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
You're worried about the wrong things. The exact time required to cut an image is functionally meaningless. Worse, it implies that you plan on pricing each and every job individually and not apply a reasonable generalized algorithm. That way lies madness.

You should price your work generally, not specifically, such that, say, an X by Y sign with, say, intermediate vinyl, on such and so substrate is priced at $X pretty much regardless of complexity.

You should try to shoot for some target return but don't be anal about trying to hit it exactly. Some jobs you make more, some jobs you make less, it evens out and gives you a consistent and simple pricing model.
 
J

john1

Guest
Yeah, i used to drive myself nuts with trying to figure how long certain jobs would take to cut. You just have to throw out a ballpark and on some jobs your going to make more then others. All in all i mean, If one design takes only 30 seconds to cut and another takes 3 minutes it's not a huge amount of time lost, it's just the cost of doing business really.

I use Sign Vox pricing software and have estimated how long it takes to produce 1 square foot of vinyl and it goes by the dimensions. Some i make out better then others on. This includes cutting, weeding, masking btw

You can figure it out yourself by taking your next few jobs and timing yourself on how long it took to produce it. If the jobs 4 square foot total, and it took you 15 minutes you can produce roughly 3.75 square feet a minute.
 
tsgstl

tsgstl

New Member
bob said:
You're worried about the wrong things. The exact time required to cut an image is functionally meaningless. Worse, it implies that you plan on pricing each and every job individually and not apply a reasonable generalized algorithm. That way lies madness.

You should price your work generally, not specifically, such that, say, an X by Y sign with, say, intermediate vinyl, on such and so substrate is priced at $X pretty much regardless of complexity.

You should try to shoot for some target return but don't be anal about trying to hit it exactly. Some jobs you make more, some jobs you make less, it evens out and gives you a consistent and simple pricing model.
Click to expand...

No offense but you sound like someone that has never cut vinyl in your life, or maybe you are pulling one over on a new guy?
To say it doesn't matter is a ridiculous statement. I would charge someone less for 10' of 24" letters than I would 2' of .5" letters
labor/cutting time>vinyl cost
I have lost money on jobs that I underestimated cutting time A LOT. Their is no software that I am aware of but you get a feel for it with time. I will say it comes into play more with smaller cuts. Large cuts are ez to gauge, large decal runs of small text (Car lot names on the backs of cars for example) take forever. For the most part it doesn't matter but that 10-20% is what will kill you. Just keep a eye out for those jobs.
 
Jillbeans

Jillbeans

New Member
It depends on your plotter. My old 4B might take 5 minutes to cut something that my new Graphtec can cut in 45 seconds.
I think you're thinking way too much if you're factoring cutting time, unless you're some instant sign shop and cut vynull while people are waiting (like in a mall)
Otherwise it really doesn't matter.
If something is more complex to cut, say a Marine emblem with the bird, globe and feathers and lots of little letters, of course I'd charge more for that than a plain square or circle.
But really, I price by the perceived value of what I'm producing rather than by the foot or by the minute.
Love....Jill
 
S

Sigma Signs

New Member
Thanks for the replies thus far. As noted, I am VERY new to this.

However, I have already learned that there can be a phenomenal difference in cutting time. For example, I enjoy aircraft and found some vector artwork of an F-18. One was in silhouette, and the other was detailed line art. Given a size of about 24" x 12" the silhouette would take about a minute to cut. The detailed one would take about 20 minutes. So, yes, I would say it does make a difference.

As tsgstl said, I found very quickly that weeding tiny little letters takes a horribly great amount of time. Ergo, I figured if that in some cases (not all) the amount of cut time would be a good indicator of weed time, and I'd be able to guage accordingly.

Yes, I had considered timing the cuts to gain experience, but that in itself will take time, not only over a period of a large sample set, but to log each cut time. And then, it can still be deceiving how much detail a particular design entails. Like I said, since these programs already have all that information, surely there would be something out there, that would actually be able to provide it to the user.
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
Sigma Signs said:
Thanks for the replies thus far. As noted, I am VERY new to this.

However, I have already learned that there can be a phenomenal difference in cutting time. For example, I enjoy aircraft and found some vector artwork of an F-18. One was in silhouette, and the other was detailed line art. Given a size of about 24" x 12" the silhouette would take about a minute to cut. The detailed one would take about 20 minutes. So, yes, I would say it does make a difference.

As tsgstl said, I found very quickly that weeding tiny little letters takes a horribly great amount of time. Ergo, I figured if that in some cases (not all) the amount of cut time would be a good indicator of weed time, and I'd be able to guage accordingly.

Yes, I had considered timing the cuts to gain experience, but that in itself will take time, not only over a period of a large sample set, but to log each cut time. And then, it can still be deceiving how much detail a particular design entails. Like I said, since these programs already have all that information, surely there would be something out there, that would actually be able to provide it to the user.
Click to expand...

rather than... pricing by cut time, you should try size and complexity.
For example anything under 3 inches is this much more per SF...
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
Glad I stopped weeding, that is one thing I do NOT miss about
doing signs "the old fashion way" LOl,
A full color pic of a f-18 would be printed in about 30 seconds...and
look 1000 times better.
 
royster13

royster13

New Member
Cut vinyl serves a purpose....And it holds up way better than printed stuff as far as I can tell from looking at signs in my area......The printed ones seems to fade much faster....

And as far as doing cut vinyl, i am happy to say I do enough to make it worth my while.....Although I stopped doing letters less than 1 1/2" for the most part....
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I'm not sure many here are connecting with what bob mentioned. Although it's wording is a little convoluted, I do the same, even back 25 years ago when die-cut was the only computer type signs one could make without any talent.

I did.... and still do, look at how much vinyl a particular job might take, figure about what it will take to cut, about how long to weed, tape and apply. Take that amount times a number already figured to give [usually me] the best pricing.

If it's such and such a height, 4 feet might be 4 times $15.88 a foot. That would give me .... round it off $65.00 for a few words four feet long.

I have a few setups which I follow according to how delicate a letter for a few varying heights might be to how easy it might be.

Worrying about how long it takes is gonna be downright stoopid.

If you don't have any work going, what's the speed matter ?? If you have a ton of work going..... what's it matter ??
 
SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
I'm going back to cut vinyl on certain jobs, it holds up better than some printed work. Especially now that I have a competent employee who can do it well for me. After twenty five years of cut vinyl, I personally hate touching the stuff. You have to use the right material for the job. I have multiple capabilities within my shop and it helps to know when and what to use, and which will be the most profitable.
 
tsgstl

tsgstl

New Member
I print and cut vinyl. A nice cut vinyl job looks 10x better than printed vinyl IMO especially 3 years from now. Printed signs always have that "covered in packing tape feel"

There is something rewarding about a challenging layered vinyl job. Especially lighted faces. I will do whatever I can to talk a customer into cut vinyl. Printed faces always come out washed out. Wait what was this thread about?
 
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