Question Flexi repeat jobs

[Saturn]

Using Flexi and a Summa vinyl cutter.

I like printing my stickers in batches of 50. All my clients order in multiples of 50, and 50 on a sheet is perfect for how I process them and best handle them physically in my shop.

Is there a way to permanently save imposed print/cut files with regmarks and barcodes so that I can tell Flexi to print 5 copies of an already existing 50-up file when I have an order for 250?

Basically I would love to go through all my files and create master 50-up print and barcoded cut files, and then just leave the cut files in a print server, and pull the print ones into the queue as needed.

Any of that make sense to anyone?

I get around this right now by using files that I have hand imposed and added regmarks to in Illustrator and it works great, and really maximizes the media, but I obviously can't take advantage of the barcode option. Because the software isn't doing the imposing, it's just one "thing" and I repeat it as many times as I want, which doesn't seem to be the case when you're starting with a 1-up file, where Flexi is trying to do all the thinking for you.

Let me know if you need more info. There may be an obvious answer that I've just overlooked, but in my dabbling I couldn't find it. I did read that the latest (or coming) version of Flexi would offer the option to not delete cut files after they were run, which was an issue I ran into in my experimenting.

 

[Attila Nagy]

What Version of Flexi? Summa cutter control can be your Barcode server. Normally you send the cut as file to your Barcode server's folder.

 

[Saturn]

What Version of Flexi? Summa cutter control can be your Barcode server. Normally you send the cut as file to your Barcode server's folder.

I use one that was bundled with the printer branded from SW and then 19 for profiling.

 

[Saturn]

if you right click on the job in production manager it gives you the option to save.

I'll have to give that another go. I had bad luck trying to save and actually reprint file that had already been printed. The save option was obvious, but try as I might I couldn't get things to reprint once they'd already gone through the queue. Operator error, or I just didn't now some mechanic of bringing them back into the queue? Seems like I remember them being flagged "done" or "printed" no matter what I tried.

Using the Summa Cut Server will solve one issue, figuring out how to save and reprint will solve another, but I'm still curious if anyone has found a way to "repeat" that saved file multiple times? I don't think there's a simple way if it's one that Flexi creates/imposed from a 1-up itself... ?

For those just joining, I want to find a way to cap my print jobs at a specific amount imposed, so say 54 units, but print that exact job 5 times to get 250+. I need the job/sheet to stay at ~50 pieces. Ultimately I print a whole roll at a time, but I want to queue it all at once and walk away. Struggling to find a way to "force" flexi to print things as manageable amounts so they can be taken off the cutter easily while it's working through everything too.

Definitely some trial and error in my future, but just hoping there was a magic bullet I overlooked so far.

 

[balstestrat]

And there is a setting in Production manager to select what to do with the job after printing, you can set it to keep the jobs/archive.
After that you can just select the job from the list and hit print when ever you want.

 

[Joseph44708]

You do know there is a repeat job option don't you?
This will do exactly what you are wanting.

Or Just hit the send button five times. Dont try to find shortcuts.

 

[Saturn]

You do know there is a repeat job option don't you?
This will do exactly what you are wanting.

It almost will. If it was an option in Production Manager rather than Flexi/RIP then yes. To access the "repeat job" tick box I'd need to start from scratch each time in Flexi rather than just pulling an already completed job of 50-up in PM and hitting 'make 5 more' to get a total of 250 units.

And there is a setting in Production manager to select what to do with the job after printing, you can set it to keep the jobs/archive.
After that you can just select the job from the list and hit print when ever you want.

This is perfect, except that I don't think you can print more than one copy of a (Flexi created) job at a time this way. The only way to do that is to go back into Flexi like Bubba mentions and do it from menu options there.

In a perfect world I'd be able to do my fancy and specific imposing by hand in Illustrator, and add not only regmarks but unique Summa barcodes. Then I'd have locked down, repeatable files that I know could easily be repeated the way I'm imagining. Maybe they'll add it to the plug-in one day. One-off or jobs that aren't going to be reordered several times a month I've got no problem going the traditional route with a 1-up file through Flexi and into PM to print/cut what I need.

Or Just hit the send button five times. Dont try to find shortcuts.

When you've got a whole roll of jobs to print it's nice to just queue the whole thing and walk away. Personally I'm a fan of shortcuts if there's no sacrifice in quality. ?


Of course saicloud.com is down today so my license hasn't updated for 19, and I can't muck around in it. Onyx might be looking better...

 

[Joseph44708]

I can key in a 100 ft roll in about 30 to 40 minutes, multiple jobs and sizes. I now that the job I printed has a cut file to go with it.
The next day I start cutting those jobs and start printing new jobs.
I treat every job as a new job, weather its a repeat order or new. Where is the short cut.