Flexi subscriptions

[Steph_Stamm]

Great news for Flexi 8 or 10 Users:


Get Flexi for 49.95 a month! You get everything - full service RIP, fastest print and cut workflow and a full suite of design tools. Plus all features, drivers and updates included at no additional charge. Talk to your reseller (there are lots of great ones on this forum) or visit www.ThinkSAi.com/Flexi for more information. (Pricing is for $ and €.)

 

[HulkSmash]

50 a month for flexi? You guys are more then the whole Adobe CC Suite. That's some high standards right there.

 

[player]

So how much is it if you have zero Flexi now?

 

[Steph_Stamm]

It's 49.95 / month no matter whether you already have Flexi or another print/sign software. Note that $49.95 / month pricing is for a 1-year commitment that is paid monthly. If you want only month-to-month, cancel any time kind of commitment it's $59.95 / month.

 

[shoresigns]

Great news for Flexi 8 or 10 Users:


Get Flexi for 49.95 a month! You get everything - full service RIP, fastest print and cut workflow and a full suite of design tools. Plus all features, drivers and updates included at no additional charge. Talk to your reseller (there are lots of great ones on this forum) or visit www.ThinkSAi.com/Flexi for more information. (Pricing is for $ and €.)

Other than the built-in RIP, what does Flexi do for a sign shop that Illustrator doesn't? Especially to justify the hefty price. Honestly curious here. I'd really like to hear it from a SAI rep.

We had both when I started at this shop and Illustrator just seemed easier to learn, smoother to use, less crashing, etc. so we quit using Flexi pretty early on.

 

[royster13]

...hefty price...

50.00 is "hefty"?.....Really???? Seems like a "drop in the bucket" compared to other business expenses I have.......

 

[Steph_Stamm]

Flexi subscription has EVERYTHING. It's a full-service RIP with the fastest print and cut workflow, direct vinyl cut capability, and a full suite of design tools. You also get add-on options for Textile, Braille and the Color Profiler module for profiling media.

Flexi subscribers also have access to free phone support and all available features, drivers and updates - all for one low monthly payment. As one user said, that's a drop in the bucket compared to what other RIP software costs. Buying new costs $4k or more, while upgrading could cost $1k. These large capital expenses are often difficult to come by, which leaves sign and print businesses stuck with out-of-date software, lack of software support, and missing out on new, cool features.

We also have a Flexi Design subscription for $19.95 a month. This is great for a design-only stations that can send to a remote Flexi Production Manager, PhotoPRINT or other RIP software including VersaWorks, RasterLink and Onyx.

Check with your reseller or visit thinksai.com/flexi for more info.

 

[Techman]

To cut vinyl??? corel draw, and illustrator with cocut pro..

Be done with buying an update for years. No problems... No monthly payment, FREE updates. There is very little a cut program can do that would make it worth more than that. I have an old Flexi cut in a box on the shelf.. Don't need to install it.

RIP software? the only part that really needs changing is the OS drivers and the profiles.

One good thing about this new wave of expenses for the lowball gang.
... It will make it even easier for the lowball king down the street to keep up with technology. And it will drive down the price of a printer. All that wil make it easier for a new lowball king to open up next door.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Great news for Flexi 8 or 10 Users:


Get Flexi for 49.95 a month! You get everything - full service RIP, fastest print and cut workflow and a full suite of design tools. Plus all features, drivers and updates included at no additional charge. Talk to your reseller (there are lots of great ones on this forum) or visit www.ThinkSAi.com/Flexi for more information. (Pricing is for $ and €.)

I am always looking to improve our software.

Would buying this be an improvement for us ?

We use corel,ai,cocut and rasterlink

Could you explain the benefits of using flexi versus the above ?

 

[Biker Scout]

HAHAHA!! Another company dipping their toe into the subscription service model because their sales are slumping, and they are tired of fighting all the customers whining about their dongles.

Seriously? Flexi has the be the most quirky, and convoluted piece of design software out there. It's been half-baked for years. Production Manager is the only thing of value they have, ONLY because it speaks printer language and manages color profiles. Now, I know probably 3/4 of the sign guys use Corel. And me and Corel never got along, and I won't bag on the program here... as it's just a tool, and if you started on it, and know how to use it inside and out then great! BUT FLEXI IS AWFUL TO PRETEND TO DESIGN IN! I would rather use Corel than have to pay a monthly subscription to a program that loves crashing, can't show decent on screen color representation, weird tools and commands. Oh I could go on...

IF I needed or wanted Flexi, I'd want to own it outright. AND I'd gladly pay the high price to do so. Besides, part of owning a business and getting professional software is the steep entry costs that help even out the competition. Not make it easier for any schmoe off the street with a credit card get into the printing industry. That waters down the industry, to the point where someone without a solid business plan or legit financial backing can just decide on a whim that he wants to try his hand at banners and vehicle wraps. Heard it's a good money maker, and all he has to do is charge half the price of the real sign business down the street and he'll be raking in the profits. (Probably because he felt like he over charged for a banner one time, or got a quote to wrap his car once, and thought it can't be that expensive or hard to do, why are they charging so much?)

 

[player]

$4K China printer, $50 per month software. In 2 to 5 years the whole business will be flooded like it was 15 years ago when cutting vinyl became almost nothing to get into. Brace yourself!

 

[Biker Scout]

Actually if you buy the printer from China, for a flat fee of of $50 they give you PhotoPrint 10. (Which is Flexi) And you don't have to pay anymore on it. You own it, and get the USB dongle security key with it.

Why would I pay any extra for features I don't use? Textile? Braille? OOOOHHHH.... I'm sooooo enticed. Tell me more! (there are waaaay better products that are more dedicated to those industries, that I doubt anyone who is operating in those fields doesn't already know about. And I'm sure flexi update is not on the tip of their tongue if you ask them about it)

And what's with all this talk about UPDATES this, UPDATES that? Seems to me that if your design team took a bit more time to polish off the turd a little more you'd not need any updates except for when you are ready to do so. (ie, wanting new features)

This spoon feeding by the software industry is just plain crap wrapped in a tinfoil hat. (Security features... bug fixes... patches... ) Let's scare them into upgrading! ie: Y2K Bug, got everyone off of Windows 95. Now, the purposely dropped support of Windows XP, that many people still love and rely on... because it just plain works.

 

[Biker Scout]

Oh, and since you mentioned about a $4k china printer... that may sound cheap. But it doesn't come with a manual, profiles or even a quick start up guide. There are no YouTube videos of how to use it. There are no real places to call or tech support to come to your shop to set it up for you. You literally have to know what you are doing to get one of those. It's a kit printer. So again... even though price-wise they are cheap, they are not for industry noobs. Or schmoes without a solid business plan or any working idea of the printing industry in the first place. You think I'm gonna start charging $1 sq. ft. just because I can now? Heck no! I'm gonna keep right on charging what I've always been charging, but I'm pocketing the extra profit this time around!

Even though it's slightly off topic, I'll end with this... Most of the larger printer manufacturers pay about that much (maybe half) to have their printers manufactured... but they upcharge $30k - $50k BECAUSE OF THE SUPPORT AND USER BASE AND R&D THAT WENT INTO MAKING THEM. It's their business model and how they keep the doors open. But the lines are now blurred about machine quality, fit and finish. If the print heads are the same, it's capable of printing the same.

Anyway, back to Flexi... yeah... PhotoPrint 10 is Flexi and it's only $50. Once.

 

[player]

My point is in 5 years China will have manuals and solid distribution for those printers. Plus an even better product. The industry is going to get a major watering down.

 

[player]

One thing that is strange about Flexi is it's sub-grade view... The entire working area display compared to Corel or AI looks bad to work in.

 

[Biker Scout]

I know... it seems like MS paint can display graphics better.

(China printers prices will go up, then they'll be more in line with what an entry level Mutoh is now)

 

[visual800]

So thats $600 per year. Screw that Ill keep my flexi disk! I hope these subscription prices come way down before I am actually forced to do this. Being in the sign biz is becoming less fun with each technological advance

 

[Richard G]

That goes double for me I am now looking at $1200. a year. your right this isn't as much fun as it used to be. I thought it was bad enough when adobe went forward with there plans... Well I still have Adobe on my computer but it is getting replaces and i will not go to a monthly fee on software..... I think we all have to let these corporations know what we think about there playing around with our livelihood. I have used Flexi since version 3 but that can change as well....