Flexi vs Adobe Sign Lab etc...

[stillhasdust]

I am a newbie to this forum and to the whole sign industry. I was wondering what everybody prefers and why they prefer flexi over other software programs and visa versa. Any input would be a great to help me decide what programs to start with Thanks

P.S. If this is the wrong section please let me know and I will delete it or have the mods move it

 

[Bigdawg]

I think it's a matter of personal preference. Flexi is awesome and has it's place, but I prefer Illustrator/Photoshop combination myself. Probably because I come from a print background and illustrator 88 and Photoshop 2 were some of the first programs I designed in so I know them intimately.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

In my experience, Photoshop and Illustrator are a little more robust and give you more design capability, BUT the learning curve is a bit steeper than say Flexi.

Flexi is a very mainstream software and many shops swear by it. I just prefer to design in Adobe products.

You might try the "search" feature on this forum. I think this has been discussed several times in the past.

 

[Sign_Boy]

Welcome

Like Bigdawg said it's all personal preference.
Illy has it's limitations when it comes to size, but then again IMO all programs have their limitations.
When it comes to manipulating text "copy" IMO Flexi makes it easy.

What programs do you have experience with?

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

ditto on the personal preference....i learned on signlab 5....then moved on to graphix advantage 6.2 and now using omega composer (both ga6.2 and composer are gerber software, i use them cause i only run gerber machines).....i also have corel draw and photopaint....and have used inkscape (a free program)...i like them all (except corel, cause i haven't used it enough to know all the hot keys)....

 

[stillhasdust]

I have experience with adobe products but I was just wondering if flexi was that much better should I switch over to it and give it a try

 

[Rick]

All the sign shops i have worked for worked in either Corel and/or Illustrator and then output in a sign program.

The main reasons is that they did more than just signs and Corel/Illy worked well with signs and print. It Is cheaper to maintain Corel/Illy upgrades than multiple copies of an expensive sign software.

I work in Illy (and sometimes Corel) because I usually only design and any sign shop can take my drawings and make signs out of the files.

 

[stillhasdust]

I guess what I am trying to figure out is what does flexi have that adobe or any other products don't??

 

[Rick]

For design, the distortion tools, offset path and vector shadows may be a little better in Flexi but how much do you actually use them in comparison to the cost of Flexi.

I have Flexi and do not use any design tools on it. Production is a different story, I have always found Flexi to be better in a high production shop where you can stack jobs on the production manager and output colors and materials in a more organized manner. For a one man shop just learning, it may be overkill.

The big questions for you is, what kind of signs or graphics are you designing?
Are you getting the job done in Illustrator?
Do you really know Illustrator enough to make a judgement if Flexi will be better for you?

 

[Sign_Boy]

Rick has a great point.

You could always start with Illy and upgrade to Flexi or whatever when you feel it necessary. If Illy will get the job done for now you might want to save the money and invest it in something that would help promote your new venture. JMO

 

[digitalgraffiti]

Since I came from the high quality print environment (not Kinkos) I have always used adobe products and Photoshop & illustrator since the first versions were available. they are great programs and I feel more comfortable using them.

CorelDraw is also a great program that many people feel more comfortable with and has some really cool features that either illustrator does not have or are just easier to use in Corel.

Signlab also has great features and is geared directly for the sign business. Has features that both Illy and CorelDraw do not have.

I use a combination of all 3 programs. We need a program that includes all the best features of both.

Best thing to do is go get free working demos from each company and try them out on your own, since it really all comes down to what works best for you.

Links are attached:

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1152796555406

http://www.cadlink.com/products/signLab/sl_trial_demo.php