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getting back into sign buis. NEED HELP PLEASE

shakey0818

shakey0818

New Member
hi my name is rob and i am a new user.i used to have gerber graphis advantade and a gsxplus 15 in plotter i got outta the buisinerss 15 years ago,and want to get back in it as cheep as possible 4 now i still have my 15 yr old gerber plotter and am currently using a hp pavilion desktop with windows 7.i was thinking of buyn Flexi Starter 8.6 vinyl cutter FlexiSign Flexi Sign NEW or
SignGO Pro-Contour Cutting FlexiStarter Vinyl Cutter i know there cheep programs for @$150. will this work with my comp and plotters and do i need to modify my comp to plug in the plotter? also i here corel is good. does any1 have any suggestions on what to do or any cheep programs to use.iv allways wanted to get back into signs its been a long time dream.i own a painting co and the work is killin me,lol. tyvm all and i hope i posted this in the right place
 
Sticky Signs

Sticky Signs

New Member
Congrats on the new/old career path. A lot has changed in 15 years. A LOT. Don't know what to tell you about your set up, but i'd recommend spending some time reading this forum. Lots of great info and great people here. Best of luck to you.
 
Jillbeans

Jillbeans

New Member
Hello from PA.
Do you still have your original software?
If so, I would consider buying a Win98 machine at a thrift store for practically nothing, finding a used Corel 9 on the web, and going from that.
(because Corel is more fun to design in)
I just stopped using my GA6.2 last December.
:)
Love....Jill
 
heyskull

heyskull

New Member
Welcome from Cumbria, UK to the BEST sign site in the world.

A lot of things have changed in 15 years!!!!
A hell of a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This game has become a lot harder and the price of equipment and software has dropped dramatically.

To be honest it would be better business sense to get a bigger plotter (at least 24" or bigger) and some new software. You will find probably that it is more expensive for the software now than the machine to run it!

I know we all have a dream doing something we always want. But I would seriously step back and have a look what competition you have in your area and what work they are doing.
This will be a good base point for yourself.

I have watched many people in our area who buy a computer and a plotter and think they are a sign maker! It just isn't as easy as that (I wish!).

SC
 
Dave Drane

Dave Drane

New Member
heyskull said:
Welcome from Cumbria, UK to the BEST sign site in the world.

A lot of things have changed in 15 years!!!!
A hell of a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This game has become a lot harder and the price of equipment and software has dropped dramatically.

To be honest it would be better business sense to get a bigger plotter (at least 24" or bigger) and some new software. You will find probably that it is more expensive for the software now than the machine to run it!

I know we all have a dream doing something we always want. But I would seriously step back and have a look what competition you have in your area and what work they are doing.
This will be a good base point for yourself.

I have watched many people in our area who buy a computer and a plotter and think they are a sign maker! It just isn't as easy as that (I wish!).

SC
Click to expand...

Good post, and I would also like to recommend learning how to spell properly too.:thumb:
 
heyskull

heyskull

New Member
Dave

I only check my speeling when urt's nessursury.....LOL

I started my sign carrer on a mechanical engraver and to load the copy into the machine you had to be able to spell backwards as well as forwards.
I've become lazy with spell checkers.

SC
 
E

elsignshop

New Member
hello from south Georgia :Welcome:, i would also recommend buying a bigger plotter (at least a 24"). look on here and read some threads and get some information. a lot has changed in the sign business in the past 15 years. for the flexisign starter u can get them on ebay for like $100 but u can also get a cheap plotter on there for like $200 that comes with the flexistarter. i dont really recommend it cause, you are going to want to upgrade once u find out flexistarter cant do that much stuff.
 
anotherdog

anotherdog

New Member
you can give up sign making, but you will always be a signaholic till the day you die.

walking down the street you will look at signage and that little itch creeps back, your mouth goes dry and you wonder how much a used solvent printer will set you back... one that will go in the back of the basement.
 
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