Getting the most out of an Edge 2/Envision

[SellersSign&Design]

I found an awesome deal on an Edge 2 with an Envision plotter so I picked them up to replace my Edge LE/GS15 Plus. The Edge only has around 1,000 print minutes on it and both machines look brand new. I got the printer set up this morning and have been running some test prints. The first thing I noticed is it is much faster than the LE in 300x300 dpi mode. I changed it to 300x600 Double Dot and ran another test print and I really can't tell the difference in appearance of the prints, just speed. Are there some other settings that I need to adjust to get the most out of the higher resolution setting? I am running it with Flexi Cloud. Any other pointers/suggestions regarding things that are different between my old setup and this new setup would be great! I am going to have to do some reading about the Envision, it looks a lot more complicated than the old GS15 Plus!

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Pictures of the prints:




300x300 is on the left, 300x600 is on the right. It also printed darker and with more of an orange tint, is there any way to adjust the process prints to correct the colors?

 

[jfiscus]

The only real difference I have seen between the two modes is usually that the 300x600 prints darker. Sometimes this is good, but other times it isn't.
Otherwise, the new setup should be a bit more dependable but don't retire your old printer/plotter just yet - here one printer prints better and more dependably on 220 and the other printer prints better on 280. One of our plotters also cuts better on specialty materials (like sign gold) than the other and both have new drums.

Great score if the price was right! Sounds like low mileage units, but ours have VERY high mileage and still run great every day.

 

[Fred Weiss]

The Envision 375 is a great plotter. I'm not sure how much control you have over it from Flexi. Omega gives you control over all features such as speed, downforce and a bunch of other settings right from GSPPlot.

Adjustment of process colors is mostly a matter of selection of color profiles and other color management settings, as well as halftone and LPI settings. it's kind of trial and error but well worth getting familiar with.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

They are low mileage units for sure. Bought new and used for one big job and then put in storage for 6 years. The icing on the cake was the price... I got an extremely good deal! I will play with the settings in Flexi and see what I can come up with. I am trying to find a copy of Omega for a good price, it seems like that is just the best bet to make everything run smooth. It made me sick when the guy I bought these from told me that he had Omega but accidentally gave it away with some old computers! The only problem I have found is one of the foil cartridge "pins" in the Edge is extremely hard to push down, and then it has to be pushed back up to lock the foil in because the spring isn't strong enough to push it up. Can these be oiled or greased?

 

[Fred Weiss]

The only problem I have found is one of the foil cartridge "pins" in the Edge is extremely hard to push down, and then it has to be pushed back up to lock the foil in because the spring isn't strong enough to push it up. Can these be oiled or greased?

Yes ... I have one that is the same way. Just use a little 3 in 1 and a paper towel to wipe off any excess.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Yes ... I have one that is the same way. Just use a little 3 in 1 and a paper towel to wipe off any excess.

Awesome, thank you! I just spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get the eyepiece in this Envision... I did some research and realized that I have the wrong eyepiece! The guy I bought it from was apparently given an eyepiece for a GS15 when he bought the setup new and somehow never realized it? I don't see how, there is no way I can find to make it work. I wonder if Gerber will let me trade this one in for the correct one... $70 is pretty pricey for an eyepiece!

 

[Fred Weiss]

Awesome, thank you! I just spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get the eyepiece in this Envision... I did some research and realized that I have the wrong eyepiece! The guy I bought it from was apparently given an eyepiece for a GS15 when he bought the setup new and somehow never realized it? I don't see how, there is no way I can find to make it work. I wonder if Gerber will let me trade this one in for the correct one... $70 is pretty pricey for an eyepiece!

Deal with it. Your Edge will make you a ton of return. The last time I bought one it was $45 ... which is still overpriced.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Haha I know, I was just kidding about returning it. I've learned to just smile as I'm typing in my credit card number when it comes to buying many things sign related! I have a new one on the way from Graphic Marking Systems!

 

[signage]

The guy most likely has the correct bomb sight, they came with both!

 

[styleyouneed]

i just picked up an edge and gs15 and it came with omega 2.0 with parallel dongle and a copy of 4.0 with usb dongle. I will be using the 4.0 version. If the 2.0 version will work for you i would be willing to sell it. message me with an offer.

 

[Fred Weiss]

i just picked up an edge and gs15 and it came with omega 2.0 with parallel dongle and a copy of 4.0 with usb dongle. I will be using the 4.0 version. If the 2.0 version will work for you i would be willing to sell it. message me with an offer.

Before you sell that parallel dongle, you should verify that it is working. Most are not. The upgrade to a USB dongle included a process that disabled the parallel version.

 

[styleyouneed]

how do i test it? install 2.0 and see if the dongle works?

 

[Fred Weiss]

how do i test it? install 2.0 and see if the dongle works?

That would be the only way I know of.

 

[styleyouneed]

i did attempt to install the 1.54 version and use the 1.54 usb dongle but when it went to verify it said some message like "invalid code 0"

I did not see any software disks for the older parallel dongle. That also had another program name on it. I would assume its the version before the 1.54 upgrade.

 

[Fred Weiss]

i did attempt to install the 1.54 version and use the 1.54 usb dongle but when it went to verify it said some message like "invalid code 0"

I did not see any software disks for the older parallel dongle. That also had another program name on it. I would assume its the version before the 1.54 upgrade.

Yes, your Omega 1.5.4 dongle was disabled when it was used to upgrade to any version of Omega 2.0 or higher. It is useless and should not be sold as a working dongle. The predecessor to Omega was Graphix Advantage.