Good evening folks, looooong time lurker here

[Kevin Schultz]

My name's Kevin. I work in the oil patch in camp. Apart from how some people think, we aren't making a whole lot of money, so I want to supplement my income on my days off with some printing. I've had a 24" vinyl cutter for 20 ish years and I'm looking to pick up a versacamm. My question for you folks that have experience with these is, will I notice a huge amount of difference between 4 colour & 8 colour printing? I want to calibrate monitors & colour profiles so colour quality & matching will be pretty important, just curious about whether an 8 will extend the colour gamut noticeably.

Thanks folks!

Kevin Schultz

 

[Boudica]

Welcome Kevin. Yes to your question. Our nine color printer (Epson) kicks a vibrant ass on our 6 color printer (Roland). They are both great machines, but anytime you add more colors in ink, you can inherently hit a wider gamut.

 

[Kevin Schultz]

Thank you. My local (2.5 hour drive from home ‍) dealer is having an open house on the 8th and the Roland rep will be there. I'm hoping to pick their brain too, just looking for some additional information here.

 

[garyroy]

Most of the new printers, Roland or Epson are going to give you e pretty wide color range.
They all put out some great prints. But have you thought about what else you need? I'm talking space for the printer, a laminator, cutting and trimming tables,
tools of various kinds, and other items. It's a little more than just buy a printer and hit go. Sure it can be done from a 1 car garage, but that space has to be clean and heated or at
least temperature controlled to some degree: (I'm thinking Canada). To me the hardest part of the printing business is getting customers.
Get the customers first, sub out as much as you can, then when you're doing some business, get the equipment. I'm not saying don't go to the Roland dealer and look around,
but you know how most men have Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS), don't get too excited and run out and just get a printer just to have one. Look at it like a business
first, then grow that business. Best wishes!

 

[signheremd]

Your monitor and your printer will always have different color ranges - the monitor more plus it is more vibrant since it is light. Your RIP will also impact the color output. For instance, we have a Roland printer and use Versa Works with it. We also have Oynx for a UV flatbed printer, but can print to the Roland using it. We have samples prints for the Roland using each of the RIPs and there are differences. Color tests are a fact of life and those test should be evaluated under the same light conditions as the finished product will be used under. Printed color is light reflected - so the color is a result the light present bouncing off the ink. You have some good advice on here already. Let me just add that we have a Roland and it has been very reliable and the output is excellent. Epson may give you a printer with more range, but the Roland is still a great machine. Ours is 7 color - C M Y K Lc Lm Lk. I would not want fewer colors. Last thing, the Roland we have does print and cut - not as great as that sounds... the Roland does okay with cutting. But you will need to play with the Offset in Versa Works to adjust for thicker materials or for laminated materials, otherwise some paths do not close 100%. Small text is not its forte either. We have a Graphtec (60" wide) that we use to cut most printed pieces. It allows us to keep printing instead of stopping and cutting. The Graphtec also does a much better job of cutting. Last point, on full bleeds prints without laminate you will want to wait an hour or more before cutting - the inks soften the vinyl, especially thin cast vinyls, and it will not cut cleanly until the vinyl has time to off gas a bit.

 

[Kevin Schultz]

Most of the new printers, Roland or Epson are going to give you e pretty wide color range.
They all put out some great prints. But have you thought about what else you need? I'm talking space for the printer, a laminator, cutting and trimming tables,
tools of various kinds, and other items. It's a little more than just buy a printer and hit go. Sure it can be done from a 1 car garage, but that space has to be clean and heated or at
least temperature controlled to some degree: (I'm thinking Canada). To me the hardest part of the printing business is getting customers.
Get the customers first, sub out as much as you can, then when you're doing some business, get the equipment. I'm not saying don't go to the Roland dealer and look around,
but you know how most men have Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS), don't get too excited and run out and just get a printer just to have one. Look at it like a business
first, then grow that business. Best wishes!

You've brought up alot of great points including available space. It will be a home based venture so not a huge amount of space. Our basement is basically wide open so I'll have alot of room there... Eventually. My plan was to build a revenue stream for myself & my son who fortunately enjoys designing & installing decals. Unfortunately he blew out his ACL playing rugby this summer so he's unable to navigate stairs. For the first while the printer will be in the wife's office up stairs.
Your other comment about a laminator is very fortunate as I wanted to ask someone about how often graphics need to be laminated. I realize the process gives the vinyl some more structural stability when working with larger pieces, but how scratch resistant is the Roland ink? How UV resistant is it?
I know, I'm such a noob but I've wanted one of these for 20 years! I don't want to pick up something and hate it because I didn't do my homework.

 

[balstestrat]

Just know that solvent and UV ink smell quite a lot and it's not a pleasant smell. That if you still have your sense of smell, not like these guys who have been sniffing that stuff for 40 years.
Upstairs office next to bedroom, not the best place.

 

[garyroy]

Guaranteed you will love a printer that works every day for you and you will hate that same printer the day it goes down.
It's a love/hate affair for sure. Usually UV printing is taken on by my more experienced printers with a larger customer base and unique needs.
It's up to you of course. Before considering a Roland UV printer please read each and every post on this forum.

Most stickers and decals, but not all, are laminated. It adds structure to the decal and makes it easier to handle when it comes off the backer.
Ah, the lure of a cutter printer, how sweet it sounds. I printed some traffic signs 2 days ago, laminated them yesterday then cut them on my VersaCamm today.
The cuts were off, as they have been for over 10 years. Just slightly, but off. I can't rave about the cutting ability of the Roland print/cutters. Some may be having
a better experience. A separate Graphtec cutter is probably the better solution. Sometimes Epson has a printer and a separate cutter deal going on that is amazing.
Keep an eye out for that. Talk to a dealer and ask when the next "special" is.

Keep in mind that putting a 300lb printer in a basement or up a flight of stairs is a NOT a feat for the faint hearted. That is one long heavy piece of iron for sure.
Installing them on flat concrete is a task. Don't be fooled by a salesman who say "easy peezy". NOT easy peezy! NOT!

Also keep in mind, the money to be made is in the sale. Keep your prices sharp but also keep them up. The bottom dwellers will drive your prices into the ground if you let them. You don't want all of the customers, you only want the good ones. Go get'em bro.

 

[SightLine]

I'd also note on the inks.... not sure what ink configurations the Versacamm supports but 8 color will only add additional gamut if there are actual additional ink colors like Orange or Violet. Lc, Lm, and Lk add precisely zero additional gamut as those are just watered down cyan, magenta, and black - those only make for slightly smoother gradients, mostly on skin tones for super high res photographic printing. For the most part on most run of the mill decals, fleet graphics, etc they make little to no discernible difference. They will however make the printer a lot slower. If you configure an 8 slot printer as dual CMYK (4 color) they print almost twice as fast.

 

[Gino]

Is it really necessary for your end-user ?? That's what determines what equipment you need.

If you're going roland, you should be good with the 4 color. Find your niche and make it count as business picks up and you find your golden ring. You do need a laminator.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Keep in mind that putting a 300lb printer in a basement or up a flight of stairs is a NOT a feat for the faint hearted. That is one long heavy piece of iron for sure.
Installing them on flat concrete is a task. Don't be fooled by a salesman who say "easy peezy". NOT easy peezy! NOT!

As someone who has installed many many printers, this is so right! It never gets easier. Also, the amount of times I've been told there would be no stairs and we show up and there are stairs is way too high.

 

[kcollinsdesign]

You are going to have do a lot of printing to cover your costs. Working from home, it seems unlikely you have a crew of installers. Also a home is not the best place for customer visits and picking up and paying for printed materials (to say nothing of the fumes of vinyl off-gassing and the toxicity of eco-solvents - read the MSDS - you will likely not be able to get a permit to vent outside). Daily shipping will probably alert your neighbors, and it is probably not legal to run a business that relies on commercial pickups and delivery from your home (check zoning laws or call your city). It seems likely you will either be supplying printing to other resellers or you are just dabbling as an expensive hobby (I have no quarrel with that; probably cheaper than buying and maintaining a boat).
I would argue that until you have at least $10k - $20k monthly sales of prints (just prints; not design, fabrication, installation, or service) it would make more sense to buy from wholesalers (if you fit their profile). In addition to having very little equipment costs (keep the vinyl cutter going for small, simple lettering jobs), you will be able to offer your customers a vast range of printed products at very competitive prices.

 

[The Big Squeegee]

2 from CA.