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Hello everyone!! New guy here

I

IconicWraps

New Member
Ive been a lurker on here for the past 10-12 months and just recently joined.
This site has been a great source for info that cant be beat!

So a bit about my self:
Name is martin and just recently started up my own business in the sign and car wrap industry.
I've researched and talked to a few shop owners in this industry and decided this was a good business with lots of potential.
Before this I was a Certified Industrial Diesel Tech and Auto Tech, I used to work for a company driving around in a fully equipped service truck and doing repairs on HD construction equipment and covered a big area from fresno to san diego.
Working 12-19 hour days in the elements takes a toll on you after a while, so I decided to open up my own business. Still willing to work 12-19 hour days but at least I'm my own boss and all the hard work will be going towards my business and not someone else's pockets.
In the past 4 months since I started I've taken many classes including 3M paint protection, 3M vinyl wrap, and auto tint classes so i'm currently a 3M certified installer.(I know 3M is not the greatest in the world but the classes were available so i took them):thumb:
Also have purchased a HP L26500 printer due to low maintenance compared to solvent printers since im just starting out and cant run the printer everyday yet so no worries about clogging.
Got a Summa D160R plotter and a royal sovereign laminator, they all accept 60" material.
For software i'm using Caldera, Adobe CS5 Illustrator and Photoshop on Mac and also just Recently got FlexiPro 11 (cloud) on PC. (a bit overkill but I rather have options lol)
I know the learning curve for this industry is steep and not for everyone, I consider myself a very fast learner and very tech savy, i build my own computers and set up my own networks so learning new software comes a bit easier for me.

only issue im having is with flexi color profiles which i didnt have in caldera.

if anyone has any info or suggestions on what else im missing or things you just cant do without at your shop, please feel free to chime in or if anyone wants to know more, just ask away.
Any comments are appreciated good or bad :thankyou:
 
P Wagner

P Wagner

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I think you will likely end up driving the latex printer from Caldera. Flexi is a good design environment for cutting, or for routed output, but print is best designed in Adobe apps and run through a professional grade RIP software. You've made some good software and equipment decisions in my opinion.
 
JBusch260

JBusch260

New Member
Welcome from Indiana! It sounds like you did quite a bit of training and preparation before jumping into the business. Looking forward to seeing your company's work!
 
SignBurst PCs

SignBurst PCs

New Member
Welcome Martin!

We are a Merchant Member here on Signs101. We offer computer systems specifically for the sign and vehicle wrap industry (SignBurst™ Computers). If you ever need anything computer related, please let me know.

I hope to see you out in the forums.
 
I

IconicWraps

New Member
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WELCOME!
I know I still have lots of learning to do and there's no substitute for actual on the job experience.
MIKEIFG- the paint protection class was all hands on training and lucky for me there was only 2 students for that class and was 3 days. It was all new to me but the instructors were great and I'm sure as you all know, if you can anticipate what the material is going to do then you can manipulate it anyway you want.
The wrap class was a 2 star class so nothing too difficult but a month before the class I bought a roll of 3M1080 and wrapped my personal car, the experience I gained from that helped tremendously in preparing for that class.
Any other questions please feel free to ask.
 
premiercolour

premiercolour

Merchant Member
Welcome from the neighbor (OC). We do carry many materials. Nice equipments and repairing background. I am sure you will do well in this business.
 
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