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Hello from a really new Newbie!

D

davelrust

New Member
Hi all,

My wife and I have decided to start a part time in home business. After a year of research I have decided on making signs. It is creative and we are both interested. We have absolutley no experience in this but we are motivated and excited to learn. We've decided to get as much information as we can up front. We are looking at the Rolland SP-300.

-Very newbie type questions:
-What software should we get?
-What is a typical software flow? (build a layout in Corel or Photoshop, then export to the Roland software, then print?)
-What is an eps file?
-If I was to make bumper stickers do I need to cut them all out from a sheet after printing or do people buy precut bumper sticker stock that feeds into the printer?
-What about cutting out other shapes? ovals etc...

Thanks,
Dave & Gayle:smile:
 
S

SignProOhio

New Member
Welcome from Northeast Ohio! You will find this website to treasure a wealth of information to help you out on your new venture. Here are some answers to your questions:

Software: Flexi-Sign is pretty much the industry standard. If you are doing digital printing as well as cutting I would suggest FlexiSIGN-Pro. Photoshop, Illustrator, & Corel are industry favorites and must haves as well.

Software Flow: Design in a program you feel most comfortable in. If it's Corel, design in Corel, if it's Photoshop, design in Photoshop. Make sure you constantly save your work. Then export to your RIP program and start printing.

EPS File: An eps file is an encapsulated post script file. It has many uses. Either in the offset printing world, screen printing world, or sign making world. This is pretty much a standard file extension you will use to either save your work or import into your software. EPS can be a flattened image or a full vector image.

Bumper Stickers: You print out the bumper stickers all on one sheet. If you have a printer/cutter or a cutter with an ARMS system you can then cut out your shape as long as you put a cut line around your design.

Cutting Other Shapes: You can cut out almost any shape imaginable. If you can think it, you can either print it or cut it out.

Hope this helps! I'm sure you will get other replys to this topic from other trustworthy sign makers. Once again welcome to the Signs 101 family. We're glad to have you!
 
SignosaurusRex

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
Welcome! No offense intended, But what ungodly Idea has convinced you to go into the signmaking biz? I take it that you have no experience. If you've set your mind to it, Well then roll up your sleeves and be prepared for quite an awakening! Oh, and don't quit your day job.
 
Richard Flint

Richard Flint

New Member
A career change is on the horizon.......

So what if I've been making signs for almost 35 yrs. now. I know that's going to change soon when my real dream of making into the starting line-up with the Red Sox finally happens. I'm sure they'll be calling me today.......or maybe tomorrow.......or maybe.......

Good Luck with your decision Dave & Gayle.
 
Velocity

Velocity

New Member
Hello and welcome from Florida
As long as your not doing car wraps the 300 should do you fine.
If you buy it new try to find a distributor that will give you some training and support.
Have fun and get a "Swear Jar" started, you will be surprised how fast it fills up. LOL
 
D

davelrust

New Member
Thanks for the replies!!

Shovelhead -- Cosmetic surgery may be more lucrative but I would guess that the creative freedoms may not be as well accepted in the finished product.

SignProOhio – thanks, I’ll look into these. What does RIP stand for?

SignosaurusRex – We decided on the sign Biz because we were looking for something small that we can do part time at the house.

Gino – Thanks !!

ChicagoGraphics – We will be part time, maybe it will work into a retirement job in the distant future.

BlueRidgeFabrication – Thanks !!

Greg Landers – Thanks for welcoming us!

Pro Image – Howdee back to you to!

Rich – Thanks for the”Good Luck” Maybe I’ll see you on the Red Sox line up!! Then again... They could have used you in the RedSox Yankees game last night
 
Craig Sjoquist

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
Welcome to a outstanding forim N ppl

if you n wife serious about the sign business congrates very rewarding myself 33 yrs and counting for 33 plus more

best advise I can give you on short notice is... buy and read 100% every year atleast .....Mike Stevens ....mastering layout
..the other best is ..never give up

cool strokes
 
WVB

WVB

New Member
Welcome to S101...

Generally when I read newbie, I figure at least some basic knowledge of computer terms. Especially when it is related to making signs. My advise to you would be to take some basic classes on Adobe products - Illustrator or Photoshop if you plan on printing. Or CorelDRAW (same as Illustrator [At this point you should NOT be printing and farming that part out to experienced printers]) At your local community college..! Pick up some books to go along with these classes such as the Dummies series (no pun intended) Follow along while trying to execute what you are seeing from online tutorials... (lots of links can be found here use the search feature) Once you get the concept of this software then invest in some equipment such as a plotter, good computer and software. While you are in school you can pick up these software titles at the student price levels (very nice discount)... Some plotters will come with basic software or plug-ins for Corel/Illustrator... This should get you going in the right direction...

Good luck...
 
Jackpine

Jackpine

New Member
As a former teacher, I still believe the the job of a teacher is to "teach the student how to learn". Anyone starting any venture needs to do their homework and learn what needs to be known before they jump into the fire. There are so many opportunities to find knowledges one needs and this forum is a place to start. I am never surprised anymore when people think "there is an easy way". That is only for TV infomercials. Good luck and welcome to the group.
 
D

davelrust

New Member
Craig -- I'll order the book, thanks I was browsing for a good technical read on the subject.

Mike Paul – Thank you

TVG—Thanks for the info. It’s been a while since I got out of post graduate school (so much for the student discount)... But I will definitely start working with the software getting more familiar and experimenting before I invest the $$ into the SP-300.
 
D

davelrust

New Member
Jackpine -- Well said... as indicated in my first post we are in the information gathering stage. Believe me I'm not going to shell out $11k for a machine without doing my homework first. This site and others along with the book that Craig suggested is the start. We will move into the software next and eventually (if we convince ourselves we are any good) we will make the leap and spend the $$ on a machine. I’m not quitting my day job; we have time to ease into this smartly.

Thanks for your input; it confirms our approach is sane.
 
S

SignProOhio

New Member
Dave,

RIP is the program that opens up for your options for printing. Kind of like the window that pops up when you go to print something out on your office printer, but with more options and features. If you're planning on doing this only part time...good luck....In the sign world I don't think there is a thing called part time...or full time for that matter....I think it's all the time!!! At least for most of us here it's like that.
 
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