Help getting started, looking to buy stuff.

[Fred Weiss]

it is a shame that people have to resort to a lot of you guys .. fast to sqeeze the trigger .. but slow on performance .. it is your attitude and performance the illegals thrive in the USA .. no ones fault but the man in the mirror .. i think it sucks .. but you pros do it to yourselfs .. your above everyone . sooo good .. it is hard for me not to bad mouth my fellow sign makers .. but i see their work .. i am doing a job now for an espreeso stand where a national chain sign company took 2k from and now has forgot they took a deposit and told them to take them to court .. and you "pros" bad mouth people who need to get the job done but get screwed by people like "us" .. no wonder you p*ss and moan about business, look at your responces

imo it takes less time to figure it out then to find a honest sign maker who will do work in a timely manner .. that is why i started . the vendors around my wifes booths could never find a good sign maker .. i know most of the guys in seattle suck .. i swear when they applied the graphics they would do it with their eyes closed .. and there is a difference between ariel and arena black .. sometimes a guy gets so pissed off from substandard performance it is just better to do it yourself .. my wifes family all race boats and i get the same complaint from them .. i have tried to outsourse work for some of our members only to get excuses .. i tried to be cool to this site .. now i just do what it takes .. 2 weeks ago i needed a cedar sign made .. send to 2 different vendors and no responce .. so i hired 2 illegals .. we all made out .. but someone here lost i bet 5k .. another job i needed someone to air brush a john deer trackor on a shed .. job turned down .. found an illegal and he now has done 17 garage doors and shed doors .. at 3k a door .. soooo .. sometimes it is better to go on your own .. cuz the real pro's dont have time to mess with the small jobs .. but they sure can bad mouth the little guys .. and the bigs guys i have found do the worst work .. they are not about customer service .. money in sh^t out

Man ... what are you doing here?

 

[MVIP]

imo it takes less time to figure it out then to find a honest sign maker who will do work in a timely manner .. that is why i started . the vendors around my wifes booths could never find a good sign maker .. i know most of the guys in seattle suck .. i swear when they applied the graphics they would do it with their eyes closed .. and there is a difference between ariel and arena black .. sometimes a guy gets so pissed off from substandard performance it is just better to do it yourself .. my wifes family all race boats and i get the same complaint from them .. i have tried to outsourse work for some of our members only to get excuses .. i tried to be cool to this site .. now i just do what it takes .. 2 weeks ago i needed a cedar sign made .. send to 2 different vendors and no responce .. so i hired 2 illegals .. we all made out .. but someone here lost i bet 5k .. another job i needed someone to air brush a john deer trackor on a shed .. job turned down .. found an illegal and he now has done 17 garage doors and shed doors .. at 3k a door .. soooo .. sometimes it is better to go on your own .. cuz the real pro's dont have time to mess with the small jobs .. but they sure can bad mouth the little guys .. and the bigs guys i have found do the worst work .. they are not about customer service .. money in sh^t out

it is a shame that people have to resort to a lot of you guys .. fast to sqeeze the trigger .. but slow on performance .. it is your attitude and performance the illegals thrive in the USA .. no ones fault but the man in the mirror .. i think it sucks .. but you pros do it to yourselfs .. your above everyone . sooo good .. it is hard for me not to bad mouth my fellow sign makers .. but i see their work .. i am doing a job now for an espreeso stand where a national chain sign company took 2k from and now has forgot they took a deposit and told them to take them to court .. and you "pros" bad mouth people who need to get the job done but get screwed by people like "us" .. no wonder you p*ss and moan about business, look at your responces

Which one of us pissed in your cheerios?

 

[TheSnowman]

Man ... what are you doing here?

My thought exactly. What's up w/ that?

 

[Scottyjr]

All you need is a decent plotter/cutter and, as you mentioned, some software and some vinyl. The software I would recommend is Corel Draw. It's far more intuitive than Illustrator and certainly cheaper. I have ised Draw12, X3 & X4. Each version is more powerful and versatile than the previous but for your purposes, the newer versions are not necessary. I am 100% sure that version 12 will do all that you need. I am trying to steer you in that direction since it will fill your needs and I'm pretty sure you can find it for a low cost.

As for the cutter/plotter, I would go with a known brand and be patient and look for deals on Craigs List. If you see one up for sale you can ask for a demonstration.

Good Luck. - Scotty

 

[gabagoo]

All you need is a decent plotter/cutter and, as you mentioned, some software and some vinyl. The software I would recommend is Corel Draw. It's far more intuitive than Illustrator and certainly cheaper. I have ised Draw12, X3 & X4. Each version is more powerful and versatile than the previous but for your purposes, the newer versions are not necessary. I am 100% sure that version 12 will do all that you need. I am trying to steer you in that direction since it will fill your needs and I'm pretty sure you can find it for a low cost.

As for the cutter/plotter, I would go with a known brand and be patient and look for deals on Craigs List. If you see one up for sale you can ask for a demonstration.

Good Luck. - Scotty

I didn't think you could cut directly from Corel?

 

[luggnut]

i don't understand how this works... i call a plumber, i see what he does then think i can do that .. so suddenly i'm a plumber. the next person that hires me gets the lowest price ever ... only to realize when i'm through with the job i don't know sh#t. you can't buy the gear and then be a pro over night!!!!

 

[k2ds]

Corel Draw BETTER THAN Illustrator

Really? What, you can crop now in Corel? J/K

 

[sarge]

maybe it was just me .. but i thought this was a place to help people get started and maintain their sign business .. however, there is a lot of negative responce to some people wanting help to get started .. here is a guy that could be 100 miles from a sign guy .. and needs numbers and maybe his sponcors name on his car .. and what does he get .. 50 guys dumpin on him .. doesnt seem fair .. i just happened to call out the sign guys who do crappy work and know they do .. and those people here that are all talk .. i think it is good to help the small guy .. dont discourage him .. allow him to learn .. if he steps on himself then ok .. he then learns who he can trust and who he cant .. let him grow .. i know not everyone here is hoping every new guy fails .. i am one of those .. i think competion is healthy .. i do think i am smart enough to weed through the crap .. some are not so smart .. when i got on this forum some people thought it was fun to take shots at me .. now, i fire back .. and i am on the side of people who are new .. i am here to learn and there are some people that do have something to contribute .. but having game of poping the new guys bubble is wrong .. lets help them instead of discourging them

 

[zmatalucci]

imo it takes less time to figure it out then to find a honest sign maker who will do work in a timely manner .. that is why i started . the vendors around my wifes booths could never find a good sign maker .. i know most of the guys in seattle suck .. i swear when they applied the graphics they would do it with their eyes closed .. and there is a difference between ariel and arena black .. sometimes a guy gets so pissed off from substandard performance it is just better to do it yourself .. my wifes family all race boats and i get the same complaint from them .. i have tried to outsourse work for some of our members only to get excuses .. i tried to be cool to this site .. now i just do what it takes .. 2 weeks ago i needed a cedar sign made .. send to 2 different vendors and no responce .. so i hired 2 illegals .. we all made out .. but someone here lost i bet 5k .. another job i needed someone to air brush a john deer trackor on a shed .. job turned down .. found an illegal and he now has done 17 garage doors and shed doors .. at 3k a door .. soooo .. sometimes it is better to go on your own .. cuz the real pro's dont have time to mess with the small jobs .. but they sure can bad mouth the little guys .. and the bigs guys i have found do the worst work .. they are not about customer service .. money in sh^t out

wow, your a real patriot huh sarge?
You tout yourself as a military man, but you hire the enemy? Way to go, you make me proud!
POS

 

[QuickSignsSA]

Not to mention you in an OPEN forum ADMIT to hiring illegals (race doesnt matter). But hiring an illegal is illegal in itself... You may want to start there first, but that is my opinion, and not to throw more dirt at you...

 

[sarge]

gabagoo .. if i was a d*ck i would call ya out as being stupid .. but you can cut directly from corel draw to a summa plotter .. and summa is one of the top brands .. when you purchase a summa you can download an addin called winplot ... that download is free .. and it is easy to use .. i own 2 summa plotters, the only things i have had to replace are the blades and a servo . they are solid machines .. i think the d75 goes for $2,495 or so today

 

[Pat Whatley]

Way to go Sarge. You're out of the military and very quickly go from "defender of the homeland" to "supporter of the invasion" Patriot my ass.

Typical.

 

[Fred Weiss]

maybe it was just me .. but i thought this was a place to help people get started and maintain their sign business .. however, there is a lot of negative responce to some people wanting help to get started .. here is a guy that could be 100 miles from a sign guy .. and needs numbers and maybe his sponcors name on his car .. and what does he get .. 50 guys dumpin on him .. doesnt seem fair .. i just happened to call out the sign guys who do crappy work and know they do .. and those people here that are all talk .. i think it is good to help the small guy .. dont discourage him .. allow him to learn .. if he steps on himself then ok .. he then learns who he can trust and who he cant .. let him grow .. i know not everyone here is hoping every new guy fails .. i am one of those .. i think competion is healthy .. i do think i am smart enough to weed through the crap .. some are not so smart .. when i got on this forum some people thought it was fun to take shots at me .. now, i fire back .. and i am on the side of people who are new .. i am here to learn and there are some people that do have something to contribute .. but having game of poping the new guys bubble is wrong .. lets help them instead of discourging them

Yes ... it's just you Sarge. This is a forum for professional sign makers. Competition is healthy when it is between professionals. No so healthy when your customers decide that what you do is easy enough to do themselves. And he isn't any further than a local phone call from the guy he doesn't want to hire any longer because he has decided that it's more than he wants or needs to spend.

 

[MVIP]

Yes ... it's just you Sarge. This is a forum for professional sign makers. Competition is healthy when it is between professionals. No so healthy when your customers decide that what you do is easy enough to do themselves. And he isn't any further than a local phone call from the guy he doesn't want to hire any longer because he has decided that it's more than he wants or needs to spend.

 

[sarge]

and the enemy is who? .. asians, mexicans, canadians .. they are all here in our area and illegal with businesses in our towns .. what is our country doing to get them out .. nothing .. so we must want them here .. if the american people really wanted them out then they would be gone .. we dont .. i only use them when there is no one else i can get to do the work .. i am not saying anything people with some kind of intelligence doesnt know .. when you go to a resturant who do you think washes your dishes .. when you eat food made in america who do you think harvests that food .. we all use illegals .. anyone bought a new home in our country in the last 10 years .. 90% have some illegals building them .. what about goods that are hauled by trucks .. lots of those guys are illegals .. so it isnt my issue it is everyones

 

[QuickSignsSA]

Sarge, you are admitting to hiring illegal immigrants. You are admitting to an ILLEGAL ACTION. That is the problem here. And you are justifying it by saying everyone does it...

Way to keep digging the hole!

 

[Pat Whatley]

i am not saying anything people with some kind of intelligence doesnt know

That line is hilarious.

 

[sarge]

pat .. your the reason our country got this way .. not me .. you voted to let the illegals use our welfare system and hospitals .. you didnt want the boarders protected from illegals .. you said .. come on in .. everything is free here .. i go off in the military and what do i come home to .. this is what you told me it was suppose to be like .. so live the life that you said was good to go .. i didnt do this .. you did .. it is what you voted for

 

[QuickSignsSA]

pat .. your the reason our country got this way .. not me .. you voted to let the illegals use our welfare system and hospitals .. you didnt want the boarders protected from illegals .. you said .. come on in .. everything is free here .. i go off in the military and what do i come home to .. this is what you told me it was suppose to be like .. so live the life that you said was good to go .. i didnt do this .. you did .. it is what you voted for

And the HOME of the BRAAAAAAAAAAVE...

 

[sarge]

pat .. a true patriot does what the people of his country wants them to do .. the issue with illegals are what you wanted .. you got this with your power of the vote .. you are the reason they are here