In need of a local Versaworks Mentor

[Mascitti Bro]

Seeking the opportunity to bend the ear of someone locally (central Vermont) who has knowledge in Versaworks. (I've got questions about random scenarios that simply can't be answered of the phone, etc.)
Much appreciation and thanks in advance! -Paul.

 

[player]

You are complicating things. VW is a very easy program.

 

[White Haus]

You are complicating things. VW is a very easy program.

Gee, that's helpful.


Paul, I know you're looking for someone in person but with how easy/free remote access is these days that could easily be done remotely.

I've been using Versaworks daily for the last 10 years. What is it specifically that you want to know?

 

[Mascitti Bro]

Gee, that's helpful.


Paul, I know you're looking for someone in person but with how easy/free remote access is these days that could easily be done remotely.

I've been using Versaworks daily for the last 10 years. What is it specifically that you want to know?

(Thanks for responding!) One scenario i'd love a resolution for is this one- i'll occasionally import an image that's already contour cut and will want to put the image in the middle of a much larger image (example-incorporating an image of a car into a dealership logo) -How can I get it so versaworks won't cut out the image of the car from the middle of the dealership logo?

 

[White Haus]

(Thanks for responding!) One scenario i'd love a resolution for is this one- i'll occasionally import an image that's already contour cut and will want to put the image in the middle of a much larger image (example-incorporating an image of a car into a dealership logo) -How can I get it so versaworks won't cut out the image of the car from the middle of the dealership logo?

Versaworks will cut any shape that has the CutContour stroke applied to it, so you'll need to get rid of that.

Assuming you're importing these images into some sort of design software, (Corel, Illustrator, etc) you just need to get rid of the CutContour stroke. You'll probably want to keep your clipping path on your image, so just get rid of the stroke. This is also assuming you have cut lines on your outside image that you want to keep and cut. If not, just select print only in Versaworks and it won't cut anything.

 

[Mascitti Bro]

Versaworks will cut any shape that has the CutContour stroke applied to it, so you'll need to get rid of that.

Assuming you're importing these images into some sort of design software, (Corel, Illustrator, etc) you just need to get rid of the CutContour stroke. You'll probably want to keep your clipping path on your image, so just get rid of the stroke. This is also assuming you have cut lines on your outside image that you want to keep and cut. If not, just select print only in Versaworks and it won't cut anything.

-Will work harder to accomplish that-thanks for listening!

 

[player]

Gee, that's helpful.


Paul, I know you're looking for someone in person but with how easy/free remote access is these days that could easily be done remotely.

I've been using Versaworks daily for the last 10 years. What is it specifically that you want to know?

Then you should get in your car and drive directly to the OP's house to give them personal, one on one lessons that cannot be given here on the help forum.

 

[White Haus]

Then you should get in your car and drive directly to the OP's house to give them personal, one on one lessons that cannot be given here on the help forum.

Naw, I'm good.

 

[Malkin]

What version of VW are you using?

in your scenario, are you talking about VW literally having the knife cut around the car image (this would be solved by removing/adding/combining cutlines in order to get the cutpath you want), or is it more that there is a white square around the car blocking out some of the logo (this is more of a transparency issue than a cutpath issue)

If you wanted to take a day trip over to central Maine sometime, I would be happy to chit chat and answer any VW questions that I can. I've been using it since 2008, although it's the only RIP that I have experience with.

 

[Mascitti Bro]

Thanks for the response! It would be the first one that you described. (guess I need to look harder to find the option to remove/add/combine cutlines.) My biggest obstacle right now is when a print job randomly "pauses" in the middle of the printing process w/o any warning. (doesn't happen with every job, but never starts back up on it's own-I end up cancelling the job, sheet cutting off the wasted vinyl and trying all over again) (it doesn't make me very confident when im about to take on large print jobs, for fear of the forthcoming "waste" of material im about to have in front of me!!) Some thought it was as simple as my desktop was "timing-out", but we've taken that option out of the PC completely and it still randomly shows up. (sound familiar by chance??) BTW- Central Maine isn't that far away-maybe i'll take you up on that offer at one point-thx again!!

 

[Malkin]

Since you can't selectively choose which cutlines to use in VW (either all or nothing) then learning to manipulate cutlines is more of a issue that relates to learning the design software you use, rather than a VW issue. I only have experience with Gerber and Illustrator, but regardless of the vector software, they should have options to copy/paste (right in place) and then options to weld together or subtract from. It takes some getting used to, but those types of functions are critical to learn in this business.

Regarding the pausing issue, we had the same experience. Ultimately, in our case, the main board had to be replaced. A fairly common issue seems to be that the board loses connection with the on board ethernet port (temporarily). The expense with part and labor was maybe $2200 to $2400 I think? This issue, especially on a VP-540, seems to come up commonly on these machines when they get to 7-10 years old. If, when this happens, you look at the status of the printer in versaworks, it says "disconnected", it may help point to this being the problem.
It's possible that your issue might be something else, but I've seen this come up a lot on signs101 in the past few years with the main board being the culprit.

Feel free to message me sometime if you want to make the trip!

 

[Mascitti Bro]

Many thanks, Sir.

 

[PortlandPrint]

My biggest obstacle right now is when a print job randomly "pauses" in the middle of the printing process w/o any warning. (doesn't happen with every job, but never starts back up on it's own-I end up cancelling the job, sheet cutting off the wasted vinyl and trying all over again)

Not sure on how you are hooked up, but if your computer is not hardwired to your router and your router directly to your printer there could be some issues there. Example would be if you use wifi to connect to your router which then connects to your printer via ethernet.

I bypass my router and use a crossover cable direct from my computer to my printer (and a USB on my bn-20) and then use wifi on the computer to connect to the network/internet.

You might want to try that and see if it helps or narrows down the problem.

 

[player]

The size of your computer can also impact the printing. Lots of ram and hard drive space is needed.

 

[Mascitti Bro]

I thank you both for the excellent tips! It for sure has an ethernet cable connecting the two-i'm starting to think the ram/hard drive space idea may be the culprit. Doesn't it seem odd that the problem happens randomly, as opposed to every time? (example-if it happened with one job, but then it'll work fine on the second try, or it could take three tries before it works fine. But in the meantime, my anxiety meter is "pegged" as i'm anticipating the worst to happen at any moment!!) I've got two logos to do for a box truck that are 42"x 103" and im absolutely dreading the potential waste that i'm likely facing....

 

[Gino]

Why not send that file to someone and ask them to print it on their system..... as lose to your setup, even if on paper and see if they have the same problems ?? That could be done anywhere. It wouldn't hafta be a close neighbor.

 

[Malkin]

... Doesn't it seem odd that the problem happens randomly, as opposed to every time? (example-if it happened with one job, but then it'll work fine on the second try, or it could take three tries before it works fine....

Hate to say it, but this exactly matches the symptoms that we had. It was very frustrating.