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looking for advice, new printer

lisa marie

New Member
I am seeking opinions on a new printer, i am currently ready to throw my roland versacamm 540i into the highway, but its too heavy! anyways... what is everyone else using, i need 54'' and has to plot correctly (unlike roland))
and i would like it to be 110v so i dont have to rewire my shop! what do you all have! thanks in advance!
:violet:
 

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
As far as printer/cutter combos go, Mimaki is the main brand competing with Roland. So I'd check them out. The CJV150 is a solid, proven machine.
 

PHILJOHNSON

Sales Manager
What types of materials do you print on currently? Have you considered getting a separate cutter to do the contour cutting as opposed to using a machine that does both functions? The cut quality would be a lot better with a separate cutter like a Summa and you also would not have the production bottleneck of being able to only function at a time on a printer cutter. An Epson SureColor(there are a few options) paired up with a Summa cutter would be an excellent combination and a nice upgrade from the 540I that you have been using.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you about the different options.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext. 112
philj@airmark.com
 

MarkSnelling

Mark Snelling - Hasco Graphics
As a Roland distributor, I'll agree that the cutting is not the most accurate when you get to around 7 or 8 feet long. I love to pair a Roland print+cut or print-only device next to a Summa T series cutter...now that the Summa devices have come down so much in price over the last few years, it is a much more affordable solution and you can cut up to 50' long and still be crazy accurate.
 

brdesign

New Member
As far as printer/cutter combos go, Mimaki is the main brand competing with Roland. So I'd check them out. The CJV150 is a solid, proven machine.
I have the Cjv150 and it has been great. I was hesitant about getting a printer/cutter combo but I just don't have the space for two machines. I recently did a few 16ft long print and cut jobs without any misalignment. Using the largest size crop marks seamed to really help. Now if I can only figure out how to get the intermediate register marks to work.
 

DL Signs

Never go against the family
Mimaki... Printers are real work horses, great quality. As far as cutting goes, like everyone else is saying, a separate cutter will always do better. A printer's main function is to print, so many combos sacrifice a little in the cutting department over a dedicated one, but Mimaki is definitely far superior at cutting than Roland.
 

lisa marie

New Member
As a Roland distributor, I'll agree that the cutting is not the most accurate when you get to around 7 or 8 feet long. I love to pair a Roland print+cut or print-only device next to a Summa T series cutter...now that the Summa devices have come down so much in price over the last few years, it is a much more affordable solution and you can cut up to 50' long and still be crazy accurate.
im just trying to cut 6" circles... sometimes its good, sometimes it scrap.... lost so much money this year do to misalignment with printing and cuts, replaced printheads...wipers blades, a 5k overhaul..... still just exausting.... i need to look into a summa productline
 

lisa marie

New Member
What types of materials do you print on currently? Have you considered getting a separate cutter to do the contour cutting as opposed to using a machine that does both functions? The cut quality would be a lot better with a separate cutter like a Summa and you also would not have the production bottleneck of being able to only function at a time on a printer cutter. An Epson SureColor(there are a few options) paired up with a Summa cutter would be an excellent combination and a nice upgrade from the 540I that you have been using.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you about the different options.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext. 112
philj@airmark.com
i print on perforated, canvas, gloss and matte comply oh and sometimes cling media
 

lisa marie

New Member
Mimaki... Printers are real work horses, great quality. As far as cutting goes, like everyone else is saying, a separate cutter will always do better. A printer's main function is to print, so many combos sacrifice a little in the cutting department over a dedicated one, but Mimaki is definitely far superior at cutting than Roland.
soooo if i get this combo will yall help me figure it out? i am not properly trained on anything, but i can do layouts and graphics like a champ.. so stuck, i kmow a mutoh and a roland....
 

bdw99

New Member
Plenty of help around here, just do some research to figure out which way to go. We run a HP latex 570 with a summa s2. Do our contour cuts through onyx. Works like a dream, our 570 used to run all day all week and we've never had issues with it.
 

DL Signs

Never go against the family
soooo if i get this combo will yall help me figure it out? i am not properly trained on anything, but i can do layouts and graphics like a champ.. so stuck, i kmow a mutoh and a roland....
If you were close enough, I probably would.
I've run a lot of different printers/ cutters, and the differences aren't so massive that they can't be figured out if you've spent time working with any of them. Over the past 25 years I've run Encad, Mutah, Cannon, Roland, Fujifilm, now Mimaki printers, and even more brands of cutters... Never had any formal training on any except the Fujifilm. They all operate similar, just different bells, whistles, and menus. If you buy through a dealer they'll usually offer training if you need it, many will even help train on used equipment they sell. They all feed media and either lay ink or cut, the biggest learning curve is software, but even that all does the same functions. If you use a rip now that supports other printers the transition is pretty easy. If you use the Mfgr's stuff like Roland Versaworks or Mimaki's Rasterlink/ Fine cut, again, biggest differences are bells, whistles, and menus. It's like jumping into a different car, once you figure out where they hide the headlight and wiper switches, yer' good to go. Plenty of videos and tutorials available on line for just about everything, and there's always the community here.
 

lisa marie

New Member
dumb question.... should i be using the rip software thru roland? or strait thru flexi? i have been using flexi since i started.... would that make a difference?
 

Boudica

Back to "educational purposes"
soooo if i get this combo will yall help me figure it out? i am not properly trained on anything, but i can do layouts and graphics like a champ.. so stuck, i kmow a mutoh and a roland....
If you get a new printer - get them to send out a tech to install it and train you on it
 

CC-CMYK

New Member
I have two HPs and an Epson Resin printer. If you do stickers then maybe an epson s80 and a summa t2. I have both Graphtec and Summa and we do our print and cuts on the Summa because it’s really fast and accurate.

It doesn’t make sense to me to have a printer/ cutter combo. You can only do one thing at a time and if you have to laminate then it’s not saving you any time/ energy between printing a cutting.
 
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