• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

New start-up.

F

Flavius

New Member
Hi everyone!

I decided I would like to be in the Large Format Printing biz, I live in North Phoenix, AZ, but I'm totally green, no idea what I'm doing so I'm trying to pick up the best value equipment that comes with the greatest support for somebody like me. So far I have narrowed it down to Mutoh printers with Graphtec(or Q series vinyl cutters) and Enduralam laminator 54'' package and Rolland VErsacamm VP540 with Royal Sovereign 54'' laminator. Both with Flexi software.
I would really appreciate any input on this that you can give me.

Thanks,
Flavius
 
wildhock

wildhock

New Member
Welcome. Are you serious.....you just woke up and decided you wanted to get into the large format printing arena?

:help:
 
P

Poconopete

New Member
Tomorrow when you wake up maybe you'll want to be an astronaut.
Try school, work for free in a print shop, google & hrs of reading.
 
TonyHoles

TonyHoles

New Member
I am not a business owner. I am a graphic designer/sign maker so I can only speak on the equiptment you mentioned.

I used the Roland vp-540 & 54" royal sovereign everyday and I love it. Also, I use a Graphtec Plotter and I love it more than any other plotter I have ever used. The only thing I can see the the vp-540 hundred is lacking is speed. It's not slow but it's not as fast as others out there either. I guess it's due to the 4 print heads instead of 6. The quality is excellent, however.

The Royal Sovereign is great too but if you are using it for both laminating and applications the switch over steps to do so are a little annoying. If you can laminate in the am and apply in the pm that would be most efficient, instead of switching back and forth.

If you are thinking of buying the setup I just mentioned you will be happy I'm sure.

Good luck and happy bidding!
 
DOGraphics

DOGraphics

New Member
Welcome

If this is real do a search here and find some post on start up. Read them all and when your done post a thread with the knowledge you have gian..

:beer
 
F

Flavius

New Member
New start up.

Thank you for your advise but I don't understand why is it bad that I decided to get into this business being green. Everybody gets into a new business being green. I didn't really dream about it like the other gentleman suggested. I am a realtor and that is a really rough around here right now and I came across somebody who's in the business and doing really good so I started looking into it about 2 months ago and it looks like something I would like to do.

Thanks again for your advise.

Flavius.
 
TonyHoles

TonyHoles

New Member
And for the record if you take the time to read his post all he is asking for is feedback on equiptment. He isn't asking for anyone to hand him a "Digital Printing for Dummies" Guide.

It looks like he may have done a bit of homework on the equiptment and he would like feedback from those who have used some of the equptment he has listed.

This place is amazing Flavius...welcome aboard and don't let some negative comments get in your way. Read read and just when you think you can't read anymore....well...read some more.

The seach tab is your friend....and if you show you have done some leg work (which I feel you have) then you can ask questions withtout people flaming on ya.
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Flavius ... do you have any background in graphics production?

The reason you are getting some attitude back from some members is that we see a lot of people jumping into the business because it appears to be easy. Many of these people go on to become successful but at the same time many do not and cause a fair amount of harm to their local peers in the process.

It is not easy to master the knowledge and skills required to produce professional level wide format printing. Your preliminary research is okay as far as it goes and either system you are considering will serve you well. Just be prepared for an extremely steep learning curve and a lot of time and materials being wasted before you will be operating efficiently and at a professional level.

Some here will help you and some will not because you apparently come to the table with no preparation. So be prepared to receive a mixed reaction and when you need help or advice, do your homework first for the best reaction from members here.
 
F

Flavius

New Member
New start up

Thanks Fred, that makes sense, I should've thought about it a little more, but I got a little excited when I ran across this site. I do not have a background in the field but I can learn pretty quickly. The equipment providers make it sound like you do not need a 4 year degree in graphic arts and design based on the ease of use of the software and support they give you.
Thanks again.

Flavius
 
TonyHoles

TonyHoles

New Member
Flavius said:
Thanks Fred, that makes sense, I should've thought about it a little more, but I got a little excited when I ran across this site. I do not have a background in the field but I can learn pretty quickly. The equipment providers make it sound like you do not need a 4 year degree in graphic arts and design based on the ease of use of the software and support they give you.
Thanks again.

Flavius
Click to expand...

The machine operation isn't as complex as one would think...if you don't have a design or creative type background then you may want to rethink this. Now if you are planning on treating this as a business investment then your area of focus should be on finding a very talented and dependable graphic designer/sign maker. If you have a sales background then I would focus on that end of things and let the graphic designer do the production and design end of things.
 
F

Flavius

New Member
New start up

Is it really that hard? The people I spoke with so far said that 90% of the time you do not even need to design, customers will provide their own art work, signs, etc...And for the other 10% of the time you can either use clip art or customize designs using user friendly software like FlexiDesigner.

Thanks Tony.

Flavius.
 
wildhock

wildhock

New Member
Flavius said:
Is it really that hard? The people I spoke with so far said that 90% of the time you do not even need to design, customers will provide their own art work, signs, etc...And for the other 10% of the time you can either use clip art or customize designs using user friendly software like FlexiDesigner.

Thanks Tony.

Flavius.
Click to expand...

Now this is getting simply silly. Sorry Tony, most customers don't bring you good vector art. "user friendly software"....Do you believe every sales pitch you hear.....Oh wait, you did say you were in Real Estate.
 
SignosaurusRex

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
Flavius said:
The equipment providers make it sound like you do not need a 4 year degree in graphic arts and design based on the ease of use of the software and support they give you.
Thanks again.

Flavius
Click to expand...

The support from manufacturers is usually great......But provider/seller support? Please.....a few are great, some are okay and some are nothing more than glorified used car salesman that couldn't pour piss out of a boot with directions on the bottom of it! Be careful who you purchase from or else you may have deep regrets!
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Flavius said:
Is it really that hard? The people I spoke with so far said that 90% of the time you do not even need to design, customers will provide their own art work, signs, etc...And for the other 10% of the time you can either use clip art or customize designs using user friendly software like FlexiDesigner.

Thanks Tony.

Flavius.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. It is a rare case when a customer prepares a file that doesn't require some additional work on our part. The average customer thinks it's easy also.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top