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New To All Of This

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wugravekil

New Member
Hey all, I really dont know much about the vinyl industry, but I want to give my try at it. Ive been an adrt director for a ad agency so I am fairly creative. I really dont know anything about the vinyl industry so I asking for some help or suggestions on how to get started, how to go about starting, etc. I know nothing, sucks i know, but im really intrigued by this industry. Where do I get equipment? is it a really difficult job? Im pretty proficient with illustrator and photoshop so maybe that will help. Any thoughts and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

wanting to learn,

wugravekil

wugravekil@Hotmail.com
 
Ken

Ken

New Member
HI. Welcome to S101.
Start reading the newbie thread. Cut vinyl will take you along way but a print/cut system will give you much greater lattitude in your output.
Being proficient in AI and PS is a huge leg-up.
Some Texas -based people here will be able to steer you towards a good supplier or two.
Cheers!
Ken
 
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Valentino

New Member
Signwarehouse is a good company. (Signwarehouse.com)
Gregory is good company (gregory1.com)
Feller is a great supplier of vinyl (Fellers.com)
Graphtec, Roland, Summa are the top three cutter companies.
Flexisign is a great program for a starter
 
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wugravekil

New Member
Thanks Valentino. Anyone know about start up costs? Price ranges for a decent cutter that requires minimal maintenence? Best vinyl? Can you cut from illustrator? or do i need to learn another program?

wugravekil

wugravekil@hotmail.com
 
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Valentino

New Member
you can cut from illustrator with some plugin's I am not sure about that, but someone on this board will chime in.

start up costs for a 24" plotter can range from 1,300 to 2,000 for a nice reliable plotter (graphtec or roland). anything from china....creation, us cutter, any ebay plotter is more trouble then it's worth and it's just junk, stick to the professional brand names.

print and cuts....around 30,000 www.rolanddga.com
printer and a cutter around 17,000 www.mutoh.com signwarehouse.com
 
Ken

Ken

New Member
You know, I always find myself defending my choice of a Creation plotter ( CT630 in my case). Yes, Id rather have a Graphtec or Roland machine. But..the Ct 630 has done what it needs to do. My Versacamm cuts like a wizard.-at a price...
Cheers!
Ken
 
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wugravekil

New Member
Thanks Ken I really appreciate your honesty. maybe i will look into your CT630, i just dont want problems since im such a newbie. i want to know the ins and outs and want to learn them quick. i know nothing so i want to know the business side of it all, cua i think i have the creative side down being an art director and all. i know the adobe programs but i want to learn more. You cant grown if you dont learn, right???? i want to know everytihng. equip? sales? costs? ROI? etc... please help, im in a very limited market, but i know i can do it.

wugravekil

wugravekil@hotmail.com
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
buy low, sell high... nothin' to it.

"cutter that requires minimal maintenence?" ...well, a suggestion for getting one of the top 3 brands didn't seem to catch your attention, but Ken's had his cheap alternative work out... so "look into" that! Oh wait, you said "you dont want problems"? Well, knowing everything does take time, but you gotta start somewhere. Good Luck!
 
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wugravekil

New Member
i love tha you guys post, i really appreciate it. im gonna keeep checking all my posts ( this is my first) on ah hourly basis. love you guys and Im waiting and thanking for the help. Live, create, explore....

wugravekil

wugravekil@hotmail.com
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
are you for real?

are you an adult?

art director? for what? or who?

...what did you "direct"
 
Checkers

Checkers

New Member
Welcome wugravekil,
If you're going to "give it a try", I would suggest going to work for a sign shop for a while. This way you'll get paid to learn about what you may be getting into. You can learn the basics in a few days, but it's a trade that takes years to master.
The plus is that you have an art background, but advertising or commercial art is a totally different animal compared to sign design. You'll need to start thinking a lot differently too and learn to keep it simple.
Start up costs in the sign business can vary greatly depending on your commitment. Sure, you can go out and spend a grand on a plotter and software and call yourself a sign maker. But, you're not running a sign business.
In order to run a start up sign business, I would estimate a minimum investment of $20k-$30k plus a minimum of a year's reserves. A typical franchise start up costs are about $50k-$60k and you can easily double that when you figure the costs of a facility and build out. Then, you're not expected to "draw" any money from the business for about a year.
A while back I posted this...
http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14861
and there were a lot of good comments added by others.

Checkers
 
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Valentino

New Member
I just want to give my opinon of the PCUT creation. Ok, so this was my first plotter and I liked it, did the basics, but when it got to the more advanced stuff It was touch and go, alot of times it would not make clean cuts and during the weeding phase I would have way too many recuts becasue letters would lift.

I purchased the QE60+ which is a graphtec 3000, and wow, it cut everything and I can rip the vinyl away without worry. I sold my PCUT after that, it is more reliable and trustworthy with cuts. so for an extra 1000 dollars you can be sure you get a GOOD cutter with technicial support and not some crap like signmax
 
Craig Sjoquist

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
Welcome to a outstanding forum n ppl ......
checkers is right when it comes to start up cost and ...starting at working hands on level at a sign shop is best ...wugravekil ....
I've been hand lettering for 32 years with schooling to learn and realized this was a life commitment not few yrs n move on but also was happy about the choice...your gonna build a reputation that no other trades can do as well and enjoy life as much
with your background you'll have no problems ..but need to learn ABC before you even get to DEFG so you can move onto HIJ if ya get my drift

13 folds
 
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