Newbie with several questions

[Bradster941]

I kind of thought that, but in the true nature of what this board is all about, this is what I wrote while you all were posting.

I’m sure it won’t be popular, and you can bash or shun me, but I’m just tired of how quick everyone is to bash instead of offering helpful information or ignoring it all together .!. ( Myself included ).




KPC

It’s not my place to apologize for the content posted on this forum, blah blah blah.

Take 2.

KPC This is a great place for information, but only if you have a post rating of “High Schooler” or above .!.

Take 3

KPC, This is a Great place to gain information that will save you and others countless hours of trial and error. I would suggest you……..

Take 4

KPC, this board has many members with a broad range of experiences and knowledge they are more than willing to share. Unfortunately, you, like I, are what is considered “HOBBIEST”, and a few, if not more members here seem to get off on putting you down instead of helping you up. It’s a shame, but a reality. That’s why I wouldn’t dare to post any of my designs here anymore.


Please take note that this thread you started has been responded to in a non constructive manor by only two or three members here and not the vast majority.

Your intensions were clear and non threatening to the bizz. But that got ignored.

Sorry your first post has turned out this way, it shouldn’t have happen.

I can’t personally help you with you inquiry, but I bet if you sent a few PM’s to members like Doug Allan, Fred Wies, (the moderator here), Ink Fish, Shovel Head, etc., (people I would trust) I bet you would get a sincere answer to your problem. .

:Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping:

 

[Cadmn]

only thing is you miss the whole point of people like you in our business

 

[signage]

You keep bringing up thing about home depot go and get "HVAC" equipment or parts. I can fix these unit but I can not get the part I need from the local distributors because they will only deal with HVAC repair companies. Also like I said earlier how would you fell if the people you are trying to get to be your customer went out and got the equipment you use to make a living then ask you to show them how to use it? THINK ABOUT IT! IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL YOU WOULDN'T LIKE IT! You should have looked into how to use the equipment or training before you purchased it. You can spend a lot of hours learning or you could sell that equipment and pay a professional to do them for you, it is cheaper to get the professional to make RTA pieces for you.

 

[madisonsignguy]

Hey can you suggest a video on doing industrial coatings. I'm sure any idiot can do that right??? Seems easy enough.

I Mean come on I just want to do my own industrial coatings. Well and maybe for a few friends but don't worry i won't do it for everyone it's not like I want to go into the industrial coatings business.

 

[Derf]

KPC! just go back and read what you said, some times that helps..

Ask Flame... LOL

You can keep posting here.. just don't give up! if you really need help people here will help you.

your point is just blurry because so many before you just think you can "just make stickers" 10 years ago I got into the sign Biz because my friend had a job at Fast Signs and he said, "dude my job kicks ass because all I do all day Saturday is make stickers for my motorcycle all day while the boss is out". Here I am 10 years later making Monument signs and making a living.

State your position clearly.. ask direct questions with out all the fluff and you'll get more direct answers.

Good luck

 

[Jackpine]

printer & cut

"Is there any chance that someone could post a file of a sticker that is finished and ready to be printed and cut."

Yes there is . This is a file vreated in Corel 10. The mafenta line is the cut line. This file was exported as an eps. There are bitmaps ( diamondplate fill ) and vectors in this file. The cut line has to be a vector. Go to Roland user forum and register....there is a ton of information there.

 

[Bradster941]

only thing is you miss the whole point of people like you in our business

How am I in your Business Cadmn ?

If I do a job for a friend here and there, is your business so fragile that I have just put you out of business?

 

[KPC]

What I failed to realize prior to posting the very first message was that this forum is encompassed around only well experienced professionals in the sign making business, who seem to have done an excellent job of beating down any newbie before they feel welcomed enough to stick around. Sure, it sounds like there is an attitude when I state this, but from an "outsiders" perspective of how things run, it seems to be 100% spot on.

As I've said prior, I've never ran into a forum where they were so quick to shoot down a newbie. This is very discouraging and regardless if it is intended or not, anyone treated in this manner is quick to feel unwelcomed.

As for the comments about the terminology that I use sounding more experienced than a newbie and that I'm now baited, it doesn't take too much knowledge or experience to know that if you don't place and squeegee a sticker properly that it is gonna have bubbles. Go to any car show and you're guaranteed to come home with no less than a dozen or more stickers from various car part manufacturers. Take a bunch of these stickers and plaster them all over your tool box and there are bubbles underneath.

Call me a liar, a phony, a fake, bait me, etc... It simply doesn't matter.

I have been honest from the very beginning of this thread and will remain the same until I finally throw in the towel and say enough is enough.

Although close, you guys haven't successfully beaten me down enough to discourage me from still posting a few replies as needed to state a point or two.

 

[madisonsignguy]

How am I in your Business Cadmn ?

If I do a job for a friend here and there, is your business so fragile that I have just put you out of business?

Actually it doesn't put Cadmn's businss in Jeporady it put's your friends in trouble.

If your friend is so cheap and goes to you for his advertising instead of a pro he is the one that is doing harm to his own business. If you put crap up for a sign then don't be suprised when your results are crap too.

 

[Bradster941]

Then let me rephrase that Yoda, if I cut it for my own use, how have I harmed you?

 

[Bradster941]

Careful now what you post, I can rip it apart and Rip you a New one just as easy as you like to “Cut Paste and Quote” !!!


Get a Grip here people, your acting like total Jack Asses.!!!

 

[Mike Paul]

Hello, I currently own and operate an industrial coatings business.

Just this week I picked up a Roland PC600 "Print & Cut" machine. I had no problems connecting it and getting it to work properly. The machine was just serviced by an authorized Roland technician right before I purchased it.

The previous owner included a roll of printable white Avery vinyl.

I picked up Corel Suite 12 and was able to use Corel Draw to make a sticker design, then save it as a jpg file, and then use the supplied Roland bridge to take the jpg file and print it with the Roland PC600.

The only problem is that I can't figure out how to "Print and Cut".

Remember, I didn't buy this machine to go into the sign making business. I purchased this machine because I need to make small (1 ft x 1ft) stickers that can be slapped on the side of my company vehicles to advertise our industrial coatings service.

I also plan on getting a setup together to where I can travel to different car shows, and advertise my industrial coatings business using one of those Easy-Up tarps. I want to be able to use standard colored vinyl, use the Roland to cut out the business name and stick it to the front of the Easy-up. Or possibly buy a banner (4-5 feet long x 2-3 feet high) that I can hang from the front of the table, and cover the banner with vinyl to show what all we offer at our shop.

One thing that sets my current business apart from the competition is that we always present ourselves as being very professional in both attitude and appearance.

I don’t have the time to close up my business so that I can go work for $5 an hour at a Fast Sign’s that is over an hour away, just to get some “hands on” training. Ultimately, I’m posting this thread because I need some good advice or better yet point in a direction to possibly buying a set of instructional DVD’s that I can watch in my spare time, that will crudely teach me everything from what materials are needed to how to apply the materials on the substrate. Such as how to properly weed a cut sticker to applying transfer tape, to marking the substrate and the transfer tape, to squeegeeing <-sp? the vinyl to remove air bubbles, etc..

I was looking around eBay and came across these 2 dvd set

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vinyl-Graphics-Plotter-Cutter-Training-2x-DVD-Car-Bike_W0QQitemZ330021048849QQihZ014QQcategoryZ46741QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I never took any classes in college about graphic design, using a vinyl machine, etc..

Some may instantly start asking, why would anyone shell out thousands of dollars on a machine that they have absolutely no idea how to use. Well, I have the ambition to learn how to use this equipment and I feel that over time, I will recover the upfront cost + I like the idea of being able to do all of my own vinyl work on a moments notice.

I kindly than everyone in advance.

They're called Decals not stickers....
FYI, Roland.com has a forum for ColorCamm users where you can access every issue regarding your machine.


.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

You will need to use your Corel software to draw around the jpg using the pen tool and precisely place points around the image that you would want the cutter to follow. Think of it as the dot to dots you played as a kid where after you were done you had an drawing - crude but similar in fashion.

The lines that connect the dots can either be straight or curved and those are controlled using the pen tool by either clicking from one point to another or clicking and dragging to create a curve with handles. It is quite easy to do this, the hard part is making it look good. Now you can either trace exactly along the edges of your jpeg or offset a bit and this may be better depending on your circumstances. It allows for you to be off a bit with your lines and curves but still not cut into your image.

I have attached a sample of a jpeg that was obviously a print job, but the customer wanted the contour of the shape to follow only so that when placed on a truck or sign or whatever it did not have a white (or in this case) black background.

 

[madisonsignguy]

Well you haven't. You have harmed yourself.

The problem is you get these people buying a machine to make there own decals and signs that have no idea about design advertising or sales. What ends up happening is yea you saved a few bucks doing it yourself, but in the long run you hurt yourself because chances are your sign probably failed to bring you the amount of customers that a well made sign would have.

You did not hurt me, I love you guys that do that, why would I want some cheap guy to come into my shop and hassle the hell out of me. No thanks I'll take the customer that actually cares about his business.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

BTW, my contour is just a sample to show you what a complex one would look like on screen and of course the file that I provided the customerwas a vector contour. They then used whatever sign software on hand and combined their jpeg file with my vector ai/eps file. It printed first and then was loaded onto some cutting machine and the blade followed the paths that I created.

In my case I use Illustrator to produce the vector, but Coreldraw does the same.

 

[Bradster941]

Actually it doesn't put Cadmn's businss in Jeporady it put's your friends in trouble.

If your friend is so cheap and goes to you for his advertising instead of a pro he is the one that is doing harm to his own business. If you put crap up for a sign then don't be suprised when your results are crap too.

Who the HELL are you to make such a Statement.?.

'Oh Yea, the defining voice in what a "BAD MOTHER IS" !!!

Exactly what do you base your statement on?
Get a Life....

 

[madisonsignguy]

I base my statement on the word PROFESSIONALS.

There is a huge difference between a PROFFESIONAL that has had training and an amateur that has none.


If you had to have surgery would you go to a guy who happened to buy someone medical equipment on ebay and let him operate on you?

Would you let a guy who bought a hammer at home depot build your house?

Hmm lets see minor leagues vs the major leagues...... College vs. the NBA..... should I go on???

 

[Bradster941]

I base my statement on the word PROFESSIONALS.

There is a huge difference between a PROFFESIONAL that has had training and an amateur that has none.


If you had to have surgery would you go to a guy who happened to buy someone medical equipment on ebay and let him operate on you?

Would you let a guy who bought a hammer at home depot build your house?

Hmm lets see minor leagues vs the major leagues...... College vs. the NBA..... should I go on???

Yes, you should, lets start by posting some of your work for everyone to see, tear apart.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Am I wasting my time on this thread? This seems to have strayed. Guess I should have read all the threads, thought I was being helpful. One last sample, maybe it will help another newbie.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

This sample shows the jpeg in the background (as a template) made lighter to make it easier to trace. The thin black lines are my vector paths so that this person can cut this out of vinyl or output at any size without a loss in quality.