Software Help Onyx vs Printfactory

[SignHouseNL]

Does anyone know the major difference between Onyx and Printfactory?
I have a Roland VG2 printer and Summa S2 plotter and would like a rip in which I can control both. I use a Windows platform.
I'm using Illustrator and Photoshop and Signlab as design software.

 

[Pauly]

Onyx.

But, do yourself a favour. Get a trial of both.
Onyx has a 30day free trial.
Get in touch with printfactory and see what they have to offer.


FYI as people get confused:
Trial - full software for a limited time (you could use it as a production software for a limited time as it's fully working)
Demo - limited functionality. (you cannot cannot use it for production as it will be heavily restricted)

 

[balstestrat]

Printfactory I think is more expensive but you can automate it a lot more. For example you can build you webshop to work with it and orders to come straight there etc etc. Lots more of that HC user stuff.

Just so you know you may have to make your own profiles for that Roland. So buy a spectro as well.

 

[FrankW]

Both RIP-softwares can drive your printer and your cutter for contour cutting. Both are not mentioned to drive a cutter for simple vinyl cutting.

Both softwares have different concepts and different advantages. Tiling in the PrintFactory-Editor is for example (my opinion) the best on the market, Onyx have for more printers a basic set of profiles. My company sells both.

 

[DAVID MARSHALL]

Have used both, now standardised on Print Factory. Great print page layout capabilities and frequent improvements at no charge with the "software as a service" model. Easy and accurate for creating profiles.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Have used both, now standardised on Print Factory. Great print page layout capabilities and frequent improvements at no charge with the "software as a service" model. Easy and accurate for creating profiles.

What do you pay per month for Print factory?

 

[DAVID MARSHALL]

It's handled in Oz through a distributor, it's about AUD120 per month for one printer and two cutters

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

That's not bad. I have been looking at their connect and the automation intrigues me, especially the cut path generation and paneling.

 

[Michael-Nola]

Very different products for very different uses. They're built completely different.

Onyx is an excellent option for many shops. It's built for straightforward wide format printing. Excellent support and documentation. It has a lot of wide format features other companies like to charge for (ink calculator, ink savings calibrations, rip/cut, contour nesting, etc).

Print Factory is the ultimate in control of complex outputs, automated color management trickery, analytic data tracking, trick impositions, and more. Hands down the most advanced system in features, automation, and server/client structure. If you like to get into automation or trick print jobs with layers and channel output control, this is the tool to do things others cannot. Another pro of using Print Factory is that their proofing software is very common in ad agencies. Using the same color management math is great for delivering the same output marketers proofed and adjusted in-house.

Over time, Onyx is less expensive and a great option for utility and cost. Print Factory has more power and can bring in more money if you'll leverage specialty jobs.

It's up to your style! I am a trainer for several rip systems, so that's my opinion from a lot of seat time.