Outsourcing printing but contour cutting in house....advice

[Splash0321]

Sorry in advance if this confuses anyone.

I ventured into in-house printing in 2022 and had a roller coaster ride with that latex printer before sending it back just before the warranty expired. Since then I am able to sell almost all the same product by outsourcing. Its been a huge stress relief using signs365 but there are still some issues I am trying to work through. I place roughly 300 orders yearly with them and Its probably been about 95% problem free. The majority of the problems that do occur are related to contour cutting. Sometimes they are perfect, sometimes they are off by 1/8"-3/16" in either X or Y axis. I have a 1/8" bleed around the contour cut to help account for issues but for projects like contour cutting around text that is outlined, or stickers that have a white border the contour cutting being off is very noticeable and not acceptable. So Im now looking to contour cut in house for most of those project.

When I was printing and cutting through flexi it just sent the print and cut file for me and the registration marks were in the cut file. Now that I dont have the printer I am trying to figure out how to continue sending my outsourcing partner the print file, receive the printed product from them, then contour cut it myself. I have done a couple tests by drawing in the registration marks in the locations they would appear as if I printed them myself, sending to signs365, then cutting when it arrives here the same way I would have if I was printing it myself...but the process seems more involved that it should be. I still have my old printer on production manager so when I send a print/cut it creates a pdf to be printed but that pdf does not contain the registration marks, flexi is simply adding the reg marks to the print but not to the pdf itself. Im looking for a solution that would allow me to send a print/cut and the reg marks actually be in the pdf so I can send that off to be printed by signs 365 to without having to constantly draw in reg marks manually.

What is the best way to send a design with registration marks to an outsourced printer, then contour cut it yourself?

 

[d fleming]

If you are sending out 300+ projects a year to them it might just be time to bring it back in house on something hp didn't make.

 

[johnnysigns]

What kind of marks does your cutter require to operate?

 

[Saturn]

Or look for a different wholesale shop. If you're doing any amount of reorders, most little places would jump at the opportunity. I don't know what signs365 pricing is like, but I'm sure you can find something close, or be happy paying a little more for 100% satisfaction.

 

[johnnysigns]

Firesprint is worth looking at. They're members on here and they're well equipped.

 

[Splash0321]

Firesprint is worth looking at. They're members on here and they're well equipped.

From what I have seen Firesprint does not offer wrap vinyl or anything with air egress. Stickers and vinyl by the foot specifically says not for compound curves. Alot of what I sell is wraps for hoods/tailgates so wrap vinyl is a must. I have used firesprint for corrugated signs and pvc signs. Good quality and they do beat signs365 on those prices.

 

[Splash0321]

What kind of marks does your cutter require to operate?

Graphtec 4 point type 2 is what I have always used.

 

[Splash0321]

Or look for a different wholesale shop. If you're doing any amount of reorders, most little places would jump at the opportunity. I don't know what signs365 pricing is like, but I'm sure you can find something close, or be happy paying a little more for 100% satisfaction.

I'll check around. I cant really say negatives about signs365...with each issue I have they've always remedied it for me. The turnaround is quick on the initial orders and the ones they have had to redo but in an ecommerce world when someone orders something like a hood decal and I have signs365 print and contour cut it for me, drop ship to my customer...when its wrong it always happens to that one customer who is ready to just fire off a 1 star review because they wanted to get it installed "this weekend for a car show" and now I've messed up their plans. The process for me is constantly evolving because I'm all self taught and never worked for a company to see workflows and all that.

 

[Splash0321]

If you are sending out 300+ projects a year to them it might just be time to bring it back in house on something hp didn't make.

My experience with the HP700W, my first and only printer ever, scarred me. I've settled on outsourcing until i have enough work to justify two printers. I print on both black and white media so it would be nice to have one set up with white and the other with black. If a printer has any downtime then I have a backup.

It was honestly down more than it ran, I paid on it for more than a year and losing jobs and reputation because I had to cancel orders so frequently is what keeps me from thinking about a new one. It was a messy situation.

Flatbed UV printers have captured my attention so its possible I may go that route in the future.

 

[netsol]

My experience with the HP700W, my first and only printer ever, scarred me. I've settled on outsourcing until i have enough work to justify two printers. I print on both black and white media so it would be nice to have one set up with white and the other with black. If a printer has any downtime then I have a backup.

It was honestly down more than it ran, I paid on it for more than a year and losing jobs and reputation because I had to cancel orders so frequently is what keeps me from thinking about a new one. It was a messy situation.

Flatbed UV printers have captured my attention so its possible I may go that route in the future.

DON'T BUY AN HP NEXT TIME (?)

 

[netsol]

i would think if you can't work the bugs out of the process WHEN THE PRINTER IS IN THE SAME ROOM WITH YOU,
it would be difficult to sort it all out with the printing happening in a different time zone

 

[netsol]

think of all the variables, in a huge operation, where you have no control over WHAT a given job is printed on

 

[geezer]

In your design software add registration mark to your print. Than do a vector of the contour cut (s) and save. Bring the print back in house and try contour cutting with your vector file, if your cutter will recognize the registration marks. Maybe send off a small print to try?

 

[JBurton]

Graphtec 4 point type 2 is what I have always used.

Get cutting master for illustrator or corel.
In your files, you need to make the registration marks, then either 'convert stroke to outline' or 'convert outlines to objects'.
Whatever rip they may be using may interpret the thickness of the lines that corel or illy generates for reg marks different than what the graphtec expects to read.

 

[Saturn]

There's gotta be a smaller shop within your state that would jump at the chance for some steady orders. Either a small print shop, or a small wrap shop.

I get the appeal of wanting to keep control, but in this case it feels like the cons are as heavy as the pros. You can't reprint anything if they mess it up, you can't reprint anything if you mess it up. You still have to do production yourself, even though you've paid for someone else to do part of it. Turnaround time is not actually improved, etc.

Find a capable and hungry sole-proprietor in your next of the woods, and just start working on that relationship. Could be an easy win-win.

 

[Splash0321]

There's gotta be a smaller shop within your state that would jump at the chance for some steady orders. Either a small print shop, or a small wrap shop.

I get the appeal of wanting to keep control, but in this case it feels like the cons are as heavy as the pros. You can't reprint anything if they mess it up, you can't reprint anything if you mess it up. You still have to do production yourself, even though you've paid for someone else to do part of it. Turnaround time is not actually improved, etc.

Find a capable and hungry sole-proprietor in your next of the woods, and just start working on that relationship. Could be an easy win-win.

I’ll probably end up going this route. Thanks.