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RIP Software Suggestions

Mega-Tech

Mega-Tech

New Member
Hey everyone!

So we're a relatively new in the fleet graphics business. We've been around for almost 30 years in the public safety industry, and we extended our reach into the vehicle graphics business. We've been at it for almost 2 years now. Learnt alot in that time, much of it started pretty overwhelming but we've come a long way.

We've been using Flexi for that entire time, but too many bugs, crashes and idiosyncrasies with that software. It's time to look forward to something more stable. The last straw was when an update basically knocked us offline from producing graphics, and even though Flexi provided us with a patch, it's still left it a pretty broken mess requiring alot of workarounds.

I've been doing a fair bit of research into RIP software, but wanted to get some more experienced points of views.

The only trial software I've tried so far is Onyx, but because it's not digitally signed, it creates its own set of issues in our corporate network environment. Onyx's solution is to turn off Windows security features. Really? All that money they're asking for, and they can't even digitally sign their software?

Our needs are pretty straightforward... one printer (HP Latex 360), one cutter (Summa T-Series S140)

  • ColorGate Production Server doesn't support our cutter, so that's out I guess.
  • Flexi is the worst written software I've ever had the pleasure of using in my 30 years of using computers.
  • Onyx, well, my issues were stated above.
Any recommendations I should look at for a Windows based computer?

Thank you very much!
 
C

clarizeyale

New Member
I use Flexi 12 with pretty much the same set up as you (but we also made my computer a super computer since I handle large files) and the only issue I really have is when the license renews, it tends to close on its own (or maybe it's me?). I've made good habits to save my files (like everyone should) but don't run into bugs or crashes like you mentioned... I'm curious to know what you do and how it happens.

Only other rip I use is onyx thrive for our FB550 and it's an interesting set up as well. I set up the EPS files in illustrator for this.

I'm not IT savvy but both programs have been very easy for me to use.
 
Mega-Tech

Mega-Tech

New Member
clarizeyale said:
I'm curious to know what you do and how it happens.
Click to expand...

Yesterday, out of the blue, it appears Flexi updated itself. Now when we send a job that worked the day previously, it refuses to generate a cut file to go with it. Other times the printer would simply disappear from the rip and print window. I spent 3 hours on the phone with their support team today, and the only solution was a patch and to disable some functionality (turn off TCP/IP communication between design and production manager) which causes the production manager to crash (more) sporadically, and design requires a three-finger solute to end task it.

Also now, design won't read the media size from the printer, but production manager does. So yet another required workaround involves using production manager to read the media width, and the operator having to manually type in the width before sending it off to production manager.

The computer it's running on is no slouch, I built it purposefully just for production with design being done on another machine.

In order to rule the computer and OS out, I installed it on another computer, with even high specs, and the same issues were still present.

While I appreciate Flexi support spent the time with me trying to solve the problem, the problem wasn't really resolved, and workflow is more of a mess for the person doing production.
 
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Santimus

Santimus

Member
We have a Windows set-up here and we also have the same 2 machines- Latex360 and Summa S2 T series 140. We run Wasatch 7.1 just fine for our printing and print/cutting needs
 
J

jimdtg

Newbie
Should try SignLab from CADlink, it supports both of your printer and cutter. Trial version is available on CADlink website.
 
FatCat

FatCat

New Member
Been a fairly happy Wasatch user for almost 9 years. Rock solid, handles up to 4 units on the regular license with the option to add more down the road. Prints and colors are great, I think far better than Flexi files I've had run by comparison, but to each his own.

https://www.wasatch.com/softripmain.html
 
A

AF

New Member
Just get Colorgate. It works flawlessly with the Summa. If you get a trial dongle, make sure they include the Summa driver.
 
A

Andy D

Active Member
Mega-Tech said:
Flexi is the worst written software I've ever had the pleasure of using in my 30 years of using computers.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100%! I have been forced to use Flexi for about a year now and still get screwed over on a daily biases by Flexi's ass-backwards design and rip buggy BS.
My set up of choice is Corel Draw with Onyx. Onyx is a very powerful rip program, that IMHO, has the best:
1. color profiling.
2. set up to archive jobs rip info for future use.
3. make adjustments on the fly.
and many more properties that I can't think of right now.
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
Onyx is great but I don't think you need a RIP with high end features for an HP 360 since it does all the profiling and media sets on the printer. Not sure why turning off UAC is such a big deal to be honest if it's on a PC that is just a rip station.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
FYI for onyx you only need to turn of your security for installation. That’s it. You turn it back on after you installed it.
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
Nah you're meant to leave UAC off. You're right about any anti virus.

Q: How do I change User Account Control to “Never Notify?”
A: User Account Control is a security feature added to Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 and 10 which helps prevent unauthorized changes to the computer. Unfortunately, it prevents ONYX from functioning properly and must be set to “Never Notify.”
 
P

Pitzu

New Member
Usually UAC can cause problems in some Java apllications and Onyx is one of them. But that doesn't make Onyx a bad software RIP. It's still one of the best in the industry.
Caldera is a also a good RIP software, but if I'm not mistaken, It's only for Linux and Mac OS.
We've used Flexi for many years. Indeed, we had some sudden CPSI crashes from time to time, but we knew what to do to avoid them. We still love it. It's easy to use, all settings in one window using tabs, just plain simple.
We've upgraded to Flexi v12 and it seems the crashes were fixed. For cutting purposes we use the cutter's software, since it has an integrated CorelDRAW interface.
I don't think there is a bug free software on the planet. Windows has crashes and gets patched every day and we're still using it. I'm sure they are doing the best they can.
 
J

jimdtg

Newbie
Mega-Tech said:
Yesterday, out of the blue, it appears Flexi updated itself. Now when we send a job that worked the day previously, it refuses to generate a cut file to go with it. Other times the printer would simply disappear from the rip and print window. I spent 3 hours on the phone with their support team today, and the only solution was a patch and to disable some functionality (turn off TCP/IP communication between design and production manager) which causes the production manager to crash (more) sporadically, and design requires a three-finger solute to end task it.

Also now, design won't read the media size from the printer, but production manager does. So yet another required workaround involves using production manager to read the media width, and the operator having to manually type in the width before sending it off to production manager.

The computer it's running on is no slouch, I built it purposefully just for production with design being done on another machine.

In order to rule the computer and OS out, I installed it on another computer, with even high specs, and the same issues were still present.

While I appreciate Flexi support spent the time with me trying to solve the problem, the problem wasn't really resolved, and workflow is more of a mess for the person doing production.
Click to expand...

Which Flexi version are you using?
 
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