Rip Software

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Hello,
I started working for this company a couple months ago. We mainly do Traffic Signage as well as the occasional logo, sticker, door decals, banner. The owner brought me on to kind of step up the abilities of the sign shop. We went to SGIA last week and bought a HP Latex L360. So Stoked to get it in the shop and play around with it. Right now all we have is a 54" Graphtec Plotter, that we do everything on. We use the adobe suite to design and use FlexiPro8 for sign design and to cut. We did purchase an upgrade for flexi when we bought the printer to bring it up to par for the printer. They need flexi ID numbers so I sent a screen shot of the about page. WE HAVE PIRATED FLEXI SOFTWARE. I don't think the owner knows this. I believe the previous sign guy told her they got it for free and just installed it himself. They will not upgrade a pirated version of software. So here is my issue.
I have plenty of design software. Flexi8 works great for everything we need and anything we can't do there we can do in photoshop or illustrator. But I won't be able to print anything. The dealer will work with me on the new price, for a different software program.
I need a new rip software. What does everyone use for their rip software. Should I just tell her we need to buy the latest full version of flexi. Or do I just get the cheaper version and use it to rip? Not really sure I want to run two different versions of flexi on my computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AF]

Get demo versions of at least 3 or 4 rips and put some time in on each one. You will find out which one you like best and which ones you can't tolerate. Many of the rip suppliers offer "HP" value packs that are well priced and upgradable down the line as you need more functionality. I would suggest that you test out RIPs that have the latest version of APPE so that you can process PDF files with no surprises. And for certain make sure the print-cut workflow of the rip works flawlessly with your Graphtec.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Get demo versions of at least 3 or 4 rips and put some time in on each one. You will find out which one you like best and which ones you can't tolerate. Many of the rip suppliers offer "HP" value packs that are well priced and upgradable down the line as you need more functionality. I would suggest that you test out RIPs that have the latest version of APPE so that you can process PDF files with no surprises. And for certain make sure the print-cut workflow of the rip works flawlessly with your Graphtec.

Flawlessly? Is this possible.

At my old shop we had a L25500 and had flexiPro and a Graphtec. I remember I used to Print with Flexi using Cutting Master Reg mark from Illustrator using flexi to print and then I used to have to cut using cutting master from illustrator. This was the only way I could get it to cut.

 

[player]

Illegal software is just that.

You have exposed your company's owners to criminal charges and perhaps jail time.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Illegal software is just that.

You have exposed your company's owners to criminal charges and perhaps jail time.

Yea I got it. Just started a month ago and nobody here knew. The previous shop manager loaded it for his own use. Now I am wondering what some other people are using and like. I'm not asking how much trouble we will get in. Thanks for your time.

 

[dypinc]

Make sure you get some demos of higher end RIPs like ColorGate, Fiery XF, as well as the lower end ones like Flexi and Onyx. You will find the higher end RIPs a breeze to work with while the lower end ones are slow, controls scattered about and a can be a pain to get good color especially if you want to print spot colors the way they should be printed. You also need to find out where you want to go color management wise, creating you own high quality profiles or rely on what you can download that may or may not be very color accurate. And as mentioned before if you going to be printing any kind of transparencies or none flattened PDFs make sure you RIP has the latest Adobe PDF Print Engine.

 

[GAC05]

You could try out Flexi's subscription program - rent it by the month and see if it does what you need it to do.
I am not a big Flexi fan but it works well enough to make money with....

wayne k
guam usa

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

What is a good rip software that I can use with a PC. I don't have a mac and I don't want to convert a computer to run on Linux. What are my options? I was looking at Caldera and really liked the Visual but it only runs on Mac. What is comparable?

 

[SightLine]

I know many love to hate it but Flexi Pro does work great if you set it up right. Not sure why some cannot use it for print/cut with their Graphtec. We have used Flexi for years with Mimaki, Epson Stylus Pro, and Gerber Edge printers and with Mimaki, Summa, and Allen Datagraph cutters. On all we have been able to add contour cuts within Flexi and it prints the right type of cut marks for whatever cutter we are using. Then take the print, load it into the cutter and send the cut job from within Production Manager. It works great! I've tried Onyx and did not like that much - a lot more steps and less flexibility to do the same thing. Flexi lets us do it all in one program fairly seamlessly. Also if you invest in an i1 Pro, Flexi Production Manager has full profile creation built in (not an expensive add on or yet another program). With that you can have fantastic color, much better than stock profiles (that are optimized for some other printer in some other environment) will give. Also - Flexi does indeed use the official native Adobe Print Engine as the rip core. The older versions used Adobe CPSI while (I think from version 10 and up) current versions of Flexi uses Adobe APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine). It seems that most either love or hate Flexi though.

I also don't personally consider Flexi a "lower end" RIP, its been being developed for 10+ years. Looking at most other RIP software you will also see (check out http://w3.efi.com/fiery-wide-format/product-overview/xf-options) that almost no features are included. All the features are "options" that have an extra cost, even adding additional printers or devices, color profiling, etc all add to your costs.

If you have been using Flexi and are comfortable using it then you also have the advantage of no learning curve. One thing you can do to dramatically reduce the cost to get into a current version is to find a legitimate prior version for sale then pay the upgrade costs. Or if the used copy you get supports the printer and cutter you could run it as is. If you have "bought" the upgrade for Flexi already as you mentioned then finding a used copy of Flexi 8.0 to 8.6v2 would be a good option. You could also look at Flexi's "rental" options as well where you just pay monthly or annually to run it which has no up front costs, just if you stop paying, it stops working (and of course your fs files are immediately useless). On that note I think SAi should make it so that if a shop decides to discontinue paying monthly that Flexi would still run but would not be able to save, print, or cut - you could just open and export existing files. I think that would make it much more palatable. I prefer the outright purchase of software myself so I can run it forever if I want. Anyways that's my two cents.... Also for what its worth there is even a legitimate (has the USB dongle) copy of Flexi 10 on ebay right now for $1200 or Best Offer, you would still need to pay to upgrade to the most current version (if needed or desired, Flexi 10 might support your machines, if so it would probably be fine to not even upgrade it).

 

[Steph_Stamm]

As GAC05 said, you can try the Flexi subscription. You get everything for as little as $50/month - RIP and Print, print and cut, design... you don't have to sacrifice features. You can try it for a couple of months to see if you like it at the $60/month level, then switch to the annual commitment (still paid monthly) for $50/month if you like what you see. I suggest contacting the reseller you've been working with for more information. You can also reach SAi at 1800.229.9066 x111 or read more at www.thinksai.com/flexisubscriptions.

PS - Thanks for making the software legal!

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

I know many love to hate it but Flexi Pro does work great if you set it up right. Not sure why some cannot use it for print/cut with their Graphtec. We have used Flexi for years with Mimaki, Epson Stylus Pro, and Gerber Edge printers and with Mimaki, Summa, and Allen Datagraph cutters. On all we have been able to add contour cuts within Flexi and it prints the right type of cut marks for whatever cutter we are using. Then take the print, load it into the cutter and send the cut job from within Production Manager. It works great! I've tried Onyx and did not like that much - a lot more steps and less flexibility to do the same thing. Flexi lets us do it all in one program fairly seamlessly. Also if you invest in an i1 Pro, Flexi Production Manager has full profile creation built in (not an expensive add on or yet another program). With that you can have fantastic color, much better than stock profiles (that are optimized for some other printer in some other environment) will give. Also - Flexi does indeed use the official native Adobe Print Engine as the rip core. The older versions used Adobe CPSI while (I think from version 10 and up) current versions of Flexi uses Adobe APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine). It seems that most either love or hate Flexi though.

I also don't personally consider Flexi a "lower end" RIP, its been being developed for 10+ years. Looking at most other RIP software you will also see (check out http://w3.efi.com/fiery-wide-format/product-overview/xf-options) that almost no features are included. All the features are "options" that have an extra cost, even adding additional printers or devices, color profiling, etc all add to your costs.

If you have been using Flexi and are comfortable using it then you also have the advantage of no learning curve. One thing you can do to dramatically reduce the cost to get into a current version is to find a legitimate prior version for sale then pay the upgrade costs. Or if the used copy you get supports the printer and cutter you could run it as is. If you have "bought" the upgrade for Flexi already as you mentioned then finding a used copy of Flexi 8.0 to 8.6v2 would be a good option. You could also look at Flexi's "rental" options as well where you just pay monthly or annually to run it which has no up front costs, just if you stop paying, it stops working (and of course your fs files are immediately useless). On that note I think SAi should make it so that if a shop decides to discontinue paying monthly that Flexi would still run but would not be able to save, print, or cut - you could just open and export existing files. I think that would make it much more palatable. I prefer the outright purchase of software myself so I can run it forever if I want. Anyways that's my two cents.... Also for what its worth there is even a legitimate (has the USB dongle) copy of Flexi 10 on ebay right now for $1200 or Best Offer, you would still need to pay to upgrade to the most current version (if needed or desired, Flexi 10 might support your machines, if so it would probably be fine to not even upgrade it).

This is what I am beginning to find out. All these rip companies give you the most basic form for some pretty crazy prices. Where Flexi has everything those rip softwares have. as well as a fully capable design studio. Flexi seems like the answer. I really like Caldera why not make a PC version.

 

[DIGIXTRA]

This is what I am beginning to find out. All these rip companies give you the most basic form for some pretty crazy prices. Where Flexi has everything those rip softwares have. as well as a fully capable design studio. Flexi seems like the answer. I really like Caldera why not make a PC version.

Go with your common sense...you get what you pay for. Why all of those big company always use expensive RIP like Onyx, Wasatch..etc? Remember you have to live with your decision...your boss will laugh because he does not have to pay a lot but you will have to work harder to learn/play with the software. My 2 cents.