Total Garbage!

[Printsol]

Printsol..... because none of that Adobe software is going to do anything for actually running a wide format printer or cutter. While I defend Flexi, we do very very little actual design work in it. The text tools are pretty nice but other than some basic text layout most anyone knows that any real design work is being done in Adobe (or Corel).

Yep. That’s why I said Onyx + Illy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bleemus]

Illy and Vinylmaster Pro. Nuff said.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I give a huge thumbs up to a virtual machine environment for Flexi!

If one can't support a physical dedicated machine, this is the second best way to go.

The other good thing, is that it gives a much more stable environment to run legacy programs. I'm still able to run Win 98 OS and associated programs and that OS has been EOL since 2006.

It's also good because it's a sandboxed file and portable. I can take it to any machine (Windows, Mac or Linux) I want to upgrade without having to reinstall anything. It's all ready to go. There really is no downside to using a RIP in a VM especially if you have lots of RAM.

Be careful on this one. It does have it's limitations. Sometimes switching it to a vastly different computer will trigger the need to re-activate Windows and/or Adobe products. So it's "portability" with limitations. Also, it depends if the VM software is cross platform. VBox and VMWare are, but Parallels (a popular budget friendly Mac VM software) is not (to my knowledge).

Also, don't just focus on the RAM. Have to have a good processor and video card as well as those too are shared.

Now, on most new versions of VM software, if you have 2 video cards (and that video card is supported in the guest), you can pass one of them into the VM and use it directly.

 

[K Chez]

So, an update - somewhat. I had come to find that the USB-B plug on the plotter had been damaged by the previous owner and the plug in port on the plotter was extremely loose. (opened up the machine and the plug is connected directly to the circuit board - was hoping for a ribbon plug connection, but no dice.) Thinking it might be a communication issue because of this, I ditched the USB connection and used the serial port on the machine with a USB to serial adapter cable and the file not getting to the plotter problem that was persistent before is now gone, but after running three successful cut jobs, the fourth stopped in the middle of the second segment again. I asked this in the Mutoh forum, but has anyone had an issue with the plotter stopping due to a motor error from the machine yanking the roll too hard? I've set every setting I can find on the plotter itself and in Flexi to slow down the cutting to 20 cm/sec. but any front to back movement of the material in the plotter is always at what seems like that fastest it can possibly go - no setting changes that I've been able to find have changed it. One job had 2 8 foot long print runs - so when there is usually that much material going through the machine, I'll roll it up on a core so I can get it tracking straight and it doesn't kink up. Well, the plotter runs so fast that keeping the roll on the rollers is pretty much impossible. If this happens on my Roland CX-300, (too heavy of a roll with not enough material unwound) the machine will stop and give a motor error code and you have to restart the machine. The Value Cut just stops in the middle of the cut like it's finished. Still searching...

 

[ams]

Industry standard? Uh Corel Draw and Illustrator are the industry standard.

 

[AKwrapguy]

So, an update - somewhat. I had come to find that the USB-B plug on the plotter had been damaged by the previous owner and the plug in port on the plotter was extremely loose. (opened up the machine and the plug is connected directly to the circuit board - was hoping for a ribbon plug connection, but no dice.) Thinking it might be a communication issue because of this, I ditched the USB connection and used the serial port on the machine with a USB to serial adapter cable and the file not getting to the plotter problem that was persistent before is now gone, but after running three successful cut jobs, the fourth stopped in the middle of the second segment again. I asked this in the Mutoh forum, but has anyone had an issue with the plotter stopping due to a motor error from the machine yanking the roll too hard? I've set every setting I can find on the plotter itself and in Flexi to slow down the cutting to 20 cm/sec. but any front to back movement of the material in the plotter is always at what seems like that fastest it can possibly go - no setting changes that I've been able to find have changed it. One job had 2 8 foot long print runs - so when there is usually that much material going through the machine, I'll roll it up on a core so I can get it tracking straight and it doesn't kink up. Well, the plotter runs so fast that keeping the roll on the rollers is pretty much impossible. If this happens on my Roland CX-300, (too heavy of a roll with not enough material unwound) the machine will stop and give a motor error code and you have to restart the machine. The Value Cut just stops in the middle of the cut like it's finished. Still searching...

So Flexi not the issue....., maybe you should apologize to Flexi, hold on they're sitting right here next to me.

 

[GAC05]

Corel is awesome, Illustrator is awesome, Flexi is..........oh well, two out of three is not bad.

 

[nomadme]

well, you can't really compare the Corel and Illustrator to RIP software, maybe you can compare Corel to Illustrator.

These are totally in a different category of softwares.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

well, you can't really compare the Corel and Illustrator to RIP software, maybe you can compare Corel to Illustrator.

These are totally in a different category of softwares.

If it was RIP only, I would agree with that. Once they started doing design included, that made that portion fair game for comparison.

In fact, they actually make this claim "Flexi is the industry-standard for sign-specific design tools, RIP software, print-and-cut software, and direct vinyl cutting."

It appears that they feel very proud of their design tools, not only do they list it with the production capabilities of the software, but they also list it first. I would say that it's up for comparison in that regard.

 

[ams]

If it was RIP only, I would agree with that. Once they started doing design included, that made that portion fair game for comparison.

In fact, they actually make this claim "Flexi is the industry-standard for sign-specific design tools, RIP software, print-and-cut software, and direct vinyl cutting."

It appears that they feel very proud of their design tools, not only do they list it with the production capabilities of the software, but they also list it first. I would say that it's up for comparison in that regard.

They shouldn't make that false claim, because if you look in the Corel VS Adobe thread and also what software do you use, 90% of users are split between Corel and Adobe. Hardly a mention of Flexi anywhere. With most of us being sign professionals, it's a fair judge of what is industry standard. I don't think Corel or Adobe is higher ranked they are about equal. Adobe is taught in schools where Corel isn't hardly. But sign companies will generally pick up Corel and use it, where the employees they hire all have Adobe experience.

 

[d fleming]

Used flexi in the past, just not my cup of tea. Have many friends that use it with no issues. Personally I use signlab and it does all I need with a minimum of trouble over the years. I also have corel and illy and ps. All have their uses but SL is my main program.

 

[K Chez]

i have used flexisign since early 90's, it has had issues but i have been running flexipro 10 for years flawlessly. I'm thinkin the guy in the mirror is to blame.....

So I guess the guy in the mirror is somehow sneaking into the program and disabling the cutting parameters that I set (speed/cut pressure/etc.) in the RIP window and enabling the default settings in Production Manager that I turned off every time I send a file to print without telling me? According to Flexi, if the contour cutting parameters are checked in the RIP & Print window, they take precedent over Prod. Mgr defaults or machine settings. In the exact words of the tech, "Never seen this before, I don't know why that is happening". But I'm sure it's me.

 

[thezigman]

I have been using Flexi 12 with windows 10 on a Lenovo laptop for the past few years (since I got the free upgrade from win8) without any issues. It has always worked great for me.

 

[greg nokes]

I give a huge thumbs up to a virtual machine environment for Flexi! When we bought our Mutoh package, including the Valuejet and Valuecut and Flexi, from Fellers a couple years ago they told us we would have to buy a dedicated computer. it was just after Windows 10 came out and we weren't sure even what the computer would come with.

I have a service manual that I bought for my BMW that uses a Windows 98 VMWare virtual machine to run it. It was very confusing the first time I ran it when a Windows 98 desktop popped up that was basically just a window I could minimize and get back to my normal Windows 10 desktop. I want to try to install and old version of Flexisign 8.6 that only worked well on Windows 98/2000 or XP with an updated driver on my Windows 7 or 10 computer using a virtual machine like my BMW service manual does. Do I already have a virtual machine for Windows 98 I can use on my computer for Flexi since that BMW service manual already runs on it on my computer as is, or will I need to install another virtual machine for the Flexi install?

Can you please send me any info you have from installing and running your virtual machine to ercrwe@gmail.com? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, I basically know just enough to use my computer while making it dangerous and unstable at anytime I try something new.

I wish I knew a 10 year old kid I could get to explain this all to me or better yet just fix it for me. I now know what my parents went thru when I was a kid playing video games with them for the 1st time, where they would spend the entire time staring at the controller confused. Compared to when you are a kid growing up with the current tech it all becomes first nature and makes instant sense as things grow and change. Why does it seem the older I get the harder it is for me to learn new things and the more I want things especially when it comes to my computer to just stay the same. I miss the days when I upgraded to Windows XP and for the first time Windows began to recognize new devices and software then search the net and install it's own drivers when required. Unfortunately I think its been all these years of everything working fine and now for the 1st time since 2003 I am having to change my system that I feel completely lost and it all seems much harder than it is making me afraid of new tech things.

 

[greg nokes]

Anyone know what the Flexi v8.6 dongle looks like? Is it the same as the V6.5 HASP device or is it a tiny black square attached to a USB plug?

 

[Fine Designs]

Have always used Flexisign and now have Flexi 12 its great!

 

[mfatty500]

Anyone know what the Flexi v8.6 dongle looks like? Is it the same as the V6.5 HASP device or is it a tiny black square attached to a USB plug?