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Trying to print from Illustrater

W

waximoff

New Member
I was at an open house today and with a "SAI" rep. I was explaining to him some of my problems bringing Illustrater files into flexi. He suggested that I try to print right from Illustrater.

Now I know that I had the option to create a "desktop driver" during my initial installation. Does anyone know where I can go in and create this now?

I have made a new printer profile but didn't see that option. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
P

ProWraps™

Guest
woah woah woah just a damn minute! there are NO problems with flexi! you better get your story straight cowboy.
 
Rodi

Rodi

New Member
Illustrator, for printing, is a PITA! While Illy does some great things, printing, IMHO is not one of them. The reason? My theroy, is unlike Freehand, Adobe also sold/sells PageMaker and InDesign… You gotta get the layout program to get the better printing. Pretty lame, still only single pages? They own Freehand, can't they make it work, or is it something else?
 
k.a.s.

k.a.s.

New Member
I print from Illy all the time, in fact I did not upgrade my flexi when I got my printer b/c my tech actully perfered to print from Illy. I just save a copy in a hot folder, open it in rasterlink and print. I'm no expert but it works great for me.

Kevin
 
Steve Rife

Steve Rife

New Member
Waximoff...
While in Production Manager 8.5v1 or later, select your printer and go to the Setup > Setup Properties menu option. "Install desktop printer" will be a button located in the first (Job Workflow) tab. This will add a shared printer in your "Printers and Faxes" folder on your PC. You will then be able to print directly from any application on your pc, regardless if it is graphic oriented or not.

Another nice function of this feature is that it creates the PostScript Printer Description file (PPD) on the fly after you select the button. This enables all ICC profiles you have currently installed for this printer at the time of selection to be "tagged" as well. You can choose the correct ICC in your application, like AI, without having to adjust your Default Job Properties in Production Manager... in short, if the ICC is installed, it will use it :).

Over time, if you install new ICCs for your setup, just follow the above steps in re-selecting "Install desktop printer" and the PPD will be updated with the changes.

Steven Rife
Beacon Graphics
www.beacongraphics.com
 
Last edited:
Steve Rife

Steve Rife

New Member
k.a.s. said:
I print from Illy all the time, in fact I did not upgrade my flexi when I got my printer b/c my tech actully perfered to print from Illy. I just save a copy in a hot folder, open it in rasterlink and print. I'm no expert but it works great for me.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Kevin...
Just FYI, technically you are printing to your Mimaki with Rasterlink, not Illustrator. :wink:

Steven Rife
Beacon Graphics
www.beacongraphics.com
 
allstargraphics

allstargraphics

New Member
We still use Flexi for diecut stuff, but for any printed stickers, we do it with Illustrator and Versaworks. Then we cut using cuttingmaster right out of illustrator (We have a graphtec).
 
Bigdawg

Bigdawg

Just Me
Rodi said:
Illustrator, for printing, is a PITA! While Illy does some great things, printing, IMHO is not one of them. The reason? My theroy, is unlike Freehand, Adobe also sold/sells PageMaker and InDesign… You gotta get the layout program to get the better printing. Pretty lame, still only single pages? They own Freehand, can't they make it work, or is it something else?
Click to expand...

Been in Illy since Illustrator 88

Printing did suck back then... not so much now and you can easily do multiple pages.

Still not a page layout program but the improvements over the years are tremendous.
 
Steve Rife

Steve Rife

New Member
Cutting Master 2, is a plug-in utility provided by Graphtec to enable their users to cut directly from either Corel or Illustrator. The macro it generates actually opens a Cut/Plot dialog within the native software to communicate with the output device. Flexi users should have no problems navigating the software since it also is manufactured by SAi.

Steven Rife
Beacon Graphics
www.beacongraphics.com
 
W

waximoff

New Member
Thanks steve.. I actually just grabbed that. When I met the SAI rep at an open house he was saying that I could PRINT right from Illustrator too, just using the production manager.
 
W

waximoff

New Member
synergy_jim said:
Illy Cs4 has multipage printing....

But flexi is by far superior in every aspect.....



:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

I know that that Flexi has its uses, but for what I'm doing it is just a step i'd rather cutout. I do all my artwork in Illy, then open the file on another comp with flexi, after (and if) it opens, I spend another 45 min just deleting all the masks, changing colors, and selecting cut lines. I cant move anything in flexi (cause flexi takes all my groups away) so my nesting already done in Illy. So im just looking for a way to get into production mgr from illy.. I was told it could be done.
 
W

waximoff

New Member
Steve Rife said:
Waximoff...
While in Production Manager 8.5v1 or later, select your printer and go to the Setup > Setup Properties menu option. "Install desktop printer" will be a button located in the first (Job Workflow) tab. This will add a shared printer in your "Printers and Faxes" folder on your PC. You will then be able to print directly from any application on your pc, regardless if it is graphic oriented or not.

Another nice function of this feature is that it creates the PostScript Printer Description file (PPD) on the fly after you select the button. This enables all ICC profiles you have currently installed for this printer at the time of selection to be "tagged" as well. You can choose the correct ICC in your application, like AI, without having to adjust your Default Job Properties in Production Manager... in short, if the ICC is installed, it will use it :).

Over time, if you install new ICCs for your setup, just follow the above steps in re-selecting "Install desktop printer" and the PPD will be updated with the changes.

Steven Rife
Beacon Graphics
www.beacongraphics.com
Click to expand...

Thanks! i'm trying it now
 
Sheila J Roberts

Sheila J Roberts

New Member
Print Cut in Illustrator

We print/cut from Illustrator files all the time. We created a "Color" swatch called CutContour and saved it in the swatch index. With this you can make any line a cut contour that versaworks recognizes. We do the majority of our designing in illustrator. The only time we dont use it is if we need to manipulate the photo images. Save files as an eps and import them to versaworks to print. We do have trouble with die cutting printed magnetic, but we were never told that the XC540 will cut magnetic. We just finished printing and cutting the reflective vinyl for 4 ambulances. No pictures yet because someone else is doing the install. But they all came out fabulous. You just have to make sure you use the correct profile and have your cut configuration right. We were having some problems with our laserjet but a quick download of a post script printer driver from HP fixed that too.
 
M

mark in tx

New Member
What is the problem you are having printing an Illustrator file with Flexi?

I do it with no problems.

I make sure all fonts are outlined, then I save as an AI 8 file.

Seriously, never had a problem after I figured out to do those 2 things.
 
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