Question New Rip Software

[Graphic Extremes]

I have heard a lot of complaints for Versaworks and ONYX, with having problem handling certain files depending on size of file and if file has any transparencies.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what software to use as I am looking at buying a new machine.

 

[brdesign]

Onyx would be my first choice for the rip software. The older versions used to have issues with transparency files, so my standard procedure used to be to convert everything I didn't design myself to a .tiff file before ripping. The newer versions with the Adobe PDF Print Engine have fixed those issues and I rarely have any problems ripping directly from customer-supplied .pdf files. Since you mention Versaworks I assume you are looking at a Roland since Versaworks only works with Roland printers, Onyx will work with just about any printer. Onyx may have fewer premade profiles available for the Roland compared to Versawork, but Onyx has a lot more options for building your own profiles. Versaworks may be easier to learn if you are new to printing as it doesn't have as many advanced options as Onyx.

 

[Graphic Extremes]

Thank you for the reply, I am looking at a Roland and an Epson, but leaning more towards the Epson. i have a lot of Roland supplies that I will be throwing out.

 

[FrankW]

Onyx is a software which has improved a lot during the last years. I like it a lot.

In addition, I would keep an eye on Aurelon PrintFactory too ( www.printfactory.cloud ). A software very easy to use is Flexi.

I do support for nearly 10 different RIP-Softwares, this three are my main recommendations for signmakers.

 

[netsol]

it seems to me flexi is the easiest to use, (might just be that it is what i am familiar with

but with sai flexi & enroute you can srnd your job to just about any printer/cutter/cnc

 

[Johnny Best]

Shiraz Software

 

[Montrealer]

I have heard a lot of complaints for Versaworks and ONYX, with having problem handling certain files depending on size of file and if file has any transparencies.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what software to use as I am looking at buying a new machine.

Hello im working as senior operator for 12 years in wide format printing, the best generic RIP software i think its Caldera, some printers dont allow to use generic RIP software like HP, you stuck with their software, so before purchase a printer be sure you can use generic rip software on it. Onyx i dont like it much because you have to profile everyjob in the quickset option and thats taking alot time espicially if you using alot different media, with Caldera you can preset your color match directly at infographics, than you found your generic profile and 1-2 correction and its done. and for Versawork i never use it, so i cant tell. Good luck

 

[P Wagner]

Hello im working as senior operator for 12 years in wide format printing, the best generic RIP software i think its Caldera, some printers dont allow to use generic RIP software like HP, you stuck with their software, so before purchase a printer be sure you can use generic rip software on it.

HP has Certified a number of 3rd-party RIP softwares for use with HP Latex printers (among others), including Caldera, Onyx, SAI, Ergosoft, and Print Factory among several others.

 

[Montrealer]

HP has Certified a number of 3rd-party RIP softwares for use with HP Latex printers (among others), including Caldera, Onyx, SAI, Ergosoft, and Print Factory among several others.

not for the HP Indigo series. i mean its not standar like most other brands. Im not a fan of HP, their ink is fragile, and its always broken, im more a Agfa fan.

 

[Bobby H]

We have Onyx Thrive driving two HP printers and RasterLink Pro driving a Mimaki flatbed. Both applications have Adobe-certified PDF print engines. I haven't had any serious complaints about either RIP's ability to handle complicated Adobe Illustrator artwork containing things like transparency effects, complex gradients, free-form gradients, etc. I use CorelDRAW a lot for various design tasks, but I tend to hop the artwork through Illustrator (or just use Illustrator in the first place) if the design has any unusual gradients or transparency effects. All too often CorelDRAW will rasterize those kinds of effects in an exported PDF or AI file.

 

[FrankW]

We have Onyx Thrive driving two HP printers and RasterLink Pro driving a Mimaki flatbed. Both applications have Adobe-certified PDF print engines.

Fun Fact: I had PDF-Files in the past better handled by the Aurelon RIP-Engine than the Adobe APPE-Engine, specially with some font issues.

 

[Bobby H]

I'm not familiar with Aurelon's PDF engine. The Adobe-branded PDF engines do get updated in the Onyx Thrive and RasterLink Pro installations. We output a LOT of Adobe-centric artwork either created in-house or by other clients. I haven't had any serious problems, even when using new features in a new release of Adobe Illustrator.

Regarding fonts, in my own design work I almost always convert any live type objects to raw vector outlines when making a design "final." If I open up that file 10 years from now I'm not going to feel like hunting down a particular flavor of a certain typeface to make that file open accurately. It's pretty common for fonts to be updated numerous times. The version of Arial in Windows 11 is far different from the one bundled in Windows XP. It's also common for multiple vendors to make their own versions of the same typeface.

With live type objects the same exact font file has to be installed in the computer that was used when the art file was originally created. That's not easy to do when a several years or even over a decade worth of time has passed. People change computers every few years. Applications get upgraded more frequently. Yet the way those applications handle type objects can change in big ways. I've opened ancient CorelDRAW CDR files with live text on path effects only to see the results go absolutely haywire even when I had the same exact font files installed. By the end of the 1990's I was done with keeping live font objects in my layouts unless I had a very good reason to make an exception.

Even now keeping live font objects in layouts is a liability. Pretty soon Adobe is going to kill Postscript Type 1 font support in its applications (even though they're the ones who created Postscript). That's not so great for old timers like me who first learned Illustrator in the 1990's. All of the bundled fonts that came with the application were Type 1 fonts. At the very least, those of us who have substantial collections of old T1 fonts will need to get conversion software in order to keep using those still valuable fonts. I'm even more glad I got into the habit of converting live type objects to outlines.

OTF Variable Fonts are another issue. I almost always have to convert those live type objects to outlines prior to production. More often than not OTF Variable Fonts have glyphs that contain overlapping paths. That's a GIANT freaking problem when cutting lettering out of vinyl or routing channel letter faces or backs. It's easy to remove those overlaps within Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. But the user has to remember to do it. Converting the type to outlines is one step in that process to weld over those overlaps.