I Built My Own Sign Software Using AI. So Should You.

[Bobby H]

I've been using CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator alongside each other for over 30 years. Both may technically be the same kind of application, but each has a slew of unique features. So I take advantage of the best of what both have to offer.

We have multiple licenses of Flexi at my workplace, but I don't use it on my workstation. Flexi is useful in production, but it's pretty limited in terms of design capabilities. The UI feels like going back to the 1990's.

 

[LizKeenan]

Well thats where you and I differ. I have worked across several softwares, and TO ME the value in the designer is the versatility in being able to use different softwares. For everything Print I would use Illustrator. For sign design, I would use flexi. I understand your point. And it has value, but this whole industry is based around making things work for you. Illustrator is not a hard software to use. If you need to unround a corner you just manipulate anchor points. Illustrator will unround corners that are already told that it HAS been rounded prior from said anchor point. So it depends on the users level of skill IMO. Does that mean it could have better tools? 1000% but I don't see how AI has any bearing on that fact.
THERE ISNT ANYTHING that building an AI based production merchant/softwre does that any other software on the market already does. There are several to choose from. I just don't get the push. Its not helping anything. And until AI perfects the workflow for any particular business, its always going to have some drawbacks in its workflow and how the users interact with said software.
To me it just seems like nerds keep wanting to slowly infiltrate and take over blue/yellow collar industries.. and honestly Im not here for it.

None of what you are saying is wrong, but I still think there are tools to be made. You are right, the examples I have given can be solved with using other tools, Astute has been especially helpful. However there are some that haven't been whipped up yet for super annoying edge cases. For example the below illustrates a script to produce paneling with versaworks/ onyx logic to visualize panels and overlaps while still being able to nest and label. This was created specifically for odd cuts to be nested to waste less material than rip paneling, and since they aren't rectangles you cannot pdf panel them easily, nor would it include the custom cuts and overlap bleed. Plus we use CutMaster so this way we can add the marks we need instead of cutting it on our print and cut Roland with their marks. Is this useful? To us, very. At large? Onyx is still an excellent paneler that I am sure most people are utilizing that just fine.

 

[Pauly]

I would love to see the code base of this app.

What stack is it running on?
Why did you choose the stack?
How did you deploy it?

Ive build many apps with AI.
I know what it can do when you have zero clue on how to code, and i know what i can do when you know what you're doing.

Its the same as print.
When you dont know "this looks good"
When you do "these reds are brown, missing nozzles, banding, blacks are green"

 

[Think713]

None of what you are saying is wrong, but I still think there are tools to be made. You are right, the examples I have given can be solved with using other tools, Astute has been especially helpful. However there are some that haven't been whipped up yet for super annoying edge cases. For example the below illustrates a script to produce paneling with versaworks/ onyx logic to visualize panels and overlaps while still being able to nest and label. This was created specifically for odd cuts to be nested to waste less material than rip paneling, and since they aren't rectangles you cannot pdf panel them easily, nor would it include the custom cuts and overlap bleed. Plus we use CutMaster so this way we can add the marks we need instead of cutting it on our print and cut Roland with their marks. Is this useful? To us, very. At large? Onyx is still an excellent paneler that I am sure most people are utilizing that just fine.

Anytime ive had to do overlaps like that I do them manually... I've never felt like I needed a script or ai to do that.