Newbie with several questions

[Bradster941]

Thanks GINO, at 42 years old I don’t get called young so much anymore.

No, I don’t like LIARS either, so I’ll ask one last time where KPC said;

“I'm going to be hurting the general public by someone paying me for a 1/2 quality sign.”

If it’s there somewhere and I missed it, then I apologize for accusing you of making it up.
If it’s not, then you in RED made a quote of KPCs words that he never spoke. That Sir, makes you the LIAR.

I could easily take your last post apart with cut and paste and make it look anyway I want just like you have done, with total disregard of how you meant it, but why waste my time?

Quote KPC. Right up front.

“What is this average Joe supposed to do? I'm not looking to do this as a business, so it isn't like I'm going to be hurting the general public by someone over paying me for a cheap quality sign. I just want to use the machine for advertising my current industrial coatings business.”

If you have a problem with that, then you have a problem with me. As stated I’m not in the sign business but am fascinated by it. I have a cheap’o plotter and enjoy trying to be creative and produce something of quality for myself, my wife’s car, and to date my neighbors boss which I checked here on Signs 101 with the other members not so much on design, but on price so that I wouldn’t be Low Balling legitimate established wonderful multi state businesses like yours.

So here we are, KPC wasn’t Signs 101 Politically Correct and you were quick to tear him a new one. Despite your comment on how you are so willing to help others, I see nowhere in this thread where you have offered anything in the arena of being “Helpful”. So don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.

On a closing note, the comments you made about and alluded to toward me are, well, upon reproach and I will not dignify them with a response. Your just trying to paint a picture that you want everyone else to see the way you wish them to see it like in post #7. Wolf Wolf.
I have been here long enough and made enough post that my “True Colors” and “Integrity” are well known among the members of tenure status and as for the rest, a simple search option of my name will reveal all post, ( good and bad), made by me for review for the remaining members to draw their own opinion.

Now, I ask again, where did KPC say;

“I'm going to be hurting the general public by someone paying me for a 1/2 quality sign.”

I would hate to think you manipulate this environment with a LIE.

That would make you, a, what’s the word?

 

[Dave Drane]

True, you don't even need to know how to spell to crank vynull out of a plotter.

:Big Laugh Jill, I think the term he used was "spit" a few stickers out. I detest that term, probably because when I entered this trade one had to actually learn letter construction first and then put it to good use.:Sleeping:

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

Working at Mcdonalds is just a job

Not when you have fifty people that want to eat :Big Laugh

 

[THATgirl]

Actually I know a few sign people whos jobs are 'just a job'. Nope they don't make beautiful hand crafted pieces of art....they are 'just signs' and they are making good money. And......in all honesty the most talented sign people I know are not making squat. Let's face it...most signs these days are 'just signs' and it is 'just a job' to the majority. To the few sign people who still have the passion for great looking signs...I understand the frustration with so many people coming into the business knowing nothing. But on the other hand......didn't we all start somewhere?
When I started handpainting in 76 I went and met all the other sign painters in the area. Most were very nice. One told me 'get out of the business before you even attempt to start. You will never make a living as it is a mans job.' Well...he made me mad and by telling me not to do it and that I 'couldn't' make a living at it....I wanted to prove him wrong which I have managed to do for the past 30 years. He went out of business a long time ago.
So I guess what I am attempting to say is don't be so snobbish to those trying to get into the business. Didn't you go watch and learn from other signpainters years ago? I know I did.

 

[KPC]

Hello all, I hope everyone had a good weekend. I haven't been on here to check the status of this thread in a few days.

It is nice to see that some people are opening up to this newbie. I appreciate that. I haven't had much time over the past few days to mess around with this machine so I can't add any good / bad news about how it is coming along.

As I've read over what some people have said, although it is nice to see some people are warming up, it is really hard to continue to comment on all this positively when in my eyes there is still so much negativity behind this ever growing thread.

As for the comments about bradster being the same person as myself, sorry but this just isn't the case. Although I don't know if this is forum policy or not, I'm sure the main admin can testify that we are not the same person. Either from IP addresses being from two different locations, or something. Yes you could go all CSI and say that someone I know is located where bradster is from, and I email that person and tell them what to post, etc... But the simple truth is that before joining this forum a few days ago, and a few days prior to that which I spent doing a little research about trying to figure this machine out on my own, I've never even knew this forum existed, let alone bradster himself.

I'm sure that the people who call me a liar will not see past this and further reinforce my cruel intent to single handedly destroy the sign making industry. mwahhahahaha.

That is a shame because the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth was that I picked up a machine, admittedly not knowing much at all about how to use it, I planned on using this machine to produce (decals) to slap on the side of my trucks / make small stickers to pass out at trade shows, have a stack of stickers sitting on the shelf at my shop and give them out if a customer wants one / two. If my family or friends wants some small stickers / decals made, I'd do it for little to no charge at all. After receiving the machine and spending a few days trying to figure it out on my own, I came to this forum frustrated and in search of some help.

Not some help in the form that I told some customers that I could produce a bunch of graphic degree student quality signs for their fleet of trucks, and seeing how I can't even get the machine to cut the simple sticker, I demand that everyone on this forum collectively drop what they are doing and bend over backwards to get me out of this rut.

I’m not in an immediate rut. I am frustrated because I couldn’t easily get the machine to cut out a few stickers / decals. I didn’t know anything about vectoring and such...

NO. In my eyes, I admittedly came to this forum frustrated and looking for a few people to say something on the lines of:

"Hi there newbie. Welcome to the forum. Looks like you’re having some difficulties with your new machine. Sometimes the best advice is to take a break from it for a little bit, grab a cup of coffee, and try it all again a few hours later. Also, good choice on that machine by the way. I'm sure you know that the machine is slightly outdated, but a few good things are that it is made by a reputable company, there are still plenty of sign shops using these which means parts are available for it, and is still a large enough machine that it will be something that you can grow into. As for the frustration your having, have no fear, you've come to the right place for help. Let us know what you’re having the most problem with and we'll do our best to get you straightened out."

I'm sure some of you looking at this from the prospective of taking the baby the hand and guiding them along. However with just about every forum that I've ever been to this is how everyone treats everyone.

I can speak with experience that on various industrial forums, I'm in a position with experience and there are newbie’s who come on and ask questions about buying some equipment and not being able to get it working. There are plenty and I can honestly say the majority of people including myself welcome these newbie’s, regardless how inexperienced even if they have nothing to add to the forum. As I've said on an earlier post, the only time which I would not offer any help, would be if the newbie asked if someone could help them hands-on either by the newbie visiting a working shop, or someone with experience going to the newbie.

In this case, both with me being the one that asked this question on this forum and being in the case on other forums where I have the experienced coating shop, I can understand how a experienced shop wants absolutely nothing to do with sharing their experience with a newbie. Even if the newbie offers $50-100 for their help, if the newbie does work for free for family and friends, from that they learned when shadowing the professional shop, that free work could potentially be profit which the shop now lost out on because the newbie did the work instead of the family /friends taking their business to the professionals. Whew that was a wayy too long sentence, but I believe it makes a point.

However, if a newbie asks for hands-on help on one of these industrial coatings, seldom do any of the professional shops start flaming and saying, bring your work to us you fool. The other amateurs, who know enough about coating to do their own work, albeit not a professional, are usually the ones to gladly speak up and say something on the lines of, hey newbie, I'm in your general area and I plan to be out in my garage coating a few parts this weekend. If you want to stop by I'll show ya' how to do it.

In this case, I being the experienced coater just keep my mouth shut simply because although I am unwilling to give hands-on advice / techniques, from a outside perspective, I think it is good that the amateurs who do their own coatings, are willing to help out the newbie’s who also want to do their own work.

To get back on topic with making decals / stickers I've already been told that they are "decals" but to me starting out, I want to produce a simple Sticker.

Essentially, I could have very well got away with purchasing one of those sticka machines at only a few hundred $$’s, but I figured that spending a little more for a machine that is capable of printing as well as cutting, might better serve me if not now, maybe down the road.

All the huff and puff about my lies and how I’m a fool for getting a machine which I want to “spit” out a few stickers, I don't know if I'm blind to my own demise but I simply can't figure out what is so terribly wrong with wanting to produce my own stickers / decals / and at most a banner for my own use when I get a little better at running the machine / software.

What I'm most astounded by is how I'm causing all of these problems by coming to this forum with little knowledge and asking for help with doing the most simple of functions with this machine.

How people can turn around me saying "the most simple of functions" to mean, oh making signs is a piece of cake, I can make them better than you, I'm a professional sign maker, any untrained person can go out buy a machine, join the sign industry and take over the world, is simply ridiculous!

I purchased a machine that although might be a piece of junk to the professional sign maker it is something that I can grow into. Right now, the machine is far more capable than myself, even if it was the worst design by Roland, the machine shouldn't have even been made, it was a waste of my money etc...

There are so many negative things said about me on here, I could spend another few pages worth of writing. No the machine is not going to be a substitute income for my coating shop. The machine and the idea of making stickers is a hobby. Something that maybe stemmed from childhood where I used to collect stickers and had several sticker books packed from begging to end.

Yes, many people and especially the queen bee look at this machine as my new “little toy” and guess what. Ding ding, you very well probably nailed it on the head.

As they say biggest difference between men and boys… is the price of their toys.

I never came to this forum claiming to be an expert sign maker. I also never said that I was going to use this machine to produce any signs for profit. The way I see it, is that just by owning this machine and using it to do my own decals that is plenty to be pined up on the dirt list of the professionals.

As I remember someone posting on this thread something on the lines that I’ve succeeded at not only making the environment ugly for the general public with my amateur decals slapped on the side of my work truck going down the road but I’ve also succeeded at taking away the profit from the professionals if I would have just took the work to them instead.

So if I never get out of this rut on the forum, oh well... It gets to the point that after you realize your damned regardless who you are, then you pick yourself up and move on. Sure, I will continue to make comments about things that people post against me simply because I don’t believe in walking away from a situation regardless how ridiculous it is.

So for the people who see past everything or simply will give me the “benefit of the doubt”. Thanks!

For the others who have nothing better to do than post comments to bring others down, maybe you should step up / grow up and act as the “professional level” that you say you are.


On a side note: if I would have spent the time that it took to write up this reply and put that towards honing my craft in this trade, there is no doubt that I’d be better than all of you combine and all of your customers would be MINE!! Just felt like stirring the pot a little. LOL :Big Laugh

Talk to you guys / gals later.

 

[Flame]

Holy mother of mercy... KPC you had better be a fast typer cuz that's one of THE largest posts I've ever seen! WOW...

Hey, I'm willing to help out a newbie. If you ever want advice just drop me a PM and I'll give you my e-mail or phone number. I know what it feels like to be totally new at this, and if it wasn't for friendly sign guys taking me by the hand, I'd never be where I'm at today.

Peace out girlscouts.:Big Laugh

 

[iSign]

As I remember someone posting on this thread something on the lines that I’ve succeeded at not only making the environment ugly for the general public with my amateur decals slapped on the side of my work truck going down the road but I’ve also succeeded at taking away the profit from the professionals if I would have just took the work to them instead.

I've followed this thread, & I believe your reference sounds closest to quoting me, so I'll reply as though you were.

But first, what I actually said was:

If you expect an hour of time from a professional would save you 2 weeks of fuking up... why don't you offer $100 for the training instead of acting like we owe it to you to give you an hour... or risk being insulted by you.

It's not that anyone's business is so fragile that you making crap stickers at any price (or no price) would ever hurt us... it's just that crap stickers shouldn't exist, they are pollution... just like you admittedly expect your own first attempt at your own truck signs to be.

Pride in painting your own living room (or wiring it) is one thing... but taking some misplaced pride in sticking crappy ineffective attempts at advertising on your company trucks, is not only misplaced pride, it is POOR BUSINESS!! Stick to the living room. Crappy signs are pollution & that hurts everyone!

I don't know, maybe you were actually referring to some other comment, but since I also consider ugly stickers to be an environmental parasite... I'll stand up & say so.

If you have a passion for your craft, seeing it done wrong, or done poorly would irritate you. Poorly coated industrial surfaces could tarnish the visual landscape for you if it assaults your sense of pride in doing your best in your chosen craft. Authors cringe at bad writing, artists cringe at bad art. If you want to do bad art, please do it in the living room & not where we have to see it.

It was never about the lost profits for us... (except maybe the free stickers for your friends & family... but only because when you mentioned that as an afterthought, it seemed contradictory to your earlier intentions) ...It's much more about the lost profits to you in settling for an inferior business identity.

Of course we all started somewhere & none of us started at the top of our game... but I think the majority of the seasoned professionals started by working for someone else & as a result, nobody was subjected to the results of sign projects completed without some form of professional training or supervision. I realize that you are looking for training, but not on design as I understand it.. & you yourself implied that you will do up your truck with what we would consider substandard signage.

There is nothing wrong with a hobby, or a prideful a DIY'er... but to sabatoge your own business... circumventing everything we've strived for decades to be able to offer others in your situation... it's not just bad business to do that to yourself, it's bad form to suggest it here.


Yes, the time spent on your reply (90% of which focused on your negative perspective regarding what you think is wrong with many of us) could have been better spent on any number of pro-active approaches to solving the task at hand.

...so, back to all the things my time could be better spent on!

 

[signage]

KPC try spending your time learning the software you have then coming back and asking the question. This forum will usually help those that try to help themselves. Keep coming back with negative bashing and learn nothing.

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Wow! I can't believe I just read this whole thread...I thought I had better things to do!
Time for a new comeptition on who can design the nicest all caps brush script red on white with no margins sign...just to get the creative juices flowing!

KPC, if you really want something nice, the idea is to pay someone who can design & create it. If you want something done by yourself, with limited experience, then by all means hope for the best, but don't expect to be spoon fed and have it all done for you. "You've got to give before you can get..." You cannot get quality with limited experience, as much as you may hope for it.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

As a merchant here I try to steer away from rocking the boat.

KPC, it appears you have spent quite a bit of time defending your position, right or wrong. But not once did you acknowledge my 2-3 posts which I think answered your question. Nor did you say if my or the other earlier posts were what you were looking to hear.

 

[KPC]

To everyone who has added good advice, I appreciate it. Today has been a pretty busy day so I wasn't able to spend any time messing around with the machine. Yes, I could have spent last night trying to learn about the machine, but I personally felt my side of the story needed said.

All that I'm concerned about at first is trying to make some simple stickers. As for the professional graphic design end of things, I doubt that is something that I will ever be able to succeed at. And that is perfectly fine too. Maybe I'll work with some friends who have formal art / graphic training to create the design, and I'll print & cut it on my own machine.

Over the years, I've done enough free refinishing for them that it is time they can pay me back. LOL

I'm not concerned about the lack of graphic design on my part. I'm just most concerned about how I wasn't able to get the machine to print and cut right off the bat.

But seeing how there have been good posts pointing me in the right direction, I'll be sure to re-read over the thread and take the advice about vectoring and do a little more research on my own.

As soon as I free up a little time to mess around with it, I'll be sure to post a few messages about the status and/or if I've run into any other brick walls.

Thanks

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

SO many people including myself have told you how to make your machine do what you want it to do....read it over , look up the terms that you do not understand and go through the steps,and do it, this is not rocket surgery....

in my opinion the key to being a competent professional sign maker is being a good trouble shooter it does not matter what kind of sign project you are working on a problem will arise, the pros either know how to work through them, how to figure it out, or where to find the information to get them over the hurdle they are facing...unfortunately to be proficient in this industry it takes time you can not just wake up and have the skills, it takes time...there is no magic answer. with the crafty marketing and salesmanship of many vendors and franchises they have created this misperception that anyone with a computer and a plotter can plug it in and start making the "big bucks" you've learned it's not quite that easy, and add to it the over saturated market for the low end quicky sticky signage, it can be a very tough nut to crack.

in reponse to your comments about what i said about your machine, i have no motive in steering you into or away from this industry, i sold my business years ago and simply have a great love of the craft and enjoy sharing what i have learned with others so that hopefully they dont pull their hair out on a friday night because they cant work through a problem.

So I will say it again and maybe you will listen this time, YOUR MACHINE has SERIOUS problems, the print quality is not reliable, it is prone to banding, non reliable reproduction of colors in the prints, it is not cost effective to operate, the print heads have a very short life expectancy, it is neither a good printer nor a good plotter.

i do consulting and troubleshooting work for sign companies to fill my free time and to stay in touch with the industry, and DO NOT KNOW OF ONE sign company who uses your machine anymore, a few still have them burried in a closet, but i do not know of a professional shop that uses your machine i am sure that many hobbyists have them as i see them purchased on ebay often. thankfully there are unknowleable ppl out there who think they can buy a machine and get rich in the sign business lol and they think with this machine "hey i can print and cut with this used machine for about the same price as a cheap plotter" they find them on ebay and pay entirely too much money for them, your machine is worth about $600, parts are getting harder and harder to find as well as the ribbons for them, so it would be in your best interest to stock up on ribbons if you see them on ebay and if you see a cheap machine pick it up for parts..your machine is a total headache to Roland, they do not like to service them, many roland dealers will not service them, so you would do your self a great service to heed this advice, i have nothing to gain.... once you get your machine to work (and i have told you how to get it to cut around your image as have many others but apparently you are looking for someone to hold your hand and walk you through it instead of reading what you have been instructed to do...but whatever i;m not the one who can not get my machine to cut so it really does not affect me) what does affect me and makes me feel like giving you no other information is when you discount what i have told you about the machine that you purchased, i dont know if you are trying to save your own ego, or just cant or wont accept the truth. unfortunately this is a common occurance, people have this idea about how they can utilize a plotter or printer and they get some half cocked advice and they buy a mediocre machine or one not suited to their needs, as you have done and in time you will realize it. additionally you paid too much for it, and if it needs a new print head you would be doing yourself a huge favor to buy a different machine and save this one as a backup extremely slow cutter and just move on....instead of trying to rationalize, and justify your purchase to save your ego as the only one you are hurting is yourself.

in reality if you are to do sign work with out the skills what ends up happening is you end up having to refund the money your client paid you because you did a mediocre job, or a job that in time fails, or you were just not able to finish the job at all because you didnt have the skills. so this client goes to another sign company and has his guard up and these skilled professional craftsmen and women have to prove that they can do better work than the unskilled person who talked a nice game and produced garbage, then they are blown away by what we charge to do the job correctly with the correct materials because Joe Nobody had no clue and gave his work away...and it just makes work more difficult than it has to be.

or you do your own signage (for your own personal use as stated ), and it takes way longer than it should have because you dont have the skills and experience, or you have to redo the job because you mess up any one of many processes required to do the job properly (time that you could have been generating income in your craft). or you do your signage and you are not happy with the end product because you have no understanding of the materials and their proper uses, you have no professional design skills, and you have to accept only the very basics because you dont even know how to use your software or equipment. or you are happy with it because at this point you are just amazed you can even cut vinyl (which in all honesty is tremendously easy and i am having a hard time understanding why you have not been able to do this after many of us have told you how to do it with your specific machine) and your girlfriend/wife/best buddy/ or worse a customer looks at it and says uhm yeah it does say your business name but the design is weak(believe it or not most of us do not get paid for cutting vinyl or painting signs, or printing posters....we get paid for design, the people who make the big bucks in this industry are the ones who are known for inovative design and superior customer service in my opinion) and you either have to choose to remove the work you did (a real fun job) and either do it again (and waste even more time that you could be generating income in your craft) or you have to go to a professional and either be honest and tell them you did it yourself and yeah it sucks, but hey i just wanted to try....i like to do things myself.... and get laughed at behind your back or lie and say someone else did it and you arent happy with it, and the professional has to remove it, redesign it and deal with a customer that falsely thinks they have some knowledge of our industry because they bought a colorcamm (again they seriously will laugh so just leave that out) so the sign maker knowing all of this is immediately going to add a PITA charge (and dont you dare tell him you have your own material that you will bring in), and if i was a fortune teller i'd guess you'd ask for a few too many changes, add a shadow and a outline your lettering (all caps Script) Red and black of course, list every service that your business does (industrial coatings, signs and whatelse? brakes, daycare, and mattress sales....i dont know you'll have to tell him though so he gets it right), and you'll pay way too much for a shitty sign because once again you wouldnt listen to the professionals in their field...

and at that point if you have any sense at all you will relist your roland on ebay (sooner than later) and recoop part of your investment. but hey some people like throwing money away and it's not my money So have a ball.

 

[steriltech]

Man I think you guys were a bit hard on this guy? Please keep in mind the the forum says signs 101.. Not advance..So you are going to get newbies asking all sorts of questions?I am a pre schooler myself..It sounds to me he just wanted a cutter for stickers, he wasn't in it for the long haul like me,but whats so wrong with giving the guy some help? after all he did come here for that and isn't that the reason for a forum. Maybe it shoudn't be call signs 101?Hey if I had a cutter and didn't no how to use it I would look for a forum to help me and with that catch-ie name That would be a good place to ask?

now with this said I'm i going to face the guillotine?

 

[andy]

Where are the other trade forums that give away valuable information... let's see, I want to be a plumber- if I buy a set of cheap tools can you show me where I can get all the expertise and advice I need to start making a living as as a plumber?

I am an experienced sign guy with lots of detailed knowledge and a whole bunch of "how to techniques" which I've worked out for myself. If I give you my expertise you take the information, run with it and start taking work from me or other experienced guys like me- if you stop and think about it for a second why would I give you this kind of advantage? What's in it for me?

I will tell you how I learned a lot of what I know- hours and hours of work. If you can't figure out how to do something then put the hours in my friend. Lock yourself away in the workshop until you have either perfected your skills or given up. For some techniques and product lines you'll have to throw some money at the process until you've got it right.

They say businesses evolve- part of evolution is extinction. If you haven't got the smarts to figure things out or haven't got the patience and dedication to keep pluging away at a problem until you've got it cracked then you aren't mentally cut out for this industry or you just don't have the skills you thought you could get by without cos sign making is easy and vinyl cutters are cheap.

New people have gotta start somewhere- it's called the bottom- where everyone else started.

I don't want to sound harsh and unfreindly but sign making is being dumbed down to such a level it's shocking.

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

now with this said I'm i going to face the guillotine?

Hard?? Maybe you need to go back and read this thread over, possibly a few times.

Seeking assistance is one thing. Not willing to devote one's own time - that is another.

Signs101 is made up of people who donate their own personal time, advice, and experience - including the owner of this site - who BTW makes diddly from it. For someone to buy a piece of equipment and feel entitled to our graces and knowledge, at Signs101, is wrong. Many of us started long before things like forums were available.

Training and information is the job of distributors and equipment sellers.

That said, most here will help anybody except those that insult our intelligence and dedication (by being lazy), and those that try and circumvent professionals just to save a buck.

I apologize if this post seems harsh but this thread touched some nerves in a deep way.

 

[Fred Weiss]

I agree with you Pro.

It's very easy for many here to help out someone who has first put in some effort to figure it out themselves or helped others here ... be it design help, how to make some hardware work, how to handle a technique never before attempted etc. It gets harder when someone makes little or no effort themselves and is just looking for the Easy Button.

When I took English 101 in college, I don't recall being exempted from buying the books, attending the classes and taking the tests just because it wasn't an advanced English course. Nor did I try to get by with Cliff Notes.

I personally believe that we don't have enough professionals in our industry which is my primary intent in operating this forum and why I have said on more than one occasion that:

Signs 101 is a forum for professional sign makers and those that want to be.

 

[stokguy]

Macromedia fireworks mx, photoshop 6.0, adobe imageready 3.0, corel suite 12. all that software seems like overkill and very far from the average Joe!!! Oh my whaT IS THE AVERAGE JOE TO DO????? Remember it's only a 2.00 sticker.I am a newbie and have been welcomed here but you came out and said all I want to do is beat the system.Do you bring your steak into a restaurant and ask them to cook it for you.I get people like you in my shop everyday, if I buy my own shirt how much will I save, I can buy jackets wholesale online, you guys are all alike, there is a word for guys like you.The only thing your missing is the PIMP.And I'll bet you never even bought the software either.

 

[Mark L]

Wow september 23 and this thread is still going, I'm not on here everyday,
but I thought I read this thread weeks ago.
Let him figure out the roland on his own. He has been told so many times about a vector shape, and he only keeps talking about getting the machine running. So many people here told you the solution, and it wasn't until there was more post telling you the answers where here, and you didn't even respond.
I think he needs to sit there and go through a few rolls of vinyl to fiqure it out, and then get back to us. I once own a pc60 (for about a month, and then traded it in on the cx500 cutter) I don't regret that move one bit. That was 5 years ago and the cutter is still going.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

Mark you owned your PC60 about 3 weeks longer than we did.

we added that machine to do scaled down models of proposed advertising promotional projects and to allow us to keep our large format machine running "real jobs" versus some of the nonsense we had to produce for our corporate client's "in house advertising departments lol" so that they had a small physical sample to play with and argue,whoops, i mean talk about .

I laugh now thinking about how slow that machine was and how fast it gobbled up ribbons. makes me appreciate new technology, i could not imagine trying to operate a sign company with that as my printer/cutter let alone trying to be competitive with that machine given how slow it is and how quickly it devours ribbons. definitely not one of my brightest purchases but I was lucky to quickly unload it and actually got more for the machine than we had paid for it brand new....but i doubt the profit covered the amount spent on ribbons lol.

 

[Mark L]

Tell my about it, I even tried the refill on the ribbons, and how about the lines it left! I even had the tech spend a day trying to get the lines out of the prints no luck turns out the company to sell it to me really didn't know much about the machine, we told him we wanted the machine for vehicle graphics and he said no problem. boy did I find out only use very small decal! I'm just glad I got rid of it.
From that, to now we have a mimaki WORLDS APART!!