Vinyl Master XY 540p cutter good/bad???

[Tim N]

Hell I am brand new to the signmaking buisness. I purchased this cutter to do mainly stock car graphics and numbers. I have only had it for a week and have people pounding down my door for all kinds of signs. I have only cut a hand full of items so far but it seems to work well. There are a handfull of people who do this in the area, and they are either not very reliable or do not want any new customers. I have not developed my skills enough yet to take on any major jobs. I am having a hard time learning the software and already see I will have to upgrade soon (Flexi Starter). Any advice on clip art, fonts, and graphics packages that are geared towards stock cars. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I jumped in over my head thinking this would be much easier.
Thanks Tim

 

[Fred Weiss]

Your most cost effective answer would be to purchase a copy of CorelDraw which comes with over 1000 good quality fonts. You can then also use it's excellent setup features and export out and import into Flexi Starter to handle your actual cutting.

For clipart, you'll want vinyl-ready art with lots of stuff for automotive work. The best product like that is the Vector Art Megacollection. It has more than 6500 files, all vinyl ready, with lots of pinstriping, flames and power stripes.

We offer Vector Art at a savings of $100 off the suggested retail price to Signs 101 members.

Vector Art Megacollection

 

[OldPaint]

1st off....RAISE YOUR PRICES and you will have less people bangin your door down....or if they continue you will have MORE MONEY!
everybody thinks this stuf just roll outa the compute, type a couple things, send to cutter WALA SIGN!!!it aint so lou-weis!!!
most sign programs require at least a moducum of ART ABILITY, or you crank out same old crap the other guys do. so you need to get some hands on time under your belt before you "upgrade"! you need to UPDATED...hehehe no program is gona make you better. spend some time with your program

 

[Tim N]

Thank you for the replys. As far as pricing goes I have not even done a single job for anyone else yet. Just kinda playing and designing for my own stock car. Just simply word of mouth in a small town. I realize that the software will not make me a better artist, but alot of the features are not avalible in the starter and the upgrade to sign version is another $1100. I have some painting and lettering experience working in a body shop and doing alot of drag cars and custom jobs. I am hearing from alot of people that the Corel software is the way to go and I think I'll be looking into getting it. There is a local guy here in town that specializes in vinyl graphics and signs that has really been not making his customers very happy lately also.
Thanks Tim

 

[ChiknNutz]

Corel is hard to beat for the money. I can also vouch for the Vector Art Mega Collection (at least the first one). I also have the SignDNA 2 collection which is also a good one. For some vehicle-specific stuff on the cheap (especially flames), check out Clipart-deSIGN.

 

[Tim N]

So I can do my design work on the Corel 12 and export it to the Flexi software that I have to cut it without any problems? What version would you recomend of the Corel software, and what is a reasonable price? I see the prices seem to vary quite a bit between different sites. I can't tell you how helpful I have found this site to be. I have been reading till my eyes bleed. Thanks for your advice too.
Tim

 

[Just Me]

i have done a race car or two email me off my website, i will see what i can do to help you www.outlawracinggraphics.com

 

[Tim N]

Wow you are just the person I'm looking for!! Your site looks great. Sir Barron looks just like my best buddy Fred. Thanks You so much in advance for any help.
Thanks Tim

 

[ChiknNutz]

Probably the best thing to do would be to pick up a copy of like version 9 (for around $30 or so) and either learn with it a bit or just go ahead and buy the upgrade to 12 at the same time. This will be cheaper than going with a full version of 12 from the start.

Not having used Flexi for cutting, I'd guess that you may have to export from Corel in either EPS or AI for Flexi. If you don't want the intermediate step, get CoCut, SignTools or a similar bridge/plug-in program.

 

[imprintfast]

XY-540P And Software suggestions

Well, I have used Amiable products and a graphtec which is good, but I must admit, this 540 plotter us just as good as the mac-daddy plotter I paid $3000 for a few years ago.

I also would suggest you check out Digital Art Solutions. I am in the "Imprintables Business" which is really anything under the sun ;-) LOL. But these guys put out a great product for Screen Printers, Embroiderers and Sign Makers. I have used the DrawWings program and the Smart Designer products and am looking at the Smart Cut Pro after demo'ing it at the Orlando ISS show this past month.

 

[foxesfarm]

Inkscape is free and surprisingly good at filling in flexi's lack.

Inkscape is free, and has surpisingly good vectoriztion. I sometimes use it unstead of Adobe Illustrator because I like to choose manually what type of tracing I want, instead of the software deciding what's best. Sort of like using your own dark room instead of taking your film to Kmart. if you can't find it, I'll mail you one for $1.00 to cover the envelope, postage, and burning the cd. It's got other stuff I've found useful, including full trial versions of adobe illustrator, corel draw, etc. They only work for a week or two, but that way you could decide what works best for you.

Have a nice day,
Kathy

PS, I'm new too, as I just started after Christmas. My cutter is a Master XY-380p, and I love it. My door is also being broken down. life is good.

 

[Techman]

Cocut is the better plug in of them all.. Soem think its just a way to cut,, but actually it is so much more.. Every one really needs to look at it befor eany judgement is made..