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Impact Vehicle Disc – v’s others
Hello,
was wondering if people could advise if the Impact Disc / bundle is worth the £100 fee when I’ve seen others (no, not ebay specials) for around £25.
£75 in the long run i guess is no great difference but was wondering why in your opinion it makes sense to go with Impact.
appreciate any impartial advice 😀
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57 Replies
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impact discs are far superior i have tried different and they are not as good
just my 3 bobs worth
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any chance of making 3 bob into 5 and divulging "why" they are superior ? 😕
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better drawings, better catalogue, help from Brian on the boards, more user friendly
5 bobs up 😀
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You will no regret buying the impact discs – dont buy the cheaper ones – you will regret it! There is a survey somewhere here re the imapct discs and everyone rates them highly – having said that if it was the first disc you bought yo may not realsie how good they are – but after using cheap ones – you will. One of the few that has a visual catalogue – try looking through a disc with vehicles listed by numbers with no pic. – a nightmare – is it Ford 30 or Ford 50 who knows till you open each file – Impact has a catalogue depicting them all. I have use a few and Impact leaves all the others standing. – just my opinion!
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There is only one to buy. Firstly because they are the best quality, secondly because it supports a fellow member and finally, because I need a new set and mught score some extra discount 😀
Peter
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impact is up todate and choice of scaled or full size
chris
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Where can you buy one for £25 Frank? I know there are 2 or
3 people selling them on the afore mentioned ebay at that price. And I have no doubt they are copies of one of the German disks. And a disk is generally all you get, no book, no support, unliley to even get a label on the disk!As far as I am aware MR Cliparts disk is £99 (a bit cheaper in the U.S)
There are only 2 other comapanies I know that produce outlines. 1 in Canada (no good for the UK market) And another like MR Clipart in Germany. Their outline libraries are at least 250% more expensive.
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Hi Brian 😀
not sure if I’m allowed to post the web address of the site i saw for £25 – but I’ll post it and let the mods decide
mod-edit link removed admin@uksignboards.com
not sure what you think of them… or even heard of them – I’m just curious before spending my hard earned 😎
I know about false economies but I always like to check and double check – I’m only starting out, but i do realise it’s so much cheaper and easier these days… then again there are more people starting up for that exact same reason !
not sure if that’s good or bad – well it’s good for the "suppliers" 😀
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I couldn’t find a complete vehicle list Frank, but that collection looks to be mainly cars.
If so, it’s not a lot of use to most of us.
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Frank, no disrespect mate but ive been using various outlines over the years…(been in the sign game 16+ years now) none are as accurate, none have as many "UK" vehicle templates or offer updates and support like Brian/Impact does in comparison to any other outline library on the go. £100 or even £200.. it is nothing! in what you you save on time/conevenience over a period of a year… Just presenting designs/visuals with proper templates earns you more and looks professional.
I recon UKSB has done the first "legitimate" survey on actual paying users of Vehicle Outline software "ever"…. the results… see for yourself?
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=25778For someone to come in with a £25 version of outline templates, you have to ask why… something has got to give… It comes back to the cowboy undercutting the pro at the end of the day… where might be the cowboy be next year when you need an update, suppport? probably a support call centre for the Dixon group. 😕 :lol1:
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yeah, just had a look. It appears to be cars ……….. if that’s the case it’s less than 25% of an Impact library at 25% of the cost ………… so a false economy in my book.
Impact have cars, commercial vans, HGVs, buses, 4×4’s, people carriers, JCBs etc.
The majority of what you require vehicle outlines for is for commercials …………. transits, sprinters etc.you decide.
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have to agree with the rest of the mob……wouldnt buy anything other than impact…..tried the cheeper ones years ago….not good sizes and outlines all out…spend the pennies, you’ll reap the benefits from not losing and wasting precious money making time 😀
nik
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Brian, can you confirm that the demo mini outline on the site is not anything to do with your library?
If you look in the bottom right have corner you will see an ebay photograph camera and also the site has not been long live.
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I was looking at the above mentioned cheaper discs. But by reading what you guys have said I’ll hold off until I get enough pennies back in the bank and buy one of Brian at Impact. Would I be better holding of for a while? Will there be a new edition soon for 2008?
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anyway
only a email for contact
download or pay extra for dvd
no mention of a cataloge or listingsnot somebody i wish to deal with
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just buy it now Jonny it’s the best on the market thats impact looked at others no comparison 😎
Lynn
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quote Chris Wool:anyway
only a email for contact
download or pay extra for dvd
no mention of a cataloge or listingsnot somebody i wish to deal with
was gonna say same chris… 😀
johnny… when you buy the disk you get a years worth of updates free mate… so doesnt matter when you buy it. £100 may seem expensive but its the cheapest life saver in business you will get.
this is not a plug on my part, but as a UKSG member you will get discounted software frm Impact also.
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The Mini outline looks very much like one of the German outlines. Maybe they have a licence agreement with one of them? I know Spandex did some kind of deal a while back with MR Clipart, that is why they were able to give away free outlines disks. I think you still can get them free through their points sytem? *maybe* they have copied somebody elses? the pictures they have used look the same as many seen on ebay for years. Does seem very odd the only way of contact is through a form on their web site. Funny also that they say they have supplied the exact same collection to many happy customers, then when you click the link it looks very much to be copied from ebay feedback. It’s very easy to sell a download that cost you nothing after set up if the entire thing is somebody elses work. I doubt somebody has gone to the trouble of sourcing their own artwork, producing their own outlines, only to sell them @ £25. If we assume the thing is any good it takes an awfull lot of effort. Sourcing artwork alone is a nightmare. We have been doing it now for over 12 years. If we were to price the outlines at £25 we would not be here for long that is for certain.
Could be wrong though & the choice is up to you I guess. If I am right though it is very unlikely that the same site will be around in a couple of years time let alone 12.
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site doesnt look to have been online for longer than a few months either mate… 😕
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Have just seen the FAQ
"All images remain the property of their existing owner. We have obtained a distribution license for the product. You are not permitted to resell this product, but are welcome to use all of the images for your desired purpose, providing you do not infringe the copyright"
Doesn’t say who the existing owner is? I would be interested to find out. Strange that say they have obtained a licence, yet elsewhere on the site it says "they" have updated their collection. The 2 things don’t really go together.
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cheers Brian… although I am a customer of yours, the Spandex disc is currently out of stock at Spandex… they do give it away (points or signuk turn up deal) and I have got a copy of an older one but we dont use it, your book and CD system works a treat in the office where the other one fails. Poorly indexed if I recall correctly.
So to anyone thinking of purchasing from that link above, this site has been live for about a month and the paypal system seems to be misslinked. Although might be fine and a legit business for all we know.
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Another library to consider is Ingram Vehicle outlines – these are similarly priced to Impact library outlines.
I used Ingram for a number of years before switching over to Impact as I found the Impact booklet was better for identifying particular vehicles.
It’s up to you Frank – but in all honesty you would be wasting your £25 subscribing to the site you mentioned 😕 There are much better options available to the profesional sign maker
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In answer to the original question, a hundred quids is a bargain.
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I would still go for Impact although we’ve had some interesting conversations with Brian 😀
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Wow.. the most replies I’ve ever had to a thread 😀
it’s good to hear what people think of these other sites / products..
i do realise about £100 being the best for the job – so no offence taken – i was merely asking for verification – no harm in asking..
I to did wonder about the small print on that site when they say
quote :All images remain the property of their respected owners.then don’t mention who that actually is 😕
i did contact them about them being mainly cars and got this reply:
quote :Hi Frank,The online library is made up of Cars, Vans & Commercial vehicles. There
are cars included from all over the world, though the majority are from
the UK.There are literally hundreds of different Transit drawings, and over 1000
drawings of vans & commercial vehicles.Anything else, please get in touch
but as you say no mention of a handbook – so could be a nightmare finding the correct vehicle 🙄
again i appreciate the feedback and comments 😀 – BTW I’ll be joining up (full paying member) pretty soon – when funds allow – it’s been a costly old couple of months 😉
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quote Robert Lambie:quote Chris Wool:anyway
only a email for contact
download or pay extra for dvd
no mention of a cataloge or listingsnot somebody i wish to deal with
was gonna say same chris… 😀
johnny… when you buy the disk you get a years worth of updates free mate… so doesnt matter when you buy it. £100 may seem expensive but its the cheapest life saver in business you will get.
this is not a plug on my part, but as a UKSG member you will get discounted software frm Impact also.
how do you get the updates???
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George, if, within the twelve months, a new van comes out and you need the outline, just ring Brian and it gets emailed to you.
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Ahhhhh cheers John
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I just upgraded to Impacts from another cheaper "fleabay" disc I had before, and I have to say that it is a far superior package. Brian was helpful on the phone and I would recommend impact. 😀
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Impact are closed vectors (you can actually cut an outline with its layers) whereas Ingrams are just open lines.
Impact gets my vote but never trust panel sizes if critical – always measure a vehicle and check for badges etc. -
I’ve used the Ingram vehicle profiles for a number of years and because I take the update each year I get a reasonable discount off the £100 +VAT selling price.
Not having seen any other products I obviously can’t make comparisons however, I have found that the dimensions are inaccurate. Typically I found that some of the small vans, Berlingo/Fiesta etc; had side panels 20-30mm shorter than the actual vehicles, admittedly not a huge difference but it means that I don’t trust what I see.
I think that their drawings come from Germany, the support certainly does. I remember the Escort van profile was an American one not a European version.
The disc does have an accompanying book but it’s not always easy to find the profile needed.
I would be interested to see The Impact product before I update next year.Steve
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Brians Impact cd for me
the only probs ive found is that badges are not always in the same places
Always check
Terry -
Ive only bought one disk so far and its was impact, got no complaints but I wish I could get hold of the new astra cdti van this afternoon as impast must be shut at the weekend
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James email with your customer number & what format you need & I will reply with the outline. Saturday is generally my only day off but I have a disk here at home so can send what you need.
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I neve thought to email Brian, tks.
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quote Terry:the only probs ive found is that badges are not always in the same places
That’s not a problem Terry. Remove the badges. 😀
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None of the vehicle outline are accurate enough to work from, buy yourself a good digital camera and a tape measure, takes all the guessing out of the job, you will produce a more accurate customer drawing.
Not having to remember if the peugeot or citroen as rear windows or not, or if they have black bumper strips along the side and rear, where the badges are, where the paint is hanging of, plus the customer telling you it is a lwb hi roof when it is lwb semi hi roof etc.
We always want see and measure every van.
just my tuppenth worth.
Alison.
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we photo and use Brian’s outlines where needed, never stops us but found the outlines to be very good, confused why you need to have absolute precision?
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quote Alison Kennie:None of the vehicle outline are accurate enough to work from, buy yourself a good digital camera and a tape measure, takes all the guessing out of the job, you will produce a more accurate customer drawing.Not having to remember if the peugeot or citroen as rear windows or not, or if they have black bumper strips along the side and rear, where the badges are, where the paint is hanging of, plus the customer telling you it is a lwb hi roof when it is lwb semi hi roof etc.
We always want see and measure every van.
just my tuppenth worth.
Alison.
Thats fine Alison if your customer want to bring the van to you twice,
many of our customers dont want to spare a working vehicle, just so I can measure it up.I dont need to see every vehicle I fit decals to, I have done most of them before. and am aware of most of the shortfalls with outlines.
Maybe a new model needs a quick once over to verify, but after that?
Peter
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Sorry Alison, you’re outnumbered here. I’m with Dave and Peter.
In fact I can go one better.
A large part of our work is designing the layout to instruction, then make and post off the vehicle kits for dealers to fit prior to delivery to the end user. We never see the actual vans at all. 😀
I can’t remember it ever giving us a problem.
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I just did an Astra van with the panels on the side flood coated; The outlines from impact were great for showing the customer drawings and for the lettering, layout and logos.
When it came to flood coating the side panels though I needed the accuracy of measuring the van and drawing out the outline path of the panel to achieve a smooth cut.
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we are all right really, but for a beginner without months or years of experience, then photos are the best way to go.
outlines are fine for visuals and if you know you can trust them thats great.
try overlaying a few outlines over actual pictures and see how they line up.
alison
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got to agree with Alison, i use both, but if the van is available i take a quick picture, scale one piece up, say a wheel and the rest is spot on then overlay the graphics, perfect!, if the van is not available i will use outlines disc, but photos much better
ian -
The other problem with outlines is there is no way you can work out the size
of the bonnet, on vans or cars. And rear windows and boot lids on vehicles with curves is also not very accurate.Alison.
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Many of impact outlines now have a plan view, but if you have a side, rear and front view, the size of the bonnet and roof an be worked out
without too much effort.Peter
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If you take a photo & size one panel by that it does not mean the rest of the vehicle will be sized correctly. For example if you take a pic & the wheelbase measurement, then size up the photo the length will be too short. I know because I have done it. You will get issues with perspective however careful you are with taking the pictures. Take a pic on the front of any car and it will generally look very distorted.
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may be Brian, but it works for us,
I think each method has its place, vehicle outlines can look a bit dated when compared to overlaying the customers design onto there vehicle, but as said the vehicle is not always available, so when this is the case we use the outlines as a second choice
don’t get me wrong, I’m all for outlines but they are not the best and only way to present and size work and as photos should not be relied on for 100% accuracy, the only was is to measure your self (even then we still get it wrong)
ian -
Not trying to convince you outlines are the only way forward Ian. Obviously it’s each to their own. And the original post was asking the difference between outlines. I am sure the author of the post was aware a digital camera was an alternative 🙂
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Similar to MR Clipart only better, they are the other German company that produces outlines. Does cost 499 Euros though, almost £350.
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[quote="Brian Hays"]
How do we get the discount?? As we are looking to purchase the Impact Vehicle Outlines
Thanks
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quote James Gilmour:How do we get the discount?? As we are looking to purchase the Impact Vehicle Outlines
You would require a UKSG Memebership
https://www.uksignboards.com/membership.php -
Right we upgraded but still can’t see where we get the discounts.
Can you help please
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Try ringing Brian and he’ll tell you.
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Big up to the guys at impact!
Email on Thursday afternoon requesting a new outline for the new Smart 4:2.
Email yesterday with it attached. :appl:
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Second that David!
Emailed Brian asking about an outline for a Ferrari 458, added it on the forum as well and he replied within hours….Apparently as a supplier I didn’t have access to this part of the forum so I couldn’t see his reply.
Anyway Brain offered me a complete upgrade to the new set for 89+ VAT I paid for the upgrade Disc and the package arrived the following day with a comprehensive book.
I’ve always used Impact and alway will!
Great Job!
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Always good service from Impact. One of the companies worth supporting in this industry.
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