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can anyone suggest sign software please?
Hi all. Were thinking of purchasing a dedicated sign software very soon. Were running corel an old version of sign wizard and poster print as a rip. We want a package that’s user friendly but doesn’t cost the earth. Can you give me your opinions please.
Many thanks
Matt
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28 Replies
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Signlab for me….but it’s all I have ever used so a bit bias.
I still use S/L 5 for my vinyl work and S/L 8 for versaworks for printing.It’s very user friendly and well worth the investment and I don’t think it’s that expensive for entry level.There was a thread on costings not long ago so worth a search.
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quote Martin Cole:Signlab for me….but it’s all I have ever used so a bit bias.
I still use S/L 5 for my vinyl work and S/L 8 for versaworks for printing.It’s very user friendly and well worth the investment and I don’t think it’s that expensive for entry level.There was a thread on costings not long ago so worth a search.
Martin, daft question, why dont you use SL8 for both vinyl and print?
Peter
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Peter,
It’s Signlab for Versaworks so no can do…plus I cut vinyl and print in different places.
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Cheers Martin. Your views are appreciated biased or not mate.
Matt
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I think the new version of Vinylmaster is well worth a look if you want something a bit more economical than either Signlab or Flexisign.
There is a free downloadable demo so you can see what it’s like before you lay out your hard earned dosh.
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Thanks Martin. I’m going to try the free demo. After all it’s free 😮 .
We’ve been supplied omega 4.0, and to be honest i want to bin it. So imo it cant be much worse. But that’s just my preference i suppose. Only the software bought and supplied will qualify for tech support!!! They refuse to even try and help as they …………don’t support it.Many thanks
Matt
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Matt, the download has all 3 versions on it so you can take a look at each one to see which one suits your needs best. I have found the people there to be really helpful on the occasions I have needed some help or information. Shaun is on the boards here and can help if questions are posted.
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Flexisign for me but like Martin (Cole) it’s all I’ve ever used.
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Yep! Flexi for me! But Ive seen Vinylmaster and it’s pretty good and a fare bit cheaper than Flexi
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Signlab 9 and Corel X5 combination.
Alan D -
if you are going to bin omega 4 I will give you a couple of quid for it
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Thanks for all your replies everyone its great to get such a response from a question that’s been round and round. Okay chris will bear that in mind mate. I think the best route for me is to try ALL the demos i can get my hands on and see what suits me best.
From searching a lot of people seem to be using either signlab or flexi as a dedicated sign program. And neither of which are cheap. But for that price i expect they’re the dogs danglies? Thanks again for all the response
Matt
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Easysign all the way for me, vinyl and print.
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Signlab, or graphtec via Adobe
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grphtec done them self’s no favors with cutting master imo.
their saving grace is the standard windows printer driver which works flawlessly by doing what its told with out trying to be clever in any way.
all it does is cuts what you select and where you placed it on the page. -
What do you want to spend will define what you can have, an old version of Corel with a print driver or plugin will do, or go with a dedicated package such as Signlab or Flexi or Easysign, it does depend on what you want to be able to do and what budget you have.
Nowadays you can arrange a live online demo with some software packages, maybe worth you looking into.
Nigel
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I have used flexi fairly extensively and recently changed to signlab. Personally I found flexi much more user friendly and will prob go back to a newer version of it shortly! Don’t know anything about easysign though!
Are there no illustrator/photoshop fans on the boards? Everyone seems to be corel fans!
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If you already have software of some description you can sometimes trade it in as a cross grade if you are buying a different program.
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quote Martin Cole:Signlab for me….but it’s all I have ever used so a bit bias.
I still use S/L 5 for my vinyl work and S/L 8 for versaworks for printing.It’s very user friendly and well worth the investment and I don’t think it’s that expensive for entry level.There was a thread on costings not long ago so worth a search.
Peter.
I have SL8 on one computer and SL6 on another, both print and cut but I cant open files on 6 once they have had any work done in 8 how do you manage?
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Shaun I have 8 and 9
if I create a file in 9 I can open it in 8, but any features from 9 will not work or display wrong, I think this is the same with all softwares, unfortunely it is not possible for sl to save as an earlier version, you could export to ai er eps files though, which should work with both?
only real solution is to upgrade all your workstations to the same version.Peter
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Been that way for a while, personally I think it is wrong. Software should be able to backsave versions and although new features may not be supported for editing they should display ok – this is how it is in Corel and Illustrator and is important for those exchanging file with others or those who have mixed version workstations.
Alan D -
You are right, I should have all the machines running the same software but upgrading both to the latest version will cost about £1300, rather a lot in the current climate.
Having said that as the two computers are networked and I cannot open the SL8 files on the other computer with SL6 it makes it redundant, and the plotter connected to it and also means we are trying to share the one computer.
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Not quite sure how Robert manages but he runs different versions of signlab on different workstations, apart from working out some sort of system for what work is done on what work station don’t know what the answer is.
Have agree with Alan in that any design software should have the ability to back save as Illustrator does and I would guess it wouldn’t be to difficult to build this into the program. Almost seems as if you are penalised for owning more than one Licence if you have to upgrade every workstation each time.I am guessing that other software such as Flexisign is the same, not having used either of them I have no idea how they work but saving as an eps so it will open on a latter version seems to defeat the purpose of owning the software in the first place.
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Thanks for all the feedback gents. Really usefull. I have had a small experience with flexi and it does seem good. Not sure about crossing with older versions? I’m SLOWLY getting to grips with omega 4 but it’s a slow process, it seems easier to create in corel and then export as so far until I’m better versed on it. Still not fussed though! Seems really old if that makes sense?
Many thanks
Matt -
quote Martin:Not quite sure how Robert manages but he runs different versions of signlab on different workstations, apart from working out some sort of system for what work is done on what work station don’t know what the answer is.
Lets just hope the all seeing eye spots this and tells us!!
I would love to know.
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as far as i am aware Rob only uses sl for cut vinyl.
so, has an early version, and has always said that to upgrade was not worth it,
owing to the number of workstations,Just posted this as Rob is online, and may like to give his comments.
Peter
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😀 spotted it…
OK, i’m doing this from memory so please don’t shoot me down if i stray or give slight inaccuracies. system has been in place for years and honestly wouldn’t change.
all printing is done via dedicated software that came with the printers we bought. Troop + Versaworks.
Love Versaworks which runs our AJ740, but not compatible with our older model Roland / Grenadier, which runs via troop.
Considering switching to Wasatch for both… but may just pay for the motherboard in the Grenadier to be changed. not sure…anyway… Signlab…
Think we have 4 or 5 signlab packages.
I "think" 3 are version 5 rev12, one is version 4.95 designer, one full 4.95.all work and are fed from the same server.
Newer packages will open older packages but not vice versa.
(at least not upto version 6)Within each job folders we have a "working file" and a "completed file".
The working file is kept in its original Signlab form, incase editing is needed further down the line.the completed file is the "final CUT file" which has the path broken, text to graphics etc and saved as something like an .ai or .eps and put back on the server along side the "working file".
any version of signlab from then on will be able to open it & cut it.
even if the computer has signlab but NOT the "font or font cd", signlab can still open it without errors.
most other software will be able to import it in also.This is not so much to do with trying to get around the versions of signlab, just keeps everything universal and on one server. makes sure there are no duplicates of the files from one pc to the next also…
Signlab is a very easy and powerful software. back in its day it was dedicated to vinyl cutting prefer to keep it that way. ive had no need to upgrade it other than to keep all versions the same, but as i mentioned above, even that isnt a problem.
edit- there are only 2 folk from 5 operators that doing the designing.
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so ur copying files to the PC and then opening them and then returning them to the server? i find that bizare.
I dont SL but our setup is all Corel X3, all licensed. The only issue is when someone else has the same file open and that person tries save, it then gets a file-lock issue and u have to save it as a new name.
I have setup the server to have multiple drive letters.
L:\ Artwork
T:\ RouterToDo
R:\ CuttingToDo
W:\ DigitalPrintToDo
(Each with a competed folder except Artwork)All these point to separate folders on a servers raid drive, the artwork folder has better backup policies applied and the DigitalPrintToDo is backed up a few times a year, not necessary tho. Actually the DigitalToDo folder is now on the RIP Computer as Wasatch needs good access to the files.
Cutting is done via Corel (transferred as an early AI format between corels) as that takes care of any fonts/crap that might still be in the file. Corel drives the Graphtech
AXYZ Router is run with Vectric, this is transferred using the EPS format.
Digital Print To Do is 95% PDF format from Corel.
Thats what we do… now what was the topic?
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