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General Advice for a Newbie
Hi All.
Ive been thinking of adding vinyl printing to the list of services i provide for my clients for sometime.
I’m only thinking of small scale printing such as vinyl stickers, and smaller graphics for cars etc.
Having done a little research im still scratching my head.
I have seen the Roland Versa Studio, which is ideally what i would like, but to be honest is overkill ( and expensive ) as i am not planning on making a business out of this, more an addition to my current services.What i am trying to work out is, i want to be able to print for example a clients logo, which might have a few colours and be an unusual shape. i see that the roland can print and cut the exact shape.
but the vinyl cutters can only cut from one colour sheet of vinyl correct ?
so if i was to do this without the roland what other options / machines could i get to be able to print a multi coloured object and cut it out to its exact shape?
any advice would be much appreciatedthanks
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10 Replies
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If you want to make graphics for cars then you will need to think about lamination to protect the print. I would suggest you use a trade printer as printers need to be used if they sit idle for long periods they could get blocked heads which can be expensive to replace.
The roland versa studio is an excellent machine but I think you would soon wish you had a bigger printer.
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Not sure I understand all of your post, you say you want to be able to print & cut & have seen the BN20 which does exactly that but then say it’s overkill. How is it overkill?
If you are looking to buy new then it’s one of the cheapest machines on the market but at it’s size there isn’t much else to compare it against.
As Lee has already said these machines need to be working, they are not like a desktop type printer that that gets switch on to print something every now & then, they need to be left switched on 24/7 & if not actually printing will cycle the heads periodically to prevent the ink drying & clogging the nozzles. This means they are costing you money even when not being used.
As Lee also says you will need to laminate prints for vehicles so you will need a laminator as well.
Trade printer is a good option if you don’t have lots to print, you can buy as you need without machine problems or having to learn how to use the machine.
If this side of your business starts to expand & you are having a lot of printing done for you then look again at buying your own printer. -
What I can’t understand is you say that you don’t want to make a business out of it but you talk about expanding the services you offer to clients.
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Thanks for your replies.
The reason i say its overkill is mainly down to the cost.
I was thinking of maybe buying an old second unit (s) to get my hand in, without laying out thousands of pounds. if it takes off then i can upgrade.
I own a web design / hosting / seo / IT repair company and have many clients who are small business owners, where advertising is extremely important and also can be a very big expensive for the small business / one man band.
car livery, vinyl stickers / window stickers can be a very good way and relatively cheap way of advertising a business, which is why i thought it would be a good way to ad this service to my portfolio, as i said, i dont want to make it my business, more to ad this service to my portfolio -
Even a used machine is going to cost you thousands which is why I suggested the trade print option
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So all the old printers / cutters going for a few hundred on the likes of ebay would be no use to me ?
as i said i am thinking about just dipping my toe in. i dont need the latest state of art equipment.
just something that will cost me a few hundred that i can try out. if it takes off great i can upgrade if not, i have only lost a little. -
The machines that sell for a few hundred quid on auction sites are dye or pigment based used for internal type stuff, any solvent machines at that sort of money will be spares or repair & generally cost a lot to get up & running again.
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Save yourself time and grief by outsourcing.
If you’re a designer, hopefully you can figure out how to design a workable file to send to a printer.
I outsource as needed, that way I don’t have to buy a machine, buy the material, inks, and laminate, plus a laminator, keep it all running, and the headache of learning how to do all this.
That is what overkill entails.
You can buy a brand new Graphtec (24") to cut simple vinyl vehicle livery, add in Corel and some vinyl, transfer tape and even a squeegee and some scissors all for under $3K.
The learning curve for this is much less steep than that for a printer.
It’s so easy anyone can do it, and unfortunately, everyone does.
😉
Love….Jill -
and as you mentioned these are vehicle decals then you need to think about a laminator as well. If you’re thinking in hundreds rather than thousands then as others have mentioned… outsource it.
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As Jill says save time and grief by buying it in. We’ve been doing that for the last few years, make money on the design and installation, small mark up on the vinyl This year the amount I was spending a month justified the cost of our own printer. The history of the kind of print my clients wanted helped with the decision on the printer.
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