industry training ??

[Robert Lambie]

finding someone local to you would be the way to go mate. even then make sure its a long established firm and not cowboys.

[Peter Normington]

There are training courses about, some good some bad. some are offered free or at a fee when you buy kit, First off you have to decide what you need to learn most, Design, i.e. software. Then comes Hardware, then manufacturing/prodution techniques. then application and fabrication, could go on forever, tell us your priorty needs then we can point you in the right direction,
Peter

[Hugh Potter]

well i have the hardware, not a prob there, i’ve had it for about a year so i’m fairly up on that (or aat least i think i am),

my main thing is confidence in application, which could come with time i know, but it’d be nice to know i’m following the advice of people who really know, rather than having too much trial and error,

design is something i’m learning as go, how to make various designs and make them cutter and application friendly, but could do with a course using corel 12, i imagine any design course would be ok as many features are used in many differing design suites,

it would be nice to spend a litle time in another sign shop, obviously not too close that they’d worry about competition, but so i could see the various processes nvolved in making larger sign boards, different substrates etc, not having a background in the sign industry is a bit tough, but i’ll get there one way or another !

i’m pretty good at making things, i can weld with mig and tig (well i think i can ), and can usually make what i visualise, i’ll be making my own light boxes and weeding tables etc so manufacture does not wory me, it’d just be nice to know the more eficient methods used day to day as i have a tendency to over engneer everything !

[Robert Lambie]

shame your not closer mate. ide give you a hand, i need a hand with stuff im doing just now and you would be perfect. maybe :lol1:

[Peter Normington]

Corel is not the best, if you are working in vinyl, I would invest in a dedicated programme. I would recomend signlab, but there are others.
As for application techniques, I would be willing to invite you round for a day or two depends on where you are. Perhaps one or two others might be interested?
Peter

[David Rowland]

strange thing is, Corel 3 mainly years ago came with a VHS video training! A lot has changed since then
Corel is a doddle to use, but I say that as I know it as easy as driving, our whole design department use it with ease, there are pitfalls with Corel but there is versions that work very well in Signs/Litho/Digital. The first package you learn will be the package you use for life. Stay away from Freehand though, it’s terrible. Illustrator is something I would love to learn

[Hugh Potter]

thanks for the offer pete, i’m based in east sussex, but would be willing to travel within reason, west sussex, west kent, surrey or south london areas, closer the better really as i’m not made of money … yet !

i have corel 12 and quite like it, i also have a version of vinyl master pro i was given but as yet i have not used it, it has some good features, as far as i can see, but i didnt find it particularly easy to jump right into like i did with corel !

i think somewhere i have signlab too, but haven’t looked at it as i’ve been able to do everything so far on corel,

i’m off to bed now, had a bugger of a job putting some large flames on a pals car, the recent home done paint job is awful and the vinyl was having a job to stick, the paint semed almost porous / full of tiny pitts, the appl fluid was not able to completely squeegee out, and it was windy, and it kept raining !!!!

catch up with this in the am !

[Peter Normington]

Drag on, you would know if you had signlab, if only by the invoice, its not something you buy, and stick in a drawer and forget about,
Like I said you may want to invest in a dedicated program,
Peter

[Hugh Potter]

i’m sure its not a full version if signlab, more like a useable demo, i’ve seen a number of people that use it, and the cost is very high, as is te tech support etc, which havent always heard good things about,

i dont wanna really turn this thread into a which software is best type thread, although i know it might help, but i cant justify spending £1k upwards on software right now, a decent shop vehicle is next on the cards, followed possibly by a versacamm, i plan on sub’ing out the digi stuff for now, but if i get enough of it i may well sell the race car to fund one [two steps back to take blah blah 🙁 ] maybe at that point if i still have enough left over i will look into more dedicated software,

i dont want to have this business running at a debt at any time, everything i have, new cutter, new laptop etc is all paid for in cash pounds, i like to keep it that way, sure i run on a small overdaught to cover urgent material purchases, the last thing i want is to have to worry about geting a loan payment into the bank on time !!

err, slightly of topic there… oops !

[Iain Gordon]

Drag-On,

I, like you started on a very tight budget and if you are looking for a dedicated software package i can recomend Vinyl Master Pro.
You can get if from Graphityp for £499 (+Vodka And Tonic) Version 2.7.

It is very easy to use and having used corel for many years i found switching to VMP straight forward.

Send me an E-Mail if you need any help with it and i’ll do my best to walk you through it.

Cheers
Iain

[Hugh Potter]

thanks for the kind offer Iain, once i’ve earned some more dosh i’ll look into that,

[Keith Nilsen]

Where are you based Drag-On? If you are close I would gladly meet up and give tips on most of what you are asking…..

K

[Hugh Potter]

hey kieith, i’ve already had a couple of good offers, but will never look a gifthorse…….. ! thanks !

I’m in east sussex, not too far from Eastbourne,