Sign shops often overlook the RIP software as a key component when purchasing printing equipment. The RIP like any other piece of equipment in your company’s workflow can either add or alleviate time and work for the operator. It’s a crucial decision in planning the way your work is handled during production.
Popular signmaking software such as Signlab and Flexisign have come a long way in an attempt to bridge the gap between vinyl cutting, vinyl printing, and general design. These programs attempt to do vector, raster, and image processing all under one umbrella – and more often than not they are still best just for cutting.
The problem lies in the fact that most designers use Adobe CS3 or CS2. This is what is taught in the design schools and considered the standard through most professional graphic industries, not Signlab or Flexi. If you have designers inhouse they at best working in a clumsy fashion trying to eek out a design in the signmaking software or what would be a redundant scenario, your company would have both the signmaking and Adobe design software.
Some may say that they have both sets of software because they receive files from marketing firms and external designers – and that they need to convert them over to their system. Anyone who has tried to convert moderately complex design files to either Signlab or Flexi will tell you it is near impossible. Any number of effects, gradients, transparencies, masks, etc. will not appear correctly and it becomes a preflight nightmare.
There is a simple solution. Design your graphics using standard software and buy rip software that can rip standard design files. This is the job of the modern sign shop to grab a file and get it ready to print. I don’t mean to go in and tweak your client’s graphic to make it work. Time is money and a lot of time can be wasted doing alterations.
Wasatch SoftRIP and Onyx ProductionHouse are the leaders in software RIPs. They both cost less than the do-everything-in-a-box signmaking software and will take your CS3 files without a glitch. I know what you’re thinking ‘but I need to contour cut decals also’… They do that too. Tiles… they do that as well. What they don’t do is design vector art or edit raster-based graphics – that’s what your design software is for and your cutlines can be added in Illustrator.
Many shops have both signmaking and design software and must not only deal with upgrading these periodically, but also deal with compatibility issues trying to use them in tandem. You no longer need the signmaking software, by investing in good RIP you’ll save money and a whole lot of time not messing around graphic files.
Tony Chanza has been working in the vinyl graphics business for 9 years and specializes in vehicle wraps and graphics. He runs Wraptips, where he shares insights into all things related to installing vehicle wraps, solvent printing, digital sign printing, and vinyl graphics. For more articles and resources like this, visit www.wraptips.com
Please Rate this Article
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Advertising Articles Via RSS!
