livinloudgraphics

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Posts posted by livinloudgraphics

  1. Posted

    18 hours ago, haumana said:

    Is the cutter appearing in Device Manager?

    1. On the desktop or in the Start Menu, right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
    2. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.
    3. On the Hardware tab, click the Device Manager button.

    image.png.8d4bde744bd1fa17300a143370f82657.png

    Expand Ports (COM & LPT). It should be listed there - USB Serial Port (COM?)  *? will be a number that your computer assigns the cutter.

    You might need to go into the settings of your cutting software and make sure that the program is sending the file to that Com Port #. If your software is set to Auto, manually set it to the Com Port # as assigned.

    i ve done that the cutter seems to be connected to the computer but its not getting a response from the software when thru the port listing and tried different ports , redownloaded the drivers, next im trying switching ports and it seems to do the same

  2. Posted

    12 hours ago, haumana said:

    Is the cutter appearing in Device Manager?

    1. On the desktop or in the Start Menu, right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
    2. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.
    3. On the Hardware tab, click the Device Manager button.

    image.png.8d4bde744bd1fa17300a143370f82657.png

    Expand Ports (COM & LPT). It should be listed there - USB Serial Port (COM?)  *? will be a number that your computer assigns the cutter.

    You might need to go into the settings of your cutting software and make sure that the program is sending the file to that Com Port #. If your software is set to Auto, manually set it to the Com Port # as assigned.

    i ve done that the cutter seems to be connected to the computer but its not getting a response from the software when thru the port listing and tried different ports , redownloaded the drivers, next im trying switching ports and it seems to do the same

  4. Posted

    12 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

    I have no clue what you have, or what your hooking it up to.  Your computer must have a serial port to use a serial cable. A Tripp Lite Keyspan adapter is used now more often instead of USB cable.  

    i have flexi 8 and a creation pcut ct630. it was working fine and then all of a sudden production manager quit working and now my plotter wont cut. it says holding. then cutting and then goes back to screen. ive tried switching cables, rebooting computer and plotter then reinstalling drivers.

    15278160179611267238351.jpg

  5. Posted

    Mz SKEETER How does one hook serial cable up. i have the usb cable done but looking into it i not sure on how to get my computer to communicate with cutter

    On 9/7/2013 at 12:32 PM, MZ SKEETER said:

    Make sure the com port number matches with your computer device manager.   Best on a desktop with serial cable. But if you don't have.  Best on a serial card with serial cable or a Keyspan adapter,  that is the brand name. or a Belkin.  NOT any serial cable like, Radio Shack or Best Buy will work.

     

  7. Posted

    i have a customer that would like some license plates done, but im running in to a problem and having a brain fart. I cant not remember where to order the specialty ones with glitter. perfer aluminum blanks thanks  

     

     

    ps i have googled and searched through  my book to find these but having no luck 

  8. Posted

    I  regularly do decals and such work, sometimes i have people ask me to sell them vinyl by the yard, so they can use it on their cricket machine. i also saw uscutter sell it by the yard for $5 per yard is this the regular pricing or do i need to up my pricing by a couple dollars?

     

     Ps sometimes they buy the entire roll(s) of it. what should my mark up be?

  10. Posted

    Well i Had a customer come to me yesterday about some decals. I said sure i can letter your work van. But in reality they just wanted me to "COVER UP" over another logo of the old business. I usually dont do something like this because id rather do it right the first time. so with that being said would you A. deny the customer and say id rather do it right the first time  or b. do it and make money off of it but using my basic point of them in the future saying it dont look right etc etc. The quote he got from his wrap guy was $1250.00, to do it right like he wants it. and i also want to do it right but may underbid his wrap man for the job, but insisting on me just over looking what is there and going over it with black vinyl and his new logo what would you do?

  13. Posted

    5 minutes ago, Primal Decals said:

    i require a non refundable deposit at-least half  ( and i  let them know that ) so that would cover at-least the material cost and some time,that way if they bail out you got something for it ,or just ask for full payment upfront if they are fully happy with the final design sample. Most of mine pay full up front anyway.

    That's what i was thinking, but they are like we been doing business for a while now and we are family . but im not sure of any other shop that will print out 200 decals without some form of payment. Even thou it has been done in the past with them, i think i have to change someways of business to ensure that future customers pick their stuff up even if its a $5 decal  (they add up at the end of the year) .ive got to have something to cover my cost but i dont want to lose customers at the same time.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    5 hours ago, darcshadow said:

    For typical decals in that size range, the cost of the material is basically irrelevant, just a few pennies. The real cost is in your time and what do you pay yourself per hour. Start to finish how long does it take you to produce the 150 decals ready for deliver?  Say 5 hours, at $40 per hour, that's $200, or  $1.33 per decal.

    If I have quoted correctly it was like  $6.81 for the materialsand then my time, I'm trying to get the job estimator on flexi right. But when I go to enter my time it shoots up to $700+

    1502222829330-613141147.jpg

  15. Posted

    When doing business with customers, And you give them a quote on a job and they accept (150+ decals) Do you require payment upfront or after the job is done? im looking into a better way of doing business and i dont want to have any decals that are left behind and not paid for. Although some past customers are repeat and understand but there is always a few that think they should be exempt . im just trying to tie up loose ends and make it so everyone wins and everyone picks up their stuff.

  18. Posted

    First off thanks for everyone's help on this forum. i really appreciate it. 

     

    I'm looking at a repeat customer that get some decals from me every year for a show.  It has occured to me that i may be too cheap because i see some profit from it but i dont think it is much when he may be doubling his price as resale . Saying that these decals are 2 inches tall by 6 inches wide some words with a logo in the middle. say if i sell them for $1.50 each and he's selling them for $5 hes making $3.50 off the decal per one. so im wondering do i need to increase my pricing on this?

    If my calculations are correct a roll of vinyl  24x50 yard is 87.48 with shipping  @.29 square ft and tape is 12 x100 yd $50.37 at .17 square ft. Am i correct on this and if so it would mean it cost me around $5.76 to make these correct at 150 decals? basically im trying to adjust my pricing accordily to the market because i dont know if anyone that would  sell a decal that cheap. unless it was a big bulk order 

     

    Correct me if im wrong or whatnot but im looking into doing good decals and making something off of them because im trying to upgrade my equipment also. but im not sure how to go about this issue

  20. Posted

    Well Good evening to all I have got contacted by a church to letter their van.  i was told that i had to place a bid on the work that needed to be done. so i went out measured everything made sure i had the vinyl in stock before i done this bid. ( although i needed to order anyway) I've have talked with the gentleman running the "show" as you'd say. needless to say i felt like i got stuck. i told them upfront to do any designing would be a charge upfront because if i didn't get the work  i still need to be compensated for my time and efforts. i felt like $35 was good for this because of the mileage and all to do so. Although i am not a sign company i try to price accordingly. my bid was for $225 with 5 year warranty for the vinyl and work, another bid was placed for $1200 one for $1500 but these other bid warranty their work for 10 years because they laminated over their vinyl so that gave them a extra 5 years added on. needless to say i lost the bid due to that nature and felt like i should ask why do you laminate over it? although i let them know that i was still owed for the design time and extras . But looks like i probably will not get paid because they said is wasn't necessarily  because they didnt chose my work. We (the director) and i spend 45 mins over the phone in person and sent back pictures of said work to them. to ok with the job that was needed and in the end i though i was gonna get the job. Bad news happened last night. so im frustrated with myself for not getting a upfront payment  and would like some advice on maybe a invoice to them to take care of this matter. what would you all do if this were you.

  21. Posted

    OK  I like the answers i have got so far but say Primal Decals said in the first go around it that. I cut a "rainbow" type piece and use that as how the curve goes but im looking something more technical maybe im not sure. when you get the the curve of the windshield because so many are different. A customer wanted a logo but i knew first off it wasnt gonna be straight on so i had to curve it a little so i thought about making a curved "eyebrow" as some say and keep using that over and over but didnt know if there was another way to get the curves without having to do all of this

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    When doing a windshield banner how do you all get measurements and marking of the curve of the windshield. I use a piece of vinyl with a small curve to it and go like that across. Is there a easier way to do something like this?

  23. Posted

    On 3/28/2017 at 0:26 AM, Dakotagrafx said:

    actually this is a very small roll

    http://www.uscutter.com/Oracal-3675-Perforated-Window-Graphics-PVC-Inkjet-Media-50-50-5-5mil

    ive never used this so im new to perforated on vehicle windows. Have you ever cut a decal out of it? Im trying to cut a motorcycle out for a buddy, How does this hold up as to cutting into it instead of using and printing on it? I do believe this is my first time using this Its kindof of pricey as i might not use it anymore just for this one time. i dont see if i could charge him for the whole roll though

  24. Posted

    5 minutes ago, livinloudgraphics said:

    Where would a place that carries the perforated window vinyl from? ive looked at us cutter and cant seem to find it

    i found it i believe but im guessing some thing smaller that what is sold. Has anyone worked with it before?