rrc1962

Never had any static issues here either. We used our MH721 on the road doing shows. It was rained on, used outside in conditions ranging from full sun exposure, hot, cold, dry and humid and it never failed. We ran it on everything from grid power with long extension cords as well as generators. It also got knocked around pretty good during transport a few times. We used it for a couple years then sold it for $250 thinking we were getting out of the business. Now back in the business, we have an MH871 and haven't had a problem with it either. The MH781 doesn't go on the road.

Doesn't your cutting software need a vector file? Why are you designing a vector image in corel then converting it to raster, just to trace it back to a vector? Why not just save as EPS and import that to the cutting software...or just import the corel file into the cutting software if it accepts it? You didn't say what you were using for cutting software.

I would hand trace it. I trace customer supplied logos all the time. Just use common sense. If a customer brings you a Harley logo, you can pretty much be sure it is not HIS logo. However, in a case like this when the customer brings you an existing business card and wants the same logo, I don't have a problem with it. If you don't do it, I'm sure one of your competitors will.

I can actually get banners done for $1.50/SF. I don't know how they cover materials and ink for that. a 3x9 would be $40.50. That's not a wholesale price. This guy offers that price to the public. Just one more reason why I don't touch banners.

I stand corrected. I thought it was cut only.

I'd go time and materials. Is this your first wrap?

I was using FlexiPro pretty much right from the start, but many people here use SignCut or Sign Blazer with no problems. Those are cut only programs. You'll need Corel, Illustrator or Inkscape to design in. Inkscape is free. Most of the problems you see are related to trying to get the cutter running on Vista or 7 with a USB port.

I've been using the MH cutters for a few years now with no problems. Buy a older PC that has a serial port running XP and dedicate it to the cutter. I paid $40 the the PC that runs FLexiPro and the cutter, which is cheaper than a USB adapter that may or may not work. For $300, it's a great cutter and can easily pay for itself in just a few small jobs.

Going by the logic of 'well known brand'...Dell would be the best computer out there. I used to work for Dell. There is a reason they went from 2nd in the market to 7th in a a couple of years. Don't be surprised to see them move all US manufacturing overseas and all North American distribution to Mexico over the next 5 years. This year they shut down the North Carolina plant, although it is still running a couple of lines until they get the Mexico plants up to speed. They also recently sold the Nashville fulfillment operations which included operations and real estate.

We've found them. That's why we don't do banners.

I do lots of corroplast. Yard signs are hit or miss. Half the calls I get are people trying to beat online screen printing prices of $1 or less per sign. We've done quite a few of the larger political signs (4'x4') in smaller quantities. To get these screen printed online, they have to buy in quantity to get a decent price, but then shipping ends up being more than the signs. I've had a few banners printed for our steel shop by a printer downtown. Factoring time and materials, it's cheaper for me to have them printed than to make them myself.

I won't even touch a banner. They print them around here for as low as $2/SF. When I quote a banner, they are usually trying to get it cheaper than that. I quote $5/SF. If they want to pay that, I'll do a banner. In just over 2 years here, I haven't done one yet.

The best wont be cheap. How much do you want to spend?

Alumacorr, C-Bond or colored .040 aluminum. Personally, I like Alumacorr. There are also some pre finished wood products, but they are not any cheaper than the aluminum products. More in some cases.

All you have to do is a little drawing and node editing. All of the vector drawing programs have the tools to do it. This is a good one to use as practice because you have to use a few different techniques. Draw, node edit, offset, then a little more node editing. It took about 15 minutes.

This just requires some simple drawing and node editing. Offset the shadow vectors by a small amount then join and trim the offset vectors to the flag vectors.

The way you laid the vinyl is correct, although it could be pulled a little tighter. All you need is a path for air to escape. It doesn't have to be a uniform hump that follows the rivet exactly. Where you start depends on how many rivets you are trying to cover in one shot. We don't do wraps, so I'm rarely covering more than 3 or 4 rivets with a single piece of vinyl. I'll usually start at a rivet and work outward from there. I use Oracal 651 90% of the time. 751 does conform better, but 651 does just as well with right technique.

You're probably not heating the vinyl enough. I use a Rollepro and heat the vinyl until I see it start to ripple a little, then run the roller allong the pocket. The result looks like the paint over the rivets. If the vinyl is not hot enough it will crease instead of rolling in smoothly. I use a propane torch to apply heat.

The problems are usually with the companies offering big ticket items like machinery. They take a few orders then disappear knowing the buyer has no recourse.

You can have the customer sign what ever you want, but the liability will be on who ever duplicates the artwork for profit.

You didn't say how old, but this is an older EPS format. ayso [Converted].eps ayso [Converted].eps

That depends. There is a button in design central where you can make the outline just an outline or make it a solid background/outline.

C-Bond or .040 color one side is about $40 per sheet and you should be able to get it all out of one sheet. What does "(x) - 18"x24" bin signs" mean? Can't price it if you don't know how many. What's a bin sign?

I think it wasn't Vista/7 compatible until V8.5.

You can buy CD's that contain Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Harley Davidson, etc. logos. Just because you buy a CD doesn't mean you can sell the artwork on it. In fact, the person selling the CD is in violation of copyright laws by selling the artwork files. Also, it doesn't have to be officially copyrighted to be protected. If I create something and you use it without permission, I would win in court as long as I can prove that I created it before you used it. The best way to do this is to print it, take it to the bank and have it notarized and put it away in a safe place.