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tgriffith94

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i'm about to get started in the graphics buisiness. i'm 19 and i've been racing my entire life so that will be my main market. i'm on a $5,000 +- budget so i'm trying to get the most bang for my buck. i've worked up a package within my spending limits that includes a 48" copam series cutter. i plan on using coreldraw software and that's what one of my questions is about. are the "ultimate flames", "vehicle tribal", and "vector drawing programs" found on the us cutter site compatible with the coreldraw software? also, my total $ in cutter equip and start up vinyl is about $3,800 which leaves $1,200 i can spend without having to borrow. i need advice on which computer would be best suited for this kind of work. I would really like to use a laptop with a wireless mouse, so i could take it to the track and show people some samples of their car or take it to someones shop and work with them to get exactly what they want the first time. will a laptop support all the software and saved draftswithout losing performance? i plan on expanding as much as the economy will allow when the time comes so i'll need a little bit of over kill i guess. maybe for screen printing later on. any advice or suggestions on the copam cutter, software, computer, or just cutting in general would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

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i'm about to get started in the graphics buisiness. i'm 19 and i've been racing my entire life so that will be my main market. i'm on a $5,000 +- budget so i'm trying to get the most bang for my buck. i've worked up a package within my spending limits that includes a 48" copam series cutter. i plan on using coreldraw software and that's what one of my questions is about. are the "ultimate flames", "vehicle tribal", and "vector drawing programs" found on the us cutter site compatible with the coreldraw software? also, my total $ in cutter equip and start up vinyl is about $3,800 which leaves $1,200 i can spend without having to borrow. i need advice on which computer would be best suited for this kind of work. I would really like to use a laptop with a wireless mouse, so i could take it to the track and show people some samples of their car or take it to someones shop and work with them to get exactly what they want the first time. will a laptop support all the software and saved draftswithout losing performance? i plan on expanding as much as the economy will allow when the time comes so i'll need a little bit of over kill i guess. maybe for screen printing later on. any advice or suggestions on the copam cutter, software, computer, or just cutting in general would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

I would surf the net for vinyl graphics, and also youtube has a lot of videos on graphics and the cutters etc.. Hope this helps

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A few things:

You are probably going the right route with buying the 48" first thing, but keep in mind that you will need to have room for it.  Personally, I have rarely needed anything larger than my 24".

Another thing to keep in mind is that you will need a big table to weed and tape on.  At least a 4x6, IMO, but the bigger the better.  I just made one out of a sheet of OSB and some 2x4's, cost me about $25.

In terms of software, if all you are going to be doing is signage, decals, etc. you may want to look into a dedicated signmaking software, like Flexi.  Flexi Pro is way overpriced, IMO.  It sounds like Flexi is easier to learn than Corel, and Corel has a bunch of stuff that you don't really need if you are only doing signs and graphics.  Same with Illustrator.  The Ultimate Flames, etc are typically just .eps files, which can be used with any of the software mentioned.  Before I spent a bunch of money on those, I would definitely see what is available for free online.  There is tons of stuff available in this forum and on vector graphic sites.  I don't buy anything until I absolutely cannot find it for free.

Most any laptop you buy new now will be more than capable of handling Corel, Flexi, Illustrator, etc. as well as attaching to a cutter.  Some people swear by the Serial connection, but many others (including myself) have never had a single problem with the USB connection.

Being new at this, your biggest learning curve is probably going to be the graphics manipulation.  There are tutorials for virtually every software as well as cutting and vinyl application, as Aries said.  Youtube is your friend.

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thanks to both of you. i've always loved coming up with designs and graphics. i almost die every time i have to go to someone and get vinyl cut for one of my race cars, so i figured it was time to try and turn my passion into a revenue source. i'm not gonna quit my day job just yet, but hopefully i can get it figured out to where i won't need a day job anymore. not tryin to get rich, just wanna provide top quality, original work to the racers in my area at a fair price. do ppl right and there's no telling how big it could get. i'll look into the flexi. what does the corel do that the flexi doesn't? again, thank you for your advice

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Corel and Illustrator are much easier to work with vector objects or creating the design. You can just import into "Sign Blazer", "Flexi" or anything other software of your choice. Flexi is used to cut, and Corel is used to design. Some people design in Flexi but I find it a pain.

A Laptop will work fine. I suggest a 17" just so your not staring at a tiny screen. And do not get one of those netbooks. They will not run programs at all. The Acer's screen resolution is just not equipped to handle the stuff.

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