juniorranger 0 Posted February 2, 2009 You know i had a realizaton this past weekend, kinda, I got the new fellers catalog and finally after all these years read all the little captions next to the "Vinyl God" Frank Fellers, (yes i am being sarcastic) He said that in the begining that sign making was the essence of fellers, but since the technology of "Wide format Digital Vinyl printer/cutters" revolutionized the vinyl industry that fellers is more focused on wraps and that than anything, something to that affect, My question or thought is: What is the future of our vinyl plotters? Are digital cutter/printers going to make what we do obsolete? I would hate to think that i invested alot of time and money in vinyl,software,hardware only to be obsolete by digital vinyl cutter/printers, And actually what i mean by that is, I rely on my vinyl machine for extra income, I am not sure i can compete price wise with those type machines when they can just punch it up on the screen and the machine does the rest, as to where we have to cut, weed, mask, apply. So our machines are not that efficient i guess, No wonder the price came down on plotters to where it did.... Is there a difference i dont know or an advantage to cut layered vinyl like our plotters produce i am not aware of? I am not familiar with the digital printer/cutter models so i may be way off.. Just wondering what everyones opinion was....??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ms_sign 5 Posted February 2, 2009 Ever try to wrap a store front? I think there is enough market for cut vinyl. Windows, menu boards, maybe turn to the smaller scale...... $.02 Jon EDIT: I really need to learn how to spell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tory 0 Posted February 2, 2009 LOL Jon I agree, will probably always be a need on a smaller scale but also digital gives a completely different look than cut vinyl. Digital is like a printed sticker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted February 3, 2009 I think both have their advantages and disadvantages....but to be honest I find our cutters now, and the designs we create with our cutters to almost be more of an art. Anyone can put up a design on the screen and hit print! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msmith08 2 Posted February 3, 2009 I totally agree Jen. More hands on approach to our finished product I believe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midwaste 4 Posted February 3, 2009 I do think that vinyl banners are on the way out as digital banners get more and more cost effective. Once they get below 4-5 a sqft, whats the point? I know a guy locally who does digital banners for about $7 and an online guy who does them for $4.. As stated earlier though, there will always be signage, window decals, coroplasts, and the myriad of other uses for out cutters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MecH 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Ever try to wrap a store front? LMAO...I say we get a `sample` printed wrap and a guinea pig store and I`m game for wrappin it!! We could make a big deal about it and see how long it takes the store owner to tell us to take the crap off Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juniorranger 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Had a buddy bring to my attention that there probably wasnt anything to worry about, the nice machines start at 15k and most people that have them dont want to make one sticker for the back window of a 72 chevy pick up for 20 bucks, they want larger items and more production, Not worth firing the machine up and printing and then contour cutting the image for a 6" by 12" finished product for 12 bucks profit, as to where it wouldnt take us anytime to do something like that and would still make money, we arent trying to pay off a 32k wide format digital printer/contour cutter. At anyrate it was a good point he made, and said i think about stuff to much... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tory 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Had a buddy bring to my attention that there probably wasnt anything to worry about, the nice machines start at 15k and most people that have them dont want to make one sticker for the back window of a 72 chevy pick up for 20 bucks, they want larger items and more production, Not worth firing the machine up and printing and then contour cutting the image for a 6" by 12" finished product for 12 bucks profit, as to where it wouldnt take us anytime to do something like that and would still make money, we arent trying to pay off a 32k wide format digital printer/contour cutter. At anyrate it was a good point he made, and said i think about stuff to much... While that is true, it is possible to send a single image to be cut and then fill the rest of the VersaCamm with different images to be cut at the same time. No, I can't see where it would be profitable but it can be done. That machine, even at 15,000, is a VERY nice machine. But I still think it really depends on what look your client is going after. Personally for garments, obviously storefronts, and signs I like the cut vinyl. They had a van all decorated with images from the VersaCamm but it didn't do much for me. Looked like a glorified sticker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted February 4, 2009 To be honest, with the economy continuing to get worse, just how many people can really spend $15K for that?? I'm just happy when I have enough for my basic supplies! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeCamaro 11 Posted February 4, 2009 Yeah, dont worry, there will always be the need for vinyl cut stuff (they said the same about floppys as digital storage media, ) LOL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LakeshoreVinylExpressions 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Yeah, dont worry, there will always be the need for vinyl cut stuff (they said the same about floppys as digital storage media, ) LOL. What's a floppy? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fivestar Posted February 4, 2009 Yeah, dont worry, there will always be the need for vinyl cut stuff (they said the same about floppys as digital storage media, ) LOL. What's a floppy? The opposite of a stiffy? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kburk 2 Posted February 4, 2009 Go old school!! Keith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fbomb 0 Posted February 4, 2009 We are in the digital ages...Digital is taking over in all aspects of print. Printing is my life, I flexo print 9-5 (stickers/labels) and screen print on the side (amongst other things). I've seen digital creep in over the years. Look at DTG vs screen printing, you can't compete for 20 shirts, but go to 100 and the role is reversed. YOU HAVE TO ADAPT! My full time work took a hit with a lot of customers going to digital print. So we started subbing out to digital printers, then purchased a digital label printer http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3254791&Sku=P525-1128&SRCCODE=WEBINKPLP&cm_mmc_o=YztBBCjCmH4CjCmmVCjCmmV...Now we print digital labels AND supply digital printers with stock (since we are geared to die cut master rolls), which increased our sales (even though we lost a lot initially). And digital can't touch us with out million piece orders! Another thing I've personally found with vinyl is there is a lot of mark up, but little profit...If that makes sense? I mean you have to rely on doing a lot of jobs to get good profits. Screen printing, I can easily make a few hundred dollars on a job but would have to do 4-5 jobs to get the same profits in vinyl (At least with the work I do). *individual results may vary* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midwaste 4 Posted February 4, 2009 We are in the digital ages...Digital is taking over in all aspects of print. Printing is my life, I flexo print 9-5 (stickers/labels) and screen print on the side (amongst other things). I've seen digital creep in over the years. Look at DTG vs screen printing, you can't compete for 20 shirts, but go to 100 and the role is reversed. YOU HAVE TO ADAPT! My full time work took a hit with a lot of customers going to digital print. So we started subbing out to digital printers, then purchased a digital label printer http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3254791&Sku=P525-1128&SRCCODE=WEBINKPLP&cm_mmc_o=YztBBCjCmH4CjCmmVCjCmmV...Now we print digital labels AND supply digital printers with stock (since we are geared to die cut master rolls), which increased our sales (even though we lost a lot initially). And digital can't touch us with out million piece orders! Another thing I've personally found with vinyl is there is a lot of mark up, but little profit...If that makes sense? I mean you have to rely on doing a lot of jobs to get good profits. Screen printing, I can easily make a few hundred dollars on a job but would have to do 4-5 jobs to get the same profits in vinyl (At least with the work I do). *individual results may vary* Interesting. I have never seen a printer like that, and certainly didn't know tiger direct sold them! I know what you are talking about on the flexo vs digital. A few years back I worked for a beverage company, we were getting labels printed, and I learned ALL about digital vs. flexo vs. roto printing. The plate cost of flexo scared them into the digital, even at an higher per-piece rate. Could not get the ROI out of flexo plates, plus they always wanted to make changes to little things.. I hear what you mean on the vinyl being little profit also. I screenprint on the side as well, and always make at least a few hundred for a job that might take me a few hours. Vinyl, I would need lots of small jobs or a reaaally big job to fill that time slot. I know some on here have no problem doing that though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fbomb 0 Posted February 4, 2009 yeah, that printer is badass! It runs slow, but it goes on special water resistant/smudge proof paper...Now we stock hundreds of different die cut sizes on rolls for in house jobs and as a blank label supplier. We also now do thermal printing and do a lot of consecutive barcoding. Something you'd NEVER get done with traditional print. When things get slow these pay the bills. Another thing about vinyl cutting is IMO, most of the digital banners and signage (aside from the high end mall ads and sports complex perfed banners) look pretty washy and cheap to me...But that just might be b/c I am in "the biz" and am critical with the eye on that stuff. Something about vinyl on a banner vs. digital that just makes it pop. Market will always get flooded and only those with the drive, quality, connections and/or business plan will survive...It's a revolving door. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wasatchcars 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Do you ship labels? I am getting ready to have a small run done about 150 2.5 x 3.5 Also have a friend who about every 3 months gets 10,000 2x3 done Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tory 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Well said Fbomb, couldn't agree more Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
