Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 14
TECH
REVIEW
CHRIS & KATHI
MORRISON
own and operate The
Image Specialists, a fullservice graphics company
based in Clements, CA.
Chris is also a Microsoftcertified systems
engineer.
DESIGN SOFTWARE
The best printing and cutting equipment is nothing
without a great design.
T'S no secret that new
equipment purchases
often require an additional
purchase of complementary software. But while a RIP powers
digital printers and other programs
drive plotters, routers or engravers,
your shop's design software impacts
every kind of sign you fabricate.
If you are in the market for a new
design package, then you should
inform yourself of the ample options
to choose from and many factors to
consider before making a decision.
First and foremost: What kind of
equipment will you be designing for?
For example, if you only have a vinyl
cutter, then tools for manipulating
images may not be needed. Vinyl
cutters work with vector or line
drawings, so you need to be sure the
package supports a format that your
cutter will accept. You may think that
a drawing package can provide what
you need. That might be the case,
but you may give up sign-specific
features that handle tiling, scan and
trace, and nesting, to name a few.
Some bridge programs work with many
of the popular drawing applications
by adding these additional features
during the output step. Just be aware
that this will cost more, but if your
designers are familiar with the
programs, you may save money in
training them on a new package.
IMAGE FASHION AND FUNCTION
If you are working with images for
output to a digital printer, then you
have an additional wrinkle to consider.
In many cases, the sign-specific software package will offer rudimentaryto-good tools for manipulating images.
You can, of course, use a high-end
package for image editing and then
import the image into the sign-design
package to be used as a design element.
The design software will, again, provide
functionality that may be difficult, if
not impossible, to accomplish in a
photo-editing application. For example,
you may be creating a full-color,
8 x-10 ft. banner, but your printer may
not be able to print at that width.
The sign package can print the images
in strips and allow for a butt or overlap seam. The package may also be
able to take into account the banner
hems and calculate the placement
of the grommets.
Sign-specific packages can also
take care of a very important aspect
of printing: color management. You
may want to use third-party inks
and or media. In some cases, the
FLEXI 19
SIGNLAB
CORELDRAW GRAPHICS
SUITE 2020
I
SA International
thinksai.com
14
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
CADlink Technology Corp.
cadlink.com
OCTOBER 2020
Corel
corel.com
http://www.thinksai.com
http://www.corel.com
http://www.cadlink.com
Signs of the Times - October 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - October 2020
Contents
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Intro1
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - BB1
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - BB2
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - BB3
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - BB4
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover1
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover1a
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover1b
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover2
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 1
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Contents
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 3
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 4
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 5
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 6
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 7
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 8
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 9
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 10
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 11
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 12
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 13
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 14
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 15
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 16
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 17
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 18
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 19
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Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 27
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Signs of the Times - October 2020 - 64
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover3
Signs of the Times - October 2020 - Cover4
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