A Digital Printing Network
Newbie needs help!
Hello,
I purchased the BN20 at ISS and it arrives in a week or so......and I am getting excited and scared at the same time as I prepare for it's arrival.
I would really appreciate tips from yo'all.....
1) Placement of machine - anything I should know as I plan the space of where the machine will sit in the office??
2) Computer / Software - looking at getting a laptop with Corel Draw and Illustrator. Will a laptop work? Any other things I should know about the computer / software?
3) I am going to have to spend some time learning how to use this machine - what are the staring material I should get and practice on?
4) Any other advice, tips, suggestions?
Narmin
PS - FYI - will be getting my training in Jan.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John H. on -
Hi Narmin,
Don't know much about the BN-20 it's a new product but it's a printer so not so different, I have a VS-300, but I do know a bit about computers and software, I don't like using a lap top mainly for the lack of power and the costs considering you can make your own desktop with 10X the power for half the cost, I built one last year and it should be good for another five years plus, I put another 8 gigs of RAM in it yesterday for 40.00 bringing it to 16gig. Another thing pick either Corel or Illustrator you don't need both it's hard enough to become proficient at one. Most in the print/cut business use Corel and on this site you will have a lot of people who are very helpful and knowledgeable with Corel. If you aren't trained in graphic arts your best use of time would be learning how to use Corel or Illustrator, I know Corel has a lot of video tutorials and a book about 2 inches thick and are both very helpful, on this site Steve has a bunch of videos that are very specific to what you need to learn for production of products, It took me about six months to be able to grasp the basics but I am 50 years old and this stuff didn't exist when I was in school, also there are so many different ways to do even the simplest things it is a never ending learning experience. Hope I helped a little,
Good Luck
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Permalink Reply by Narmin Parpia on -
John,
Thanks for your tips and suggestions - I really do appreciate your taking the time. THX.
I have decided that I am going to go with Corel instead of illustrator.
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on -
Greetings, I am not disagreeing with John, just saying that a laptop will work fine. I have anyone of three laptops plus a desktop that I can use with my machine. New laptops, not notebooks, have enought kick to work fine. When I travel on the road doing what I do, I can plug my laptop into any of the versacamms out there and i am up and running and can usually troubleshoot the end users connectivity issues. I do recommend you become somewhat fimiliar with your machine so that when you go to class in January - the new information will have something to attached to and then you will better understand why all the things you were finding out during discovery learning was occurring.
BTW - the design intent for your new machine was to be portable and do shows, flee markets, kiosks, etc. With that in mind it has a USB for attachment oppose to an ethernet cable. ERGO - laptop was the intended driver - for portability.
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Permalink Reply by Narmin Parpia on
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Irving,
Thanks for your thoughts. I really appreciate your taking the time!
Thinking laptop for now because it allows me to take my Corel with me with me to learn and work on vs having to always work besides the machine!
USB - not - Ethernet...so is the printer networkable without a machine?
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Permalink Reply by CYW on
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Narmin, for what it's worth, I also use a very basic, no frills, older laptop to run my Versacamm.
I don't have it stuffed with excessive memory hogging software but I do always have at least a version or two of Corel running at the same time I'm using VersaWorks.
I usually do my design work in my office, which is not in the work area where my machines are and use Dropbox to instantly transfer the files.
But that's not to say that the laptop wouldn't accomodate both.
There are plenty of times I need to tweak that file I 'thought" was all set to go.............sigh.
Working on the laptop doesn't interfere with VW doing it's thing
Lady Di
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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I am happy you selected Corel, I beleive personally the learning curve is lower. As for laptop, more functional. You can do your artwork anywhere, and then hook-up to the printer and get cranking. Network, not the BN20 - with that said there are ways to do everything. Due to connectivity you will be told never to network your printers, lost signal = wasted media and ink. In the professional world, those principals are sometimes at odds with how work needs to get done. One day when I get a BN20 I will get my arms around all the particulars.
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Permalink Reply by John H. on
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Yes I think Corel is a good choice also, I also have a lap top with Corel on it for designing and customer display away from my shop and it has VW and Quick Books on it as a back up just in-case, But for me in my shop I often have everything running at the same time (A.D.D. my whole life HA!), Corel/Photoshop Elements/VW/Quickbooks/Joomla/Google Analytics/Chrome/Security Cams for front of property, ect so I need a whole lot of computer and I am a computer geek to top it off, the other folks are correct a Lap-top should be just fine if that's all your using it for. ERGO !!! Get yourself X6 and start learning how to design!!
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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John what are you watching on your cams? I think 3 cars passed your house, when I was there, and one of them was me twice cause I was lost. Lol.
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Permalink Reply by John H. on
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We don 't take kindly to trespassers out here, gives me time to "(sic)lock and load", also to see when UPS gets here.
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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LOL - so now you found out I was worried when I visited you - LOL - thought I heard a clicking sound
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Permalink Reply by Steven Jackson - Admin on -
Narmin,
I will try my hand at answering these questions as well
1) Placement of machine - anything I should know as I plan the space of where the machine will sit in the office??
- Get the stand for the printer - it makes it more mobile in your shop and very easy to put just about anywhere.2) Computer / Software - looking at getting a laptop with Corel Draw and Illustrator. Will a laptop work? Any other things I should know about the computer / software?
- We have 7 laptops in our shop and run almost everything from them. You by no means need a desktop to run the printer. I have run 2 printers off of one laptop just fine.
3) I am going to have to spend some time learning how to use this machine - what are the staring material I should get and practice on?
- Get some inexpensive decal media to practice on. It will be the lowest cost media and will allow you to learn how to handle the machine and software.
4) Any other advice, tips, suggestions?
- Keep asking questions, watch the videos and keep trying new things with the printer!
© 2013 Created by Steven Jackson - Admin.
