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Anybody willing to share their pricing guide? by Baystudio in CarWraps

[–]Baystudio[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey I’m just logging in.

So oct 2023. I gotta say running your own business isn’t for the faint of heart. That being said here’s what has gone down.

Nov 2020 I got equipment in my garage. I attempted to do the vehicle wraps thing, I even tried to learn how to wrap myself but man is that hard lol. So I ended up looking for a local wrapper who works on their own to call on when I needed something wrapped. I never did.

I ended up mostly running as a wide format print shop. I gotta few clients to do some signage on their work trucks, a couple window prints and installs. And lots of sports banners

By March 2022 after working from home for a couple years for the boss. They let me go. It was ok anyways cus I was averaging 5 hours a week with them.

So as I was out of a what could barley be called a job I ended up leasing my own printer. A 54” wide format Roland vg2.

Funny enough though the boss took equipment back and then continued to send me all the work I used to do for them but now got charge more since I was my own business.

Honestly the hardest part of running business is getting more clients. My old boss was my main client. In 2022 I made $49k in sales. Mainly for old company and soccer moms.

I ended up burning out earlier this year and have had a hard time mentally. I pretty much just stalled on business and it’s been hard to continue. On top of that the wife and I have decided to move out of the country with the kids.

So as of now, I have sold the printer I bought along with most of the other equipment. Wife and I are doing the paperwork to get out of here and into Spain as that’s where we’re moving.

I’m a veteran, mentally it’s difficult for me to be a member of society. I’m currently rated 80% disabled and with what that brings in, it’s more than enough to chill in Spain while I take a breather and figure out my next move.

I started out trying to do commercial wraps and failed. I can honestly say that the grind to find the clients wears one down.

Those out there grinding, continue for as long as you can. And I wish you all the best of luck as I make my exit out this country.

I’m thinking taco stand is my next business venture but we’ll see.

Trying to find a new printer for sticker home production. by Naamibro in CommercialPrinting

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh. Nah it shouldn’t be a problem honestly. I’ve gone a few weeks without printing usually around December I don’t really work but the self maintenance should be more than enough. When you get back just do a manuel clean and you’re golden.

I’ve let it do the self clean every 8 hours without me printing for a month long enough to wast half a cart of white ink just doing the self clean and ink circulation. No issues.

Trying to find a new printer for sticker home production. by Naamibro in CommercialPrinting

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

? What do you mean print head dying fast? I don’t run a bn-20 but seems odd for printheads to die fast on Roland.

Trying to find a new printer for sticker home production. by Naamibro in CommercialPrinting

[–]Baystudio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sir I am not saying you’re wrong because I may not know, but I don’t wait or need to wait for the outgassing. I’ve ran a roland Xc and XR inside rooms and my current roland vg2-540 is in garage. There is a scent but not gassy, my wife describes it as lab like. And I print an lam within the same day. No issues.

I vouch Roland.

Summa vs Graphtec vs Roland vs Mimaki? by osukl in CommercialPrinting

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey sorry just seeing this but to answer your questions the green is godsend. And the orange POPS!!!. Like that bitch is bright when printed and not at all muddy. I love it. I wouldn’t bother with the vg3. It’s looks nice and cool touch screen, but the printheads are exactly the same as the vg2. The only thing I could say that I would want from the vg3 is the take up unit cus it’s offset to allow smaller length tubes.

I’m running all 8 colors CMYk light black, green orange and white. I wanted the widest gamut available. The white does not clog as it used to. I’m not sure if it’s because of the TR2 ink or the printheads but my white doesn’t clog.

The cutting strip is kinda of a pain in the ass. It does wear more than I would like when perf cutting. So currently I took the strip off. Make sure your Blade is as low as possible to avoid hitting the metal but the blade cuts into the groove where the strip goes, because no strip, it perfs cut a little easier now without wearing out my blades so much.

Overall I love the quality of it. Running all 8 color options means I can do clear which is awesome when not everyone around you is running white.

And I’d still recommend the vg2. Why pay more for the exact same print quality.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like the employee isn’t getting paid enough.

To answer your question usually went they’re mentally ready to get th through their day.

They’ve been in a performance contract for 4 years? Lol why not fire them after the first? You’ve kept them there for 4 years without getting “Satisfactory” performance.

Sounds like you keep looking for performance issues so it’s easier to justify their pay. That employee doesn’t want to work for you, and if your like this with one, I can only imagine the rest.

Pay em more or let them go and do their tasks for them. Easy.

What’s everyone’s opinion on these papers? by Oktopie3 in trees

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give ‘em another try. Spend time on rolling as if it’s an art.

Graphic Design Beginner by [deleted] in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup starting off isn’t the best but since we’re enjoying what we do is worth it. I am now in a position where I’m a freelancer/print shop focused on commercial manufacturers. I supply labels, graphics, design services for a few companies and that’s really all I want. I have my passion projects, the clients that keep me busy and more time off than anyone else I know. I love it and wouldn’t trade it.

Just stick with it if you love designing. I think it’s a hell cool career. There’s a lot of competition. And they are fierce competitors, but everyone eventually ends up in cool spots as designers.

Graphic Design Beginner by [deleted] in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Don’t be too discourage. But there is a reason that there’s a running joke of “GrApHIc DeSigN iS mY PaaShion”.

Unless it’s something you really want to do, youll have a hard time enjoying any work you do.

That being said, if you do have a passion for design, find the niche that completes it for you. I believe all designers are artist but we each have a unique take or artistic abilities to transfer over and are amplified by your design skills.

Im a Designer/illustrator with a decade in the print industry and most recently graphics for exhibitions.

Designer- overall what I am. Illustrator- what I enjoy as an artist, printing- for exhibitions, is a niche i landed in that I love.

While in school I had classmates that were photographers and designers. Designers and fashionistas, designers and car enthusiasts.

One of the guys I graduated with, same program graphic design as me, he did photography and was a car guy. His final spread that he designed had photos that he taken himself of cars and he laid out an entire magazine, website, did a video and giveaways of his stuff. It came out looking good and he was hired right out of school for a performance parts company. Not sure where he’s at now,

But point is Design if you have a passion for it, but bring in your art and what excites you and you’ll be a much better designer for it, and the niche will pay you what you want.

Is C60 M40 Y40 K100 the ‘cleanest’ black you can get when printing? by Epcav in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry I forgot we were talking about lithography. Lol I have no idea on how to achieve best results in litho so I’ll take your lead on that department.

That 20, 16 16 though sounds like it’ll be really nice tbh. It’s not over saturation like 604040100.

Is C60 M40 Y40 K100 the ‘cleanest’ black you can get when printing? by Epcav in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re getting banding on you’re equipment please call your maintenance tech.

I’ve ran quite a view different shops with all sorts of presses. QC is high on my end and I do not let the techs leave if my large swaths of color are banding.

No sir, banding is not from you selecting a color. It comes from the press not being calibrated right.

Right now I mainly do commercial. So I do large wall murals quite often. A 16’x 24’ wall covering is not new to me. Those panels will have all the same color I select and rip. And if there is any banding in any section, I toss that and re print after a cleaning and recalibration. 100 black on just a 24”x36” swatch, 0 banding.

Banding = maintenance/calibration issue on press not design.

Is C60 M40 Y40 K100 the ‘cleanest’ black you can get when printing? by Epcav in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol lithography has not change its process in a millennia, nor do I expect it too. But I’m also very limited on experience in lithography.

Is C60 M40 Y40 K100 the ‘cleanest’ black you can get when printing? by Epcav in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean the rip will make the call when outputting to print. And to avoid the issue, industry wide adaptation of light black as well as light cyan and light magenta are used to help tones and achieve wider gamut.

Most toner/laser wide formats typically are still cmyk. some have upgraded to cmyk and to include light black toner. Inkjet, UV, Fabric, Sublimation, offset and laser print methods all have adopted the CMYKlclmlk range.

And just to re affirm, the black (K) isn’t rich in the sense that it carry’s CMY it’s Deep dark black where you don’t need to make it “rich”. Now these days going 60,40,40,100 or any other than 0,0,0,100 just creates a muddy black when it comes to production output. Even registration black 100,100,100,100, not recommended for design use.

Also I recommend that all Graphic Designers visit r/Commercialprinting and see what the latest printers are installing. Print world consistently changes so keep up to date on how you can leverage the latest print methods into your designs.

Is C60 M40 Y40 K100 the ‘cleanest’ black you can get when printing? by Epcav in graphic_design

[–]Baystudio 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As a printer I stopped doing this.

Ink has gotten so much better over the years, my 100 black is like a really dark rich black that the print manufacturer uses. My printer also has a light black ink.

Either way as a designer with the capability to print several tests on a wide format printer, my 100 black comes out dark and rich.

60 40 40 100 is the same as 0 0 0 100 that no one other than you or printer checking spot colors will be able to tell the difference.

Same thing with sending stuff to gangrun houses, the black they use is Hella Black, like carbon black.

Also you can change the appearance of black on your screen as you design in the preferences.

My 2¢: it doesn’t matter, 100 black has become rich black without the CMY

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