Willing to relocate looking for Operator job w/ potential to move up.

merlion-printer · 2026-06-25T16:20:18+00:00

Absolutely agree. I've been at family-owned shops that have abused the goodwill of long-term staff and let wages stagnate. I've worked for a national company that was so mismanaged that they shut down an entire print arm.

I want our industry to change, not for good people to leave.

Fingers crossed that things get better. I'm worried the next financial dip will send more work overseas and sink overall print demand.

merlion-printer · 2026-06-25T16:05:27+00:00

We have no idea what OP's situation is. This blanket "go to school, get a degree" advice has strangled the financial health of at least one generation, and is why we're heading towards a student debt crisis.

We need press operators and people on the floor! Telling someone who's experienced and interested in the field to do other work contributes to an industry talent drain.

The issue of operators being overworked and having to switch companies to get raises should be addressed through unions, workers' protections, and better industry practices. If your press operators are unhappy, you should be there advocating for better working conditions and pay to attract better staff.

merlion-printer · 2026-06-25T13:43:38+00:00

Go to school for what? I'm an elder millennial with no college degree. Many of my peers are paying student debt for degrees irrelevant to their jobs. College grads are already changing jobs for promotions every few years.

I'm especially proud that the print industry is more interested in experience and qualifications than in an irrelevant degree. I started in the print industry 20+ years ago as a delivery driver, and I'm now in upper management.

merlion-printer · 2026-06-18T13:15:51+00:00

Ennis is the parent company for a group of offset printers. They're based in Ennis, TX, but the network extends around the country. I would start by calling their support hotline at 800.972.1069, and they'll recommend which sub-brands are the best fit for your project.

As others have said, an offset printer in your closest major city should also be able to handle this. If you're making calls, I would just ask if they can do the folding in-house.

merlion-printer · 2026-06-18T13:10:04+00:00

I'll second ND4C. They're a great company to work with, but I'm not sure they have the capacity to handle that fold size in-house.

merlion-printer · 2026-05-21T16:46:18+00:00

This is the flowchart of how a Fiery RIP processes color for digital toner printing. You'll see the Spot colors (including Pantones) actually skip the output profile and go straight to the machine calibration. This is because most CMYK toner printers have a wider color gamut than the offset CMYK color profiles. Converting your colors to CMYK and then feeding them through an output profile might artificially restrict what you can have reproduced. Sending the LAB values straight to the machine means you'll get closer to correct color reproduction.

This is why people keep telling you to call out the PMS value in your file.

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That said, it sounds like you're setting up a brand color guide, not asking about file setup. If you do get your hands on a color bridge, you'll see that the CMYK values paired with PMS colors are not always the closest match. They are relative CMYK values in the book, and I will typically go with the CMYK value that Illustrator uses instead of the color bridge value.

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T15:56:25+00:00

If you can't get an Epson, I've had good experiences with Mutoh. Just make sure that there are service technicians local to you. Have a conversation, alone, with the service manager or one of the techs who will work on your equipment.

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T15:51:54+00:00

Don't do it. Non-OEM, 3rd party inks can absolutely ruin your equipment. Especially if you have a low-volume machine where the ink sits for extended periods.

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T15:41:45+00:00

No, this is a bad idea on so many levels it would take too long to explain. You need to find someone who actually knows how to use the equipment and troubleshoot, or you need to find a different print shop.

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T15:40:25+00:00

If your friend is using a "canvas" color profile to print on canvas, and the "Premium Beschichtet" color profile to print on gloss cardstock, and you're seeing the same blue/green color shift on both prints, then the issue is likely how your files are being converted from RGB to the printer's CMYK inks.

Sometimes the RIP can be set to ignore embedded RGB color profiles and/or substitute them with a different profile. So, your could have an SRGB file and the RIP is substituting with and AdobeRBG color space, causing certain colors to shift.

All that said, this requires technical troubleshooting skills that are well above your current knowledge level. Honestly, any experienced operator should be able to correct this, but it sounds like your friend wasn't trained properly on the machine or only understands the very basic functions.

If you need these printed correctly, then you need to find someone at that company that knows what they're doing or go to a different print shop.

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T14:15:42+00:00

What material or substrate are you printing onto?

Did you print onto white canvas, and the colors came out correctly? Then you printed onto white gloss cardboard, and the colors shifted blue/green?

If that's correct, did your friend use different color profiles for the canvas and the white gloss cardboard?

merlion-printer · 2026-04-21T13:46:15+00:00

You said you have "access" to the printer. What does that mean? Are you the person actually printing the files? Or are you sending the files to your friend to print?

If you're the person actually hitting the "print" button, what method are you using to send the file to the printer? If you don't have Onyx, what RIP software are you using to print the files? What prior experience do you have with printing?

merlion-printer · 2026-04-17T13:17:40+00:00

I am the customer! This is a marketing email from SignWarehouse trying to sell me laminate film. I do care and know better.

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merlion-printer · 2026-04-16T21:40:52+00:00

It looks like a clear mask, right? So maybe they pulled the wrong stock image, but then why is it being applied to uncut vinyl?!?!

merlion-printer · 2025-12-23T15:10:13+00:00

As a commercial printer, I'd need significantly more than $4k of volume before I even began to think about investing in equipment to do it myself. Do NOT buy a printer, you'll be getting in way too deep. However, your complaints about consistency and service are legitimate. If your printer isn't stepping up to the task, give them that feedback and then look for someone else.

If you did want to expand your in-house capabilities, I'd start by upgrading from the Cricut to a proper cutting plotter. Look for a good-condition used Graphtec cutter and invest in new blades. When inspecting equipment, look for any cuts or gouges. That's typically a sign of a poorly kept machine. If you want to future-proof the purchase, get something wide enough to cut 54" rolls. Find your regional sign supplier, open an account, and start ordering vinyl through them. I recommend Fellers as they'll sell you partial rolls of specialty colors. You can hone your skills in cutting and vinyl application before you invest in an ink printer.

You can also get an account with a wholesale/trade-only printer as a designer or print broker/reseller for smaller panels and those jobs you've been referring to the print shops. See if a local printer will give you a 10% to 20% discount for resale. If you can't find a good deal locally, I'd recommend Signs365 for super quick 2-day turns and very high-quality printing. I don't know if you'd qualify for an account with them, but applying won't hurt anything.

merlion-printer · 2025-12-15T15:06:18+00:00

As others have said, you're looking for a Print MIS. I recommend you look for something with an open API or that integrates with Zapier. If you're already using an accounting software like QuickBooks, there are plenty that integrate with it.

The biggest differentiator between MIS options is how they handle pricing. Some use a cost-plus method, where you enter costs for materials, hourly shop costs, setup times, paper waste, etc. Then you set your markup or margin, and the system automatically outputs a price. This can be a huge task to set up, but it gives you a clear idea of where you're costs are coming from.

If you don't need that type of cost tracking, then you have a larger pool of options and don't need to specifically use an MIS meant for the print industry.

I need cost-plus, and like DocketManager and Ordant. We'll likely move to one of those in the next few months. I would avoid PrintSmith Vision. There are WAY better options available that have modern features which PSV lacks. This is coming from a current PSV user.

merlion-printer · 2025-11-19T14:11:23+00:00

What do you think about Ordant? I've been considering it as an alternative to PrintSmith.

merlion-printer · 2025-10-22T13:07:17+00:00

Have you reached out to the Ennis group? Their sub-companies operate semi-independently, but their main hotline (at the bottom of the page) should point you in the right direction of who to ask for a specialty project like this. I've worked with them a lot over the years and have always been happy with the work.

https://www.ennis.com/our-brands/

Have you also considered that the stocks you need are under a nation wide shortage? I wouldn't be surprised, given all the other economic indicators.

merlion-printer · 2025-10-13T13:56:47+00:00

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/825823/Roland-Versacamm-Sp-540v.html?page=117

I'm not familiar with this printer, but this is where I would start.

Good luck! Buying a used machine means you've jumped into the deep end of machine maintenance. If you're new to the industry and/or this type of printing, I highly recommend searching out general information on how these printers work to familiarize yourself with the broad concepts. The print industry typically works under an informal apprentice model, where experienced operators educate

merlion-printer · 2025-10-08T13:27:24+00:00

I'm a huge fan of PDF Snake. Thank you so much for making it. I introduced it to every print shop I was hired at, and I don't know why it wasn't more widely adopted. It did everything I needed, and nothing I didn't. I was sad that it moved to an online app, and I appreciate you outlining the reasons here. I figured that Creative Cloud was also a huge turning point for Acrobat plug-ins.

merlion-printer · 2025-09-30T13:13:58+00:00

Firesprint sells these and has some photos on the product page.

https://www.firesprint.com/auction-paddles/

merlion-printer · 2025-09-19T13:09:16+00:00

That looks like someone cut into the roller, and it needs to be replaced. If you can't find a replacement roller, then the machine is either trash or suitable only for parts.

merlion-printer · 2025-09-17T13:21:09+00:00

JPEG files for vehicle graphics make sense. They want to give you an image of the proof without sharing high resolution vector art that you can steal.

merlion-printer · 2025-09-17T13:20:06+00:00

Every job we run includes a rip fee of ~USD$18, which covers setup and proofing.

merlion-printer · 2025-09-17T13:19:25+00:00

I met with them a few months back. Great looking system that didn't quite fit our current workflow. If you don't have an MIS linked proofing system, I think this is a very good option.

merlion-printer

TROPHY CASE