r/CommercialPrinting

I’m looking to organize my workflow heavily and looking at some different softwares. I wanted to know if anybody had any recommendations?

I currently have infoflo. They’re alright but I can’t handle how slow it is.

Noticed something lately, a lot of small shops around me that were strictly offset or screen print a few years ago are now quietly adding DTF, wide format, sublimation, sometimes all three. not because they planned to, but because the alternative was losing customers to someone who could do it all under one roof.

i get it, i've done the same thing honestly. but there's a part of me that wonders if we're all just spreading ourselves thin trying to compete with larger shops on volume and variety instead of just being really really good at one thing.

the economics make sense short term, keep the customer, add the service, move on. but the equipment, the learning curve, the inconsistent quality while you're figuring it out, that stuff has a real cost too.

anyone else feel like specialisation is becoming a luxury only bigger shops can afford now? or is diversifying actually the smarter long term play for small operations

I’m looking for user feedback specific to these models, including pros, cons, issues, overall opinions, and any comments on the controllers (PRISMAsync and AccurioPro).

We are downsizing our print room location while aiming to keep the organization’s mixed media jobs in-house. Efficiency, reliability, user-friendliness, and responsive service (Eastern Ontario) are all critical to our operations, as we regularly handle urgent and last-minute jobs.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as we finalize the RFP review and prepare our recommendation. These are the two proponents remaining in the running. Thanks!

One red flag I noticed is when suppliers avoid talking about mistakes, replacements, or customer support. Every production company eventually has issues at some point. The difference is whether they actually help fix the problem quickly or disappear once the order is paid for.

I work for a print shop that is an HP dealer in the Midwest for DesignJet - Z6 and Z9 and HP Pagewide XL and HP Pagewide XL Pro.

Would you be Ok drop shipping a machine to you or want it installed and done locally ? We cover a large region in the Midwest and I’m trying to guage how far to reach for customers. Also what people are open to….from our HQ in the Midwest we have set up and installed machines 3.5-4 hours away for customers.

https://preview.redd.it/xua9zgdmq22h1.png?width=2000&format=png&auto=webp&s=adb8c845cc0a75100afd11f3b8edb59e4ed6a2df

That's it. In Photoshop, if you want to convert an image into duotone, you first need to reduce it into grayscale, destroying color information. My tool tries to find the best color combination (or you can choose your desired two colors) and do the trick.

Totally free, no register, no catches. But I'd love to receive your feedback. 😄

www.leandrocorreia.com/lcduotone

Looking to have 4 different illustrations printed at 150 pieces each, for a total of 600 pieces.

Anybody capable of this or can recommend a commercial printer? Needs to be high quality and archival.

in U.S.

Need advice from high-volume vinyl decal producers.

We’re evaluating a 2-year production project of ~350,000 individually kiss-cut + die-cut cast vinyl decals, likely produced on a Summa S3 TC160.

The main challenge is not the cutting itself, but optimizing the weeding workflow at scale while minimizing manual labor as much as possible.

Client requirements appear to be:
- kiss-cut
- full weeding
- individually die-cut stickers

The challenge is finding the most efficient and industrially viable method to remove excess vinyl quickly and consistently in long production runs, without creating a workflow heavily dependent on repetitive manual work.

A secondary concern is maintaining accurate registration if re-feeding is required after weeding for final die-cut/perf-cut operations.

Does anyone have experience with:
- ultra-fast weeding methods?
- weedless or semi-weedless workflows?
- FlexCut/perf-cut strategies?
- jigs, tension systems or re-registration methods?
- ways to avoid re-feeding entirely?
- automation or semi-automation approaches for this type of workflow?

Looking for real-world production experience from shops handling large quantities.

Thanks in advance.

Who’s your go-to for large (10k) lawn sign orders? We typically use signs365 for outsourced orders, but this would be our largest ever. Thanks!

we’ve been getting more small apparel requests lately and i’m starting to think it might be worth adding a heat press instead of turning everything away or outsourcing the simple stuff

not trying to jump into full apparel production overnight, mostly thinking short runs, DTF/sublimation transfers, maybe occasional shirts/hoodies/totes for existing customers. i’ve been looking around but it’s hard to tell what’s actually shop-worthy vs hobby-grade stuff that looks fine online but won’t hold temp/pressure consistently

main things i’m wondering about are even pressure, accurate temp, platen size, auto-open vs manual, clamshell vs swing-away, and whether it’s worth spending more upfront if it saves headaches later

https://preview.redd.it/tlwp7qhcf02h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c54c5e8538436dec0427911940fd565db112c0ac

https://preview.redd.it/l9aq7shcf02h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de0a9aadc4b578a43e93c7424fa4a4778dbf6e5d

https://preview.redd.it/kdgh7pdue02h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62be630f7ddf053f1588e0150e6b4c527424d884

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I have at least 40,000 sheets of each located in Ohio if anyone is interested I am selling for roughly 130/m or 45cwt. Mill direct name brand stock