“People like to touch,” says Mike Richford of Design Air Graphics. “In my line of work, people can’t just look at things. It’s human nature. They say wow and put their hands all over it. Durability is critical.” An artist by nature and a product of the digital age, Richford uses digital print/cut technology to produce durable powerboat and marine graphics. “When I’m done, people don’t know if my graphics are airbrushed art or printed vinyl,” says Richford. “They look that good!” Once his graphics are printed and cut, he adds an extra level of protection against abrasion, moisture and UV light with liquid clearcoating or overlaminate films.

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As any chef will tell you, the best recipes start with the right ingredients. And in the world of print/cut, the best graphics begin with a great piece of art. The right artwork can be anything from a simple logo to a complex combination of photography and type. It can be 1/2” tall or 30 feet wide. It should have personality, color, detail, and most important, a definitive shape that takes advantage of the impact of print/cut production.

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Here at Roland DGA, one of the most defining trends we see for the industry today is the widespread adoption of integrated print/cut technology. Today’s integrated printer/cutters provide unattended printing and contour cutting on a single device. With their integrated design, printer/cutters streamline the production process, improve accuracy, and nearly eliminate the need to reload and reposition graphics, saving untold man hours and reducing costly mistakes.

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Creating an Exciting New Look with Rhinestones. Roland DG R-Wear business solutions enable apparel shops to attract new customers with the power of personalization. With established Roland DG output devices, Roland DG R-Wear Studio design software lets you quickly add tremendous value to everything from jeans and t-shirts to hats and handbags.

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Printing on hemmed, grommeted stock saves time and money. One of the things that digital printing makes easier is banners. I noticed in the Design & Price [SignCraft, March/April 2008] feature on a 4-by-12-ft. banner, that three of the four sign designers who participated described producing a digitally-printed version. It’s fast, and it lets you use color without worrying about how many colors or layers of vinyl it will take.

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A primary goal of decorated-apparel shops should be to fulfill as many of their customer’s needs as possible, in house. However, each decorating process has its strengths and weaknesses, which often limit a decorator’s ability to meet every need.

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Most sales are not too difficult to close; however, at times we must resort to some “extra yard” presentation techniques to close our multi-unit printing opportunities. This week I am proposing a digital printing and cut-vinyl vehicle graphics package for three distinctly different trucks. All the messages are the same; however, there are layout issues that differ from truck, to van, to van. To dramatically increase the chances of our getting this nice graphics package order, we simply resorted to our Roland DG VP-540 to help us create some “sample boards” to show the client what we could offer to increase his business right away.

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Old habits die hard around my sign company. For years and years we have designed and created effective window graphics for numerous retail businesses. Vinyl lettering and window graphics were always created on our plotter with solid color vinyl and assembled in layers on site. With my Roland DG VP-540, the same jobs are completed in about 25% of the usual time, with a definite upgrade in appearance and value for the customers.

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With the advent of the VersaUV family and its incorporation of white ink and gloss layers, it has become increasingly important to understand how these colors are treated within VersaWorks. The most common issue encountered is the process of setting up files that take advantage of these added features on the LEC.

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When installing a new printer, always use the supplied Roland DG VersaWorks disk to perform your software installation. This ensures that you are loading the correct drivers for the printer you are installing.

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