Large format digital printing

[Mike Jackson]

Hi all,
I spent a few hours at the ISA show in Vegas last week. I guess it isn't much of a surprise, but a huge chunk of the space was filled with the huge large format digital printers. They were spitting out beautiful four color, highly saturated images on all kinds of banner materials, cloth, and rigid substrate. I guess I am supposed to be really impressed, and on at least some level, I am. Still, the stuff reminds me of pizzas coming out of an oven, lacking the art form and priced by the square foot regardless of content. Some of the graphics are stunning, complete with photographic precision, blends, bevels and all the photoshop tricks, bells and whistles. Again, on some level it is hard not to be impressed.

I guess it is a bit like the old days of wrist watches, with real hands and numbers, being replaced with neverending models of ditigal watches.

I didn't get too tempted to want to invest $100,000 to $400,000 for a big digital printer larger than the back room of our old shop. All I know is we get less and less calls for banners and point of purchase type signs. We went to a local home show today and saw quite a few digitally printed banners. They look good! When we had the old shop, we didn't really want those kinds of jobs, but now working out of our home, we welcome them when they come in.

Darla and I sit here in Jackson Hole with a couple of old 15" sprocketed Gerber plotters and an EdgeII making a few signs with those tools and a few brushes, a table saw, and a couple of small hand tools. Somehow, I am getting a feeling of dejavu remembering talking to old sign guys I spoke with that were having trouble embracing a Signmaker 4B--seemingly ready to live out their sign lives doing it the way they had been doing it for the past 20 years. Technology has now made a big step forward, but I am not so sure I am willing to make that step with the rest of the whippersnappers.

As I write this, I think back to a NESA/ISA show I went to in San Antonio, maybe 15-16 years ago. The floor was still filled with high tech vendors selling their design software, a few CNC routers, and the introduction of the Gerber Edge. 15 years earlier, I suspect the floor would have been filled with sign supply houses, plastic letter companies, and electro pounces.

Okay, I admit it, I am getting old and gray. Maybe I am a bit stuck in the past? I read SignCraft which still features products and techniques of my era, yet I usually throw "The Big Picture" magazine in the trash at the Post Office.

Maybe some of you are dealing with some of the same issues?

Mike Jackson

[Kelly Thorson]

The show was a real eye opener for me Mike. I found it rather overwhelming, and like you was floored by the sheer number of large format printers.
I'm relatively new to the sign trade in comparison to many of you, and I came in to it from an artist's perspective. Still I almost find the digital world offensive, especially when there are so many unreadable digital signs out there. Albeit, I have to admit there are also some beautiful designs being printed. I'm not tempted in the least, a machine like that would mean a constant push to find the business to pay for it and having looked into buying digital prints I can tell you it is a cut throat world. I can order a print for far less that I could make it if you take into the cost of financing, advertising, materials and upkeep. That leaves someone else to take care of the learning curve and repairs, which is just fine with me. I don't turn customers away, I just outsource any jobs that come in. A good printer will work with you to help you prepare your files for the best output.

Actually I think that 75% of the show was large format printers, CNC routers and LED lights....but I got my moneys worth from the other 25%.
BTW.... what did you think of the vehicle wraps? Why anyone would want to drive around in something that is so plastered that it becomes reminiscent of baby food after it is removed from the blender is way beyond me.... What I did notice was there were very few wraps in the parkade (or Parking structure as I am told it is called South of the border) I think in 4 days we saw 3. So is the market for them exaggerated? The honest truth is I have never seen a wrap I liked anywhere near as much as a classy subtle pinstriping job.
And yes - the Big Picture usually ends up in my garbage before the wrapper is removed.
I do have one advantage.....the average age of people in Saskatchewan is older than me (older than dirt?) and that sector tends to balk the new technology. I'm not sure they hold the purse strings, but there seems to always be enough business for me.

Back to the printers though....I DO like the potential for photography.