Will I be satisified?

[craigwojo]

Hi everyone,

Glad to find this great forum.

I am in the process of purchasing a Roland VersaCAMM SP-540V and a Royal Sovereign Cold Roll Laminator. What I'm wondering about is the RIP.
Will I be satisfied with VersaWorks RIP? Or would it be in my BEST judgement to purchase Wasatch SoftRIP? Money is an option, but will I see a GREAT difference in the production and quality? I know there will be a difference for the better but I the jobs I have at the moment are just pipe labels for industrial purposes. I will be doing back-lit and banners and other types soon but for the moment just basic pipe labels. Should I wait or would you recommend just getting the Wasatch SoftRIP.

What I am saying is, "Will I be satisified with VersaWorks?"

Thank you,
Craig

[jgolo]

Originally Posted by craigwojo

Hi everyone,

Glad to find this great forum.

I am in the process of purchasing a Roland VersaCAMM SP-540V and a Royal Sovereign Cold Roll Laminator. What I'm wondering about is the RIP.
Will I be satisfied with VersaWorks RIP? Or would it be in my BEST judgement to purchase Wasatch SoftRIP? Money is an option, but will I see a GREAT difference in the production and quality? I know there will be a difference for the better but I the jobs I have at the moment are just pipe labels for industrial purposes. I will be doing back-lit and banners and other types soon but for the moment just basic pipe labels. Should I wait or would you recommend just getting the Wasatch SoftRIP.

What I am saying is, "Will I be satisified with VersaWorks?"

Thank you,
Craig

Welcome!

If you are getting the printer and laminator all at once, you may be able to get your best deal on Wasatch now- try to get the dealer (if you are getting new) to throw it in, heck it's worth asking.

The main reason I went to it is because ther was more help for Wasatch here on this site as far as profiles(I also switched out inks too) and general knowledge. Versaworks will work fine IMO - I guess its boils down to what support you may need and if your dealer can give it to you.

Have fun.

[gene@abcsignshop.com]

Do not expect any support on the Royal Sov laminator- I have buyers
remorse for not spending another $1k or so for a better machine. Mine
has dogtracked since day one and no one has any interest or suggestions.
I can only guess that a 54" laminator is harder to build to last? Gene

[BDodson827]

Versaworks is OKAY at best. You'll get to the point where you're like "Okay! I need more features!" pretty much. The fact that you can't change your pass count, profiles are pretty crappy, ink limit is a joke, as is color management.

You'll play A LOT of guessing games with versaworks.

[davidimo]

Go for the Wasatch (version 6.0 coming really soon...check ther website: www.wasatchinc.com ...maybe you should wait for it)

[tdgraphics]

If you can get Wasatch bundled, or at least a deal on it from your supplier, I would take that route. Although I don't have Wasatch, I am considering purchasing it soon. As said, there is a lot of uses of it on the forum.

If you are not able to afford to purchase Wasatch, Versaworks will do the job although as has been mentioned by BDodson827 it has its limits which can at time be frustrating.

If you have Illustrator or Corel, it works fine with them, printing directly from within Illustrator or Corel. I have used Versaworks that way and I get pretty good colour reproduction. So for a freebie, Versaworks will get you started but you will need to invest in a better RIP in the future. It all depends if you feel able to spend the money now or not.

By the way, welcome to the site. I have been helped by the guys on the site on many occasions and I am sure you will be both helped and be able to help.

[John Miller]

I use versaworks, it came with my printer. When I bought my equipment, I didn't even know wasatch existed. I later learned that I could have bought it at a discount when I purchased my printer. I'm content with versaworks probably because I really don't know what I'm missing. For everyday sign printing VW is fine.

[Chuck12563]

Take this as a different viewpoint on RIPs. I have a VersaCamm SP300V with VersaWorks 2.0.4 (the latest version). The latest version of VersaWorks has more features in it than I have had time to play with. I've just been too busy doing work--know you, that thing that brings in the money. I get great prints, print/cut jobs go without a hitch, print/laminate/cut jobs go smooth as silk. I am very satisfied with the setup. I use Oracal vinyls and complete Versaworks media profiles are available for them. I use UltraFlex banner material and found a profile that works great with that. Nesting jobs works, tiling jobs works. I've printed from TIFF files, JPEGs, PDFs and (mostly) EPSs.

IMHO a RIP's job is to run the printer. It's job is not to try to compensate for poor file construction or lack of experience on how to work with color or when to use vector art or raster art.

For me, file creation is separate from the RIP. I use professional level programs such as Illustrator, PhotoShop, FreeHand, CorelDraw (rarely), Acrobat and Quark. I own 3 different imaging devices: Agfa Accuset Imagesetter (for film color separations), HP5500UV PS 60" printer and the VersaCamm. ALL of these devices have their own individual RIPS. The files that I create give me virtually identical results off of any of these devices.

In my experience, many people blame their printer or RIP for problems that are really the result of a lack of understanding of how to create files and how to use the programs that they own. When I read posts from people that want to know "Why the print doesn't match their screen" or "How come I can't print Pantone Orange" or "Why are my Blues coming out Purple", I just shake my head.

So, I would suggest beefing up your file creation software (there is no one-do-it-all program out there that does it all well) and just stick with VersaWorks (it comes with the printer).

As far as laminators go, I have a Seal Hot/Cold 62" laminator ($15,000) and love it--it's built like a rock.

Hope this helps.

[slangsc]

Well said, Chuck!

[craigwojo]

Thank you all very much.
I just keep the VersaWorks and learn it and see if it does what I need. Thinking about spending 2,000 - 3,000 dollars on something I may not need, well I will see if VersaWorks is the RIP I need.

Thank you,
Craig