Do You Need FlexiSIGN Training?
Just like physical training for the body, training for your business can add muscle to your profits! MUTOH ValueJet wide format printers come with FlexiSIGN and many shops use FlexiSIGN & Print in their shops for design and production of wide format printing.
FlexiSIGN Training from the Expert
Like physical training, sometimes you need a coach and the better your coach the better your results! Mark Rugen, Dir. of Product Marketing & Education for MUTOH AMERICA is the world’s expert in FlexiSIGN training. When he came to MUTOH, he decided that users of FlexiSIGN needed more than just software training. He decided he needed to share his 30 years of real-world shop experience in the sign and graphics market.
Wide Format Printing Workflows
Wide format printing workflows are critical for greater profits. You’ve invested thousands in a wide format printer, you need to pay that investment off and you
may also need to make a steady income to support the growth of your company as well as sustain the income of your employees. Doesn’t it make sense to be the best you can be with your design and production software?
Think about it. The typical flow in your shop is, find a customer or have one walk into your shop. They want a message and maybe a graphic along with it. Now they want that enlarged, put on a banner or some other substrate and they would like to have it in the afternoon or the next day! How fast could you get this done is they bring you a low-resolution image about 2×2 inches and want it printed 2×2 feet? What is they want you to use the same font in a photo they are showing you? Could you find that font in few seconds or would it take you minutes or hours? What if they said you just have to match a certain Pantone color? Could you do this with ease?
MUTOH Training is Different
MUTOH training is different because we are not only going to teach you about FlexiSIGN & Print, or about your MUTOH or another printer (you should have bought a ValueJet, LOL) and color management, but we are going to show you how to save media, how to match colors, how to get the job done in record time with other tools I’ve used in my 30 years in the business. MUTOH training is a real world, real shop training not some powerpoint presentation.
What Other Are Saying About MUTOH Training
Don’t take my word for it! Here are just a few examples of what graduates of the MUTOH training series are saying:
“Mark truly understands the program from the inside out. He explains efficiently the strengths of the program along with its limitations.” Jeff Fredwich – SIGNARAMA Willow Grove
“Learned a lot that I thought I already knew.” Akhay Putri – Avery Dennison
“Best software training class I have EVER attended!” – Adrienne Latiolias, AWA Printing
“Mark explains things in an easy to understand way for beginners!” Josh Munn, Munn Enterprises, Inc.
Your Next Step….INVEST!
Look, it’s time to get even better at your job. It’s time to take the small step of investing in a MUTOH FlexiSIGN training seminar. Here’s a link to find out where we will be. I only have a few seats left in BOSTON on June 6,7. Just do it!
BOSTON June 6,7 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-boston-ma-june-6-7-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Los Angeles August 15,16 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-los-angeles-ca-august-15-16-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Phoenix Sept 5,6 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-los-angeles-ca-august-15-16-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Got questions? Just email me: mrugen@mutoh.com
BONUS!
Look I know its a lot to ask for you to take a few days away from your shop. I owned a shop I really do know its tough! So to sweeten the offer, I am giving away a FlexiSIGN Training DVD to everyone that attends. That’s a $299 value and its loaded with over 20 hours of FLexiSIGn training to augment your live class!
I’ve also got some really cool secret stuff that only graduates of the MUTOH FlexiSIGN and Color Management training class receive, plus you gain access to our exclusive FlexiSIGN Training Graduates Facebook page where you’ll be able to interact with hundreds of other FlexiSIGN graduates and get the expert help you need in the future!
Read MoreBeginners Guide to Monitor Calibration
Monitor Calibration
Monitor Calibration and profiling of your computer monitor are critical to a good color management workflow. Here is a great video regarding this topic.
Our experts here at MUTOH are G7 certified color management experts. All of the ICC Profiles we make for our printers are high-quality profiles that make your MUTOH print the best colors possible using the best color management workflow.
For the best in wide format printer technology, visit www.mutoh.com
Need some training on Color Management? Click Here for locations, dates for our TWO-day class!
Take our online course on monitor calibration and soft proofing. Use this link: http://www.thinkmutoh.com/courses/understanding-soft-proof/
You’ll see how to soft proof your prints before you send them to your MUTOH wide format printer and much more.
Read MoreWhat is Soft Proofing & Why Does It Matter in Wide Format Printing?
What is Soft Proofing & Why Does It Matter in Wide Format Printing?
Everyone wants to match what they see on the monitor with the output from a wide format printer. Sadly, few accomplish this. Part of a well-managed color system is the ability to soft proof, or change the monitor colors display so they reflect printer output. Let’s learn a little more about this and maybe teach you how to do it properly.
Step 1: Calibrate and Profile Your Monitor
The very first start is to make sure your monitor is telling you the truth about color. Sure it’s putting out great rich colors but are they really correct? You won’t know unless you calibrate and profile your monitor. While I highly recommend using a good colorimeter to actually do this, you can at least find a monitor profile that close to your model or even one that is in fact your model. Here’s a good place to start: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm .
TFT CENTRAL
This website gives reviews of some really good monitors. So if you’re in the market, good place to find one. But it also is a great resource for finding a monitor profile if you don’t want to make your own. There are literally hundreds of models of monitors and profiles listed in alphabetical order.
Simply browse and if you cannot find your specific model, you might find one really close.
Monitor Profiles for Flexi Users
If your a Flexi SIGN & PRINT user, you can choose the generic LCD profile included in your software. Just go to the Edit menu and choose color settings. Now when the pop-up dialogue box shows, choose the generic lcd monitor profile. Hey it’s not perfect but better than nothing.
Step 2: Accurate Media Profiles
The second critical step in good soft proofing is a good or a better word accurate media profile. Again the best way to obtain this is using equipment such as spectrophotometer. Most will not do this because of the cost of the equipment, $1000-$2000 in many cases.
X-RITE i1 might be the most popular of these devices. A good custom profile or at least a profile that is modified for your particular printer will result in more accurate colors and more neutral grays.
If you don’t intend to make your own profiles, at least try to find accurate ones. I suggest getting them from the media vendor. They want to sell more media so they want colors to look good on that media and therefore could have more accurate profiles.
Media Profiles for Flexi Users
Flexi users will want to use the included media profiles. They are made carefully for this product, however, it’s still a good idea to check with the media manufacturer to see if they have a more accurate one for your media. Also don’t be afraid to use a similar media profile if needed to get better results. So for instance, if you have 3M media but use a ORCAL profile and get better results, keep moving on.
Flexi includes the software to modify or create new profiles, so at some point, I recommend purchasing a spectrophotometer so you can customize your media profiles and even make a good monitor profile.
Step 3: Learn to Soft Proof
Finally, learn to soft proof. Many design software such as Adobe Photoshop and Flexi have the ability to turn on and off soft proofing. You need to learn how to do this. More importantly, you need to experiment and see what the limitations of that soft proof are. In other words, you may need to play with the brightness and contrast on your monitor until you get a pretty good match with your print. Sooner or later you’ll figure out how to get some good results when soft proofing.
Soft Proofing in Flexi
In Flexi, just go to the edit menu and set up your monitor profile, your printer and media, then choose the second tab and choose your input profile, typically sRGB or the monitor profile. Now go to the view menu and choose soft proof or use the icon at the top of Flexi that looks like a monitor. If everything goes right when you print you’ll get similar colors to your soft proof.
Want a better more detailed discussion of soft proofing? Well, then it’s time to attend one of our Flexi or Color Management seminars. Find out where we will be here:http://www.thinkmutoh.com/event
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