URGENT: Software advise needed for graphic design

[cbmeeks]

I hope I am in the right place and sorry for the long post but we are under the guns here.

To make a long story short, a friend of mine has his own company and this company creates mug designs, calendar designs, keytags, etc. Graphic design on a simple, small scale. Now, here's the situation. About 18 YEARS ago, he purchased a proprietary program designed for what he does (silk-screen printing). This program is called Laser Positive.

Now, the company that made Laser Positive went out of business about 10 years ago. This program, which works very well when it does work, requires a hardware "dongle" plugged into the ADB bus. WIthout it, it doesn't work.

OK, these dongles cost $5,000 each 18 years ago and he bought three. Only one works now. Plus, this program is very unstable on OSX...even running Classic 9 in the background. For years we have done everything we can to keep this program hoping along. Well, the last dongle is starting to not work and the computer is about to crash. We MUST find a new, standard program to use.

Now, let me tell you what kind of designs they do. Basically, each design is no more than 2 colors (sometimes three). They are spot colors printed in seperations. In other words, a design might have a brown dog with a gold fill. The gold is printed on the mug first then the brown is printed next in a two-stage print. VERY basic stuff.

I am familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator. But I think those programs are over-kill.

So, I am asking for suggestions. I am recommending they keep using the OSX machine but a program that also works on Windows would be nice too. I would like something from Adobe or some other company that is going to be around for a while.

Thanks for your help

cbmeeks

[MisterMe]

You are trying to replace a $5000 dongle and are worrying about a piece of software that comes in at less than $1000? Get serious!

As for software, screen printers today use standard graphics applications. Photoshop and Illustrator will certainly do the job. So too will AppleWorks, GraphicConverter, or Print Shop. Heck, you can use Word or PowerPoint. The software you use will be dictated by the nature of the job, not unlike output on paper.

Your issue is the screen printer and its driver. You need a printer with a MacOS X-compatible RIP. Take a look at PowerRIP Imageset™. If this does not float your boat, then Google other screen printers.

[cbmeeks]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

You are trying to replace a $5000 dongle and are worrying about a piece of software that comes in at less than $1000? Get serious!

Hmmm...I don't remember mentioning anything about worrying about costs?? We are worried about finding an app that will do what we need. Maybe I should have mentioned that money isn't an issue. :-)

Originally Posted by MisterMe

As for software, screen printers today use standard graphics applications. Photoshop and Illustrator will certainly do the job. So too will AppleWorks, GraphicConverter, or Print Shop. Heck, you can use Word or PowerPoint. The software you use will be dictated by the nature of the job, not unlike output on paper.

Correct. That is exactly why we want a standard application because we don't want any more custom made crap. However, Word and PowerPoint will NOT work for our needs...that I know.

I wished I could show you guys what the program does so you would understand my questions better. Here is one example. In this program we might create a slogan on the screen that says "FIGHTING IRISH" (sports mugs). Ok, in those words, the FIGHTING IRISH could have a green fill, a white outline and ANOTHER green outline. Laser Positive made this super easy. In Illustrator, you have to create a text object that is green with a white trim (stroke). Then, you have to create another slightly larger text object that is green and center behind the first. To create the "green-white-green" effect. Hope that makes sense??

Laser Positive's biggest plus was speed. It made those kind of designs super easy. We could literally create a new design in under five minutes when the same design could take 20 minutes in Illustrator.

Anyway, Illustrator is what I am leaning towards. I'm actually a programmer that used to do graphic design years ago so I am familiar with the big programs but some of the new ones I'm not (like InDesign).

Originally Posted by MisterMe

Your issue is the screen printer and its driver. You need a printer with a MacOS X-compatible RIP. Take a look at PowerRIP Imageset™. If this does not float your boat, then Google other screen printers.

Thanks for the link..I will check that out. Right now, they are using a simple HP 1300. Then, they print out two sheets (seperations) onto transparent vellum paper. Those two sheets get put on top of a blank silk-screen and then a bright UV light "burns" the image onto the silk. Then, they use the silk screen on the printer. The printer is a LARGE machine that passes thick ink over the screen and onto a mug.

[sinclair_tm]

have you looked at the gimp yet? and it has versions for all platforms. i use it and graphic converter for all my imaging needs.

[Natobasso]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

As for software, screen printers today use standard graphics applications. Photoshop and Illustrator will certainly do the job. So too will AppleWorks, GraphicConverter, or Print Shop. Heck, you can use Word or PowerPoint. The software you use will be dictated by the nature of the job, not unlike output on paper.

For the love of Pete please don't use word or powerpoint to print silkscreens... :|

[simbalala]

Originally Posted by cbmeeks

I wished I could show you guys what the program does so you would understand my questions better. Here is one example. In this program we might create a slogan on the screen that says "FIGHTING IRISH" (sports mugs). Ok, in those words, the FIGHTING IRISH could have a green fill, a white outline and ANOTHER green outline. Laser Positive made this super easy. In Illustrator, you have to create a text object that is green with a white trim (stroke). Then, you have to create another slightly larger text object that is green and center behind the first. To create the "green-white-green" effect. Hope that makes sense??

Seems like you could set up some actions in Illustrator to automate this.

It might take a while to get them perfect but once you have them you could run them nearly instantly.