Author Topic: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase  (Read 6204 times)

Offline Mark @ Hurricane Printing

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #15 on: October 21, 2012, 08:45:36 PM »
Mark, I'm sure I speak for all here.  You don't owe a dime. 

You might take some time and print stuff for yourself (or family) to learn your skills.  Its tragic to have to replace shirts as often as you have indicated.  Perhaps while you are learning your skills, you might consider getting orders and outsourcing them direct in the first place, but not to a local printer, unless the local is a "contract" printer.  There are lots here if none local.  That way you could make a buck while learning.  If that direction worked out for you, you could even try to print the same jobs (for yourself as samples) on the weekends to get up to speed.

P.S.  I think that would have been a tuff job in the first place without an underbase.  I think Red is a difficult shirt color unless your printing discharge.

Just my 2c.

thanks...but i literally dread going to my shop now.
Mark


Offline Homer

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #16 on: October 21, 2012, 08:53:39 PM »
 hold on, get down off the ledge, there's not enough room for you up here too haha...but really, like Wayne said, take on some small some jobs, ask questions here -only after you have read every post / topic /wise ass comment. . .get some vids, hit up you tube, and reread / trial and error. You have not done anything we haven't done, so welcome to the club. How bad do you want to do this?

oh -and Wayne -Shut it, I want my 5 bucks!. . haha. .
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Offline Prosperi-Tees

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #17 on: October 21, 2012, 09:35:11 PM »
Mark, I don't even consider myself a good printer. The trick is to get the jobs you are comfortable doing and either outsource or pass on the jobs you are not. This seems like a pretty straight forward print and myself personally would have sent it off to 24 hour artwork or someplace like that and rocked and rolled on it. I made the mistake just this past week of taking a last minute job on with halftones on a dark shirt which I have never done before and the prints came out awful in my opinion but I had no time to adjust or change anything in the seps or screens and just ran it. Customer accepted them and was somewhat happy cause we turned the job in less than 24 hours but I wasn't happy with the outcome. Point is always look for jobs you are comfortable doing otherwise you will hate this job and practice on your own shirts.

Offline Mark @ Hurricane Printing

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #18 on: October 21, 2012, 10:56:56 PM »
Mark, I don't even consider myself a good printer. The trick is to get the jobs you are comfortable doing and either outsource or pass on the jobs you are not. This seems like a pretty straight forward print and myself personally would have sent it off to 24 hour artwork or someplace like that and rocked and rolled on it. I made the mistake just this past week of taking a last minute job on with halftones on a dark shirt which I have never done before and the prints came out awful in my opinion but I had no time to adjust or change anything in the seps or screens and just ran it. Customer accepted them and was somewhat happy cause we turned the job in less than 24 hours but I wasn't happy with the outcome. Point is always look for jobs you are comfortable doing otherwise you will hate this job and practice on your own shirts.

just when i think im getting a handle on this i bust a job like this...my last couple of jobs i did the seps..popped out the shirts like it was nothing..granted they were not difficult seps but none the less it went off without a hitch..and then i get a job like this that humbles me and frustrates me.

the quanity of this job had me leary from the start (im a one man operation...2 color front and back...manual press...450 shirts by tuesday afternoon..and i could only print them sat and sun becuase i have a regular 40 hr job)...BUT this job is the start of a working relationship with someone thats ordering 2,000 shirts a month...and i land that gig then i can keep my shop another year...my jobs are so sparatic..for example, this was the first job i had in over 2 months...so a steady gig was appealing...so i committed to it looking at the big picture....I would have INSTANTLY hired someone to do the seps instead of attempting them on my own had I known how this was going to turn out....but i figured this would be a perfect job to cut my teeth on for making an underbase. When i received the art work i realized time was going to be an issue because i had to do some recreating and tweaking the left chest design....i lost a lot of time dealing with that....the quanity was no longer an issue..now it was the seps...i got overwhelemed and when i knew i couldnt meet the deadline i threw in the towel and passed it on to an operation thats pretty big and has automatics.

So thats my position now...im bring the shirts and some new seps and screens and even the ink to this place...i'd even offer to help out if they would let me.
Mark

Offline Frog

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #19 on: October 22, 2012, 01:43:44 AM »
Mark, if it makes you feel any better at all, though I've been at this for more than twenty years, I am constantly humbled by realizing how much I don't know, but I also have learned how to attract mostly the work that I can do well.
When I do try something new, I certainly won't do it while under the gun.

Of all the things I have learned, learning when to say no has given me the most peace of mind.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2012, 08:44:55 AM by Frog »
That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

Offline Sbrem

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #20 on: October 22, 2012, 08:38:12 AM »
I found those files very simple to fix in Illustrator, literally 3 keystrokes. I would think CD also has something to do the same. In Illy, it's "Flatten Transparency", then "Merge". All the colors joined correctly, and all the little pieces joined together. It has to be in there somewhere. Also, the .pdf causes the image to be cut off at the page edges, but if it's actually there, just clipped. In Illy, it's releasing the clipping path so the rest of the image shows up. Mark, don't be too discouraged; we'll all help out here. Just remember to ask a little sooner. Let me tell you though, that if you're really trying to start a business, you gotta work a million hours. You get out of your day job, go to the shop, and work until 10:00 or 11:00. Yes, it's hard, so what? Go for it man, be your own boss. Good luck.

Steve
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't

Offline inkman996

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #21 on: October 22, 2012, 10:49:50 AM »
I found those files very simple to fix in Illustrator, literally 3 keystrokes. I would think CD also has something to do the same. In Illy, it's "Flatten Transparency", then "Merge". All the colors joined correctly, and all the little pieces joined together. It has to be in there somewhere. Also, the .pdf causes the image to be cut off at the page edges, but if it's actually there, just clipped. In Illy, it's releasing the clipping path so the rest of the image shows up. Mark, don't be too discouraged; we'll all help out here. Just remember to ask a little sooner. Let me tell you though, that if you're really trying to start a business, you gotta work a million hours. You get out of your day job, go to the shop, and work until 10:00 or 11:00. Yes, it's hard, so what? Go for it man, be your own boss. Good luck.

Steve

CD blows when it comes to dealing with a heap of objects, you try to select all and weld and everything goes hay wire, wonky nodes I believe CYW likes to call it. Any of the CD shaping tools go nuts if things get to complex.
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Offline alan802

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #22 on: October 22, 2012, 12:09:30 PM »
Mark, what kind of problems are you having exactly?  Just on the art side of things or is there something from coating-post press that we could help you with, perhaps just the grind of the business?  I don't want to see someone fail because of a lack of understanding or knowledge of the technical aspects of screen printing, especially when there are many of us here that have everything you need to succeed.  The business side of things just takes time, and if you're working another job, your at a disadvantage already.  Only a select few can cram 40 hours worth of work into 20, and those people usually have a great team or resources that others don't have.  I have tons of information that I could share with you if need it.  Nobody that is just getting into this realizes how much goes into it, but like everything else, broken down into parts, the sum is much easier to accomplish when you control those parts correctly.

If you don't mind, just let us know exactly where you are struggling most and I KNOW we can change your mind, if you really want it bad enough.  There are likely 20 things we can change right off the bat that will make you much more efficient, have better quality and make things much easier.  A 450 piece, 2/2 on a manual is a MF'er of a job, so maybe we could start with controlling expectations.  Sure, you can do that job, but are you ready or set up properly, or do you have the time?  All questions that controlling expectations could manage.  We've accepted jobs that we shouldn't have, and paid the price.  Luckily we are big enough, resilient enough to withstand a few mistakes here and there, but I know smaller operations could not afford such mistakes.  I'm sure some of the guys here have never made any mistakes with their business, :), or at least don't like to admit it, because if you do this long enough, you'll screw up.  Knowing how to move forward and not make the same mistake again is the main goal.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it -T.J.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it -T.P.

Offline screenxpress

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #23 on: October 22, 2012, 07:31:39 PM »
I wasn't happy with the outcome.

We are our own worst critics.
Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.  Will Rogers

Offline Mark @ Hurricane Printing

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #24 on: October 22, 2012, 09:41:46 PM »
hold on, get down off the ledge, there's not enough room for you up here too haha...but really, like Wayne said, take on some small some jobs, ask questions here -only after you have read every post / topic /wise ass comment. . .get some vids, hit up you tube, and reread / trial and error. You have not done anything we haven't done, so welcome to the club. How bad do you want to do this?

oh -and Wayne -Shut it, I want my 5 bucks!. . haha. .

i look up youtube vids all the time...internet searches on questions i have...reading and asking questions here...im on it...just nothing "flows' for me on any job..granted im maybe a notch above a novice but nowhere near a pro...but know enough to where i shouldnt be fighting it as much.
Mark

Offline Mark @ Hurricane Printing

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #25 on: October 22, 2012, 10:27:20 PM »
Mark, what kind of problems are you having exactly?  Just on the art side of things or is there something from coating-post press that we could help you with, perhaps just the grind of the business?  I don't want to see someone fail because of a lack of understanding or knowledge of the technical aspects of screen printing, especially when there are many of us here that have everything you need to succeed.  The business side of things just takes time, and if you're working another job, your at a disadvantage already.  Only a select few can cram 40 hours worth of work into 20, and those people usually have a great team or resources that others don't have.  I have tons of information that I could share with you if need it.  Nobody that is just getting into this realizes how much goes into it, but like everything else, broken down into parts, the sum is much easier to accomplish when you control those parts correctly.

If you don't mind, just let us know exactly where you are struggling most and I KNOW we can change your mind, if you really want it bad enough.  There are likely 20 things we can change right off the bat that will make you much more efficient, have better quality and make things much easier.  A 450 piece, 2/2 on a manual is a MF'er of a job, so maybe we could start with controlling expectations.  Sure, you can do that job, but are you ready or set up properly, or do you have the time?  All questions that controlling expectations could manage.  We've accepted jobs that we shouldn't have, and paid the price.  Luckily we are big enough, resilient enough to withstand a few mistakes here and there, but I know smaller operations could not afford such mistakes.  I'm sure some of the guys here have never made any mistakes with their business, :), or at least don't like to admit it, because if you do this long enough, you'll screw up.  Knowing how to move forward and not make the same mistake again is the main goal.

1 - I have a full time job
2 - I have rent a 1,600 sqft location in south louisiana with NO a/c...do you realize what new orleans in august is like????!!..in a hot box!!!..the devil himself would complain about the heat...the owners wont put in an a/c...and i cant afford to install an a/c..i have a fan but its poitless really.
3 - I'm a one man operation from start to finish
4 - As odd as it sounds I have 3 laptops and 1 desktop and have issues with all 4 CONSTANTLY ..(only one can read my epson 3000...my art programs are spread across all of them...so im constantly alternting between all then going to the one to print my films.....so its a whole annoying process...and i dont have the funds yet to upgrade across the board to have it all one laptop.
5 - i have 13 grand in damages to my home fron hurricane issac which im in the process of dealing with the rebuilding
6 - my buddy has the embroidery side of things and he keeps getting these off the wall screen printing jobs to give me that are either huge quanities or bizarre requests and they all have to be done RIGHT NOW!!!
7 - every job i get is always "i-need-it-tomorrow"...so it makes me rush...and im rushing to get it done and it stresses me out...and im a novice, rushing to get everything done from the art to delivery...with sweat dripping down me in my hot box shop!..there are literally hundres of shirts floating around that have my sweat in the ink...it just pours off me into the screen as im pulling the squeege.
8 - just about all art i get i have to recreate....and im always having to figure it out how to create the design to match the crappy jpeg files i get....so now im looking up tutorials...asking questions...all the while im getitng calls and text "whats the status?..wheres the shirts?..when can  pick them up?..when can i expect them?..etc..etc..etc.
9 - I'm 28 grand in the hole...and 8 yrs into it (which includes a 5 year delay due to hurricane katrina..i had to save up and replace equipment i lost in hurricane)...and no sign of even making my money back...every month it justs keep balloning.
10 - im 42...and im just mentally exhauste from it all...the level of effort and time im put into this , with such little reward just isnt worth it to me...with the daily trials of life plus my job...id rather spend my free time enjoying myself instead of getting frustrated EVERY time i walk into my shop.
11- i go months without a job...and its a bitter pill when i have to pay my shop rent out of my personal savings...i prepared for it when i opened but it still stings writing that check once a month with ZERO cash flow coming in.

wanna know why im discouraged? thats why....

check this out....this is how i spent my day today because of this print job:

I went into work late because i had to find someone to print these 450 shirts by tuesday afternoon....so cut to me going to my shop at 6am..loading up all the shirts...printing out new seps...covering the screens in plastic bags so whoever i brought the job too they would have everything to get the job done..even loaded up the ink in the car....so here i am in my little toyota matrix packed to the gills driving around town in morning buisness traffic going to screen printing shops. I go to one place...the guy says he will call me in 30 minutes to let me know if he can do it...2 hours later he calls and says he cant....so i find another place..i walk in, explain my story, the kid behind the counter calls his boss and his boss says they can do it...well their press wasnt even in this store front..they were going to have to ship them to their shop..this turned me off.....so back on the road...i find another place..they agreed to do it..but it was going to cost me more than what im getting paid to do it..but it was crunch time so i had to go with it...i finally drop it all off and make my way to work...massive pile up on the interstate..now im stuck in traffic.....i finally make it to work at 1pm.

so i missed a half day at my job, which put me behind the 8 ball on my duties at work...had to pay $175 bucks on top of the money i was going to make on this 450 shirt order... so not only am i not making any money on this job i lost a half days of work PLUS in the hole another $175 to make up the difference from my quote to this guys quote hahahahaha. I have a screen printing shop and im driving around LOOKING for a screen printing shop to print for me hahahahaha....its pathetic!!!!

my biggest screw up was saying i could get it done by tuesday afternoon...but i did not anticpate my sep issue..i was confident i could get it done in 2.5 days..i planned on half day friday and all day sat and sun...well i couldnt start till saturday afternoon then all hell broke loose.

so what you just read about how i spent my day....just about every job is always something of this chaotic level of frustration..todays was the worse ever.
Mark

Offline ScreenPrinter123

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #26 on: October 22, 2012, 10:55:59 PM »
Hey Mark,

Didn't know you were in southern Louisiana.  I'm in New Orleans.  If you're that far south (or maybe you're even further south) and want to discuss anything (methods, et. al.), don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.


Offline Mark @ Hurricane Printing

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #27 on: October 23, 2012, 06:36:17 AM »
Hey Mark,

Didn't know you were in southern Louisiana.  I'm in New Orleans.  If you're that far south (or maybe you're even further south) and want to discuss anything (methods, et. al.), don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.

im in kenner
Mark

Offline ScreenPrinter123

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Re: want to hire someone asap for 2 color spot design sep with an underbase
« Reply #28 on: October 23, 2012, 08:22:02 AM »
I actually live in Kenner - aren't the municipal politicians the best!  Let me know if you'd ever want to chat.  I'd recommend, too, digging up topics pertaining to screen printing that have been discussed in threads by typing in the search bar at the top right of this website - most of the guys that frequent this board know what they're talking about.