F.A.Q.

Q1. Why do I need a cutting plotter?

A cutting plotter offers numerous advantages that can significantly enhance your business operations:

  • Cost Efficiency: A plotter helps reduce material waste by saving film, ultimately saving you money.
  • Time Saving:  It accelerates the cutting process, allowing you or less experienced staff to produce patterns more quickly.
  • Cost Tracking:  A plotter enables you to monitor expenses and track user activity, helping to identify any potential misuse.
  • Consistent Performance:  Unlike a human employee, a plotter never calls in sick or requests a raise, providing reliable and consistent output.
  • Increased Productivity:  Plotters can increase the output of skilled installers from 3 to 5 cars per day per employee, boosting overall efficiency.
  • Enhanced Individual Output:  For a one-person operation, a plotter significantly enhances productivity, enabling the owner to manage the business more effectively.
  • Improved Team Efficiency:  For companies with 3 to 5 employees, a plotter facilitates faster production with less effort, contributing to a more satisfied workforce.
  • Sales Tool:  A plotter can serve as a valuable sales tool, assisting with cost management and customer engagement.
  • Business Expansion:  Investing in a cutting plotter can enable your business to enter the Sign Graphic industry, broadening your service offerings.
  • Pattern Database Integration:  When paired with a pattern database, a cutting plotter allows for expansion into Window Tinting or Paint Protection business.
  • Simplified Training:  New employees can be onboarded more easily, as the training process is greatly reduced.
  • Retention of Skilled Workers:  Once accustomed to using a plotter, even skilled installers prefer it over manual cutting, helping retain valuable staff.
  • Pre-Cutting Capability:  Patterns can be cut in advance of a vehicle's arrival or prior to field applications, enhancing operational efficiency.
  • Graphics and Text Production:  Plotters make creating graphics and text in window tint patterns straightforward, allowing Pro Shops to tap into this lucrative market.

"Film Designs 4" and our staff has sold hundreds of plotters in the last 15 years. Many of them were Roland and Graphtec in the 40" size configuration. Most customers will tell you that 40" is the only size that is practical. With 40" you can cut 2 doors side by side, you can cut any back window and if you want to buy 36" film you can rotate the patterns for some of the large door glasses 90 degrees and then still cut them.

We have sold hundreds of plotters over the last 15 years. Most recently the Graphtec FC series has been our top selling plotter line. It’s been a very good option for our customers.

Our software works with dozens of plotters on the market todays such as Graphtec, Jaguar, Roland, Mimaki, Vinyl Express, Mutoh, and many more.

You can check the complete list of supported plotters here.

"Film Designs 4" allows the user to have several plotters connected and switch between them. The only limit is the computer and the # of ports that the computer can handle.

We provide a Tech support capability that allows us the ability to connect to your computer and then take control to download, install, and update everything for you. This can take up to an hour in some cases, but we can do this work while you continue to run your business and not tie you to the phone or make your staff do the setup and installation of the software on your computer. We also can put a calling card on your desktop that allow your staff to contact us through the internet and we can update your computer quickly and fix any items that are not correct and save you time in those cases as well. This is maybe one of the best features for customers, that are wanting a system to help speed up their shop but are not computer experts. Let us do the work for you.

The software can be loaded and will work in Demo mode as soon as you download and install it. The software will work and the user can get familiar with it but it will not cut or save patterns until the USB key is plugged into the computer. In urgent cases this can be done with a Next Day Air shipment and the system can be up and running in one day. If the software is all that is being ordered, then Film & Vinyl Designs will pay for the Next Day Air costs. In most cases we can login to your system and get the software installed before the key arrives.

"Film Designs 4" is a complete graphics platform that allows the user to work with EPS files. The program can scan and trace bitmaps as well.

Text is able to be done and all the fonts in Windows are available.

"Film Designs 4" can also allow graphics to be put into the Window Film patterns as well and these can be saved to the customer hard drive.

We do not limit our customers with specific brands, "Film Designs 4" works well with all brands of films.

When "Film Designs 4" was started it was a requirement to make it as easy as possible. First the "Database Access Tool" had to be intuitive and then the selection process had to be simple and then lastly there had to be a way to make it cut quickly.

The "Quick Cut" button was created and then this allowed the fastest system to be created. In several mouse clicks a user can find, open, select a pattern and make the first cut.

"Film Designs 4" also allows the user to select patterns individually or by clicking and dragging over them they can select a group of patterns.

"Film Design 4" is the simplest system on the market and can be the most detailed for making changes and customization as well.

Yes, every pattern or set of patterns in our database is pre-nested to be as efficient as possible with different sized rolls of films or you can use our auto nest feature in Film Designs 4 or you can manually nest patterns in Film Designs 4 by clicking and dragging them around, rotating, and doing other manipulations.

The subscription can be paid by the month or quarter but the discounts are given in the Annual payments.

Any package can be easily extended with the cost recalculation depending on the time left in the original contract.

The billing in "Film Designs 4" is done by a time license. This means that the user can pay for the length of time that they desire to use the software and then the program can be used as much as needed for that time period. This allows the system to be used for high-volume shops without the fluctuations in costs that can occur with other programs.

Film & Vinyl Designs LLC is not a distributor of any specific material. We only sell software, plotters, computers, and tinting tools. There are many great window film and paint protection products, and we are fortunate to work closely with most of these manufacturers.