OK, I'm going to prove how computer stupid I am, as well as how little our five artists know about the machines and the software they run. (I'm not trying to criticize them) We have five artists and six workstations, all Macs. We have an outside IT person that handles updates and issues with these machines. All of the other computers in the building are PCs and another company handles the IT on them. So we have been told that we need to upgrade all of the Macs. We have always trusted our IT people to give us the best advice. Kind of like me and my GPS, blind faith. My business partner asked a few questions of the person we bought our RIP through. He shared the specs our IT guy is saying we need. The RIP guy said he thought it was a bit of overkill. "You're not gamers". So being at the mercy of what a few "experts" and not knowing jack, I thought maybe I'd ask here. Are there any people here doing graphics on Macs that would share their computer specs. We certainly don't want the bare minimum. Something robust, I'd say. Speed matters. I probably haven't given enough information to get good answers, but I don't know what else to ask. So if you're running a Mac for your design work, and updating because Apple won't support what you have, what are you buying next?

Thanks for any input.

As the title says, am looking into making software that would us AI to approve the print (based on the master file) rather than having the art department or somebody else manually approve. For us this would save several minutes of production (printers currently take the first print to the art dpt where they have to find the art and give a go ahead. Combined with walking it would save us several minutes per job which adds up when running multiple jobs on multiple presses each day).
The system would have a camera and would automatically check for missing parts of the print and confirm the colors are within specified tolerance.
It would then monitor for color drift and pin holes or other issues. Additionally it would count the garments to provide the confirmation it has all been printed.
Total cost for the software would probably be in the $10k range. Ideally we can split this three ways (find two partners). On top of software, each station would require a camera (about $300) and a computer that can handle 3 cameras/presses (probably pretty close to $2k).
There is a good chance this could be spun off into a product for sale after some testing.
Thoughts?
Pierre

https://www.printomizeamerica.com/collections/mem

Here is another source. They sell MEM and have great customer service. Just another option. I have one of the duals and it turns out the work!

Anyone running one of the dual heat presses that are hydraulic? Similar to the link below. Im trying to steer clear of air for logistic purposes of where my air is located and I like the idea of an automatic down and up.

https://www.dtfbank.com/en-us/products/heat-press-machine?srsltid=AfmBOoqXYxyX20baruErWsc_XP_c7S81_ua-zZIWweowjY0KfJhlD3Qt

Im sure they are all Chinese made, but wasn't sure if anyone had some success with something similar.

Does anyone do small orders of foil? I have someone looking for about 12.