# Any InkSoft Users Yet?



## PhillyGal2008

I am interested in having my customers design their own products on my website and just came across Inksoft. Has anyone used this software or have any feedback concerning it? It is pretty expensive but so far seems like the easiest to navigate "design it yourself" tool. I would make the investment if I knew that it has worked for others.


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## TheSignExpress

We've been using this service for awhile now...went live with it at the beginning of December. Started the whole process at the beginning of November. We originally were working with a web/flash developer to build a builder site from scratch, needless to say 6 months later, we hadn't seen any real progress.
Luckily we came across Inksoft. For the most part everything has been pretty smooth. They are a small company, so they have a few kinks here and there, but they are great to work with and very helpful. We are still growing ours, but it's been worth it.


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## murtceps

TheSignExpress said:


> We've been using this service for awhile now...went live with it at the beginning of December. Started the whole process at the beginning of November. We originally were working with a web/flash developer to build a builder site from scratch, needless to say 6 months later, we hadn't seen any real progress.
> Luckily we came across Inksoft. For the most part everything has been pretty smooth. They are a small company, so they have a few kinks here and there, but they are great to work with and very helpful. We are still growing ours, but it's been worth it.



Hi,

I've been looking into DecoNetwork as well as InkSoft. I believe both of them charges a percentage of your TOTAL gross sales monthly.

Hmmmmm..... I would rather build from the ground up rather than give up a percentage of my total sales! 

Besides their "custom" design upload feature, I don't see why not just go with a turnkey solution like 3dcart or Volusion. I've received quote for a custom Magento based website for around $5k.

Any input on other sites, hostings, etc. is greatly appreciated! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS


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## VAprinter

I have just joined and purchased inksoft recently, and I am very impress with the whole wire frame and layout of it all. The support team is top notch and I believe this is what us garment decorators are going to need to be able to keep up with the changing times. JP and Anya are ,what seems to me, to be the backbone of the operation. They provide exceptional support and should be the face of customer service for every company that is out there. The technology and html coding of the wireframe are as up to date as any other major website out there and there is so much that the site can offer to printers as a whole. Well worth the money, if you wanna step your game up.


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## StarlightTshirts

Is this for someone just starting out or is this for experienced shop owners? I watched the videos on the site and it seems great. Just wanted an opinion from someone using it already. Can I ask about the cost?


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## MauiPerformance

Were also considering InkSoft. But before we make the investment, we where hoping for more feedback from InkSoft users. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks and Aloha


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## Rodney

> Besides their "custom" design upload feature, I don't see why not just go with a turnkey solution like 3dcart or Volusion. I've received quote for a custom Magento based website for around $5k


@cheapboxers What exact features were in that $5K quote?


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## murtceps

Rodney said:


> @cheapboxers What exact features were in that $5K quote?



Hi Rodney,

My friend custom builds Magento coded websites. He quoted me $5K for the basic features on the back end that I wanted. I would go with InkSoft or DecoNetwork if they don't take a percentage of your gross sales.


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## TheSignExpress

cheapboxers said:


> Hi Rodney,
> 
> My friend custom builds Magento coded websites. He quoted me $5K for the basic features on the back end that I wanted. I would go with InkSoft or DecoNetwork if they don't take a percentage of your gross sales.



Does that include any support after the site is up and running. Inksoft handles it all for you. Unless you can afford to have an IT department running your site at all hours. We tried going that route first, having a developer create the back end for us. Nothing but a headache...first most developers are working on other projects (not just your site) meaning turnaround time on handling problems/functioning isn't always the best. Plus most developers aren't in the "screen printing" business...but Inksoft is geared directly for that. We had to try and explain problems we run into on a daily basis working with our customers, and our customers getting us artwork.

Inksoft knows the screen printing industry so you get a site that is geared up for business.

Just speaking from a company that has tried both routes. Less headache, time, and start up cost to go with InkSoft! And you only get charged a percentage if you are making money.


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## Rodney

cheapboxers said:


> Hi Rodney,
> 
> My friend custom builds Magento coded websites. He quoted me $5K for the basic features on the back end that I wanted. I would go with InkSoft or DecoNetwork if they don't take a percentage of your gross sales.


I was just curious what those features were. $5K for an ecommerce site, or $5k for an online t-shirt designer type site?

I'm also not a big fan of software sites taking a percentage of sales (or buying software as a service, personally). I'd much prefer to pay a one time fee and own/host the software on my own servers and maybe pay a reasonable yearly licensing/support fee.

But with the $5K quote you got, I just wanted to see if apples were being compared to apples, or if the 5K was for a site with less features or something else completely different.


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## jastermite

TheSignExpress said:


> Does that include any support after the site is up and running. Inksoft handles it all for you. Unless you can afford to have an IT department running your site at all hours. We tried going that route first, having a developer create the back end for us. Nothing but a headache...first most developers are working on other projects (not just your site) meaning turnaround time on handling problems/functioning isn't always the best. Plus most developers aren't in the "screen printing" business...but Inksoft is geared directly for that. We had to try and explain problems we run into on a daily basis working with our customers, and our customers getting us artwork.
> 
> Inksoft knows the screen printing industry so you get a site that is geared up for business.
> 
> Just speaking from a company that has tried both routes. Less headache, time, and start up cost to go with InkSoft! And you only get charged a percentage if you are making money.


 

Actually it's $150 a month plus 1% of your traffic plus start up fees which is almost a $1000 if you need there help to work out the bugs
revoltgraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Inksoft-max-pricing.jpg


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## TheSignExpress

That $150 includes your hosting, which to run a secure site, with round the clock tech...isn't too bad at all! But yes Craig is right...$150 a month plus 1% of your sales. Unless your a big company that can afford to pay in-house for all the support you get, plus the hosting...I don't see it a bad route at all.

With a website like this, you can't just have a developer create it and then leave it alone. It's not a static, informational website, so if you have enough time daily, or can hire someone for less than $150 a month to watch over your site 24/7, then I have to give Inksoft a thumbs up!

As far as $1000 w/ setup and coaching....that is if you want them to do everything for you as far as getting the site live. If you know anything about web, or can read, or watch (youtube) tutorials, then setup isn't hard. 

But to each his own!

Best of luck in whichever route you choose to go.


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## iwantjc

I have been using them since August. Was one of their first customers. Has its ups and downs. Customer support is quick but as usual with something new - there are glitches to fix as well. Somewhat expensive for me since I am small, hoping to make it pan out, but may need to look for something less costly. Custom design is great, but my art guy and I use it more than the customers I think. Too many customers just want something to pick out and buy and don't like taking the time to create their own.


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## jastermite

TheSignExpress said:


> That $150 includes your hosting, which to run a secure site, with round the clock tech...isn't too bad at all! But yes Craig is right...$150 a month plus 1% of your sales. Unless your a big company that can afford to pay in-house for all the support you get, plus the hosting...I don't see it a bad route at all.
> 
> With a website like this, you can't just have a developer create it and then leave it alone. It's not a static, informational website, so if you have enough time daily, or can hire someone for less than $150 a month to watch over your site 24/7, then I have to give Inksoft a thumbs up!
> 
> As far as $1000 w/ setup and coaching....that is if you want them to do everything for you as far as getting the site live. If you know anything about web, or can read, or watch (youtube) tutorials, then setup isn't hard.
> 
> But to each his own!
> 
> Best of luck in whichever route you choose to go.


 

I am not saying this is a bad product. I just think their fees could be a little hard for a start up small garage shop to cover each month. And I wish they had more than one template for the front page. All the websites that are up and running look the same, just different colors. Also worried that in a year or so there will be a 100 of these sites and it will turn into a competition of who is willing to do the t shirts for the cheapest.


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## Printwizard

jastermite said:


> I am not saying this is a bad product. I just think their fees could be a little hard for a start up small garage shop to cover each month. And I wish they had more than one template for the front page. All the websites that are up and running look the same, just different colors. Also worried that in a year or so there will be a 100 of these sites and it will turn into a competition of who is willing to do the t shirts for the cheapest.


Hi there, I am fro new Zealand, and likewise wanr to join up. To me it sounds cheap to a degree. It's a big package. My main thing would be to have some kind of restraint of trade. Our whole country has only four million population, and really we would want a degree of loyalty to grow our investment other wise what is e benefit? A stronger retailer of product will market their site better and snowball sales and in turn inksofts revenues. Really if there were several of these locally then what would be the point?


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## Printwizard

We have looked in depth into replicating or cloning, but really, this is near perfect. Nearly. It's a massive system, and cheap at the price. Our biggest question are some of what is missing for us to be fully viable. To start from scratch would be uneconomic for most shops without on selling or leasing the code. I think being a bigger system it needs a bit more finishing, but ask ten printers you will likely get ten answers........ We are 90 % convinced to buy, even if only to use in the interim, but are waiting to see some answers to some questions.


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## InkSoft

jastermite said:


> Actually it's $150 a month plus 1% of your traffic plus start up fees which is almost a $1000 if you need there help to work out the bugs
> .revoltgraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Inksoft-max-pricing.jpg


Correction. InkSoft isn't $1000. It's $699. We offer 'add-ons & extras' for those that want us to set up their sites. Most users DO NOT opt for these additional services since they want to be in control and learn the tool.


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## jastermite

InkSoft said:


> Correction. InkSoft isn't $1000. It's $699. We offer 'add-ons & extras' for those that want us to set up their sites. Most users DO NOT opt for these additional services since they want to be in control and learn the tool.


 

I did have your price list up that showed exactly what you are saying, they took it down for bandwith savings. The one person that I talked to that is using your service sayed he used your set up help. He said it was worth it because it got him up and running much faster. Like I have said in previous posts, I like your service, I am just trying to make sure it will pencil out for me. I dont think I have enough traffic yet to pay for it and make a profit. Hopefully soon.


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## shirleyg

I wish you had pricing on your website.


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## InkSoft

jastermite said:


> I did have your price list up that showed exactly what you are saying, they took it down for bandwith savings. The one person that I talked to that is using your service sayed he used your set up help. He said it was worth it because it got him up and running much faster. Like I have said in previous posts, I like your service, I am just trying to make sure it will pencil out for me. I dont think I have enough traffic yet to pay for it and make a profit. Hopefully soon.


Pricing for InkSoft is located here: InkSoft pricing. How much does inksoft cost? | InkSoft

Jastermite: Tell me about your marketing strategy. How are you promoting InkSoft to clients and prospects? How will you drive traffic? 

We will be offering some webinars in Feb to help our clients develop some simple, high-impact ways to marketing their InkSoft powered web businesses. Would this interest you?


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## Printwizard

Re Some of my Inksoft Questions. Our operation is mainly wholesale to onsellers and larger runs and wide and varied substrate, plus we import all promo items from China. The upload editor is one bug, but there are many others. We emailed and havent had response as to what may or may not be reviewed, updated, or worked on in the future, and even weather they can be bought as an extra module, or software upgrade bought outright by ourselves. Our issues in main with inksoft is the inability for us to mix between offerings according to vinyl transfer, digital transfer, DTG, heat applications, between substrate and quantity of substrate. Inksoft can not work a costing mix of branding alternatives whcih may suit certain products or the run volume. If someone has a design in the editor we would brand differently on a shirt to a cap to a pen, and differently if the run was 10, compared to it being 100. Likewise it advertises editing other products and signage and we sell millions of pens, however there is only one printing price shedule and the price we charge varies between tampographic on a pen, screening a shirt, and digital on a footpath blade and base so it needs to accomodate multiple schedules, even like A6 for crest/pocket prints, A4 and A3 versions for front and backs. Also the editor does not work rotations past back and front of a shirt or product, where as we print sleeves, or multiple panels on umbrellas, or multiple panels for dye sublimated shirts. All up we would look to load nearly 25,000 items across all styles and colourway options. The shipping is all in pounds, and not international Kg and volumetric options, or staggered regional options for localised delivery, and tax is US/Canada. I feel that initially Inksoft is more written around the DTG type operations and orders under a dozen items as it is more customer friendly for this type of retail model, however there are so many gutsy features and this is such a big website that it should be more than this in many ways, especially as they have not followed the model of Cafepress, Zazzle, CustomInk or Blue Cotton but instead have written code as a tool for screenprinters in general, and as such needs a bit more feature and generalisation to make it more mainstream for its users. Likewise we would like two sites, one retail margin and content may differ slightly, including brand name etc so as not to peeve our onseller customers. And second a wholesale version. In that we would prefer a login of account that we could set the margin rates - so a small design company may pay more than a promo company or large saatchi and saatchi account, and a customer who is polite, gives better lead times and pays fast may get a better rate than the *****y rush-rush customer who is slow with his accounts, Likewise we need to pay certain commissions back to the business unit or sales person looking after certain wholesale accounts. Inksoft is apparently working on an embroidery function and that will be usefull with caps etc too. interesting how effective it may guesstimate stitch counts, Especially on polar fleece or towels where backing stitches may be required - this too may need several rate charts so that you could select embroidery chart to match the garment/item. We would like to also have select a timeline for delivery, and be able to set perametres and surcharge margin for rushed 12 /24 / 48 or 72 hour delivery type functions, or set a longer lead for indented items like 21 days for all lanyards from China. Being able to show a reverse side, but not edit it, like the content and use instructions on the back of temporary tattoos. Ability to price more than style and colour where some wholesalers charge high premiums for oversize 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X, 7X etc. - If these are given different styles it is harder to select and use on the editor rather than one style, and face it, the population are getting wider...! I like the feature on customink "get sponsored to lower your shirt cost" - add our logo to a sleeve and take a dollar a shirt off.. we all need self promotion.
I also dislike the price less discount function. Our european, asian, pacific businesses do not work retail cost backwards, instead we work base costs plus cost of order process, plus divided out overhead, plus margin, costing a job upwards. The higher the volume we get lower unit costs and margin, but in a spreadsheet you will see a better trend to profit lines rather than flat less discount. For smaller operators in a garage it may be no big thing, but when you turnover millions every week the difference can be disastrous in a competitive market with low margins. Inksoft discounts universally and does not allow discount on substrate only / branding only / substrate & branding.
There appears little corporate focus to Inksoft, yet every commercial shop does corporate work, so upload and sharing of corporate brand standards seems a little important. Likewise the uploaded shared / rented / bought artwork would be fairer used on a royalty per shirt basis rather than anuual fee weather used or not. Would be good with pantone chart as well as DTG online, and more "About us" or factory tour, useful links, info pages available, and an unbranded tutorial link on youtube how to work the editor.
Like the previous comment on art quality, I think its swing and miss with conversion to a direct sale, andbut the feature is there to accept, where there needs to be a re-proof / re-spec / add art charges or comments and send back for acceptance-purchase-sale to the designer.
These are some of our mandatory requirements. We also have a wish list of things suited more to our shops rather than industry in general and see those options we may pay more for perhaps.
Dont get me wrong, its an amazing program and potentially the best I have seen and this type of CMS designer website is the future, and when the kinks are ironed out it will seperate the men from the boys, unless everybody has the same one. I do think inksoft need to work backwards a bit from a broader branding solution / customer type perspective as it is too focused on small run designs like its retail competitors offer. They are offering software for printers and not 5 shirt orders. So they need to see what printers need to sell and work on how to accomodate that in a broader way.
Anyway, must stop typing and go manage some factories.


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## Print and Pray

We are considering buying this product to host several sites. One for DTG, Vinyl decals, and posters and banners.

Anyone bold enough to post the link to their website using inksoft? 

I'm curious as the two I have found so far appear to be using the stock art provided and I'm wondering why no one has uploaded their vector collection.


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## InkSoft

Print and Pray said:


> We are considering buying this product to host several sites. One for DTG, Vinyl decals, and posters and banners.
> 
> Anyone bold enough to post the link to their website using inksoft?
> 
> I'm curious as the two I have found so far appear to be using the stock art provided and I'm wondering why no one has uploaded their vector collection.


Mike:

If you'd like you can send me a vector, or high-res file and I will upload it for you so you can see how it performs. I've uploaded some content HERE as an example. When you upload a vector file InkSoft counts the colors. Your clients have the option to recolor or even make a color transparent--which is a great way to reduce colors and save money on print pricing.


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## Print and Pray

Actually thats enough for me. I had looked at two stores and it didn't seem like anyone had uploaded their own art. Just wanted to make sure it was possible.


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## InkSoft

Mike:

Thought you might appreciate some details as it relates to art work. I put together a video to show you the details. Check it out HERE.


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## InkSoft

Mike: 

Not entirely sure I understand your questions. I do want to point out that you CAN create custom print pricing grids and associate those to specific products. This VIDEO showcases this feature.


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## Printwizard

InkSoft said:


> Mike:
> 
> Not entirely sure I understand your questions. I do want to point out that you CAN create custom print pricing grids and associate those to specific products. This VIDEO showcases this feature.


Hi JP,
Awesome, looks good. I guess you can have many multiples in branding method up there. How about say a gildan tee shirt. Is it possible for the designer to select a print area template that I can set the perametres to - so for instance I may have a pink keyline area of A6 size placement for sleeves, left chest area and maybe high on the back label area, then maybe a blue A4 box keyline area for standard front and back printing, a third green area for A3 front and back printing, and by default anything larger than the templated area would qualify for an all over print.
Obviously the consumables costs, quicker print-flash-cooldown times on the smaller areas, film costs, images made per screen etc. (as well as customer perception) mean that a smaller print is cheaper, and the larger the print area, the higher the price in a staggered grid per area.
So is it possible for me to assign several grid areas to a garment, and assign a grid area to a named print pricing schedule. That means that one garment could possibly have 4 schedules attached to it. A customer may choose A6 on right sleeve, A4 front, and A3 back print, or all over print on the front and just a small A6 on the back, with the player name and number underneath. This is the variation I mean. We have a fair amount of variance in this and the cost and sale price for a sleeve (we have a dedicated sleeve machine that prints 2 at a time) is 3 times quicker and less ink than an A3 or all over print.
Mike.


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## InkSoft

Mike: 

These might provide some insights:

Safari.png
Safari.png


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## MauiPerformance

Hi JP, do you plan on adding more manufacturers to the list in inksoft, such as American Apparel or any others?


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## InkSoft

We have 100% integration with Sanmar. Hope to have the same soon with Broder. As for American Apparel--their stock photography is not very suitable for the InkSoft Design Studio. Email me and I will hook you up with some cool ammo for premium apparel blanks. 

I would advise you to use the new product wizard to integrate any custom products into InkSoft. This is one of the coolest InkSoft features. I just uploaded a koozie in about 1 minute. Check it out HERE


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## Printwizard

InkSoft said:


> Mike:
> 
> These might provide some insights:
> 
> Safari.png
> Safari.png


Nope, didn't answer the question. I will put together another email LIST as per earlier and try and schedule a time next week and ring you and talk it through.
Regards,
mike.


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## DezineLine

Well, after looking at this software for over a month, and asking a few dozen questions, I have decided to jump in and purchased the Inksoft software yesterday. I still have a bunch of questions. I want to get a good month to get it all set up before I get to busy with baseball, etc. I know they just finished a manual, and they have a newbie orientation next week that should help. I don't think Custom Ink or Zazzle are nervous about my decision.. but I think it will help me retain my present customer base and develop some buzz for some new business. I have spent a lot more money on crazier things! I am looking forward to getting settled on my vendors and personalizing the site to my specs... I will keep y'all posted of the progress.


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## Printwizard

Awesome Steve, hoping to join you. What size operation do you have. It will be interesting to find the average size of users. In the videos did you see about uploading art designs that can then be sold to other Inksoft licensed shops. I am in New Zealand so not sure how relevant our art is to your market although I think there will be fantastic crossovers and it will broaden the influences. We have 3 artists contracted to us here, all with there own styles, but after a while it all looks the same and I see that inksoft will diversify our looks if we all upload art. Although I would rather pay $.40c or receive a royalty $0.25c per shirt printed with another members art design on an actual usage basis that is in line with corresponding revenue, rather than an annual fee that may not be reflected in actual benefit. Naturally that method currently used would benefit the biggest shops that didnt supply their own art to the group and penalise the smallest users or limit their range if they did not accept to buy. Just my thoughts on that.... I cant wait to get going with this. I just ordered a DTG to cope with all the small runs which is new for us here! So excited!!!!


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## DezineLine

Printwizard said:


> Awesome Steve, hoping to join you. What size operation do you have. It will be interesting to find the average size of users. In the videos did you see about uploading art designs that can then be sold to other Inksoft licensed shops. I am in New Zealand so not sure how relevant our art is to your market although I think there will be fantastic crossovers and it will broaden the influences..... Just my thoughts on that.... I cant wait to get going with this. I just ordered a DTG to cope with all the small runs which is new for us here! So excited!!!!


I think the program is a great tool, and after 3 website attempts and a lame site to show for it, I was ready for something with all the buzzers and bells. I did not know about the artwork thing..My artist may want to keep her stuff to herself though. We are a small shop, just 5 employees. I sold the automatic press to move into a retail shop. I have a friend down the street with a nice new 8 color press, so he has helped us out. I will farm out the one-offs and do the small jobs myself. I am 52, in business since 1983, so I look forward to having someone else do more printing an I can work on marketing.


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## Printwizard

Steve, we run a few shops. We have a dedicated badgemaking factory, embroidery, a signage and digital shop, graphics screenprinting, and we import promo products and apparel as well. The textile screenprint side is currently all manual, but this year we are looking to add a large second hand M+R to the mix. Will start looking mid year for a machine under $100k and under 5 years old and see what may be able to be crated up and brought down under. In Australia we run autos, but we have a smaller shop here in Auckland. No one thing is really core business as its all complimentary, but we make the most money off our import indents by a long way. Ours is basically a franchised business and the holding company owns some direct and JV factories in China that give us great advantages as well as sourcing from other general factories up there. In house we dont do offset or tampographic printing here anymore, the rest is pretty much covered. Its been a tough couple of years and we have found it hard dealing with promo companies and onsellers who take greater margin and dont pay their bills very well, so we are looking at Inksoft to change our demographic more toward retail, however we are volume based and focussed so the DTG should get rid of the rubbish work and let us concentrate on better numbers for the screen. I look forward to an exciting year. My business was started in 1974 and I have been running it since 1992. Too old and tired to jump through hoops for some obnoxious 20 year old agency person who doesnt know, understand or care about what we do, wants it yesterday at a lower price than the other forty quotes they collected, is completely rude, and takes 15 months to then pay for the job. Cant wait to get everything ironed out smooth and up and running.


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## Dante2004

I'm torn on this...I think the design tool is great.. The graphics that are included are a great bonus. But I am completely happy with our current website - just not our design tool. It works...but it is clunky and out dated. If the inksoft product wasn't going to duplicate everything I have (and paid big $$$ for) I think we would jump on it. Too bad they don't offer a "design tool" only that operated within an iframe on your existing site.

Idea for the future??? ;-)


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## Riderz Ready

Dante2004 said:


> I'm torn on this...I think the design tool is great.. The graphics that are included are a great bonus. But I am completely happy with our current website - just not our design tool. It works...but it is clunky and out dated. If the inksoft product wasn't going to duplicate everything I have (and paid big $$$ for) I think we would jump on it. Too bad they don't offer a "design tool" only that operated within an iframe on your existing site.
> 
> Idea for the future??? ;-)


We are jumping on with Inksoft and for the the first stage we are only going to use the designer. In our case it is not because our website is so awesome but more on our unique needs. The designer as you know is awesome and easy to use which we did not find with Piki/Deconet. Even more important was to be able to see everyone who started and dropped out of the designer without purchasing an item. Again something we did not find in Piki/Deconet. For us the designer alone is worth the price.


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## Dante2004

On-line Jerseys said:


> We are jumping on with Inksoft and for the the first stage we are only going to use the designer. In our case it is not because our website is so awesome but more on our unique needs. The designer as you know is awesome and easy to use which we did not find with Piki/Deconet. Even more important was to be able to see everyone who started and dropped out of the designer without purchasing an item. Again something we did not find in Piki/Deconet. For us the designer alone is worth the price.


So you are integrating *their* designer into *your* site? Didn't know that was possible. Is it cheaper that way? Or is it the same price?


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## Riderz Ready

Dante2004 said:


> So you are integrating *their* designer into *your* site? Didn't know that was possible. Is it cheaper that way? Or is it the same price?


Short explanation: We do custom team BMX jerseys as our main business but needed a way to sell a "pre-designed" jerseys to riders not affiliated with an actual team. We will have a list, as we currently do, of predisgned jerseys that when clicked from our website will link directly to that same jersey in Inksofts designer. In the designer a rider can add their name, number, add logos, etc. and purchase. I realize we may be using 1/10 of what Inksoft can do but the ease of use of the designer is the key to our success. We have used OSS, RSK and Piki/Deco. Piki/Deco is probably the most robust but the complexity of it and the designer leave a lot to be desired. To us it is simple - regardless of how good a system is overall it is 100% useless if the designer is not easy enough for the average person to complete a design. As time moves forward there are a few things we would love to see. First we would like to see custom shape print areas. This is Piki/Deconets strong suit. Second we would like to be able to associate items to provide pop ups that if you buy "xyz" then you may be interested in "abc". For us every custom jersey has a matching custom BMX plate. We would love to have the system inform the user of this. Overall we believe for our use we can quickly start generating revenue just using the designer and look towards other uses down the road.


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## Printwizard

Great idea on the "find related product" pop up link. Like you I agree with being able to select various designated print areas which then can relate to deifferent pricing structures according to size.


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## Riderz Ready

Printwizard said:


> Great idea on the "find related product" pop up link. Like you I agree with being able to select various designated print areas which then can relate to deifferent pricing structures according to size.


We are a dye sublimation cut and sew shop so for us the print size, how many areas there are and how large the area is really is not applicable as we start with white bulk fabric. The issue for us is the same for a jersey template or a number plate template. Our print areas are not simply rectangles. Our print area is basically the shape of the item we are printing less approx 1/4" allowance for sewing. We want to be able to create a custom shape that works like PowerClip in Corel or a mask in AI so that when someone adds a logo or artwork the image will start to disappear when it is moved outside of the defined area. For us this reduces time we need to spend in production rearranging logos. 

The challenge all these vendors have is every market is so different. In my humble opinion most are trying to be everything to everyone and instead of having a clean easy to use system they become a huge confusing mess.


----------



## DezineLine

Printwizard said:


> Steve, we run a few shops. We Will start looking mid year for a machine under $100k and under 5 years old and see what may be able to be crated up and brought down under. In Australia we run autos, but we have a smaller shop here in Auckland. No one thing is really core business as its all complimentary, but we make the most money off our import indents by a long way. Ours is basically a franchised business and the holding company owns some direct and JV factories in China that give us great advantages as well as sourcing from other general factories up there. In house we dont do offset or tampographic printing here anymore, the rest is pretty much covered. Its been a tough couple of years and we have found it hard dealing with promo companies and onsellers who take greater margin and dont pay their bills very well, so we are looking at Inksoft to change our demographic more toward retail, however we are volume based and focussed so the DTG should get rid of the rubbish work and let us concentrate on better numbers for the screen. I look forward to an exciting year. My business was started in 1974 and I have been running it since 1992. Too old and tired to jump through hoops for some obnoxious 20 year old agency person who doesnt know, understand or care about what we do, wants it yesterday at a lower price than the other forty quotes they collected, is completely rude, and takes 15 months to then pay for the job. Cant wait to get everything ironed out smooth and up and running.


Ha ha...My artist appreciated your comments about the ad agency jerks. I know, very true. I thought there was a auto press manufacturer in Australia.. TAS? are they made there and are they any good?. I had a M & R Revolver gauntlet for 15 years and loved it. I am a little overwhelmed with getting my website up to date and getting into the inksoft site...but I am confident they are going to be a big help...Good luck to you this year my friend...remember to build a life as well as a business.


----------



## TshirtGuru

What's the best online payment gateway to use for Inksoft's integrated checkout?


----------



## Dante2004

I believe it only works with authorize.net and nelix. Or paypal and amazon...

Too bad it won't work with the paypay virutal terminal/gateway. A lot of people are already using that since several website templates/systems are setup to work with paypal.


----------



## TshirtGuru

Dante2004 said:


> I believe it only works with authorize.net and nelix. Or paypal and amazon...
> 
> Too bad it won't work with the paypay virutal terminal/gateway. A lot of people are already using that since several website templates/systems are setup to work with paypal.


I use PayPal virtual terminal, which is so simple to use, too bad they don't work with them. I was about to sign up for Inksoft this morning but found that out and backed off because once I started filling the application for authorize.net it got really confusing because I realized authorize.net only does the payment gateway but you have to use a reseller such as Chase or another reseller? I don't get it...I want my customers to be able to pay with their credit card without logging into an account but I also want to still be able to take cc's over the phone.

Do I just sign up for Authorize.net's payment gateway + internet merchant account? Someone steer me in the right direction please.


----------



## Dante2004

Signing up for paypal is so easy...its not surprise they have 170 million users - or whatever it is.

When you sign up for authorize.net (or similar) it seems like you end up having to get 2-3 different accounts. This service only gets you this far, then you need ____ service and this service. 

They nickel and dime you to death.

Inksoft is supposed to be this "all in one package", wonder why they didn't address the payment portion as well as the rest of the package.

Even our **** design too integrates the Paypal api to allow cc payments.


----------



## InkSoft

Dante2004 said:


> Signing up for paypal is so easy...its not surprise they have 170 million users - or whatever it is.
> 
> When you sign up for authorize.net (or similar) it seems like you end up having to get 2-3 different accounts. This service only gets you this far, then you need ____ service and this service.
> 
> They nickel and dime you to death.
> 
> Inksoft is supposed to be this "all in one package", wonder why they didn't address the payment portion as well as the rest of the package.
> 
> Even our **** design too integrates the Paypal api to allow cc payments.


Yeah. We are planning on increasing our gateway/processor integrations. More the merrier right? 

Dante: Will you buy InkSoft if we introduce the PayPal integration you are requesting? Is this the only thing holding you back?


----------



## TshirtGuru

Dante2004 said:


> Signing up for paypal is so easy...its not surprise they have 170 million users - or whatever it is.
> 
> When you sign up for authorize.net (or similar) it seems like you end up having to get 2-3 different accounts. This service only gets you this far, then you need ____ service and this service.
> 
> They nickel and dime you to death.
> 
> Inksoft is supposed to be this "all in one package", wonder why they didn't address the payment portion as well as the rest of the package.
> 
> Even our **** design too integrates the Paypal api to allow cc payments.


Yeah I just emailed back and forth with an Authorize.net rep...He said you need 2 accounts, 1 payment gateway which is Authorize.net and 1 for a merchant account. But it doesn't say who the merchant account is during the application process. And the fees are like $0.01 here, $0.12 here, $0.50 wipe my butt fee there. Why not just add all the fees into ONE like paypal does!!!!!!!!!!! ?

Anyway, looked like I was going to spend $700 on Inksoft this morning, but I'm going to keep looking or not spend the money at all. But my cc was out ready to buy buy buy until this snag.


----------



## InkSoft

TshirtGuru said:


> I use PayPal virtual terminal, which is so simple to use, too bad they don't work with them. I was about to sign up for Inksoft this morning but found that out and backed off because once I started filling the application for authorize.net it got really confusing because I realized authorize.net only does the payment gateway but you have to use a reseller such as Chase or another reseller? I don't get it...I want my customers to be able to pay with their credit card without logging into an account but I also want to still be able to take cc's over the phone.
> 
> Do I just sign up for Authorize.net's payment gateway + internet merchant account? Someone steer me in the right direction please.


PayPal virtual terminal is ONLY for processing offline transactions. Which PayPal service do you want to use to processes Internet orders?


----------



## InkSoft

TshirtGuru said:


> Yeah I just emailed back and forth with an Authorize.net rep...He said you need 2 accounts, 1 payment gateway which is Authorize.net and 1 for a merchant account. But it doesn't say who the merchant account is during the application process. And the fees are like $0.01 here, $0.12 here, $0.50 wipe my butt fee there. Why not just add all the fees into ONE like paypal does!!!!!!!!!!! ?
> 
> Anyway, looked like I was going to spend $700 on Inksoft this morning, but I'm going to keep looking or not spend the money at all. But my cc was out ready to buy buy buy until this snag.


Which PayPal service do you want? Are you willing to pay $30/month to use the PayPal payment Pro? This looking like the way to do it! 

See here: https://merchant.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/compare_wp_products


----------



## TshirtGuru

InkSoft said:


> Which PayPal service do you want? Are you willing to pay $30/month to use the PayPal payment Pro? This looking like the way to do it!
> 
> See here: https://merchant.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/compare_wp_products


Yes I'm willing to pay monthly. I already pay to use Virtual Terminal so that doesn't bother me. So if I sign up for payment pro from PayPal, will I be able to integrate it with Inksoft? Will my customers be able to pay using a cc without a paypal account?


----------



## TshirtGuru

Good news, got off the phone with PayPal. If you are a current user of Virtual Terminal, you can just activate the Website Payments Pro onto your account. (The cost and everything is actually the same, and a bit lower on PER transaction costs). So now what I need to know is, Does Inksoft support Website Payments Pro as a checkout option? (You do have to be approved by PayPal for the website payments pro, in my case I was already approved).


----------



## InkSoft

TshirtGuru said:


> Yes I'm willing to pay monthly. I already pay to use Virtual Terminal so that doesn't bother me. So if I sign up for payment pro from PayPal, will I be able to integrate it with Inksoft? Will my customers be able to pay using a cc without a paypal account?


You do know that InkSoft is integrated with PayPal Express Checkout right?

Go here: Design your own t shirts online add something to the cart and click the PayPal button (see here)

At this PayPal page a user can either pay with a card, *OR*, login to their PP account to make payment. 

The $30 PayPal Website Payment Pro allows your clients to pay on the 'same screen'...so they aren't redirected to another web site. This is the value of Nelix and Authorize.net that are integrated into InkSoft.


----------



## TshirtGuru

InkSoft said:


> You do know that InkSoft is integrated with PayPal Express Checkout right?
> 
> Go here: Design your own t shirts online add something to the cart and click the PayPal button (see here)
> 
> At this PayPal page a user can either pay with a card, *OR*, login to their PP account to make payment.
> 
> The $30 PayPal Website Payment Pro allows your clients to pay on the 'same screen'...so they aren't redirected to another web site. This is the value of Nelix and Authorize.net that are integrated into InkSoft.


See this is where the confusion is. I asked Anya this morning and she said that you can only use the Paypal option if the customer has a Paypal account and if they sign into it. So this is not true? 

In either case, I have to pay for the virtual terminal to accept payments over the phone already so having upgraded to PayPal website Payment Pro is the same price which includes the virtual terminal into the same package.

This being said, can I use the main checkout function with Website Payments Pro so the customer doesn't have to leave my site to pay? Is it easy to do?


----------



## InkSoft

TshirtGuru said:


> Good news, got off the phone with PayPal. If you are a current user of Virtual Terminal, you can just activate the Website Payments Pro onto your account. (The cost and everything is actually the same, and a bit lower on PER transaction costs). So now what I need to know is, Does Inksoft support Website Payments Pro as a checkout option? (You do have to be approved by PayPal for the website payments pro, in my case I was already approved).


Here is the scoop: With the Web Site Payment Pro *YOU HAVE TO * manage the 'credit card data security'. This requires an SSL certificate ($$$) and other compliances. This is also per domain name. Well, InkSoft is designed to set up web sites. So, you would have to buy one SSL per domain. Yikes. 

This PayPal video showcases the difference

Nelix and Authorize.net do it a bit differently. With their technology your end users check out onscreen and aren't redirected. The site loads a secured HTTPS page. So, you are tapping into their secured checkout. TRUST me buy the time you get done with SSL and other compliance issues you would be MUCH better off with Auth.net.


----------



## Dante2004

InkSoft said:


> Yeah. We are planning on increasing our gateway/processor integrations. More the merrier right?
> 
> Dante: Will you buy InkSoft if we introduce the PayPal integration you are requesting? Is this the only thing holding you back?


Basically...yes. I have two things preventing me from getting our team to agree to the purchase/investment. The fact that we would have to get merchant account setup (plus all the fees) and then the fact that we just invested in a website solution that we are happy with (hadn't learned about inksoft yet). 

I can deal with the website part. Second merchant account is a tough pill to swallow. That's one more set of bills, monthly expenses, item to track...


----------



## TshirtGuru

InkSoft said:


> Here is the scoop: With the Web Site Payment Pro *YOU HAVE TO * manage the 'credit card data security'. This requires an SSL certificate ($$$) and other compliances. This is also per domain name. Well, InkSoft is designed to set up web sites. So, you would have to buy one SSL per domain. Yikes.
> 
> This PayPal video showcases the difference
> 
> Nelix and Authorize.net do it a bit differently. With their technology your end users check out onscreen and aren't redirected. The site loads a secured HTTPS page. So, you are tapping into their secured checkout. TRUST me buy the time you get done with SSL and other compliance issues you would be MUCH better off with Auth.net.


Thanks for explaining. Curious to why you mentioned that PayPal Payments Pro was the way to go then? 

So is using PayPal Payments Pro an option if...the customer clicks the main checkout button which will be linked to Website Payments Pro, and the customer gets redirected to PayPals secured website to check out using a credit card and not having to sign into PayPal? That way I don't need an SSL right? What if I use Inksoft in an Iframe on my website, does that change anything?

Sorry for the questions, I'm just confused because the stuff I asked this morning on your website help, is not what I'm hearing now,.


----------



## Dante2004

TshirtGuru said:


> Good news, got off the phone with PayPal. If you are a current user of Virtual Terminal, you can just activate the *Website Payments Pro* onto your account. (The cost and everything is actually the same, and a bit lower on PER transaction costs). So now what I need to know is, Does Inksoft support Website Payments Pro as a checkout option? (You do have to be approved by PayPal for the website payments pro, in my case I was already approved).


 
You're right. This is what we have now. We started with virtual terminal, then switched to payment pro. Still $30/month. I can accept payments through my website AND over the phone (manually enter).


----------



## Print and Pray

Careful with the merchant accounts. Not sure if any of the ones listed do it but I inadvertently ended up in a 2 year contract at $15 a month..Took me a year to actually get out of it even though I wasn't using the service at all.

I ended up using paypals web payments pro...Pretty straight forward. Never had a problem.


----------



## Dante2004

InkSoft said:


> Here is the scoop: With the Web Site Payment Pro *YOU HAVE TO *manage the 'credit card data security'. This requires an SSL certificate ($$$) and other compliances. This is also per domain name. Well, InkSoft is designed to set up web sites. So, you would have to buy one SSL per domain. Yikes.
> 
> This PayPal video showcases the difference
> 
> Nelix and Authorize.net do it a bit differently. With their technology your end users check out onscreen and aren't redirected. The site loads a secured HTTPS page. So, you are tapping into their secured checkout. TRUST me buy the time you get done with SSL and other compliance issues you would be MUCH better off with Auth.net.


 
I don't know anything about that stuff...all I know is that I logged into my paypal account, copied the "api code" and pasted it into my designer (oss designer). I don't believe my customers have to leave the site. They are presented with a credit card payment screen and they type in their info. Done.


----------



## Dante2004

Print and Pray said:


> Careful with the merchant accounts. Not sure if any of the ones listed do it but I inadvertently ended up in a 2 year contract at $15 a month..Took me a year to actually get out of it even though I wasn't using the service at all.
> 
> I ended up using paypals web payments pro...Pretty straight forward. Never had a problem.


They all seem to want a contract, or sell you equipment...or have huge setup fees.

I never did understand that. I have to pay a setup fee for you to punch a few keys into the computer so that I can then ELECTRONICALLY process cc payments through your system - which I will be paying a monthly fee AND transaction fee for. It's not like I am sending you my paper bills and you have to sort through them. It is done ELECTRONICALLY!


----------



## TshirtGuru

Dante2004 said:


> I don't know anything about that stuff...all I know is that I logged into my paypal account, copied the "api code" and pasted it into my designer (oss designer). I don't believe my customers have to leave the site. They are presented with a credit card payment screen and they type in their info. Done.


THAT is what I'm looking for. How is the OSS designer? I've been looking at that one.


----------



## Dante2004

InkSoft said:


> You do know that InkSoft is integrated with PayPal Express Checkout right?
> 
> Go here: Design your own t shirts online add something to the cart and click the PayPal button (see here)
> 
> At this PayPal page a user can either pay with a card, *OR*, login to their PP account to make payment.
> 
> The $30 PayPal Website Payment Pro allows your clients to pay on the 'same screen'...so they aren't redirected to another web site. This is the value of Nelix and Authorize.net that are integrated into InkSoft.


Okay, I did this and it gives me the option to pay with a PO, Paypal or Amazon.

The problem is, most customers won't realize that they can still pay with a credit card and NOT have a paypal account. (I ran into this issue with my last business).

"I thought you said you took credit cards"
or 
"I don't have a paypal account"


----------



## Dante2004

TshirtGuru said:


> THAT is what I'm looking for. How is the OSS designer? I've been looking at that one.


 
Meh...not the greatest. It gets the job done, but that is about it.

It doesn't come with nice artwork like inksoft
VERY limited back end features

But, the customer CAN design a shirt and send it to you to print. If that's all you want, I guess it will make you happy.

The people are nice/helpful. They just seem like a small fish in a big pond.


----------



## InkSoft

TshirtGuru said:


> Thanks for explaining. Curious to why you mentioned that PayPal Payments Pro was the way to go then?
> 
> So is using PayPal Payments Pro an option if...the customer clicks the main checkout button which will be linked to Website Payments Pro, and the customer gets redirected to PayPals secured website to check out using a credit card and not having to sign into PayPal? That way I don't need an SSL right? What if I use Inksoft in an Iframe on my website, does that change anything?
> 
> Sorry for the questions, I'm just confused because the stuff I asked this morning on your website help, is not what I'm hearing now,.


I thought the PP Pro was the way to go until I read that you have to maintain security by yourself. This is why we selected Nelix and Auth.net...to bypass SSL and all the crazy compliances.

Call us. Its the best way to learn about what you are trying to achieve. Trying to discuss these things on the forum is a challenge.


----------



## InkSoft

Dante2004 said:


> Okay, I did this and it gives me the option to pay with a PO, Paypal or Amazon.
> 
> The problem is, most customers won't realize that they can still pay with a credit card and NOT have a paypal account. (I ran into this issue with my last business).
> 
> "I thought you said you took credit cards"
> or
> "I don't have a paypal account"


We don't have Nelix or Auth.net active on the demo site. When enabled your client could check out with a CC or PP, or Amazon, or a Purchase order (if you make this available). 

If you want to see the look of Nelix see it in the cart HERE.

Can you PM me a link to your site? I'd like to see how the PP integration is working, and if there is an SSL/HTTPS running for security purposes.


----------



## Print and Pray

InkSoft said:


> We don't have Nelix or Auth.net active on the demo site. When enabled your client could check out with a CC or PP, or Amazon, or a Purchase order (if you make this available).
> 
> If you want to see the look of Nelix see it in the cart HERE.
> 
> Can you PM me a link to your site? I'd like to see how the PP integration is working, and if there is an SSL/HTTPS running for security purposes.


Is the transaction fee different for Nelix, Auth, Amazon and Paypal? I understand that there is a 1% transaction fee per checkout. So is that 1% + whatever the merchant account is taking?


----------



## shirleyg

Hello InkSoft users & prospective users. 

I purchased the InkSoft software on my birthday (almost 2 weeks ago). Just wanted to let you know what I'm thinking about the program - and the support - as I go along.

Haven't had much time to spend on getting things up and running yet. (I do have a business to run, you know...) I hit a brick wall right off the bat because of some instructions regarding setting up a "sub-domain" and then a couple of their tutorials were outdated which confused me.  (They are re-doing them now.)

Setting up the store takes quite a while -- there's a lot to do! Although there are assorted garments loaded from SanMar and Broder, the net pricing is not current and the "selling price" seems to have been randomly set. (I was under the impression that InkSoft was somehow "linked" to those two suppliers so that the net pricing would modify itself as the suppliers changed their prices. I probably misunderstood.)

Anyway, I need to choose the garments I want to offer and make the others inactive or delete them. (Later, I'll upload other items.) Then, there is marking which garment colors come in what sizes... pricing 2x,3x,...  

Many garments are shown with "front only", so the client cannot decorate the back or sleeves until I upload some kind of picture of a back and sleeves. Still not sure what I'm going to do about that...I mean think of all the colors and styles...

My biggest issue, which we all face everyday, is what to charge. I've been in business for 25 years as a screenprinter, embroiderer, and promo products distributor. If I am to TRY to compete in my small way with the BIG GUYS, my prices need to be in line. There are so many variables to consider above my shirt cost and my overhead to decorate. Set up for small jobs (for 1 shirt? yikes- do I really want to do that? not sure even now). Discounts to customers, giving % of the sale price to "Store Owners"... do I want to offer Free Shipping... Well, PRICING FOR ONLINE SALES is a subject for an entire thread of it's own...

All this is somewhat confusing for a "mature" non-techie like me but I'll get it figured out. 

Mostly, I want to say to you who are "on-the-fence," I have looked for a couple of years for the "magical online tool" for screenprinters. Even though this is a daunting job to input all this data, so far, I feel that getting onboard with InkSoft was a good move on my part.

 JP and Anya have been very helpful -- I talk and/or text one or both of them every day, it seems. They really do listen to what the users want and make upgrades constantly based on those requests. 

I haven't set-up the PayPal or whatever, and the recent discussions really have my mind in a whirl, but I feel confident that the InkSoft folks will hold my hand thru this process.

I'll keep everyone posted as I proceed. I'd be glad to answer questions (after I HAVE LEARNED the answers


----------



## nolantmc

Hello we are alos thinking of inksoft. i wanted to know can you pay to not have your site look like every other website. i have invested alot on my website for the apperance i just dont want to have the same site as a 100 other people. what do you guys think
thanks


----------



## InkSoft

nolantmc said:


> Hello we are alos thinking of inksoft. i wanted to know can you pay to not have your site look like every other website. i have invested alot on my website for the apperance i just dont want to have the same site as a 100 other people. what do you guys think
> thanks


We are adding (Example HERE) the ability for you to customize your web site. 

I will post a video on this soon. It's really cool!


----------



## Riderz Ready

Just a brief update from an Inksoft noob. We are brand new to the system and really invested in Inksoft for the designer. JP has been great to work with and offered to do a virtual meeting on Monday to help explain how we can upload products. Being a cut and sew dye sub shop virtually everything we load will be a custom product with multiple color options. I decided to give it a whirl tonight and started to watch the video tutorial for adding new products. After about 5 minutes of it I got a bit bored and decided what the heck let's just see if I can stumble through it. NO STUMBLING NEEDED. It is so frigging logical - left to right/top to bottom. I was able to load a custom jersey with four views and three different colors. I even utilized the mass upload without a hitch, defined the print area, sizing, upcharges, etc and was done in a matter of minutes. As I have mentioned previously over the last two years we have licensed OSS, RSK, Piki/Deco and believe we have finally found a product that is great for the end user (designer) and has a logical easy to use back end to go with it.


----------



## TshirtGuru

What checkout are you using? What are the fees? 

So Inksoft, you didn't answer my question... Can I use paypal payments pro for my main checkout option and have it do that the customers are redirected to paypals secured website to enter their cc info in without having a paypal account? I just need a yes or no. Thanks


----------



## jesterapparel

PhillyGal2008 said:


> I am interested in having my customers design their own products on my website and just came across Inksoft. Has anyone used this software or have any feedback concerning it? It is pretty expensive but so far seems like the easiest to navigate "design it yourself" tool. I would make the investment if I knew that it has worked for others.


 I just got inksoft, I like their online store feature you can set-up for schools ect. It's a lot to learn and I bother Anya their customer service person a lot. There is a few things I would like change, but really there minor. One BIG thing however is that the rival art they have in thier system will always be charged at least two colors. Black and white rival art can't be changed to shirt background. It's a lot to change, but I hope they do change it or come up with a solution. I had OSS Designer before and I liked how they did pricing better, but that is it. This blows OSS out of the water. I haven't tried uploading art yet, so can't comment on that part of it. 

If your deciding between inksoft or OSS, pick inksoft.


----------



## Riderz Ready

jesterapparel said:


> I haven't tried uploading art yet, so can't comment on that part of it.


I just uploaded 25 vector art logos this morning for the first time. Never did this before and it took all of 2 minutes. For us the ability to upload vector files AND have the ability for customers to change the colors of the art work is huge.


----------



## Printwizard

On-line Jerseys said:


> I just uploaded 25 vector art logos this morning for the first time. Never did this before and it took all of 2 minutes. For us the ability to upload vector files AND have the ability for customers to change the colors of the art work is huge.


Hi Mark, quick question, did you make your uploads salable to other inksoft users or just uploaded for yourself. I am interested in your thoughts about the royalty / renting of art to other users. I personally think this is a great idea and yet another strength of inksoft, however for strategic safety of defending ones local market it should be salable outside your home country. Your thoughts, and other inksoft users thoughts on this appreciated. I personally would offer all our art so long as it's not used in my own backyard.

Mike.


----------



## Riderz Ready

Printwizard said:


> Hi Mark, quick question, did you make your uploads salable to other inksoft users or just uploaded for yourself. I am interested in your thoughts about the royalty / renting of art to other users. I personally think this is a great idea and yet another strength of inksoft, however for strategic safety of defending ones local market it should be salable outside your home country. Your thoughts, and other inksoft users thoughts on this appreciated. I personally would offer all our art so long as it's not used in my own backyard.
> 
> Mike.


I am a total noob with Inksoft so I am not 100% sure how it works. We are most likely very different than most Insoft users as far as what we are doing. We are not offering "products", or "designs". We are selling predesigned BMX jerseys and number plates in which riders can add their name/number and sponsors logos. What we are uploading for the store is industry logos. 

For us it would not be about location but by sport. I would not want anything we do available to our competitors for obvious reasons. We are very fortunate as there are very few custom cut and sew dye sub shops out there and even fewer in the BMX market. I would be much more likely to purchase artwork than sell it. The advantage selling to a company like us is it will be used in a very limited way - a BMX team. When we get swamped we outsource some jersey design work and typically pay $50-$100 for a compete jersey design. I would think Inksoft would promote this amongst the design community versus the Inksoft community. A great way for those people to supplement their custom design work. I also think the ability to network amongst ourselve is critical. We will never go into embroidry, stickers, silk screening, etc but if we could hook up with a quality shop that will drop ship than we have an interest as we can expand our offering. 

From my first week with the program I think Inksoft has some very unique tools that will benefit us. My greatest complimnet to the product is it was not intended to be used as we will use it but due to flexibilty and ease of use it is a great fit. Once we get phase one up which I am targeting for the 21st I really want to dig into the design royalty and outsourcing abilities of the system.


----------



## Printwizard

Hi Mark,
We don't do BMX, apart from merchandise at the nationals, tees only. I do see growth here in all forms of cycling. Last couple of years we have indented dye sub from china, MOQ of 24 polos. I see the ability to grow that and want to offer that. Locally a polo is about $40usd to print and make, where as I land out of china at $18 all taxed and tariffed. Also it's only about three weeks and locally is closer to six. So I want to eventually get into indenting a limited offering of styles. Factory uses coolmax and the shirts were awesome. More corporate and teamsports really.

Mike.


----------



## Dante2004

So those of you that have launched an Inksoft store...how do you handle pricing for different printing methods?

For example - we screen print and DTG. But our DTG printer is a Brother so we can't print dark garments. I still want to provide the option to print on dark garments (screen)...but I don't want someone to be able to order just one shirt.

Can you set minimum orders based on shirt color?

I wouldn't have a problem printing one shirt (white) on the DTG printer. But I don't want someone coming in and ordering one black shirt - and then we have to screen a 6 color shirt for $20. lol

I've gotten an answer from inksoft...just curious how the rest of you handle this.


----------



## shirleyg

I'm still setting up my store, but maybe I will be of some help. Here's what I know:

Users can have separate pricing for Screenprinting and DTG
We can create a different pricing grids, such as sublimation
We can set minmum orders for each type of decorating
 I understand InkSoft is working on a way for us to specifiy the decorating method applicable to each garment (or maybe it's already done).


----------



## MauiPerformance

Dante2004 said:


> So those of you that have launched an Inksoft store...how do you handle pricing for different printing methods?
> 
> For example - we screen print and DTG. But our DTG printer is a Brother so we can't print dark garments. I still want to provide the option to print on dark garments (screen)...but I don't want someone to be able to order just one shirt.
> 
> Can you set minimum orders based on shirt color?
> 
> I wouldn't have a problem printing one shirt (white) on the DTG printer. But I don't want someone coming in and ordering one black shirt - and then we have to screen a 6 color shirt for $20. lol
> 
> I've gotten an answer from inksoft...just curious how the rest of you handle this.


What is the answer you got from inksoft? We are in a similar boat... we have a Brother GT-541 and don't do dark garments. 

We are also wondering if there are any other DTG printers who don't print white ink either, and how are they managing the art in the galleries. Because when there is white standing alone outside the design such as white text, it won't show up on a light colored shirt. Anyone solve this yet? 

We were told by InkSoft that their designers were working on a solution for this problem but that if we came up with a solution that we should share it with other inksoft users. 

The only idea we have come up with so far is to go in and modify all the templates one by one, to give outlines to white text, etc. But that seems like it would take a very long time.


----------



## Printwizard

hi there. 
This is a problem. Our issue is having a pricing grid that we can set to a print dimension or size. Like DTG screen also uses more ink and time according to size. having the customer set there art to a box-location-size that calculated to a specific price grid would be good, and if the designer stretched their design to a different template then the calculation would then trip into a different pricing structure. I see this as essential. 
i do see the way around this issue for the white DTG could be to price the shirts more according to the print pricing. IE. White shirts may have 50% markup, and coloured shirts have 200% markup. Keep the price high and discount once you hit 20 shirts. You may need to give your dark shirts a different style code. Perhaps finish (W) white and (C) coloured for all styles. Or add $3 to the coloured shirts. Then if anybody orders one black shirt you may have enough margin in your pricing grid for under 20 garments to buy in a vinyl digital transfer and heatpress this onto the shirt. Ideally for this you would want to set a variable pricing grid not only by size but default colours?
Mike.


----------



## dsmithhi

cheapboxers said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've been looking into DecoNetwork as well as InkSoft. I believe both of them charges a percentage of your TOTAL gross sales monthly.
> 
> Hmmmmm..... I would rather build from the ground up rather than give up a percentage of my total sales!
> 
> Besides their "custom" design upload feature, I don't see why not just go with a turnkey solution like 3dcart or Volusion. I've received quote for a custom Magento based website for around $5k.
> 
> Any input on other sites, hostings, etc. is greatly appreciated!
> 
> HAPPY HOLIDAYS


 
I am very interested about this comment. I was not aware that Inksoft charged a percentage of gross sales? I know that they have an initial fee plus monthly and if you want more websites then they add more cost. Is the "% of gross sales" based off their templates..in addition to monthly etc etc.


----------



## nolantmc

Hello 
I was playing around with inksoft and tried to upload a desing . there is no place for the customer to pick how many colors. I am worried because what if a customer uploaded a 6 color design how do you know you will get paid for 6 colors.
thanks


----------



## Printwizard

The royalty/commission is only 1% gross. Extremely cheap considering the power and backend of this site, and it's ability to increase your revenue by a much greater factor. Don't worry on the investment, look at the return on investment. This is a tool like a screen printing machine. This is like comparing owning a bench top hobby press to having the use of an automatic. It is in inksofts interest to help you increase your revenue through the best and leading too, which in turn increases their revenue. One percent is much cheaper than any sales rep.... Also you would not be able to afford all the features in the back end and art content you will have accessible as a stand-alone shop.


----------



## Dante2004

nolantmc said:


> Hello
> I was playing around with inksoft and tried to upload a desing . there is no place for the customer to pick how many colors. I am worried because what if a customer uploaded a 6 color design how do you know you will get paid for 6 colors.
> thanks


The tutorial says that "it" counts the number of colors. How it does that...I have no clue. But they did address the issue.


----------



## Dante2004

MauiPerformance said:


> The only idea we have come up with so far is to go in and modify all the templates one by one, to give outlines to white text, etc. But that seems like it would take a very long time.


Or you could just modify the art as someone uses it? Just a thought. Then you don't have to modify EVERYTHING up front.


----------



## Riderz Ready

dsmithhi said:


> I am very interested about this comment. I was not aware that Inksoft charged a percentage of gross sales? I know that they have an initial fee plus monthly and if you want more websites then they add more cost. Is the "% of gross sales" based off their templates..in addition to monthly etc etc.


It is a whopping 1%. If that is s deal breaker then you do not understand the system. For anyone to think they can get a on-line design system built for $5,000 please give me the money as either way you are just throwing your money away. There are thousands of man hours in any of these system and for a developer to claim they can create one for $5,000 is laughable.


----------



## TshirtGuru

For those using Inksoft...what payment gateway and merchant are you using? And what fees are you paying the merchant and payment gateway per transaction? Are you under a contract? This is really the only thing holding me back.


----------



## Printwizard

On-line Jerseys said:


> It is a whopping 1%. If that is s deal breaker then you do not understand the system. For anyone to think they can get a on-line design system built for $5,000 please give me the money as either way you are just throwing your money away. There are thousands of man hours in any of these system and for a developer to claim they can create one for $5,000 is laughable.


So true. I suggest that everyone takes half a day out, and a coffee and sits down on youtube and searches inksoft and looks through every tutorial and back end video to understand how big this is. For many smaller shops this could potentially quadruple your turnover in eighteen months. I would rather invest 1% than be in your competitors shoes when they have no work and the customers have left and the only person through the door is the liquidator / auctioneers. If your margin is that tight you may as well give up now and go get a job somewhere. You are in business to make money, that requires the right investment, tools and technology, and margin to cover those outlays and make a profit. You would gain more than 1% with better purchasing from increased volumes and a lower per unit overhead. One thing I see in these forums is amateurs with little minded hobby questions, and that is fine. Inksoft is a commercial tool though with its features and editor. Hobbyists can have there free hosted 5 page catalog websites. Everything has its place, its just a case of knowing what and where your business needs to be.


----------



## Dante2004

Questions for those of you who have gone with inksoft...

After inksoft did their part and turned the site over to you...how long did it take for you to "go live"? 

Did you opt in for the $299 setup? What did they do for you? Or did you just do it yourself?

We've made the decision to move forward and go with inksoft. Now it's just a matter of timing for us. We have some big "time drainers" as I like to call them, in the next few weeks. Not sure if I want to devote a few hours here and there now, or just wait a few weeks until we have more time to get started.

I'm not looking to customize the site that much as it would only be used as our "design tool"...or a "sub section" of our main site. We have too many other features/pages/"stuff" on our main site that would just feel forced if we put it on the inksoft site.


----------



## shirleyg

Dante2004 said:


> Questions for those of you who have gone with inksoft...
> 
> After inksoft did their part and turned the site over to you...how long did it take for you to "go live"?
> 
> Did you opt in for the $299 setup? What did they do for you? Or did you just do it yourself?


No way $299 could really *setup the site to "go live."* Reasons: 

THE USER must decide which garments to remain active (or whether to upload others).
THE USER must establish (and key in) "RETAIL" PRICE for each garment (before quantity discounts)
THE USER must decide the up-charges for 2X, 3X, etc.
THE USER must decide what his/her Quantity Discounts will be 
THE USER must establish price breaks for each decorating option
THE USER must enter pricing for each decorating option 
There's quite a bit more to it than that but, well, you've got the idea... 

Some folks may think they have nothing new to "decide" - you already have pricing for garments and decorating. For me, if I'm going to TRY in my small way to "compete" on-line, I want to see how my pricing stacks up.

I researched what _CustomInk_ and a couple other "big guy" sites to see what they charge. (That took hours, 'cause you've got to plug in bogus orders to see what the charges will be). 

I have only had a few hours here and there to work on the setup (I've got a REAL LIVE business to run), so it's taking a while. 

That said, IF you DO NOT spend time checking the online competitions pricing, and you use your current pricing structures, and you IN-activatvate 1/2 the garments loaded for now (I kept only SanMar & will add back some of the Broder after the site is live) and you are a bit more "back end program" savvy than I am, my guess is it would take a NEW USER 6-10 hours. 

I want everyone to know that the InkSoft folks (J.P. and Anya) have been very helpful when I've hit roadblocks in my understanding of the setup procedures. I TRULY believe this is THE TOOL for screen printers! (I have been looking for such software for two years.)


----------



## Print and Pray

TshirtGuru said:


> For those using Inksoft...what payment gateway and merchant are you using? And what fees are you paying the merchant and payment gateway per transaction? Are you under a contract? This is really the only thing holding me back.


I'd like to know this as well...This is my last question..


----------



## Print and Pray

TshirtGuru said:


> For those using Inksoft...what payment gateway and merchant are you using? And what fees are you paying the merchant and payment gateway per transaction? Are you under a contract? This is really the only thing holding me back.


I just talked to JP and gave authorize.net a call. The 1% from inksoft is on the sub total. In addition you do pay the merchant fee's from authorize.net. Authorize.net said there is no contracts and you are on a month to month with no cancellation penalties. I had them email me their standard setup fee's and charges. Here they are:

*Pricing* 
*Payment Gateway Account* 
·​ Non-Refundable Setup Fee: 

$99.00 
·​ Monthly Gateway Fee 

$20.00 
·​ Gateway Per-Transaction Fee: 

$0.10 
·​ Gateway Batch Fee: 

$0.25 

*Merchant Account (If you do not already have one)** 
·​ Per-Transaction Fee: 

$0.25 
·​ Visa/MasterCard Qualified Discount Rate**: 

2.19% 
·​ Monthly Statement Fee: 

$9.95 
·​ Monthly Minimum Fee: 

$25.00

(The Monthly Minimum Fee is the minimum amount you will pay in monthly discount fees. You will be charged 2.19% of all your transactions or $25, whichever is higher.) 
* Please see the fees page of the application for the full list of merchant account fees. All fees are based on standard merchant account rates. Your fees may vary depending on which of our partners your account is set up with. Your merchant account provider will provide you with any additional information and exact pricing upon account setup. 
** Discover and American Express set their own rates. If you accept either card type, you will need to contact them directly for pricing.


----------



## TshirtGuru

Mike, I believe you have a contract with the merchant account which is separate from the authorize.net gateway. Would PayPal website payments pro be considered a merchant account? 

I'll have to ask them tmmr unless you already have an answer. Thanks


----------



## Print and Pray

TshirtGuru said:


> Mike, I believe you have a contract with the merchant account which is separate from the authorize.net gateway. Would PayPal website payments pro be considered a merchant account?
> 
> I'll have to ask them tmmr unless you already have an answer. Thanks


I asked authorize specifically if there was any contracts and they said no....so.....i dunno.


----------



## Dante2004

Ok...I jumped on the bandwagon. I'm in! ;-)


----------



## Dante2004

Print and Pray said:


> I just talked to JP and gave authorize.net a call. The 1% from inksoft is on the sub total. In addition you do pay the merchant fee's from authorize.net. Authorize.net said there is no contracts and you are on a month to month with no cancellation penalties. I had them email me their standard setup fee's and charges. Here they are:
> 
> *Pricing*
> *Payment Gateway Account*
> 
> ·​
> 
> Non-Refundable Setup Fee:
> 
> $99.00
> 
> ·​
> 
> Monthly Gateway Fee
> 
> $20.00
> 
> ·​
> 
> Gateway Per-Transaction Fee:
> 
> $0.10
> 
> ·​
> 
> Gateway Batch Fee:
> 
> $0.25
> 
> *Merchant Account (If you do not already have one)**
> 
> ·​
> 
> Per-Transaction Fee:
> 
> $0.25
> 
> ·​
> 
> Visa/MasterCard Qualified Discount Rate**:
> 
> 2.19%
> 
> ·​
> 
> Monthly Statement Fee:
> 
> $9.95
> 
> ·​
> 
> Monthly Minimum Fee:
> 
> $25.00
> 
> (The Monthly Minimum Fee is the minimum amount you will pay in monthly discount fees. You will be charged 2.19% of all your transactions or $25, whichever is higher.)
> * Please see the fees page of the application for the full list of merchant account fees. All fees are based on standard merchant account rates. Your fees may vary depending on which of our partners your account is set up with. Your merchant account provider will provide you with any additional information and exact pricing upon account setup.
> ** Discover and American Express set their own rates. If you accept either card type, you will need to contact them directly for pricing.


 
Check you local bank.

We have our merchant account through them and setting up the gateway through Authorize.net

For the merch acct
We have NO monthly minimum.
NO monthly fee.
No contract


----------



## shirleyg

I spoke with the company that processes our "in house" credit card transactions yesterday, to see if I can use the same account, 'cause I have better terms & lower fees (no fee minimum; $10 monthly maintenance fee) AND I can take Visa, M/C, Discover and AmEx.

Customer service person is having a Rep call me today about what it would take (and cost) to have another account (or modify existing one) to use for both in-house and on-line transactions. Seems rediculous to pay DOUBLE FEES! 

*Remind me, WHY do I want to do this rather than just use PayPal?* Seriously, it's all quite confusing to me.


----------



## Dante2004

I've changed my opinion about the paypal issue. Originally I was  that I couldn't just use paypal pro. But...I decided to just "deal with it" and sign up through authorize.net. It turns out I will now be saving $10/mo and paying lower rates. I didn't cancel paypal, just downgraded to the standard business account which is free. I wont be able to process credit card orders over the phone anymore with paypal, but I can with authorize.net so i don't lose that functionality. But...with the free paypal account I can still accept cc payments from customers that pay online (money request) or use the buy it now button on our other site.

Oh yeah...and all the time Anya (customer service) has spent with me answering all my questions speaks volumes for their service. Most companies these days will take your money, link you to some poorly written online manual and then run. I can actually talk to a human at inksoft!


----------



## Riderz Ready

We will have to look at authorize.net. We started the process then are banker, Chase, got involved and asked if we would go through them to set up the authorize.net account and it turned into the most complex mess. I had more people calling then I could count than they wanted to do an on-site inspection - finally told them to take a hike.


----------



## TshirtGuru

Dante, who are you using for the merchant account? You're only saving $10 when you compare authorize.net vs paypal merchant. If you think about it you end up paying more because you pay authorize.net fees plus you will end up paying the merchant account fees separately.


----------



## Dante2004

TshirtGuru said:


> Dante, who are you using for the merchant account? You're only saving $10 when you compare authorize.net vs paypal merchant. If you think about it you end up paying more because you pay authorize.net fees plus you will end up paying the merchant account fees separately.


Bank of America

I have ZERO monthly fee with my merchant account. $20/month with Authorize.net plus $0.10/transaction. As opposed to the $30/month with Paypal

In total, I think I will pay $0.10 more per transaction in "per transaction fees", but I pay a lower percentage (by an entire percent) and $10 less per month in monthly fees.

So, in the end, assuming my sales are larger than just a few dollars...I will pay less in total fees per month.


----------



## Riderz Ready

Update on our process: We are pounding away getting products into our system without a hitch. We are finding some duplicating of data entry and not sure if it is just because we are unique or if this is something that may benefit everyone. Again we are a dye sub shop so everything we load is a custom product. We create 4 views, front, back, lsleeve, rsleeve not only for every product but for every color of every product - that is typically 4-6 colors. The batch processing is great for this. The data entry we find annoying is having to enter in our product sizes each time we create a product. We have 13 sizes per product. The other issue is we have to enter Price, Cost, Upcharges, Active for each color of each product. The price, cost, etc does nto carry over from when we enter it at the initial set up of the product. Again not sure if these are just unique issues to us or maybe something others could benefit from. I am actually going to attempt to use Form Filler to see if I can mass fill in all this data at one key stroke. 

The other thing that we have an interest in and will be tracking manually is co-op dollars. We are going to offer co-op to our wholesale accounts in which they can earn $$$$ that can be redeemed for store promotional items, advertising, etc. Anyone else looking at offering co-op to wholesalers?


----------



## TshirtGuru

Dante2004 said:


> Bank of America
> 
> I have ZERO monthly fee with my merchant account. $20/month with Authorize.net plus $0.10/transaction. As opposed to the $30/month with Paypal
> 
> In total, I think I will pay $0.10 more per transaction in "per transaction fees", but I pay a lower percentage (by an entire percent) and $10 less per month in monthly fees.
> 
> So, in the end, assuming my sales are larger than just a few dollars...I will pay less in total fees per month.


Cool, maybe I'll talk to my bank.


----------



## Dante2004

TshirtGuru said:


> Cool, maybe I'll talk to my bank.


 
Setting up a merchange account is a negotiation process--and a competitive market. Most of the "sales" people seem to be working off of some type of commission and can work a deal if they have too. Just like buying a car. Don't pay "sticker price"! (Paypal is an exception, their rates seem to be set in stone).

Bank of America is also running a promo that if they can't beat your current setup, they'll give you $500. Of course there is a paragraph of fine print that gets them out of paying in just about all the time, but it does force them to get competitive. It's probably cheaper for them (in most cases) to just beat your current deal, than to pay out the $500. It also makes THEM review their plan and compare it to your current plan so it saves you some work.


----------



## Riderz Ready

Just got off the phone with JP and he mentioned he just posted a blog on embedding the design studio into an existig web site. The video made it seem so simple that I was a bit skeptical. I went into the store, copied the code and placed it inside our site and there it was - the design studio in our web site. Way way too cool. This will save us a chunk of time as before we were going to link thumbnails from our site to a specific product in Inksoft. Great to see the folks at Inksoft listen to the users!


----------



## InkSoft

On-line Jerseys said:


> Just got off the phone with JP and he mentioned he just posted a blog on embedding the design studio into an existig web site. The video made it seem so simple that I was a bit skeptical. I went into the store, copied the code and placed it inside our site and there it was - the design studio in our web site. Way way too cool. This will save us a chunk of time as before we were going to link thumbnails from our site to a specific product in Inksoft. Great to see the folks at Inksoft listen to the users!


Thanks Mark! Check out how to embed the InkSoft Design Studio here: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3WqnGVGQQI[/media]

Example of what this looks like: InkSoft Design Studio | Best online tshirt design software | InkSoft


----------



## southlandgraphic

InkSoft said:


> Thanks Mark! Check out how to embed the InkSoft Design Studio here: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3WqnGVGQQI[/media]
> 
> Example of what this looks like: InkSoft Design Studio | Best online tshirt design software | InkSoft



This my friends is a giant leap in the right direction! Awesome!


----------



## Riderz Ready

Another cool update from Inksoft! I was discussing changing our site theme to reflect more of an Inksoft look when JP mentioned they are starting to create new themes within Inksoft. This is just way too cool. For us having looked and tried so many on-line designers a company finally gets it. To have a successful on-line business it has to be easy to use and eye appealing to the end user. The ability to pick and choose different themes that will best reflect individuals market is a grand slam. 

I have to thank these forums as I found Inksoft through this thread and we are in the final days before taking it live.

Check out the new theme info:
http://www.inksoft.com/inksoft-simple-clean-theme-released/


----------



## nation03

Wow, that is a nice looking layout. I'm revamping my business plan and I think inksoft is going to be the core of my new model. Looks like an awesome software.


----------



## podge

Hi,
Is there or are there any plans to release an app for the designer?


----------



## Printwizard

podge said:


> Hi,
> Is there or are there any plans to release an app for the designer?


Funny! I have been thinking that too. There isnt much flash out there in iPad land app-wise and if an app could design a shirt, then have some kind of driver back to the website to checkout or something....


----------



## swannn32

I keep searching the app store every week hoping someone had made one too! How cool would that be? Maybe some day!


----------



## InkSoft

podge said:


> Hi,
> Is there or are there any plans to release an app for the designer?


There are plans to develop the InkSoft Design Studio in HTML5...which will be a technology supported by all browsers and mobile devices.


----------



## Riderz Ready

How good is Inksoft?

We are in the final phase of taking Inksoft live and activated authorize.net. We are changing our WordPress theme so that we can increase the exposure of the on-line designer as we are embedding it into our website. Out of the clear blue we received a message for a credit card approval from authorized.net. I was a bit stumped on what it was as we have never used authorize.net previously. The only place it could come from would be our Inksoft site yet there is no way anyone could find it or so we thought. Long story short - before even going live or having an external link to the designer someone found it and purchased a set of jerseys. We already paid for a month of use and we have not even gone live.

Thanks Inksoft!


----------



## SewMuchMore

Ok, well I'm trying to plug through the videos and I'm wondering if others are running into the same questions.

1) our shop does just about everything in house except screen printing. We have a verscamm, vinyl cutters, brother 541 DTG printer and embroidery. It seems that the major emphasis is on printing which is fine, but how are people handling their embroidery and vinyl customers? 

2) I also have multiple leagues, school stores that are interested in setting up a store with me, but I think they will be primarily static stores. They want their approved designs whether it's transfers, decals or embroidery and that's it. I think after chatting with Anya I've figured that part out, but just curious what others are doing with embroidery.

3) Next is we do a ton of 1-2 color vinyl, is there any where I can offer this??? Graphics would have to be the simplest, suitable for cutting and text shouldn't be a problem. How do I let the customer know that this would be vinyl vs. ink??? 

4) Among other things I'm able to print full color transfers with the versacamm, again how can I let the customer know that this is NOT screen printing but a transfer??? 

5) I will and do sub out my larger multi color orders for screen printing, but again is there a way for the customer to choose which process they want??

I'm also struggling with the idea of how I want the site to look. I'm afraid that if I load it and that is the opening page that people will lose site of everything else that I do. So I guess I'm contemplating just embedding it. Has anyone done this???

Any help would be appreciated  I can't believe that I'm the only one that can be doing all of this different techniques.

Kathy Mac


----------



## shirleyg

My site is "live" but we've still got a bit more to do before I will feel comfortable telling clients to go there. I, too, am a bit befuddled about how the client knows the process we will use to decorate their garments when in some cases, there are several options. 

In-house, we do direct screen printing, sublimation and embroidery and offer several types of transfers (purchased but we apply) in addition to contracting out for DTG. 

InkSoft is working on Embroidery software now. Seemed like it was supposed be available soon...

Have you posed these questions to InkSoft? I have found they are very good at trying to answer my questions -- and I've had plenty. All this "behind the website stuff" is pretty new to me. I know I didn't help, but at least you know you're not alone.


----------



## SewMuchMore

Thanks Shirley..... I just went to your site, and this is exactly what I mean...... it looks great, but again the emphasis is print, print, print, and you just said that you do more than that, so how do you service your embroidery customers??? I'm best know for my embroidery so I know that my customers are going to be scratching their heads. I must say though just in the last week since I signed up I'm telling all of them when they come in to the store that I will have online design and ordering available and they are very excited. They all want their own store! Just need to figure these details out. I will try and get ahold of JP.

Kathy


----------



## DezineLine

I purchased the inksoft program 8 weeks ago, after hours and hours of trying, I am almost ready to walk away. I am not the smartest, most tech savy person, but I can not get past a few areas and realize some of the things that I thought would be easy, like adding products, are slow because I have to go in to each product individually and calculate my price, then select a price list to use, I price printing cheeper for whites, so I have to change the price calculator. I am looking at Volusion...which is free, only a monthly fee , the 99.00 works well for me, they charge zero percent of sales, and I can set up 1000 stores at no monthly fee. They also have 24 hour help. I will know in a few days what I am doing, I have to decide quick as we are getting swamped already.


----------



## shirleyg

Again, the embroidery software is not out yet, so we need to sell embroidery the old-fashioned way -- by talking to the client.  I would assume that when the embroidery is available, that the InkSoft team will have a plan for the client to choose the decorating method.

I'm just about to start offering stores to select clients. As I see it, a store is not suitable for ALL clients. My list is schools, colleges, hospitals, non-profits... 

I know InkSoft has a Forum. Have you posed your questions there? Some of those folks may be more in the know than I am. By the way, what town/state are you in?


----------



## shirleyg

Steve, I feel your pain. I signed up on Jan. 28 (my birthday). It has been quite an ordeal for me to get the site up and running. Some because InkSoft is still evolving and some because I don't have the computer skills... JP and Anya have been great answering questions, but still, I'm the one who really has to do the inputting of garment pricing, etc.

I have suggested that the InkSoft developers make some kind of "magic" spreadsheet that calculates the "retail" selling price based on OUR COST. Example: our cost $4. upcharge 200% (or multiply cost X 2) = selling price $8. We need the ability to "tell the spreadsheet" that if a product costs us from 1¢ to $1.99 then multiply by 4; if product costs us from $2 to $3.99 then multiply by 3, etc. Don't know if they are working on that or not.

Inputting the garments and OUR COST -- I've talked with JP about getting the info directly from SanMar -- especially since garment prices are changing daily. Sounds like they can do that, but don't know if that's happening or not.

Pricing for whites -- For me, I have two categories, Neutrals (White and Natural) & Colors. I use the price calculator to price for COLORED GARMENTS, then manually change the price on White and Natural. 

Because it takes so long to price the garments, I made ALL the Broder garments inactive for now, since SanMar is my main suppier. I figure I can always add more later. Another thing I'm doing now -- and wish I'd done from the start -- is I went thru my orders from last year and made a list of the garment styles sold. THOSE are the garments I should have input from day one. Ah, well.

I don't remember much about Volution. The 24 hour help sounds good. Since I'm running a business during the day, I often start working on my website at 4-5 pm. That's after hours in InkSoft land. 

Good luck with whatever you choose to do, but I hope you've consulted JP and Anya about your issues.


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## SewMuchMore

I think it depends on what part of the country you are calling from........... I'm from Mass, so I've been talking to them up to 8pm my time. Obviously if you are west coast you don't have that benefit of those evening hours


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## dougie54

We purchase Inksoft about a month ago. I don't have the computer skills needed to do a web page. But my 22 year old son had enough computer skills and he set up our web page and pricing using the inksoft videos and and a phone call or two. We are very please the way our web page turned out. We are up and running live. We are getting a good number of hits per day, but no orders yet.  If you get a chance take a look at our web page.


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## shirleyg

Wow! I need to get to work. I'm spending too much time on this forum! 

Your site looks good. Congrats to your son!


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## DezineLine

I am in NJ....so I can not call in qustions or chat until after 11-12 here, and I like to do stuff early, but I was ok...I also have to stay until 8 to attend a webinar, and with a bunch of kids in 10 directions I don't like staying late...but I have rolled with it...I spoke to people for hours, I think I get it, what is involved, it is just so time consuming, and at $6 a month for store,...I am planning on running 10 to 15 store a month, that adds a bunch to the overall cost...Volusion does it for free, am looking into what it takes to upload art and blanks....


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## shirleyg

I'd be interested in what you find out. Keep me in the loop. I, too, HOPE to have LOTS of stores going.


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## SewMuchMore

Site looks good! Do you offer any other services other than silk screening, if so how are you promoting these services?

Kathy Mac


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## dougie54

This is Luke, the 22 year old son. Yes, we offer lots more than just screen printing such as vinyl, sublimation, chromablast, and sign printing. Most of our vinyl customers are sports teams of course and this is already taken care of in Inksoft by offering the option to add names/numbers before checkout of each product. We control which products these are available and the costs of course. We are currently working out comps for all of our promotional products to be put on the site that we use chromablast and sublimation on. We only screen print signs and are currently working out how many colors we will allow to be printed before we put them on the site also.

One thing I have found that has really helped us out towards getting more traffic to our site was getting to understand SEO and how to utilize it through Inksoft. After I really dove into the SEO of our website and changed a few things our site traffic went from 200-300 hits one week to over 2000 hits the next and we are steadily getting more hits. This might not seem much to some people but to a small shop who does mostly local jobs like us it's pretty exciting to watch. 

Another thing I recently worked out on our site was a pricing situation. Inksoft offers tons of options to customize how you price your products, how those prices are shown, and how they are discounted in certain circumstances. These are all great, but I must suggest after you change a global setting, espically when it comes to pricing, go through the WHOLE site and make sure everything's in order. Just the other day I realized that our prices were being displayed as two to 4 times higher than what the product pricing is to be set to. I always go through the site and make a fake order to test my changes, but this last time I didn't pay enough attention...brain fart. I figured out this price craziness was being caused by the "Combine Print and Product Pricing" command for the cart area of the site. This command combines the pricing for the whole site actually and would show everything as what it would cost for a 6 color design, the most colors we offer to print. To fix this I had to sacrifice combining the pring and product price in the cart area to fix this problem, but in the end I found out that our customers actually like seeing the prices separated better than combined to show exactly what their money is being spent on. So, it all worked out in the end. Anyways I personally learned a valuable lesson from that messup on my part and thought I would share about it on here.

Luke Ryerkerk


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## DI Graphics

We are pretty close to purchasing Inksoft. It seems like the perfect solution. Has any one experienced any downtime? Are you happy with the customer service? Any complaints?

Thanks!


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## dougie54

We haven't had any downtime since we've gotten Inksoft. Anya and JP are really good with customer service and usually get back to you that day with a solution to your problem or question. I love the chat they offer through Inksoft.com. It's quick and easy to get answers.


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## Printwizard

I agree Shirley that the discount structure of inksoft doesn't work. In our real world of franchises globally and hundreds of factories and making and printing / embroidering / engraving / moulding / digital, offset and transferring colours-brands-logos onto tens of thousands of styles and types of substrate just does not work. Talk to any reasonable accountant in any country. We screenprint in Our franchise a peak of 250,000 items a day. To grow our business and get to this point from a start underneath a house has required greater emphasis on tuning a business and accountancy moreso than winning printing awards. The industry is littered with wrecked businesses run by artistic people with no business skill. We operate punch and crunch in a recession in a very competitive market, and there is a fine equilibrium between making a loss, being able to close sales, making a profit, and not being undercut by the next factory. We do a high number of industrial prints at .01c a print, to high end $35,000 signs and in between that is the usual promo products and apparel. I have a target to try and sell a million a week, with a gross margin average of at least 15% which is after tax about 8%. Inksoft works too much in swing and roundabouts. You have to basically put 400% onto everything and then come up with a complex discount structure formula over an enormous quantity backwards. Too hard and backwards.
We have another site where supple price lists can be uploaded into the system in csv or excel spreadsheets, we can set a one-off administration fee ($35.00) applied to every order and divided back into the product volume and this covers invoicing, ordering etc. We can set a fixed additional cost which for example may be .01 per pen, .1 per tee shirt under $5, .2 per garment under $10 and .35 per garment over $10, $5 per jacket or the like for insurance factor, or those tricky big FIS demanding corporates. Then it may be simply cost plus margin, and again we can set a rule to a value limit, or per category item / brand or even per customer if they register for special price such as wholesale on sellers versus corporate. Inksoft often refers to the top 500 businesses online. All of them use cost up, rather than pick an outrageous markup, then work out a complex discount and hope theory......


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## Printwizard

Sorry, another trick question. Picking out a new supplier who has a truckload of different styles, colourways etc - like biz collection Www.fashion biz.ca I count about 4,300 photos required to upload each shot or side of each colour of each style into inksoft. How would one do this simplest? A cam with cable to laptop and some kind of presets in Photoshop according to image size or pixels and resolutions, then save as colourcode or name and does it need to have a special address like hoody.navy.front / hoody.navy.back / hoody.navy.Lslv / hoody.navy.Rslv for the four angles, if you understand what I mean. This is a huge task, and we would essentially have to employ someone for the 20,000 shots to cover all available items, styles, colourways and placements..... As you appreciate finding the quickest way to bulk shoot will enable more viability. Also the ability to sell and recover cost of shooting a catalogue to other inkfoft users like the program trades art?


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## InkSoft

Hey Mike! I've put together a video to show you how InkSoft handles quantity discounts and minimums. I hope this clarifies any misunderstand you might have regarding InkSoft. Here is the video: 
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot_AQ-A3dHk[/media]


Printwizard said:


> I agree Shirley that the discount structure of inksoft doesn't work. In our real world of franchises globally and hundreds of factories and making and printing / embroidering / engraving / moulding / digital, offset and transferring colours-brands-logos onto tens of thousands of styles and types of substrate just does not work. Talk to any reasonable accountant in any country. We screenprint in Our franchise a peak of 250,000 items a day. To grow our business and get to this point from a start underneath a house has required greater emphasis on tuning a business and accountancy moreso than winning printing awards. The industry is littered with wrecked businesses run by artistic people with no business skill. We operate punch and crunch in a recession in a very competitive market, and there is a fine equilibrium between making a loss, being able to close sales, making a profit, and not being undercut by the next factory. We do a high number of industrial prints at .01c a print, to high end $35,000 signs and in between that is the usual promo products and apparel. I have a target to try and sell a million a week, with a gross margin average of at least 15% which is after tax about 8%. Inksoft works too much in swing and roundabouts. You have to basically put 400% onto everything and then come up with a complex discount structure formula over an enormous quantity backwards. Too hard and backwards.
> We have another site where supple price lists can be uploaded into the system in csv or excel spreadsheets, we can set a one-off administration fee ($35.00) applied to every order and divided back into the product volume and this covers invoicing, ordering etc. We can set a fixed additional cost which for example may be .01 per pen, .1 per tee shirt under $5, .2 per garment under $10 and .35 per garment over $10, $5 per jacket or the like for insurance factor, or those tricky big FIS demanding corporates. Then it may be simply cost plus margin, and again we can set a rule to a value limit, or per category item / brand or even per customer if they register for special price such as wholesale on sellers versus corporate. Inksoft often refers to the top 500 businesses online. All of them use cost up, rather than pick an outrageous markup, then work out a complex discount and hope theory......


----------



## Printwizard

Hi jp,
Can you adjust contact detail on your website and add normal international number and not just freephone so I can ring you as it may be easier to discuss. Pricing: no discounts, forget the discounting down. We want to calculate cost of substrate at it's varying price breaks according to quantities bought, then be able to add a cost of business overhead which would be like a fixed cost per unit (@+15% on all substrates under $2.00 then up to + $.35 on all items under $7.50, then up to + $.50 on all items up to $15.00 and substrates over that to add + $.75 overhead against the raw cost of each unit. That may be a universal rule across all suppliers. 

Then we may add another cost rule to all products across all suppliers such as $1.00 to all umbrellas because they take a lot more handling as they are in boxes of six items, and have to pack out of, a polybag, out of a fabric sleeve, unwrap and expand to print before reversing the re-packing of these items. This dollar reflects the different fixed labour that all umbrellas take in packing processing time regardless of cost of each model, or weather it has one print per umbrella only, or one print on each of eight panels on each umbrella. 
The third coat rule we have is per order adminsitration. This covers the admin, for example, two orders come in, one order is for two shirts printed DTG only, thats it. the second order may be for 2,000 screenprinted tee shirts. Both orders will require admin time to order the garments, generate tax invoices, put into production planning and go through all the usual paperwork processes, payments to suppliers, checking into stock etc. So for this we create a fee of $35.00 per order and this may loose us the odd one-off shirt, but we wont loose sleep over that. This one off cost is divided back against the total overall items into their cost. 
Ability to create a supplier markup to of a set price or percentage against a suppliler which may be used as a deterrant to use a brand which is cod payment where you may have to purchase by credit card, instead of the rest who give you account status, or for a supplier whose product generates much more unpacking time and waste for disposal, or a supplier whose product you feel you must offeer, but dont like printing as the componentry may be technically harder, slower, subject to scorching or shrinkage and lossage through seconds so needs an "Insurance Premium" built into the cost, or the supplier may not be local and so ther is a greater cost in courier or frieght cost into your shop. Or simple increased process qc check, laying-up and waste disposal of bags (+$0.15)

Then lastly your profit margin. This may have a couple of rules based on quantity breaks, value of item breaks and perception breaks. So we could take more margin percentage on signage and jackets embroidered than on tee shirts and pens which are more bulk commodities where buyers just get 3 prices and go with the cheapest. Some brands may handle more margin than the promo quality items. Obviously having a higher price on smaller quantities and fading this back over volume and or value. The ability also to turn the profit margin component on or off to include or exclude forms of branding so it may be across the substrate only, or across the total cost.
This way inksoft can be managed once setup by simply updating off loading a spreadsheet as suppliers change prices and all the calculable formulas and rules remain constant. This is much quicker to maintain moving forward with updating etc.

This just offers clients your best price you are willing at the cost of doing the job, and the margin you wish from that job. Allowing that you cover admin cost, substrate cost, have variable branding costs and price breaks across differing volumes, etc inksoft will calculate always upward to the sharpest variable price, which will be different between someone ordering 16 units, and 17 units, and 18 units and likewise likely have differing pricing at 465, 470 or 475 units reflecting your scaling fixed costs, material and production cost and sliding margins. It is much sharper and exact than discounting down. No major company uses the discount structure apart from advertising promotion. Retailers calculate consumable movement, shelf space per meter, cost of time re-stocking, recycling and waste etc. We import source for lots of retail chains and different business formats and everyone costs upwards for safety. I suggest if you don't agree then please discuss this structure and idea with your own company accountant. It is essential for us to be accurate with our costings, and inksoft working as a quoting calculator that marks-up my product is much more important in function than the online editor. Sure I may have the flashiest website in the country with awesome functions, amazing art, I may get online reviews about how cool it is, and I may build it to get tens of thousands of hits a day but quite simply, I am in business to make money and not friends. It is purely securing the most orders at my acceptable price margins and generating a profit consistent accross every order, across any ordered and variable quantity, across product types, suppliers and differing process and branding methods, and factoring in variables, and being sharply competitive in business. 
The current discount structure and working backwards doesn't work so sharply as you would have to have a masses of pages of excel spreadsheets and apply varying discounts item, by item in percentage points backwards from 5,000 unit orders, maybe having 300 different discount volumes at say 5,000/4,900/4,800/4,700/4,600/4,500/4,400/4,300/4,200/4,100/4,000/ ....... 200/195/190/185/180/175/170 ....... 80/78/76/74/72/70/68/66/64 ........ 26/25/24/23/22/21/20/19/18/17/16/15/14/13/12/11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1. This is what would be too hard and cluttered and messy to be accurate in markup costing. It may then have to be varied from shirts to jackets to pens, to varying suppliers etc. Setting the price accurately in business is every bit and more important than hhe designer to get right.

Hope you understand this. It's the reason why I get out of bed in the morning. If inksoft can't understand this then please seek help to understand as I don't know how to be any clearer. It's as important as breathing air, you have to change this structure to survive profitably, not randomly and with luck.
I think without this becoming more of a quoting and sales profit focus, inksoft will be doomed to become the nice clip-in graphic editor to a site that can accurately cost and sell jobs. 

Sorry, sounds like a rant, but I feel you don't understand the importance of quoting cost plus profit margin accurately enough, in a way that allows for random rules and once set, then easing the admin upkeep whilst maintaining detailed accuracies.

On the up note, as I have been following the updates and improvement the site is getting better and better. I like the variable print sizings which was a necessity. Need to get it onto sleeves and shorts etc.....

Kindest regards again,

Mike Mossman.


----------



## InkSoft

Mike: Let's chat via Skype. Email me with your Skype handle and we can arrange a time to speak. Programmatically, your pricing requests can be done--the challenge is the complexity...as evident from your posting. These would most certainly need to be 'advanced pricing controls' as many of our users will choose to use the less complex pricing options we have currently. We just have to be certain that new features benefit a majority of users. There is no standard of pricing schemes. One man's best practice is another man's nightmare. The other thing to consider here is the typical order volume. Customink.com has an average order size of $77 as reported by Internet Retailer. I will share another video in the coming days to showcase the examples of the selling opportunities that online personalization presents. It's a different beast. 

I have a few ideas to share with you.



Printwizard said:


> Hi jp,
> Can you adjust contact detail on your website and add normal international number and not just freephone so I can ring you as it may be easier to discuss. Pricing: no discounts, forget the discounting down. We want to calculate cost of substrate at it's varying price breaks according to quantities bought, then be able to add a cost of business overhead which would be like a fixed cost per unit (@+15% on all substrates under $2.00 then up to + $.35 on all items under $7.50, then up to + $.50 on all items up to $15.00 and substrates over that to add + $.75 overhead against the raw cost of each unit. That may be a universal rule across all suppliers.
> 
> Then we may add another cost rule to all products across all suppliers such as $1.00 to all umbrellas because they take a lot more handling as they are in boxes of six items, and have to pack out of, a polybag, out of a fabric sleeve, unwrap and expand to print before reversing the re-packing of these items. This dollar reflects the different fixed labour that all umbrellas take in packing processing time regardless of cost of each model, or weather it has one print per umbrella only, or one print on each of eight panels on each umbrella.
> The third coat rule we have is per order adminsitration. This covers the admin, for example, two orders come in, one order is for two shirts printed DTG only, thats it. the second order may be for 2,000 screenprinted tee shirts. Both orders will require admin time to order the garments, generate tax invoices, put into production planning and go through all the usual paperwork processes, payments to suppliers, checking into stock etc. So for this we create a fee of $35.00 per order and this may loose us the odd one-off shirt, but we wont loose sleep over that. This one off cost is divided back against the total overall items into their cost.
> Ability to create a supplier markup to of a set price or percentage against a suppliler which may be used as a deterrant to use a brand which is cod payment where you may have to purchase by credit card, instead of the rest who give you account status, or for a supplier whose product generates much more unpacking time and waste for disposal, or a supplier whose product you feel you must offeer, but dont like printing as the componentry may be technically harder, slower, subject to scorching or shrinkage and lossage through seconds so needs an "Insurance Premium" built into the cost, or the supplier may not be local and so ther is a greater cost in courier or frieght cost into your shop. Or simple increased process qc check, laying-up and waste disposal of bags (+$0.15)
> 
> Then lastly your profit margin. This may have a couple of rules based on quantity breaks, value of item breaks and perception breaks. So we could take more margin percentage on signage and jackets embroidered than on tee shirts and pens which are more bulk commodities where buyers just get 3 prices and go with the cheapest. Some brands may handle more margin than the promo quality items. Obviously having a higher price on smaller quantities and fading this back over volume and or value. The ability also to turn the profit margin component on or off to include or exclude forms of branding so it may be across the substrate only, or across the total cost.
> This way inksoft can be managed once setup by simply updating off loading a spreadsheet as suppliers change prices and all the calculable formulas and rules remain constant. This is much quicker to maintain moving forward with updating etc.
> 
> This just offers clients your best price you are willing at the cost of doing the job, and the margin you wish from that job. Allowing that you cover admin cost, substrate cost, have variable branding costs and price breaks across differing volumes, etc inksoft will calculate always upward to the sharpest variable price, which will be different between someone ordering 16 units, and 17 units, and 18 units and likewise likely have differing pricing at 465, 470 or 475 units reflecting your scaling fixed costs, material and production cost and sliding margins. It is much sharper and exact than discounting down. No major company uses the discount structure apart from advertising promotion. Retailers calculate consumable movement, shelf space per meter, cost of time re-stocking, recycling and waste etc. We import source for lots of retail chains and different business formats and everyone costs upwards for safety. I suggest if you don't agree then please discuss this structure and idea with your own company accountant. It is essential for us to be accurate with our costings, and inksoft working as a quoting calculator that marks-up my product is much more important in function than the online editor. Sure I may have the flashiest website in the country with awesome functions, amazing art, I may get online reviews about how cool it is, and I may build it to get tens of thousands of hits a day but quite simply, I am in business to make money and not friends. It is purely securing the most orders at my acceptable price margins and generating a profit consistent accross every order, across any ordered and variable quantity, across product types, suppliers and differing process and branding methods, and factoring in variables, and being sharply competitive in business.
> The current discount structure and working backwards doesn't work so sharply as you would have to have a masses of pages of excel spreadsheets and apply varying discounts item, by item in percentage points backwards from 5,000 unit orders, maybe having 300 different discount volumes at say 5,000/4,900/4,800/4,700/4,600/4,500/4,400/4,300/4,200/4,100/4,000/ ....... 200/195/190/185/180/175/170 ....... 80/78/76/74/72/70/68/66/64 ........ 26/25/24/23/22/21/20/19/18/17/16/15/14/13/12/11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1. This is what would be too hard and cluttered and messy to be accurate in markup costing. It may then have to be varied from shirts to jackets to pens, to varying suppliers etc. Setting the price accurately in business is every bit and more important than hhe designer to get right.
> 
> Hope you understand this. It's the reason why I get out of bed in the morning. If inksoft can't understand this then please seek help to understand as I don't know how to be any clearer. It's as important as breathing air, you have to change this structure to survive profitably, not randomly and with luck.
> I think without this becoming more of a quoting and sales profit focus, inksoft will be doomed to become the nice clip-in graphic editor to a site that can accurately cost and sell jobs.
> 
> Sorry, sounds like a rant, but I feel you don't understand the importance of quoting cost plus profit margin accurately enough, in a way that allows for random rules and once set, then easing the admin upkeep whilst maintaining detailed accuracies.
> 
> On the up note, as I have been following the updates and improvement the site is getting better and better. I like the variable print sizings which was a necessity. Need to get it onto sleeves and shorts etc.....
> 
> Kindest regards again,
> 
> Mike Mossman.


----------



## Printwizard

Hi JP, 

I have watched the video a few times, had a coffee and viewed again and again. Um, yeh... I am still on my own wavelength here. You are in summary talking price and discount with no maths as to how you get there. I am in summary trying to show variable and fixed cost structures and allowances for overhead (and marketing – say you could add 2% to allow for inksoft cost) to get a truer cost price, then margin on top of that, evenly applied to any and every quantity of any and every product order. My thoughts is that your way is set a really high price based on a guess, then apply a discount based on what might sound good to a prospective client, and then its hit and hope about weather they buy, and how much net profit is in each job. There is no easy science working backwards to obtain the profit margin, but a more complex math scenario. It is also not scalable in that it works up and down in chunks. More scale and smoothness would have a ridiculous discounting structure with possibly 100 price breaks and volume discounts. Please think based on what, and how much, and what volume etc. How do you work discount back against cost and profit left over. You refer over and over to sell price, and discounts, and not to profit. There is only one reason somebody buys Inksoft, and that is to make profit. That profit is about costs plus margin. I think your view of Inksoft is focussed on catalogue suite, plus editor suite, with back end. I am saying that generating quotes and random orders is great, but to make it viable it needs better costing or pricing accuracy in terms of calculating upwards, with set rules, and once set, then as suppliers update it would simply be a file upload rather than re-calculation of product each time one of 30 suppliers changed their catalogue or pricelist which could result in a change every week potentially.

I am focussed on Inksoft to sell products and be able to calculate cost plus profit.
I don’t want any discount for my offerings, just a sliding scale of costs, plus a sliding scale of profit mark-up = the sliding price scale.

Discounting, to what point, and based on what - VERSUS – My : Profit, based on costs, and based on a point the licensee can control in calculated detail with variables to product types and style, value, supplier origination, generic set of overhead and some programmable variable allowances. Inksoft can hold a substrate cost, but for what point if it cannot hold variable costs for a product category, factory and marketing overhead, handling, couriering into store and insurances. Inksoft needs to calculate all costs and not just the substrate cost. Ie: If I indent 1,000 lanyards printed from China then the cost is $700, the overhead about $100 and the margin $200 on a $1,000 sale. 4 footpath signs with a digital print each side of the blade also sells for $1000, with a raw product cost of $800, an overhead of $150 and margin of $50, and 50 Tees printed at $20 = $1000 with substrate at $250, printing at $350, overhead of $200, and $200 margin. As you can see there is serious differences in percentage between substrate and other costs and margin. If Inksoft is going to sell for a price, then it must be able to calculate the cost price, the mark-ups and profit margins, and then add those to get the sell price.

Simply put. Every order I want to make the margin of $15 per hour on my screenprinting cost which I can set in my print schedule, easy enough. Then on substrate I want to calculate the following. Every order to have $25 margin for administration per order, plus $10 for every supplier that I have to order products off, plus say .50c per item under $10 and $1 per item over $10 as insurances, overhead and handling, and on top of the combined price to this point I want to add 15% profit margin. The minimums can be handled with sublimation and digital, and the volume with screenprint etc. We supply one-offs for TV commercials through to big bulk runs for chainstores so volume setting is not an option as some agencies will order 1 only specially branded item at 2 pm, and at 3 pm a different run for 5,000pcs. That is covered by technology such as DTG.

For your example of 10 hoodies, 10 tee shirts and 4 mugs they would get 5% discount. You talk discount price, but not profit calculation. For this I want the code to calculate substrate costs for the mugs, shirts and hoodies, plus add my admin and order processing fee into the cost of $25 divided by the 24 products ordered, then I want to calculate another $10 for ordering the hoodies from importer, and another $10 for tees from another importer, so adding a dollar a garment to their respective costs, and then another $10 for ordering in 4 mugs, so adding $2.50 to the mugs cost. Then inksoft will calculate printing 4 mugs by transfer so adding $7.50 each to the cost, and an overhead-insurance-handling markup of $1.00 per unit also to that, and for the printing of the 10 hoodies and 10 tees would calculate 20 screenprints at say $2.00 each. The hoodies for arguments sake come individually bagged and come 10 to a carton at more expensive courier into my factory, so add a fixed cost of another $2.00 per hoody on those. Add to the subtotal then 15% profit margin, and that sets the total cost of the job. If the customer bought 1 extra mug they would all drop by .50c dividing the fixed costs etc so the discounting is there, but hidden and accurately calculated over every individual increase or decrease in volumes ordered. I could then rely on inksoft to generate 15% on every single order that it quoted or sold. Say I have 20,000 substrates in terms of colourway, style, type etc, split over 50 suppliers who each have 400 items on offer, then each week I can just upload the supplier spreadsheets with their price breaks which may be at 1 / 100 / 500 and the next 1 / 20 /50 / 100 / 250 and regardsless Inksoft would be seamlessly able to adjust all quotes accordingly to the rules etc. It would be a sharper, more stable and less risky business platform.

COST + Mark-Up = Profit Calculated.

Substrate cost plus percentage marked up not based on anything really, then discounted by a number that sounds like a nice sliding scale = ???? Does not calculate profit. If an Inksoft user plays it safe then the risk is the price looks silly, people will use the designer to make their design, then email it to another 5 printers and get a cheaper price. There would likely be printers telling clients to come and use the editor and they will beat the price it quoted. Alternatively it may overdiscount some times on some substrates and quantities, and you produce at a loss. It is simply too hard calculating a sliding discount formula to give a set margin across the board. 


Sorry I am typing so much, but I am passionate about getting Inksoft and it doing the perfect job. So much of the finer points exceed expectations but the stumbling blocks are some of the most important points in purchasing this.

Mike.


----------



## Printwizard

My average sale varies a bit seasonally but is around $300 to $1,000 in locally done work, and about $7,000 in the indented product side. I have another feature I want to add, possibly being custom for us only. Looking still to start NZ, Australia, HK and Canada sites as start. My previous email i would like tutorial for contracting a photographer or part time work from home mum to convert the thousands of items into imagery and uploading to the site. The fashionbiz.ca catalogue for example is the same in NZ, Australia and Vancouver, so once we get that up to a NZ site we can then clone off that into an australian and canadian offering. Its just getting 4000 odd angled garment shots into format and loaded up. I want to hire a contractor on peice rate contract to do this. Possibly a couple so I can get running faster.

We have operations all over. Every factory has financial reporting including waste, OTIF On Time In Full, OOE Overall Operating Efficiencies, and screeds of paperwork and metrics. It is about cost up. This applies to working underneath a house or our latest automated factory, and likewise to a mechanic, or a dairy. The discount approach is hobbiest. The $77 sale that customink generates may be fine for limited niche DTG operators and mall kiosks, but really I do not feel that is where Inksoft and the Screenprinting market sits. I think Shirley is in the same boat as me in costing. I would not like to offend or upset, but would like to post my points on your inksoft forum update list area and see what others say also?

Even your own business. If i buy 2 licenses, i may get 10% discount, 3 licences 15% etc, so what if i buy 120 licences. On a sliding scale it may look lide I get 80%, but really my useage needs to be calculated upon support services, server space, develpment cost and ROI, your office and admin cost in invoicing and reconcilliation etc, marketing and tradeshows, onseller licensing and commissions, legal fees, overdrafts and fianace. Then to your costs you need to add a profit.

Regards,

Him Again....
.


----------



## Rusty6509

I have been setting up my inksoft store since March 31, 2011. I think it is well worth the money but it is complicated to set up, especially if you do not want to print white ink. I am live now, but have not publicized it yet because there are a couple of bugs yet to be fixed. I made banner ads telling folks if they want dark shirts, the minimum is 24 and to call for info. The pricing process is much different than the way I have done it for years, but with a calculator you can get close enough.


----------



## InkSoft

Rusty6509 said:


> I have been setting up my inksoft store since March 31, 2011. I think it is well worth the money but it is complicated to set up, especially if you do not want to print white ink. I am live now, but have not publicized it yet because there are a couple of bugs yet to be fixed. I made banner ads telling folks if they want dark shirts, the minimum is 24 and to call for info. The pricing process is much different than the way I have done it for years, but with a calculator you can get close enough.


Nice work Rusty! For a 57 year old with NO web experience you've done quite well!


----------



## Rusty6509

I do have web experience. I built a site in Dreamweaver.


----------



## brent

My question to people using Inksoft: Are you making money from it? 

I have had it on one of my sites for two months with a limited number of the most popular styles and have only gotten one sale. That site is a specialty site and doesn't get a ton of traffic but it does get about 500 unique visitors a month, so 1% conversion would be 10 orders in that two month span. I'm adding it to my main site and I have a lot more work to do, but I have high hopes for adding it to my sites. It's cool that you can add it to four sites for a relatively low price. I think it's a good system but it could be a great system. One thing is that you have to make templates and upload for anything not in the system. If we could make a list of shirt color and corresponding RGB numbers, then upload a white shirt blank front and back, it'd be awesome for the system to auto create a template in each color to go in the product database. That would save me hours and hours of work. I need to spend a lot more time setting it up. It hasn't paid for itself yet, definitely.


----------



## DRing

Went live two weeks ago. Took 6 weeks to setup everything. Like you said, getting all of the products setup is not an easy path. Also, reporting all of the bugs and having to wait a couple of days before they are fixed, doesn't speed up the process. As for sales, haven't seen an outside sale yet. I'm pushing my customers to the site for quoting and ordering. I think it will take a while before the word gets out, and sales start to come in. Three of my stores are fund raising, so I have to get the clients before I see the customers. First it was becoming an Inksoft master, now I've got to be a SEO master to start getting traffic.


----------



## freedomshop

Rusty6509 said:


> I have been setting up my inksoft store since March 31, 2011. I think it is well worth the money but it is complicated to set up, especially if you do not want to print white ink. I am live now, but have not publicized it yet because there are a couple of bugs yet to be fixed. I made banner ads telling folks if they want dark shirts, the minimum is 24 and to call for info. The pricing process is much different than the way I have done it for years, but with a calculator you can get close enough.


I've been trying to setup my own product in inksoft and it seems way more complicated that it needs to be. did you have the same issue when setting up your site? There is no bulk upload (at least it doesn't really function that way) for multiple colors for a single product. Do you know if inksoft had Gildan shirts somewhere hidden? i still haven't figured out the navigation completely. (and I've dealt with x-cart modifications) any insight would be appreciated.


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## DRing

They've added new suppliers, and you can download products and images if available (some colors are not). What I did, was to download all of the images from ssactivewear to my computer, then strip out the backgrounds, and then upload back to inksoft. All colors, front and back, different products, so far I've made over 900 images.


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## freedomshop

DRing said:


> They've added new suppliers, and you can download products and images if available (some colors are not). What I did, was to download all of the images from ssactivewear to my computer, then strip out the backgrounds, and then upload back to inksoft. All colors, front and back, different products, so far I've made over 900 images.


I can't find Gildan. It looks likes you have Gilden available. can you help me find them in the inksoft interface? PM me if you can... thanks!


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## jayman2143

Random question. Do you pay the $149 monthly fee even if your websit is not "live" yet? I tried finding that answer but no luck


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## DRing

jayman2143 said:


> Random question. Do you pay the $149 monthly fee even if your websit is not "live" yet? I tried finding that answer but no luck


They will give you 2 free months, but the clock starts ticking once you give them your credit card information. If you go live after 6 weeks, you get two weeks for free. They will also pre-bill every month, so after 8 weeks they will charge your card.


----------



## jayman2143

DRing said:


> They will give you 2 free months, but the clock starts ticking once you give them your credit card information. If you go live after 6 weeks, you get two weeks for free. They will also pre-bill every month, so after 8 weeks they will charge your card.


Thank you for that clarification!


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## iwantjc

It does take awhile to get things all set up. Watch some of the videos that JP made and that can sometimes help speed up the process.
Also it is much easier to add new product now if you use S&S as a wholesaler because you can download almost everything you need at one time. One thing that doesn't happen automatically is the up-charge on 2XL plus. SO when you download a new product don't forget top do your up-charge.
I add a new product every so often otherwise you get overloaded trying to get them all on there.
Another thing to do is set up a site on S&SW for free, then on your homepage for Inksoft, provide a link to your apparel catalog and then they can see everything on S&S. Then when a customer wants something not on the site but that is at S&S add that one to your site so they can add a design to it.


----------



## InkSoft

freedomshop said:


> I've been trying to setup my own product in inksoft and it seems way more complicated that it needs to be. did you have the same issue when setting up your site? There is no bulk upload (at least it doesn't really function that way) for multiple colors for a single product. Do you know if inksoft had Gildan shirts somewhere hidden? i still haven't figured out the navigation completely. (and I've dealt with x-cart modifications) any insight would be appreciated.


This video tutorial will help. Make sure to watch the 'extended' tutorial with more insights. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QwfsJnvKVY[/media]


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## tbmabrey

Ive had inksoft for a while and love it. Its very easy to use.


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## SewMuchMore

do you have a website that we could see?

thanks!

Kathy


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## tbmabrey

go to www.sac-ap.com


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## tbmabrey

Sacramento Apparel Printing

Im in the process of selling.


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## MO70

Dring
Do you have more selections in regards to the templates now or are they all relatively the same. I noticed on your sites that they are pretty much the same except the one for the school. I thought I read somewhere that InkSoft was going to have more templates to choose from.
mo


----------



## iwantjc

I agree with the SEO part, I suck at that too and am trying to find help for that part as well.


----------



## InkSoft

MO70 said:


> Dring
> Do you have more selections in regards to the templates now or are they all relatively the same. I noticed on your sites that they are pretty much the same except the one for the school. I thought I read somewhere that InkSoft was going to have more templates to choose from.
> mo


Here is a sneak peak of some of the new themes that will be released soon: New InkSoft themes

These themes will be released with a new theme/layout & design framework. This framework will add tons of customization flexibility. Anyone want to see a sneak peak of this?


----------



## InkSoft

iwantjc said:


> I agree with the SEO part, I suck at that too and am trying to find help for that part as well.


Hey there. Have you viewed the video tutorials on SEO? See here

There are some really great SEO and Internet marketing learning guides at the InkSoft Support forum. Go here to check em' out.


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## MO70

InkSoft said:


> Here is a sneak peak of some of the new themes that will be released soon: New InkSoft themes
> 
> These themes will be released with a new theme/layout & design framework. This framework will add tons of customization flexibility. Anyone want to see a sneak peak of this?


When will this be released?


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## Printwizard

greatest designer out, it just cant quote and price accurately though. once that is sorted Inksoft will truly be the best. the whole point is to sell by the most conversions of lookers to sales at a sharp price equilibrium based on the print design, colours, size and quantity ordered at a calculated markup for profit. If you cannot add varying costs across volumes, fixed costs and overhead, add a scaled down markup across volumes to calculate accurately you will not get the sales conversions or profits that the investment in Inksoft deserves or requires. the potential to be too expensive and not be able to sell enough volume, or risk of selling without adequately calculated or enough margin, or even below the total cost of supply is too great considering the size of this package and investment.

I mean for a website with the massive back end and feature packed like no other you would hope to turnover a million with 150k margin off a site this big, but it appears no one is close, yet there are many opting out, and I would think having the pricing equilibrium right would gain more conversion of views to sales, and profits. Pricing anything pretty or ugly is more important than the shade of colour to a large degree. Everything else about inksoft is amazing, yet the weakest point to Inksoft is definitely the most critical feature on any website in any industry in any business, just ask your bank manager or accountant....


----------



## SewMuchMore

Hi fellow users! I'm just curious as to what type of services all of you offer, screen printing, DTG, embroidery, vinyl? Still my biggest roadblock is that I have a brother DTG that DOESN'T print white. But I have a roland versacam that I can print full color vector designs with and two other vinyl cutters that I can cut athletic film with. Bottom line is that I am still struggling with how to set up my store. I would hate to eliminate all products that are dark in color because for example I can cut lettering in multiple colors, or even simple vector graphics. Just hoping someone is in a similiar situation and can lend some advice.

Kathy Mac


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## iwantjc

I do DTG but can print white ink - I just have to make sure I put cotton apparel on the site, and watch the poly items. We also do promotional items and it would be nice if InkSoft found a way to put those on the site as well.


----------



## pmom

Hi there,
I am wondering if down the road, you plan to allow sites to integrate your software into existing sites with our own shopping carts. At the moment, I've been told not.


----------



## snipsprez

I am looking for a module that can be added to our site not a web site. Does any one know of a module that can be added to a site without the software having to build your web site.


----------



## drdeath19134

Designandclick seems to be a module


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## snipsprez

Thanks, Is that the web site as well as name of the software.


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## drdeath19134

snipsprez said:


> Thanks, Is that the web site as well as name of the software.


With a . Com at the end


----------



## doelake

The inksoft designer definately has some advantages. However, tech support is slow and unresponsive. We have been trying to go live for about two months and cannot due to some fundmental issues. They have our money, so not quite sure what to do. I would wait until they get their act together.


----------



## InkSoft

Hi Doelake:

Could you send me a private message with your InkSoft URL so I can dig deep? We keep a tight support log so I will be able to see your history and any unresolved issues. We've set up our support system and process to ensure that every question or issue get documented and timestamped. So it is concerning to me to hear that you find out support unresponsive. Don't forget! All clients get one hour of 1 on 1 time to assist you in the launching process. Have you done this yet?


----------



## zhenjie

Waiting for you guys to launch into international markets! Please do!


----------



## InkSoft

zhenjie said:


> Waiting for you guys to launch into international markets! Please do!


Thanks for the message. We are planning on offer international support in the New Year. Soon!


----------



## ArmandoG

@JP

We have been working on the site for about 1 month and should go live in about 2 weeks. The only issue we are having is that the sight sometimes works at a craw (is very slow to maneuver between pages). For example tonight I could only get the online designer to actually work about 25% of the time. Usually it will just sit there and load forever and never actually open the page. I am hoping it is just the fact that is it not live. But jP could you take a quick look and see if we did something incorrect or if we just have too much uploaded (as we have uploaded a lot). I'm really concerned and am afraid of losing sales due to this issue. Anybody else have this issue?? Thank you.


----------



## InkSoft

ArmandoG:

Do you have cache enabled? We'd be glad to check into your site. Can you either PM me your URL, or go here to create a support ticket: Customer Feedback for InkSoft

Of course you call always email us @ support[USER=131053]@InkSoft[/USER].com 



ArmandoG said:


> @JP
> 
> We have been working on the site for about 1 month and should go live in about 2 weeks. The only issue we are having is that the sight sometimes works at a craw (is very slow to maneuver between pages). For example tonight I could only get the online designer to actually work about 25% of the time. Usually it will just sit there and load forever and never actually open the page. I am hoping it is just the fact that is it not live. But jP could you take a quick look and see if we did something incorrect or if we just have too much uploaded (as we have uploaded a lot). I'm really concerned and am afraid of losing sales due to this issue. Anybody else have this issue?? Thank you.


----------



## drdeath19134

Good to see they have fast support.


----------



## ArmandoG

Thanks for the fast response. PM has been sent.

Thanks
mondo


----------



## shirleyg

drdeath19134 said:


> Good to see they have fast support.


Thought I'd chime in and say that InkSoft does have a very good support system. I have been an InkSoft subscriber since almost the beginning and have been very satisfied with the folks who teach us, consult with us, and basically, "hold our hands." 

Shirley
http://www.bold-images.com


----------



## alstephen

i love to try inksoft but its too expensive for a small shop. we purchased an anajet system a month or two before the partner with anajet which would have been a nice package deal.


----------



## TPrintDesigner

Can users of Inksoft tell me why they chose this platform over DecoNetwork?


----------



## Riderz Ready

alstephen said:


> i love to try inksoft but its too expensive for a small shop. we purchased an anajet system a month or two before the partner with anajet which would have been a nice package deal.


People need to stop thinking about the cost of these systems and concentrate on how much you can make with the system. There is a lot of buzz on the "free" open system development but if you go to the site it may be 5-10% of what you really need in a system and it will be developers that will finish the base foundation. I would guess those folks will not be adding all the needed components for free.


----------



## Riderz Ready

TPrintDesigner said:


> Can users of Inksoft tell me why they chose this platform over DecoNetwork?


We have searched for 3 years for the "perfect" on-line design solution and during that time we have purchased and implemented OSS Designer, RSK, DecoNet and Inksoft.

What we learned over the years is regardless of all the bells and whistles that a system may have the only thing that truly matters is the ease of use of the designer. If your customer cannot easily and quickly create a custom product they will drop. Being that most of us have some kind of design experience the designers tend to be fairly straight forward to us yet the vast majority of our customers have zero design experience.

To magnify the point, after each implementation, we asked 20 of our long time customers to go into the designers and complete a jersey design. OSS, RSK and Deconet all averaged about 30-40% completion rate. Basically 60%+ felt it was too difficult to complete a jersey design and quit. With Inksoft we had an 80% successful completion rate. That is a huge difference that effects the bottom line directly.

The other challenge for us is we have two very distinct divisions. Our established business is custom team jerseys where our design team creates custom jerseys. Our second is the division, using Inksoft, that will allow individuals the ability, for the first time, to create their own custom jersey on-line. Typically a single custom jersey in todays market is sold for $100-125 which people cannot afford. By using Inksoft we can sell individual custom jerseys for $62.00

With only a partial implementation and no marketing we have done $3,500+ in a short amount of time which for us is a net of $2,000+

Furthermore by working with the Inksoft staff we are now able to merge our custom team website with Inksoft to have a one stop solution. We are in the final cleanup stage but you can see the site at [URL]http://stores.inksoft.com/estore/Home[/URL]. As you will see there are custom layouts, custom pages, etc all possible within the Inksoft solution. We plan to go live with the all in one Inksoft site January 1. If anyone has questions feel free to contact me at [email protected]riderzready.com


----------



## alstephen

Riderz Ready said:


> People need to stop thinking about the cost of these systems and concentrate on how much you can make with the system. There is a lot of buzz on the "free" open system development but if you go to the site it may be 5-10% of what you really need in a system and it will be developers that will finish the base foundation. I would guess those folks will not be adding all the needed components for free.



I agree with you. I may send you an PM to ask you a few questions about inksoft if you don't mind.


----------



## drdeath19134

But no matter what to small business cost is a factor if it wasn't they would be big business. What you could make from the site is similar to buying a lottery ticket. Most people are just starting out and capital is always an issue. These sites are worth the money if you have it. If not a cheep alternative for the just starting outs would be nice.


----------



## Riderz Ready

drdeath19134 said:


> But no matter what to small business cost is a factor if it wasn't they would be big business. What you could make from the site is similar to buying a lottery ticket. Most people are just starting out and capital is always an issue. These sites are worth the money if you have it. If not a cheep alternative for the just starting outs would be nice.


I guess we differ a little as we too are a small business but we do not consider the minimal monthly fee and the 1% of sales as a cost as this "cost" generates substantial revenue in comparison.

I do agree that a system like Inksoft is not going to mysteriously make you successful by itself. It takes a total marketing/sales plan to accomplish success. Inksoft just adds a whole new revenue stream for us.


----------



## Riderz Ready

alstephen said:


> I agree with you. I may send you an PM to ask you a few questions about inksoft if you don't mind.


No Problem -


----------



## drdeath19134

Now i totally agree there, That's a $100,000.00 quote!


----------



## ArmandoG

InkSoft said:


> ArmandoG:
> 
> Do you have cache enabled? We'd be glad to check into your site. Can you either PM me your URL, or go here to create a support ticket: Customer Feedback for InkSoft
> 
> Of course you call always email us @ support[USER=131053]@InkSoft[/USER].com


I sent you a PM, but have yet to hear back. 

Thanks
mondo


----------



## InkSoft

Not seeing a PM. It's best to communicate directly. Feel free to call, email or use our support system. I've sent you an email with my contact info--just reply back!



ArmandoG said:


> I sent you a PM, but have yet to hear back.
> 
> Thanks
> mondo


----------



## ArmandoG

InkSoft said:


> Not seeing a PM. It's best to communicate directly. Feel free to call, email or use our support system. I've sent you an email with my contact info--just reply back!


Cool, I am emailing you now.

Thank you
Armando.


----------



## OSSKOBRET

for those that are grafically challenged inksoft is the way to go. all the stuff that is offered especially on the back end is incredible, and for those complaining about the monthly fees and comission do the math on regular it support also their commision starts after you hit 50,000.00 a month. seems like a no brainer..... by the way their support staff is great and quick to respond to prospects and customers alike .i have been on board for a month ..my store is almost open and the cool thing is you can track traffic as well


----------



## ArmandoG

We are still having BIG problems with the website. The customer service is AMAZING to say the least and the software is great, but our site is suffering from major lag. Taking about 30 seconds to switch between pages. I have talked to both Anya and JP about this, and while they are working on it, the problem still persists. 

This is very worrying because I imagine customers will get very frustrated and not even complete the order.

I truly am praying that they fix this issue quickly. I literally had a team of 10 people working on this website daily (ours is going to be massive), in fact the largest I have ever seen in our market. But all that work goes out the window if the lagging problem can't be fixed.

Again, customer service is top notch, I just need them to fix this issue yesterday as we are now live.


----------



## ArmandoG

I found the exact same lag problem on RiderzReady (new website). It didnt take long to get the same issue we are having on our site. 

So at first I thought it was just our website, but now I am starting to think it is a larger problem, which is truly worrying.

Again, its an amazing product that can just about suit any custom website, all they have to do is fix those lagging bugs and the software will be a perfect 10.


----------



## duelas

I am having the same lag issue on all pages. We are still setting up our site but the lag is making it impossible. I cant imagine how it will be when we actually have users on the site. 

Also, customer service is top notch here as well, but we really need this fixed.


----------



## InkSoft

Hey Guys:

Sorry about the speed issues! Trust us: This is a URGENT matter that has all hands on deck. Fortunately, this seems to be affected a small range of users. We are having trouble verifying some of these issues. For example: Droplr*•*Safari1.png 

As you can see Mondo: Your site loads in 1.36 seconds which is 84% of all websites. There are lots of factors like web browsers, extension/scripts/plugins used et al. 

We will report back once our developers have more information to share.

Thanks for your patience and understanding. 




duelas said:


> I am having the same lag issue on all pages. We are still setting up our site but the lag is making it impossible. I cant imagine how it will be when we actually have users on the site.
> 
> Also, customer service is top notch here as well, but we really need this fixed.


----------



## ArmandoG

Believe me when I say you and Anya are awesome.
and I think once the bugs are out, there will not be a better syster. 

And you are correct the site loads nice and fast, but when we are swithcing between pages is where the crashes/lags occur.

Once that is fixed we will be golden.

Thanks again for your amazing customer service
Mondo




InkSoft said:


> Hey Guys:
> 
> Sorry about the speed issues! Trust us: This is a URGENT matter that has all hands on deck. Fortunately, this seems to be affected a small range of users. We are having trouble verifying some of these issues. For example: Droplr*•*Safari1.png
> 
> As you can see Mondo: Your site loads in 1.36 seconds which is 84% of all websites. There are lots of factors like web browsers, extension/scripts/plugins used et al.
> 
> We will report back once our developers have more information to share.
> 
> Thanks for your patience and understanding.


----------



## TeriLP

Hi, I spoke with Justin from InkSoft yesterday for over an hour. I understood that we would only be charged a percentage of our sales (in addition to the 149 monthly fee) if we went over $50,000 in sales. And then the charge would be 1% of anything over the $50,000. This seems to be a small price to pay for all that this package can handle. If you are considering this route and have not watched the intro video (about an hour long I'd say) I would encourage you to do so. There is a lot of depth to it that can streamline the workflow for my small shop.


----------



## Printmark

I've been working with a company that has had Inksoft for over a year and never set it up! So I took on the task and finding it to be a lot of work.

How many products are you adding? I started with just T-Shirts (S/S, L/S, Raglan, Ringer, Womens, Youth & Organic) and have added 136 products. Now I need to do the Fleece.

The Designer is "ok" but not like using the on staff artist by any stretch of the imagination.

Finding the pricing to be a little hit or miss too. Not sure the way it automatically determines the number of color is correct. The issue seems to be with the No Color or Shirt Color while editing designs.

Printmark


----------



## ECi_Luke

We have found Inksoft to be the software we have used so far. Its designer and order management works great for our needs. Their support also responds quickly and is very helpful, although 99 percent of the time they want us to "prove it" at our own time and expense.

The only problem is that the software suffers from seemingly random crashes and unusual errors on a daily basis. I only have a basic understanding of programming, but it seems like they test new coding on live sites. If they would just fix this it would be perfect!


----------



## VoxPop

Hello everyone. I just purchased the Inksoft software and I did not get a link to download it. I was wondering if anyone would know where I am suppose to access inksoft after I purchased it. I purchased it from Ryonet if that helps. 

Thanks in advance, a bit scared since I just saw a bunch of money vanish with nothing to show for it! :O


----------



## OSSKOBRET

VoxPop said:


> Hello everyone. I just purchased the Inksoft software and I did not get a link to download it. I was wondering if anyone would know where I am suppose to access inksoft after I purchased it. I purchased it from Ryonet if that helps.
> 
> Thanks in advance, a bit scared since I just saw a bunch of money vanish with nothing to show for it! :O


 THEY should have sent you a link to your store and login instructions , check your email spam box


----------



## Geanne

I've used InkSoft for about 9 months now and they are constantly having issues. This week it was because they installed new hardware - and now I can't add new categories/products on my site. Worst thing is that they never let you know that something isn't working. I don't think I have every worked on my site and not discovered a problem. Plus they make changes on the live system, seemingly without testing them first. Anyone out there having better success with another vendor??


----------



## InkSoft

VoxPop said:


> Hello everyone. I just purchased the Inksoft software and I did not get a link to download it. I was wondering if anyone would know where I am suppose to access inksoft after I purchased it. I purchased it from Ryonet if that helps.
> 
> Thanks in advance, a bit scared since I just saw a bunch of money vanish with nothing to show for it! :O


Have you checked your SPAM folder? Please reach out to our support team here: Customer Feedback for InkSoft


----------



## InkSoft

Geanne said:


> I've used InkSoft for about 9 months now and they are constantly having issues. This week it was because they installed new hardware - and now I can't add new categories/products on my site. Worst thing is that they never let you know that something isn't working. I don't think I have every worked on my site and not discovered a problem. Plus they make changes on the live system, seemingly without testing them first. Anyone out there having better success with another vendor??


Geanne:

Thanks for the honest feedback. Yes, we've had sporadic issues that have affected a small range of users. We've added two new developers to help respond faster. The new hardware migration presented some interesting issues...nothing is easy right. Anyhow, we are at the tail end of this migration. We will follow up and see how we can make things rights. Sorry!


----------



## Beolight

I'm interested in taking a look at this also

My main focus however would not be tee shirts but more promotional products key rings, fridge magnets etcetc

Can you link to website which offers multiple products


----------



## duran118

took a look at this at the iss show. just a couple of questions. i am a wide format printer looking to utilize the design tool for team banners. is there any part in the website where i can showcase some of my previous work, like a gallery page. also i don't have a dtg printer, but would like to offer this service for one off's. i can i get more info on outsourcing these orders?


----------



## ArmandoG

duran118 said:


> took a look at this at the iss show. just a couple of questions. i am a wide format printer looking to utilize the design tool for team banners. is there any part in the website where i can showcase some of my previous work, like a gallery page. also i don't have a dtg printer, but would like to offer this service for one off's. i can i get more info on outsourcing these orders?


You can add images of past work. It would most probably look like a "Text" link at the bottom or top of the page. What we did is used Flickr slide show. We just put in the url and it worked like a charm.


Thnx
Armando


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## duran118

Armando, thanks. can you pm me your website so i can take a look to see what it looks like. thanks.


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## Geanne

InkSoft is definitely geared toward clothing but it works for other products also. Just takes a lot of "thinking outside of the box" to do the set up. The only place you are truly limited is their home page. All of their templates are set up to show the individual products instead of the categories so it is hard for the first time visitor to see everything you have to offer. One option is to make the categories page (which for some reason they call the Products page??) the home page... but then you lose all the banners, advertisements, etc. that are only available on the first page. InkSoft has been promising a new wireframe format that would give flexibility to the home page layout for at least 6 months now but it has been pushed down on the project list. My site is far from finished - it's a lot of work. You will see some inconsistencies in how things are set up. I've come up with better ways to do some things and need to go back and redo some of my products. All trial and error. Impressions by Design Home. Go the the Products (Categories) page to see everything I do (well, not really but it's all that I have time to set up).


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## Beolight

Geanne said:


> InkSoft is definitely geared toward clothing but it works for other products also. Just takes a lot of "thinking outside of the box" to do the set up. The only place you are truly limited is their home page. All of their templates are set up to show the individual products instead of the categories so it is hard for the first time visitor to see everything you have to offer. One option is to make the categories page (which for some reason they call the Products page??) the home page... but then you lose all the banners, advertisements, etc. that are only available on the first page. InkSoft has been promising a new wireframe format that would give flexibility to the home page layout for at least 6 months now but it has been pushed down on the project list. My site is far from finished - it's a lot of work. You will see some inconsistencies in how things are set up. I've come up with better ways to do some things and need to go back and redo some of my products. All trial and error. Impressions by Design Home. Go the the Products (Categories) page to see everything I do (well, not really but it's all that I have time to set up).


Thanks for reply

Does the online designer work with all the different products

Is the software compatible with iPad?


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## Geanne

BeoLight - Yes, the designer works with all products -you load an image of the product for each side/location you can imprint and it's ready for design studio. The difference between doing t's and products is in the difficulty of setup. Most of the t templates can be uploaded directly from several distributors catalogs. And there are also good general t templates available. With the products you pretty much have to create your own template for each one. Not sure about Ipad as I work in a Windows environment. Give them a call.


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## Bigpapi

First off, I just read through all 14 pages of this post. Thanks everyone for your contribution and experiences. It's what makes this site awesome.

Looking at the Inksoft price list Here, I don't see it mention the 1% fee that is mentioned in this post.

Assuming that charge is still there, is the 1% taken only from sales made through the website (paypal, visa, etc)?


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## InkSoft

Bigpapi said:


> First off, I just read through all 14 pages of this post. Thanks everyone for your contribution and experiences. It's what makes this site awesome.
> 
> Looking at the Inksoft price list Here, I don't see it mention the 1% fee that is mentioned in this post.
> 
> Assuming that charge is still there, is the 1% taken only from sales made through the website (paypal, visa, etc)?


Hello there! Let me bring some clarification here: We DO NOT charge a transaction fee for monthly sales less than $50,000. Any sales above $50,000 in a month results in a 1.65% transaction fee. It's not retroactive to dollar one either! Example: Sell $60,000 in a month, you would only pay 1.65% of $10,000.

Make sure to give us a buzz if you have any further questions! 800-410-3048. 

Thanks for your interest in InkSoft.


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## Death

After reading all this this, it sounds like Inksoft is not the way to go.
a) No regard for customers (..just a few experience YOUR problem..) Even 1 is 1 too many! That kind of attitude is not serving the customer at all. Play with your developments in a sandbox, after all the bugs are out, make it available publicly...
b) seems to have ongoing, since day one, unresolved issues and plays "live" with customers websites and livelihoods
c) charges monthly AND percentage, make up your mind and stick with a mode that works for your customers. If they are small customers they pay way too much and if they are successful, they pay even more, man oh man...

I guess I'll be looking into some other solution...


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## InkSoft

Death said:


> After reading all this this, it sounds like Inksoft is not the way to go.
> a) No regard for customers (..just a few experience YOUR problem..) Even 1 is 1 too many! That kind of attitude is not serving the customer at all. Play with your developments in a sandbox, after all the bugs are out, make it available publicly...
> b) seems to have ongoing, since day one, unresolved issues and plays "live" with customers websites and livelihoods
> c) charges monthly AND percentage, make up your mind and stick with a mode that works for your customers. If they are small customers they pay way too much and if they are successful, they pay even more, man oh man...
> 
> I guess I'll be looking into some other solution...


Hello there. Not sure we understand your message. Are you a current user? Do you need help? Please contact us directly so we can resolve any issues you might be having. Thanks!


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## OSSKOBRET

InkSoft said:


> Hello there. Not sure we understand your message. Are you a current user? Do you need help? Please contact us directly so we can resolve any issues you might be having. Thanks!


 i could use some help to find out why customers are so disinterested in my site , i am a inksoft user since november 2011 and i still have yet to generate any sales


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## ArmandoG

Hello, Ive had the website for just about 2 months now. For the 1st month it was very buggy, but by working with JP and Anya, they were able to get the site running very well as. For the last month it has really done well and am glad I stuck through the growing pains. It is a very good product and am now very happy with it.

Oskkobet: I looked at your site and while you have many, many sliding banners most of which don't say anything. Id take the less says more. Get rid of the clutter and only keep the ones that shout out DESIGN YOUR SHIRTS LIVE ONLINE (SEE BEFORE YOU BUY) type of stuff. Also have your Sliding Banners link to your Online Designer. Right now they done lead anywhere. My site has generated sales on a daily basis, but I also advertise in my markets. Not sure if you are doing that, but if not I would def suggest it.


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## shirleyg

First, let me say that I have been an InkSoft user for over a year now. I have sold very, very little, but much of the reason is my lack of time and computer skills and patience. (I had quite a few issues early on, when the program was new, and Anya, JP and the developers addressed them promptly.)

My current clients say they are impressed with my site, but still just use it as a reference. The few who tried to use the design tool gave up and had me do their art. (By the way, that was before the revised version we have now.)

I went to your website and it looks nice. One of my downfalls - and likely yours, is implementing SEO (search engine optimization). JP did a great tutorial about it. I just haven't sat down, cleared my mind of everything else, and done it!

A couple of other things, your site is impersonal. What I mean is, the visitor knows nothing about you or your busines. All you say, if I click on *About Us*, is "_Bling & Tee's is a family owned and operated business our focus is on quality and customer satisfaction_". Boring. And where are you? How long have you been in business? Don't you have a phone? Those things should be right on the home page.

Maybe create a banner about YOUR business. About what you hae done... And, why do you have scrolling banners for a Marines Store and an Airforce Store? You do not have either of those stores? And if you did, make a link, so the visitor can click on the banner and go there. 

Well, you asked. I wish you luck and hope you get lots of constructive advice. I'll be listening, too!

_Now it's your turn (or anyone else, including JP and Anya, who would like to give me their 2¢). _ Why don't I get buyers on my site?


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## OSSKOBRET

thanks for the input ill get those things updated asap.


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## OSSKOBRET

very nice site shirley , i guess i need to peel my site back a bit , its definatly to busy and impersonal


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## HumbleShirts

Is InkSoft capable yet of taking orders for embroidery?

Perhaps you can reply with an outlined list of supported decorating processes? That would be helpfully.

1) Screen
2) Heat Press Vinyl
3) Embroidery
4) DTG (White & Light Garments)
5) DTG (white, Light & Darks)
6) Rhinestone Design
Etc.....

Thanks!


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## ArmandoG

Have you guys tried using Google Analytic. I just started using it with inksoft last week and it is great. It shows you how many people on your site, what page they are on and where they came from. 

This has really helped out with where I spend my advertising dollars to ensure I get the best results of people to my site.


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## trifate

OSSKOBRET said:


> i could use some help to find out why customers are so disinterested in my site , i am a inksoft user since november 2011 and i still have yet to generate any sales


Well you charge over $12 to ship one shirt LOL


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## VTG

OSSKOBRET said:


> i could use some help to find out why customers are so disinterested in my site , i am a inksoft user since november 2011 and i still have yet to generate any sales


Bret, some folks have already given you some good feedback.

My first suggestion would be to edit a few of your pages, make it a bit more informative ... however, that does not mean that you need to ADD more stuff. In today's competitive world, shopper's attention spans are short. Less is more. You need to ensure that your site is welcoming, inviting, and easy to navigate. Make an impact, but keep it simple. The easier you make it for your visitors, the more likely they'll be to make a purchase. In other words, don't make them have to think too hard.

With respect to your rotating banners, there are way too many, i think i counted 20-25 banners. You only need 3-5 banners ... max. No customer is EVER going to take the time to watch (or click on) more than 3-5 banners. Shopper's attention spans are too short for more than that. So pick 3-5 that get your main point across or create 3-5 in photoshop that are unique to your business.

Cleaning up your site is a good place to start, but it still doesn't guarantee that ANYONE is going to actually find it. There are thousands of other t-shirt sites on the web. Therefore, you have to ACTIVELY attract customers to your site. A passive approach will only ensure that your site will never be discovered.

Remember, InkSoft is a good e-commerce tool, however, it's not a "magnet" that will magically attract customers. In order to increase traffic to your site or just get noticed, you have to optimize your website (SEO) ... and you have to promote it, advertise it, feed it, bathe it, water it, clothe it ... you get the idea. Use social media to connect with folks (FaceBook, Twitter, etc).

Once people find your site, you want them to actually BUY something. It's one thing to increase traffic to your site, it's another to have shoppers actually make a purchase. The terminology for this is called "shopper conversion". Google analytics may show that you're getting tons of visitors, but in reality you STILL might not generate any sales. So you have to find a way to increase your "conversion rate" (increase the number of visitors who actually decide to make a purchase).

Ask yourself ... what "value" are you offering consumers that will entice or encourage them to actually make a purchase? In other words, what is your unique "value proposition". _Is it your amazing designs & artwork? Is it your speedy service? Is it your prices?_ What differentiates your website, your products, your business from every other t-shirt website? Once your know your unique angle, GO spread the word.

Success takes time and effort ... but the rewards are worth it.

Good luck.


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## Riderz Ready

Shocking that people still think that one can simply create an on-line design studio or web site and people will mysteriously find it and start purchasing their products. Those days were gone 5+ years ago.

Inksoft does not have a magic wand that makes your designs and products more appealing to customers. If you find such a tool let us all know. There are so many pieces to a successful on-line business and a product like Inksoft is only one part of the puzzle. If you are failing now a product like Inksoft will not help you. If you are successful a product like Inksoft will make you more successful.

Need to stop blaming a tool like Inksoft and take a hard look in the mirror on why you do not have sales.


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## VTG

Riderz Ready said:


> Shocking that people still think that one can simply create an on-line design studio or web site and people will mysteriously find it and start purchasing their products. Those days were gone 5+ years ago.
> 
> Inksoft does not have a magic wand that makes your designs and products more appealing to customers. If you find such a tool let us all know. There are so many pieces to a successful on-line business and a product like Inksoft is only one part of the puzzle. If you are failing now a product like Inksoft will not help you. If you are successful a product like Inksoft will make you more successful.
> 
> Need to stop blaming a tool like Inksoft and take a hard look in the mirror on why you do not have sales.


My point exactly Mark ... I'm glad you agree. I hate to see folks try to start a t-shirt business (or any business) and think they'll be an overnight success, without having to work their tails off to make it happen. It doesn't matter if it's a home-based business, internet-based, commercial-based, or retail-based ... there are no magic pills (or wands).

I find it interesting that so many people jump into the apparel decorating business, primarily because of the relatively low cost-of-entry, only to find out that it takes HARD WORK and dedication to actually succeed.

Good luck to all ... and I mean that sincerely.


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## OSSKOBRET

VTG said:


> My point exactly Mark ... I'm glad you agree. I hate to see folks try to start a t-shirt business (or any business) and think they'll be an overnight success, without having to work their tails off to make it happen. It doesn't matter if it's a home-based business, internet-based, commercial-based, or retail-based ... there are no magic pills (or wands).
> 
> I find it interesting that so many people jump into the apparel decorating business, primarily because of the relatively low cost-of-entry, only to find out that it takes HARD WORK and dedication to actually succeed.
> 
> Good luck to all ... and I mean that sincerely.


 I did not think we would be a overnight success i am just looking for advice on how to make the inksoft experience successful , just looking for some advice on how to make site more enticing to the shoppers on our site and how to make this all work out , we as a family are putting 7 days a week into this new adventure, our rhinestone part of the biz is taking off so now i am trying to concentrate more on the printing aspect and we are starting to get interest in our local market. alot of you have a lot of experience and i am looking to gain knowlege from it


----------



## Riderz Ready

I think it was mentioned before but you have way too many sliders - the first three are the only ones relevant. They should have dynamic links so if someone clicks them it takes them to the associated products.

For us it is much more profitable to sell to niche markets instead of trying to sell to the general market. Whn you have all these designs/products to me it just becomes a crowded mess to navigate for a customer.

Inksoft or any of these tools are like a storefront. You still need a way for people to find you and have the products people want to purchase.


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## OSSKOBRET

Riderz Ready said:


> I think it was mentioned before but you have way too many sliders - the first three are the only ones relevant. They should have dynamic links so if someone clicks them it takes them to the associated products.
> 
> For us it is much more profitable to sell to niche markets instead of trying to sell to the general market. Whn you have all these designs/products to me it just becomes a crowded mess to navigate for a customer.
> 
> Inksoft or any of these tools are like a storefront. You still need a way for people to find you and have the products people want to purchase.


 i agree its a bit busy i appreciate all the input.... please keep it coming , and i thank all that have taken the time to give their opinions


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## VTG

OSSKOBRET said:


> I did not think we would be a overnight success i am just looking for advice on how to make the inksoft experience successful , just looking for some advice on how to make site more enticing to the shoppers on our site and how to make this all work out , we as a family are putting 7 days a week into this new adventure, our rhinestone part of the biz is taking off so now i am trying to concentrate more on the printing aspect and we are starting to get interest in our local market. alot of you have a lot of experience and i am looking to gain knowlege from it


Bret, sorry if I offended you ... my comments about what it takes to succeed and how hard one has to work to start a business were not directed at you. I should have been more clear. It was just a general observation regarding the industry, not a jab at you and your business. I actually admire the fact that you were asking how to make your InkSoft site more effective. This is a great place to get helpful feedback, and I think you were wise in asking for some input.

Wishing you nothing but the best ... and long-term success!


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## OSSKOBRET

VTG said:


> Bret, sorry if I offended you ... my comments about what it takes to succeed and how hard one has to work to start a business were not directed at you. I should have been more clear. It was just a general observation regarding the industry, not a jab at you and your business. I actually admire the fact that you were asking how to make your InkSoft site more effective. This is a great place to get helpful feedback, and I think you were wise in asking for some input.
> 
> Wishing you nothing but the best ... and long-term success!


 no offence was taken , its great for us to have somewhere to go for advice from people that have the experience that i am looking to gain


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## Nomdeplume

Out of curiosity, does Inksoft have the capability to separate different methods of production? My model goes any orders going from 0-50 are pretty much DTG and any order >50 are screen printed. Would Inksoft be able to separate them? Like one order for 23 would be marked as DTG and another order for 65 would be marked for screen print?
The reason I ask is because the idea would be to have orders less than 50 to be handled on site while orders >50 would be handled in a separate location.

^This is just preliminary research for a business plan I'm working on, so I'm just here to learn


----------



## InkSoft

HTT130 said:


> Is InkSoft capable yet of taking orders for embroidery?
> 
> Perhaps you can reply with an outlined list of supported decorating processes? That would be helpfully.
> 
> 1) Screen
> 2) Heat Press Vinyl
> 3) Embroidery
> 4) DTG (White & Light Garments)
> 5) DTG (white, Light & Darks)
> 6) Rhinestone Design
> Etc.....
> 
> Thanks!


Great question. InkSoft supports both vector and digital art content. We allow you to set up unlimited pricing grids and assign those to specific products. Example: Wide format digital pricing could be assigned to banner products. Thusly, you can sell:

-Screen printing (we count colors in each design and charge accordingly)
-Sublimation
-DTG
-Digital processes 
-Signage

We have plans for a rhinestone module. This is tricky since you need to change based on stones used. We are going to start with rhinestone lettering. 

We are also in the process of developing the embroidery module. This is far along in the development cycle. See a video here: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBCvYO7jEC4[/media]


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## HumbleShirts

Can you elaborate on the timeframe of the embroidery module release?


----------



## Liberty

Yes, please elaborate. And make it an honest assessment. 



HTT130 said:


> Can you elaborate on the timeframe of the embroidery module release?


----------



## InkSoft

Liberty said:


> Yes, please elaborate. And make it an honest assessment.


With software...this is nearly impossible. We are far along in the process. We have controls in the backend to price embroidery by size or stitch count. You can select a thread manufacture to display thread colors in the Design Studio. We are currently working on scaling and 'locking' the size. This is all good stuff as it will directly impact rhinestones and other 'fixed' sizing and processes. 

We promise to keep everyone updated. We understand that this has huge application and we want to make it available ASAP. 

We will be announcing two huge new features in our Newsletter that is scheduled to go out on Saturday. If you haven't already, sign up for our Newsletter here: InkSoft News, Updates and General awesomeness.


----------



## HumbleShirts

To InkSoft:

I'm on the fence but am getting closer to making a decision. A few more questions if you don't mind.

If our DTG wIll only process whites, can the designer be set up to only do whites for DTG? Are there any protections in the software to disallow black or dark colored shirt to be processed for DTG?

We want screened minimums to be able to be set based on shirt color and print locations by decoration method? Is this possible?

Is there a "Names & Numbers" module that will allow users that option in conjunction with...say...a traditional screened print on the front?

If the customer uploads a low resolution JPG or similar image, is the conversion process to make the design "screen print" friendly done entirely outside the software by our artist or is this something that the software can handle? We use Separation Studio and we all know we need a pretty good piece of supplied art to make this work well.

Is there a way to allow for special effects options such as foiling or metallic inks?

I hate to ask this but I'm invested. Can the DAS art volumes be easily added to the designer and work the way your included art packs do? I believe you guys are affiliated with Rival Art. On this issue, what about the Advanced Artist art packs? Or anyone's art volumes? How restrictive is this feature?

And now.....one of the BIGGEST cruxes I have with online design software.....
I have countless people that come into my shop (even contract accounts) with the likes of a CustomInk printout or link to a saved design for me to produce. This eats at me to no end. It's tough to swallow paying for such a nice solution, only to give so many casual browsers access to my art collections so they can take the printout to the competition and have it reproduced. I will scowl at customers that do this but they don't ever seem to care about the legalities of it. We will generally waive off orders that demand exact reproduction of these designs. We will do something for them similar and eat the artwork costs to get the order. Is it simply wishful thinking that this type of "Piracy" can be controlled?

Is there any way to protect our intellectual property in these cases?

I know these are fairly pointed questions. I hope you have most of the answers we're looking for.

Thank in advance for your best effort to answer these questions.

I know I will have a few more questions but this will clear up a lot of the mystery for us.


----------



## HumbleShirts

I hope I didn't overwhelm you with questions. Should I call to discuss?


----------



## dobberdobber

I too am on the fence about incorporating inksoft into my business. I really like where it is headed and customer service has been great.

I have spent the last 2 years researching various design tools and so far inksoft is the best for what I need, but...there are some changes that need to be made before I invest $1000's in a subscription and marketing our new designer.

One of the biggest reasons I am holding out is the "make white transparent" option. 

Most of my customers are in their 20's and 30's and expect to get what they see when they load their art into a designer like inksoft, customink or bluecotton. Most of their graphics are in the form of jpegs with a white background. Unfortunately, at present time, it is impossible to get a clean removal of the white background on a jpeg line drawing or basic clipart even if it is high resolution. It is also impossible to easily change the line drawing's color from black to any other color while in the designer. 

My retail store and website offer sublimation, dtg and screen printing and a design tool has to offer the removal of white option, otherwise it will drive customers away. I am posting this on the forum to assist others in making their decision. I am 100% in favor of inksoft and what they are doing, and in the spirit of collective constructive criticism, am offering this to those interested. Hopefully it will light a fire to get a fix quickly so I can buy in. Thanks and here are my screen shots with the original file I uploaded.


----------



## InkSoft

dobberdobber said:


> I too am on the fence about incorporating inksoft into my business. I really like where it is headed and customer service has been great.
> 
> I have spent the last 2 years researching various design tools and so far inksoft is the best for what I need, but...there are some changes that need to be made before I invest $1000's in a subscription and marketing our new designer.
> 
> One of the biggest reasons I am holding out is the "make white transparent" option.
> 
> Most of my customers are in their 20's and 30's and expect to get what they see when they load their art into a designer like inksoft, customink or bluecotton. Most of their graphics are in the form of jpegs with a white background. Unfortunately, at present time, it is impossible to get a clean removal of the white background on a jpeg line drawing or basic clipart even if it is high resolution. It is also impossible to easily change the line drawing's color from black to any other color while in the designer.
> 
> My retail store and website offer sublimation, dtg and screen printing and a design tool has to offer the removal of white option, otherwise it will drive customers away. I am posting this on the forum to assist others in making their decision. I am 100% in favor of inksoft and what they are doing, and in the spirit of collective constructive criticism, am offering this to those interested. Hopefully it will light a fire to get a fix quickly so I can buy in. Thanks and here are my screen shots with the original file I uploaded.


Chris:

Thanks for your emails. Our developers are looking at ways to enhance the settings on our filters. We did make a minor change yesterday. Anyhow, check out this video--might bring a little clarity.

InkSoft Transparency Answer - YouTube


----------



## InkSoft

HTT130 said:


> To InkSoft:
> 
> I'm on the fence but am getting closer to making a decision. A few more questions if you don't mind.
> 
> If our DTG wIll only process whites, can the designer be set up to only do whites for DTG? Are there any protections in the software to disallow black or dark colored shirt to be processed for DTG?
> 
> We want screened minimums to be able to be set based on shirt color and print locations by decoration method? Is this possible?
> 
> Is there a "Names & Numbers" module that will allow users that option in conjunction with...say...a traditional screened print on the front?
> 
> If the customer uploads a low resolution JPG or similar image, is the conversion process to make the design "screen print" friendly done entirely outside the software by our artist or is this something that the software can handle? We use Separation Studio and we all know we need a pretty good piece of supplied art to make this work well.
> 
> Is there a way to allow for special effects options such as foiling or metallic inks?
> 
> I hate to ask this but I'm invested. Can the DAS art volumes be easily added to the designer and work the way your included art packs do? I believe you guys are affiliated with Rival Art. On this issue, what about the Advanced Artist art packs? Or anyone's art volumes? How restrictive is this feature?
> 
> And now.....one of the BIGGEST cruxes I have with online design software.....
> I have countless people that come into my shop (even contract accounts) with the likes of a CustomInk printout or link to a saved design for me to produce. This eats at me to no end. It's tough to swallow paying for such a nice solution, only to give so many casual browsers access to my art collections so they can take the printout to the competition and have it reproduced. I will scowl at customers that do this but they don't ever seem to care about the legalities of it. We will generally waive off orders that demand exact reproduction of these designs. We will do something for them similar and eat the artwork costs to get the order. Is it simply wishful thinking that this type of "Piracy" can be controlled?
> 
> Is there any way to protect our intellectual property in these cases?
> 
> I know these are fairly pointed questions. I hope you have most of the answers we're looking for.
> 
> Thank in advance for your best effort to answer these questions.
> 
> I know I will have a few more questions but this will clear up a lot of the mystery for us.


It's best to call and speak with an InkSoft expert. Lots to share here!

Let me give a concise reply:

1: There is currently no way to associate and restrict a product to a certain production method. We have some controls over what type of art content can be used on selected products. See here: Droplr*•*LittleSnapper1.png we expect to expand this in the future. 

2: You can define minimums for both digital and vector. For screen printing you can create print pricing (set up, price breaks, charge per color within a qty range et cetera). You can also do things like enter discounts for multiple print sides. You can't do things like require a minimum for left chest versus full front. You CAN do minimums for each individual product. See here: Droplr*•*Safari1.png

3: For Player Names & Numbers see here: goo.gl/d38wW Currently this is what is available: Droplr*•*Safari1.png

4: We don't do anything 'magical' to uploaded art content. Garbage in is garbage out. 

5: Special Effect / InkSoft. You can create custom color palettes and name inks; however, we can't charge based on which ink is selected. This would be a great thing to add into your marketing mix: CALL FOR A QUOTE ON SPECIAL INKS! Special inks can't really be 'previewed' metallic inks or discharge, glitter et al can't be shown on screen / monitors...yet! 

6: You need to check with the copyrighted license holder. Look at their terms of use. We aren't the copyright police and we don't restrict you from uploading ANY content. In fact, we allow you to make unlimited designs / upload unlimited clip art files. 

7: If someone is going to rip you off...they are going to rip you off. Anyone can take a screen cap from any website and have it 'recreated'. If Customink.com can't police this--we can't either. We don't produce any high res or large files that would make ripping you off easy. Ultimately, it comes down to good prices. This is typically why people design on Customink and take it to a local printer. I think this concern is solved with smart marketing.

Hope this helps! Be sure to call us--we can do a live web presentation and better address your questions. Call us @ 800-410-3048 

Thanks for your interest in InkSoft.


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## dobberdobber

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! Thanks.


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## shirleyg

InkSoft said:


> Chris:
> 
> ...Anyhow, check out this video--might bring a little clarity.
> 
> InkSoft Transparency Answer - YouTube


JP - Great video. Even I understood it!


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## InkSoft

shirleyg said:


> JP - Great video. Even I understood it!


Ha! Too funny! I have another video to share--something new--want your feedback. Hold tight!


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## dobberdobber

The video helps, and it shows they are working on fixing it. They still need to fix the button to make white transparent though as it only works if you use the color choices. If you choose "1 color" for the graphic, and then hit the button to make the white transparent, it doesn't work. Once that is fixed, and the team number generator is working perfectly, I will buy in. I am really looking forward to doing so.


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## InkSoft

dobberdobber said:


> The video helps, and it shows they are working on fixing it. They still need to fix the button to make white transparent though as it only works if you use the color choices. If you choose "1 color" for the graphic, and then hit the button to make the white transparent, it doesn't work. Once that is fixed, and the team number generator is working perfectly, I will buy in. I am really looking forward to doing so.


Roger that. Our team is working on this now. We push new code live each Thursday--don't know that I will have anything by tomorrow---but next Thursday for sure.


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## handmade

This new transparency feature is really great. Is there some way to make the Inksoft clipart transparent? 

Also, does anyone know of a user forum for Inksoft?


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## shirleyg

handmade said:


> * user forum for Inksoft?*


GREAT IDEA! I have asked over and over for a forum such as this one, so InkSoft users can talk to InkSoft users, asking questions and helping each other.

InkSoft does have a "forum" of sorts, which is good, but not what I would like to see. Don't get me wrong, I'm an InkSoft user & fan. But it would be great to have a forum structured like T-shirtForums.com


----------



## InkSoft

shirleyg said:


> GREAT IDEA! I have asked over and over for a forum such as this one, so InkSoft users can talk to InkSoft users, asking questions and helping each other.
> 
> InkSoft does have a "forum" of sorts, which is good, but not what I would like to see. Don't get me wrong, I'm an InkSoft user & fan. But it would be great to have a forum structured like T-shirtForums.com


We just announced our new user forum in the latest newsletter which can be viewed here: InkSoft Online T-Shirt Designer Software

Forum is here: All Categories on InkSoft Forums

Thoughts?


----------



## InkSoft

handmade said:


> This new transparency feature is really great. Is there some way to make the Inksoft clipart transparent?
> 
> Also, does anyone know of a user forum for Inksoft?


See below! We just introduced this: InkSoft Online T-Shirt Designer Software


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## OSSKOBRET

InkSoft said:


> See below! We just introduced this: InkSoft Online T-Shirt Designer Software


 The separation gizmo looks pretty cool .


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## InkSoft

OSSKOBRET said:


> The separation gizmo looks pretty cool .


I can't believe more people don't use Separation Studio.

Color Separation Software | Separation Studio - YouTube


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## OSSKOBRET

InkSoft said:


> I can't believe more people don't use Separation Studio.
> 
> Color Separation Software | Separation Studio - YouTube


 i have been a user since november, i did not know you offered this


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## OSSKOBRET

i was wondering when you are coming out with the setup your inksoft for dummy's video line 
i think i need something like this lol.


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## handmade

The Separation Studio looks great, but I can't afford it.


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## handmade

Thank you for the link. I couldn't find it in the newsletter. I saw the announcement, but couldn't find a link. Probably just me.


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## uniquekreations

interesting stuff this InkSoft is....


----------



## InkSoft

uniquekreations said:


> interesting stuff this InkSoft is....


Thanks! It's about to get even more interesting. We are cooking up some really incredible new features & tools. Stay tuned!


----------



## paxtondan

I recently heard that Ryonet and Insoft had a re-alingment. I dont know whether this is good or bad news about Inksoft. Does anyone know anything about this?


----------



## InkSoft

paxtondan said:


> I recently heard that Ryonet and Insoft had a re-alingment. I dont know whether this is good or bad news about Inksoft. Does anyone know anything about this?


Hey Dan. As mentioned today, there has been a small adjustment to our partnership with Ryonet. 

For the record, here is the official news: 

Ryonet has been an awesome partner and Master Distributor of InkSoft for over two years. We've mutually decided that it is time for InkSoft to regain control of the product to focus more intently on marketing and support.

Ryonet will continue to be a valued partner and will continue to promote InkSoft.

This is a big positive for our users since we can now exercise more control. You will see the fruits of this very soon!


----------



## dobberdobber

Perhaps this is the reason my emails to Luke and JP have gone unanswered for the last week? I'm ready to purchase but have one last thing I need an answer on before doing so. Please check your email box guys. Thanks

Chris


----------



## InkSoft

dobberdobber said:


> Perhaps this is the reason my emails to Luke and JP have gone unanswered for the last week? I'm ready to purchase but have one last thing I need an answer on before doing so. Please check your email box guys. Thanks
> 
> Chris


That would be the reason! We tried to make the transition simple but there were a few hiccups along the way! 

Feel free to send me a private message with your contact vitals, or email jphunt[USER=131053]@InkSoft[/USER].com. 

Thanks!


----------



## dobberdobber

Thanks. I thought it was strange as you guys are on top of customer service 100%. Sending a copy of the email in a moment. Thanks

Chris


----------



## ECi_Luke

Sorry, My boss changed my email a while ago, and I forgot to change it here. I'll fix it.


----------



## shanetuttle

I am interested in setting up InkSoft, do you need to register a domain name first? Also, are there any promos for it to waive the setup fee?


----------



## InkSoft

shanetuttle said:


> I am interested in setting up InkSoft, do you need to register a domain name first? Also, are there any promos for it to waive the setup fee?


You don't need to have a domain name registered to get started with InkSoft--it will be a requirement to 'go live'. We give you a 'sandbox' website where you can being setting up. 

Send me a PM so we can reach out to you to address any other questions.


----------



## EGS

I was considering Inksoft but two things have kept me away. 
First is the price. I think its high, especially since there is competition such as opentshirts.org that is FREE. 

The second is the fact that a customer can't upload artwork or a logo without first modifying their file. A task many won't do. If you don't understand what I mean then try to upload your own file and see if the system gets it right. 

I think Inksoft has the potential to be a great product in the marketplace when it's functionality is matured. Also when they get realistic with its price.

I also agree that my experience has been good the couple times I have spoke with their staff. Unfortunately it's not $200 to $300 per month good. 

Advanced Artists has a FREE design tool that so far outweighs Inksoft 10 fold. And...I can take that $300 per month and customize it to my liking.

Just some food for thought...


----------



## InkSoft

EGS said:


> I was considering Inksoft but two things have kept me away.
> First is the price. I think its high, especially since there is competition such as opentshirts.org that is FREE.
> 
> The second is the fact that a customer can't upload artwork or a logo without first modifying their file. A task many won't do. If you don't understand what I mean then try to upload your own file and see if the system gets it right.
> 
> I think Inksoft has the potential to be a great product in the marketplace when it's functionality is matured. Also when they get realistic with its price.
> 
> I also agree that my experience has been good the couple times I have spoke with their staff. Unfortunately it's not $200 to $300 per month good.
> 
> Advanced Artists has a FREE design tool that so far outweighs Inksoft 10 fold. And...I can take that $300 per month and customize it to my liking.
> 
> Just some food for thought...


Thanks for your consideration and comments. A few things to address:

Quick clarification on our pricing? InkSoft starts at $149 per month.

Additionally, the cost of hardware, bandwidth, talented developers, support, training and marketing--is a lot. We can't create the industry's best tool without generating proper revenue to support our efforts. 

Pricing and its perception is an interesting thing in marketing. A client said it best: "I don't care how much it costs so long as it makes me money". How many shirts / products would you have to sell to cover a $149 per month investment?

We think what Advanced Artist is doing is great. It is bringing attention to what is the future. 

If you select this as a viable option you must consider the costs of hiring a developer to customize and deploy. Not to mention hosting and bandwidth. PLUS licensing art content. Suddenly a 'free' tool starts to add up.

InkSoft's Design Studio is (online designer) is the easiest thing we do. It's the backend and all the pricing logic that is super complex. So, without a well developed 'content management system' to control and customize you WILL have to hire a developer to implement and maintain. The costs of this will far outweigh any monthly hosting fees.

Again, thanks for the interest and be sure to follow our progress--and of course call if you have questions!


----------



## shanetuttle

Now if you could just waive that setup fee


----------



## OSSKOBRET

i had inksoft untill this month 
the product is a great tool but unless you can figure out your angle in the market you may end up like myself and find you have alot of traffic without conversion to sales , so my suggestion to any who are looking at inksoft keep your site simple dont overload with product , i came to this realization a little late and had to suspend my site i
hope the rest of you luck.its a great product with alot to offer but keep it simple


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## trifate

I am using inksoft and its very slow!!! It locks up and if they go out of business your website is gone. I like what opentshirts.org is doing. I played around with their demo and its very fast and clean and easy to use. You can use the $150 per month and buy your own clip art and after one year you will have more than enough art.


----------



## InkSoft

trifate said:


> I am using inksoft and its very slow!!! It locks up and if they go out of business your website is gone. I like what opentshirts.org is doing. I played around with their demo and its very fast and clean and easy to use. You can use the $150 per month and buy your own clip art and after one year you will have more than enough art.


Can you send me a PM, or create a support ticket @ your site so I can look into your speed issues. There are several settings / tools for speed (content delivery network--CDN, Cache etc) and I want to make sure these are enabled properly. We will look right away once we have your vitals. Thanks.


----------



## InkSoft

OSSKOBRET said:


> i had inksoft untill this month
> the product is a great tool but unless you can figure out your angle in the market you may end up like myself and find you have alot of traffic without conversion to sales , so my suggestion to any who are looking at inksoft keep your site simple dont overload with product , i came to this realization a little late and had to suspend my site i
> hope the rest of you luck.its a great product with alot to offer but keep it simple


Good advice Bret. InkSoft must be paired with an aggressive marketing program. We are working on a marketing strategy planning resource to help our users organize their approach.


----------



## EGS

InkSoft said:


> Thanks for your consideration and comments. A few things to address:
> 
> Quick clarification on our pricing? InkSoft starts at $149 per month.
> 
> Additionally, the cost of hardware, bandwidth, talented developers, support, training and marketing--is a lot. We can't create the industry's best tool without generating proper revenue to support our efforts.
> 
> Pricing and its perception is an interesting thing in marketing. A client said it best: "I don't care how much it costs so long as it makes me money". How many shirts / products would you have to sell to cover a $149 per month investment?
> 
> We think what Advanced Artist is doing is great. It is bringing attention to what is the future.
> 
> If you select this as a viable option you must consider the costs of hiring a developer to customize and deploy. Not to mention hosting and bandwidth. PLUS licensing art content. Suddenly a 'free' tool starts to add up.
> 
> InkSoft's Design Studio is (online designer) is the easiest thing we do. It's the backend and all the pricing logic that is super complex. So, without a well developed 'content management system' to control and customize you WILL have to hire a developer to implement and maintain. The costs of this will far outweigh any monthly hosting fees.
> 
> Again, thanks for the interest and be sure to follow our progress--and of course call if you have questions!



Thanks for the response!! I do like what inksoft is doing and like I said before it will be great in the marketplace once it has matured and becomes realistic. You only addressed 1 of my 2 reasons for staying away. And you did not sway me in that address as to the price model. $149 is outrageous compared to FREE. As affordable as code writers are these days I could get a lot done. The best part....when it's done so are the payments. I don't think inksofts payments stop...

The second issue for me is uploading art...that accounts for a HUGE portion of the clients. 

to be honest....I have said it before and I will say it again....I don't mind paying for something that works.

To me....inksoft does not work..........yet.

It might be beneficial to spend a good amount of time using the competitors design tools before discussing what they are, or aren't. I have spent a TON of time on ALL the tools I can get my hands on. I know what works and what does not.

I will, however, keep IS in my radar because the market will surely help them in their price model. 

All the best to Inksoft!!!


----------



## EGS

I would like to add something else....

I hear a lot of screen printers complaining about the same thing. Getting conversions. They get a ton of traffic but NO sales.

Consider my case study. I have visited several online stores with design tools. I have issues with most. I would bet that customers are not able to navigate the tool....or getting ridiculous prices because the clip art that they chose had 10 colors in it (inksoft) and they didn't know how to reduce the colors so their price is ridiculous. Or...they tried to upload their own art and the system just went....Da...Huh?

I believe companies like inksoft may be getting some sign ups....but I would venture to say their longevity rate is low. How can we tell? The system hasn't even been around long enough. Companies can promise functionality changes all day long to keep customers hanging on but only time will tell.

I think half of the people signing up don't really know what the tool is used for or how to zone in on it's best functionality for their business model. In the mean time...it's over priced.

This is why I like Advanced Artist. We can grow with the tool and not suffer financially in the mean time. ALL tools will evolve.

I have talked to inksoft clients (I won't give names) I know what is being said, promised, and delivered.

The best part....I have used the tool I know what its limitations are.


----------



## shanetuttle

As a graphic artist, I have had situations where someone sent me a screenshot of something they made on someones site, but wanted someone else to print it and I had to recreate it. I'd like to give customers the ability to create art and be able to use it somewhere else if they want. However I will be doing all my work DTG, so there will be no need to worry about how many colors they use.


----------



## shanetuttle

opentshirts seems cool and simple, and I got a web guy, an artist (myself) and hosting on godaddy is about $110 a month cheaper than Inksoft. But I like the ability to set up webstores and the clipart catalogue. Honestly, $150 a month isn't bad for what they offer, but I want to be able to get the design a customer creates using the online tools and be able to offer it to them without them having to buy a shirt from me.


----------



## trifate

I am not of town right now but even your demo site is slow and lags. I had my wife try to design a shirt and she gave up. The clip art is a cluttered mess and the designer does not give the user the size of there design. The preview of the fonts are too small you have to click on each one to see them and you can't add your own fonts. I do like the back end and order flow.


----------



## EGS

shanetuttle said:


> opentshirts seems cool and simple, and I got a web guy, an artist (myself) and hosting on godaddy is about $110 a month cheaper than Inksoft. But I like the ability to set up webstores and the clipart catalogue. Honestly, $150 a month isn't bad for what they offer, but I want to be able to get the design a customer creates using the online tools and be able to offer it to them without them having to buy a shirt from me.



Advanced artist comes with clip art. Host Gator hosting is $3.95mo. You can also get the design that they create. The only thing you can't do is offer stores to other people. Yet.

Please note I'm not trying to talk you out of inksoft, I just think for the price they are charging it should be a lot more complete and people should know what they are getting into. If you have a web guy than it's a NO brainer to go with Advanced Artist.

Good luck either way..


----------



## InkSoft

trifate said:


> I am not of town right now but even your demo site is slow and lags. I had my wife try to design a shirt and she gave up. The clip art is a cluttered mess and the designer does not give the user the size of there design. The preview of the fonts are too small you have to click on each one to see them and you can't add your own fonts. I do like the back end and order flow.


Again, please let us know how we can contact you or your wife. I need to know your site so I can look at your speed settings. 

I just tested the speed at our demo site: Droplr*•*Google Chrome1.png See the date / time. 1.06 seconds is 87% faster than all websites!!


----------



## southlandgraphic

I just wanted to chime in as someone who has used almost every tool on the market, including beta testing OpenShirts, and spending lots of money trying to design our own...we have spent thousands of dollars on creating systems and everything in between.

Inksoft (and any PAID system for that matter is a bargain!).

A salesman takes an average of 20% profit out of the sale straight comission(thats what we paid). We used to pay an hourly employee (8.75/hr)x30hrs/wk just to sort through the emails, graphics, compile quotes, deal with calls, send product images, send product specs, create comps, email back to customer, mess with artwork, explain ...and I could go on and on but with Inksoft its all done for us!

The site answers most of our users questions!


Inksoft is not for everyone, DecoNetwork is not for everyone, OSSdesigner is not for everyone....but each company specializes in certain things. 

I would encourage you to not think of the subscription fees you pay to any company as wasteful, or anything less than a bargain. My reason? An average IT guy out of college is paid about 20-35K per year depending on skill/location/etc... An average programmer makes anywhere from 60-120 dollars/hr (sometimes less sometimes more). Database professional's are not cheap and range from 40-60K/yr...this all starts to add up. And when you add it up having a TEAM of these people on your side for less than 300 dollars/month is a great bargain.

Unfortunately, most people jump into these "systems" like inksoft, deco, and oss, etc... and don't realize that just because they stick a site up they will have sales!

One of my favorite movie scenes-
"You build it and they will come...ah..sh..sh..sh..sh..sh"- Field of Dreams...

Well that line doesn't apply here...or anywhere else in life. It takes work, advertising, marketing, and MORE WORK to build any site/business. 

So think of any money you pay each month as an investment and the people you pay it to as a TEAM. We pay quickbooks online because with the paltry monthly fee we don't have to worry about so many things we used to and all payroll is taken care of. Sure, they cost more than doing it ourselves, but the time it would take and stress is not worth it. We would rather have quickbooks online be our accounting and payroll TEAM!

Understand? 

Again, I just wanted to chime in because I think people are looking for the one shot, one kill solution that will solve all their problems. I personally told inksoft they weren't exactly what we wanted...but I also had witnessed JP and the team promise and deliver (on features) over and over again...while with other systems we had been promised features and they NEVER delivered....
...and with that I called them and said I want you guys on our TEAM...and I encourage you and anyone else reading to think about building a TEAM instead of paying a fee....you will get allot further.


----------



## EGS

@southland - Thanks for chiming in. I love that our industry can work together for the greater good 

I don't see a link to your site. I would love to check out how you have it integrated and such.

Also, I will reiterate (sp?) I don't mind paying for something that works. I still - to this day - can't upload a piece of artwork on an inksoft site and have it work correctly. Maybe your site will be different...I can't wait to find out.

This is why I balk at the price. If it worked I would be paying it right now...


----------



## inkimprints

I would like to also chime in on this for a minute. I have used other online designers out there for years for my company. I bought inksoft around a year ago. I would say overall it is very good. The admin is great and user friend;y and the order details and download I think are great. I think for 149 a month you can't beat it. I can say that I have used 3 different well known designers before inksoft and I can tell you that my sales conversions have doubled easily with their software. I can also say that I would pay 149 just for the customer service they have. The other companies I delt with I could never get them to answer a email much less a phone. They have always been very prompt in their response when it comes to issues.

As far as site speed when people say it is slow. They have made several updates for that over the last month and I would guess it's a setting on the admin that needs to be changed.

In relation to others saying they are getting tons of traffic and no orders, has to realize it may not be the software. If you have a well designed site and have quality traffic and know what you are doing you might get 1-2% sales conversion. So basically you would get 1-2 orders for every 100 clicks. Until recently with the Google Penguin update I was on page 1 for custom t-shirts, as well as other great keywords and with inksoft my sales conversions were close to 4%. I would say the site works well for customers.

The only negative I have about it, which each software company has a bunch is that the color count on the clipart is misleading. If you pic a black and white design and put it on a white shirt it is 2 colors, and then when you add black text it makes it 3. So for screen printers it needs more work. For dtg printers I am not sure what else you can ask for LOL

Overall a great product for 149.00

By the way this is my first post on thr forums since joining 

I hope my input was good!


----------



## shirleyg

I think you get a GOLD STAR for your first post!


----------



## inkimprints

why thank you


----------



## nation03

Nice looking website, Mike. Is that all done with the inksoft templates or did you use custom html?


----------



## inkimprints

I actually designed the entire site myself using joomla which is free. Joomla is basically for articles etc.. which makes the templates very seo friendly. I didn't want to use inksofts website templates for 2 reasons.

First reason is I believe as they improve their software there will be alot of sites using their website templates which makes me think alot of the sites will look very similar. I wanted to have my site stick out from the rest of the inksoft users that used their templates so when customers find me in google and click on my site I didnt want it looks like the other 10 they click on.

Second reason and the most important is if inksoft ever goes out of business or decides to not enhance the designer, I would hate to have built my seo and everything around the inksoft templates and if they go out of business you would lose everything. I figure to do the iframe or subdomain and build your own web pages. If that happens and they do go out of business or quit the software you will still be up and running and just find another designer to plug in. I think using the sites they offer with designer might be putting all of your eggs in one basket.


----------



## AdvancedArtist

inkimprints said:


> I actually designed the entire site myself using joomla which is free. Joomla is basically for articles etc.. which makes the templates very seo friendly. I didn't want to use inksofts website templates for 2 reasons.
> 
> First reason is I believe as they improve their software there will be alot of sites using their website templates which makes me think alot of the sites will look very similar. I wanted to have my site stick out from the rest of the inksoft users that used their templates so when customers find me in google and click on my site I didnt want it looks like the other 10 they click on.
> 
> Second reason and the most important is if inksoft ever goes out of business or decides to not enhance the designer, I would hate to have built my seo and everything around the inksoft templates and if they go out of business you would lose everything. I figure to do the iframe or subdomain and build your own web pages. If that happens and they do go out of business or quit the software you will still be up and running and just find another designer to plug in. I think using the sites they offer with designer might be putting all of your eggs in one basket.


You have a professional looking website with a designer integrated. Very nice work!

Joomla is my personal favorite OS CMS followed by WordPress..


----------



## therealkilla

inkimprints said:


> I actually designed the entire site myself using joomla which is free. Joomla is basically for articles etc.. which makes the templates very seo friendly. I didn't want to use inksofts website templates for 2 reasons. ...


Just saw your site ... nice job! I like how you brought together the Joomla and Inksoft content.

I'm a Web developer/strategist, and my newest client is trying to improve his Inksoft site for more traffic, conversions, etc. While he most definitely needs help with SEO, content, user experience, etc., I'm concerned with some "techie"-type things that Inksoft does (too long to go into here) that I feel will harm our efforts going forward.

So long story short, I essentially want to do what you did ... move his non-Inksoft specific content over to a separate server and content-management system (WordPress), while keeping access to the designer, products, and so on. We contacted Inksoft, which told us that it can't be done. I had suspected it can be, and now that I've seen your site, I know it.

I may be PM'ing you to find out how you did it (just the basics), if that's okay. No matter what, though, nice job on the site and I hope your strategy continues to work well.

(BTW - your points on "if Inksoft goes under/not enhancing its designer" are very good ones as well.)


----------



## zhenjie

I also prefer to have a designer integrated with an established CMS. So much more flexibility and future proofing as inkimprints says.


----------



## AdvancedArtist

zhenjie said:


> I also prefer to have a designer integrated with an established CMS. So much more flexibility and future proofing as inkimprints says.


Integration is a critical issue with any web based application. We are seeing this across all the major ecomm apps most of which are open source. It is amazing how fast open source is integrating into just about everything.

Magento to WordPress and everything in between. I believe the within the next ten years anything that is not open source and based on integration across the various open source platforms will no longer exist.

Why would you do anything that is not open source on the web? Get years down the road want to customize your solution/system. Spend years developing your web presence on a proprietary solution only to find out you do not own it? You cannot do anything with it, you cannot change it. You are in the proprietary box..

Build out a 2 million dollar a year web site on a system you cannot integrate even if you want to.. Web marketing takes a serious turn in another direction.. and we have already seen this with social networking and your proprietary system in behind the curve.. where are you then?

Joomla. WordPress, Drupal, Magento, OpenCart and the list goes on.. We have seen it here in the thread and all over world. If you are not in open source you are not free to integrate you are in a box. 

Why would you do anything that is not open source on the web? Get years down the road want to customize your solution/system. Spend years developing your web presence on a propreitary solution only to find out you do not own it? You can not do anything with it, you can not change it. You are in the propreitary box..


----------



## atigerwanabee

Try Deco Network. You will be surprised at how easy it is. Ink Soft is quite a bit more expensive but you will like Deco Network. Online t-shirt designer and ecommerce software for the decoration industry | DecoNetwork And no I don't work for either one of them. I just do a lot of research. Looking to put my designs online.


----------



## inkimprints

Inetergrating your inksoft store to an existing site is very easy. If you want you can easily put it in a iframe, but the catch there is sometimes inksoft has issues updating through the iframe. They might make a change on the designer and if you are using a iframe it sometimes won't update in real time or at all. Because of that I just made a subdomain to have my inksoft site pointed to. So basically you have your main domain name as mine is www.inkimprints.com, which is where I design all my pages plus content and keep it on my servers not theirs. Then I created a subdomain: shop.inkimprints.com which is where they inksoft designer is. The subdomain allows you to keep your site separate in case inksoft disappears so you dont lose everything. It also makes the flow of the site alot better as it looks like it is part of the site. It also solves the update issue that the iframe can sometimes cause. My site is joomla and it was very easy to do. I have heard wordpress is similar so it should not be a bog deal to do. I am not sure why inkosft said ti could not be done


----------



## XBM

inkimprints said:


> Inetergrating your inksoft store to an existing site is very easy. If you want you can easily put it in a iframe, but the catch there is sometimes inksoft has issues updating through the iframe. They might make a change on the designer and if you are using a iframe it sometimes won't update in real time or at all. Because of that I just made a subdomain to have my inksoft site pointed to. So basically you have your main domain name as mine is www.inkimprints.com, which is where I design all my pages plus content and keep it on my servers not theirs. Then I created a subdomain: shop.inkimprints.com which is where they inksoft designer is. The subdomain allows you to keep your site separate in case inksoft disappears so you dont lose everything. It also makes the flow of the site alot better as it looks like it is part of the site. It also solves the update issue that the iframe can sometimes cause. My site is joomla and it was very easy to do. I have heard wordpress is similar so it should not be a bog deal to do. I am not sure why inkosft said ti could not be done


You're site is the best I've seen at integrating Inksoft into it. Just wanted to give you a thumbsup on your site.


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## inkimprints

Thanks alot XBM.


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## principalcrown

We have been using Inksoft since January Http://thespotclothing.com I love how it streamlines all off our orders. I am the graphic web designer and sometimes I feel like the site cannot be customized enough. After attending the Iss convention we are looking at alternatives like action illustrated live designer. So far it seems lackluster with a lot of the same design limitations. I am currently setting up a demo site. So I think I will try the live designer site but now i have just discovered the open source advanced artist software which looks very promising and at first glance more attractive then the paid solutions. I will check back and let you guys know what we end up choosing, but free is sounding real good.


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## duelas

Anybody using inksoft getting an " Error: Print regions are not configured for this product" in designer when trying to design a product? Im getting this error on products that have been working for months now. Print regions have been configured. I even tried redoing them with no luck.


----------



## InkSoft

duelas said:


> Anybody using inksoft getting an " Error: Print regions are not configured for this product" in designer when trying to design a product? Im getting this error on products that have been working for months now. Print regions have been configured. I even tried redoing them with no luck.


Hello there. Please email [email protected], or create a support request from the admin area. We will review the affected products and let you know what the issue might be. No other users have reported this as a user. 

Thanks!


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## familyfanclub

duelas said:


> Anybody using inksoft getting an " Error: Print regions are not configured for this product" in designer when trying to design a product? Im getting this error on products that have been working for months now. Print regions have been configured. I even tried redoing them with no luck.


We've had the problem and it's intermittent. I've gotten around it by refreshing and it seems to resolve. It's never happened 2x in a row and I can't reproduce it.


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## InkSoft

familyfanclub said:


> We've had the problem and it's intermittent. I've gotten around it by refreshing and it seems to resolve. It's never happened 2x in a row and I can't reproduce it.


Let us know if you have continued issues. Thanks.


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## shirleyg

*Anyone else have a problem getting their website to come up?* Neither MY website nor InkSoft.com will open.


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## InkSoft

shirleyg said:


> *Anyone else have a problem getting their website to come up?* Neither MY website nor InkSoft.com will open.


Godaddy.com is having outage / DNS issues. Certain sites who have a domain registered with Godaddy will experience this. They are aware of it and expect the issue to be resolved soon. 

Even their site is down in certain regions. See here: Droplr • Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.godaddy.com.png

This is not an InkSoft issue.


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## InkSoft

InkSoft said:


> Godaddy.com is having outage / DNS issues. Certain sites who have a domain registered with Godaddy will experience this. They are aware of it and expect the issue to be resolved soon.
> 
> Even their site is down in certain regions. See here: Droplr • Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.godaddy.com.png
> 
> This is not an InkSoft issue.


As a follow up: Godaddy has confirmed the issue in Tweets. See here: Droplr • Twitter1.png

Looks like they have resolved their issue.


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## InkSoft

InkSoft said:


> As a follow up: Godaddy has confirmed the issue in Tweets. See here: Droplr • Twitter1.png
> 
> Looks like they have resolved their issue.


Last posting: Looks like Godaddy might have been hacked. See here: Every GoDaddy-registered site temporarily knocked offline | Fox News


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## duelas

InkSoft said:


> Hello there. Please email [email protected], or create a support request from the admin area. We will review the affected products and let you know what the issue might be. No other users have reported this as a user.
> 
> Thanks!


I already submitted a ticket on Aug 27th. Problem still has not been fixed. First the designer did not go to cart and then print regions error on half my items. How long does this take to fix? You guys just billed me on the 1st of the month. It has not worked this whole month. Do I get a prorated refund? This is making my business look bad.


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## InkSoft

duelas said:


> I already submitted a ticket on Aug 27th. Problem still has not been fixed. First the designer did not go to cart and then print regions error on half my items. How long does this take to fix? You guys just billed me on the 1st of the month. It has not worked this whole month. Do I get a prorated refund? This is making my business look bad.


Please contact me directly @ (480) 696-6081

We can't look up your ticket status without knowing your contact information. Thanks.

Also, please check SPAM for emails from [email protected]


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## duelas

*****Update: Problem is now fixed. Designer works perfectly now! Thanks to the Inksoft staff for helping me with the issue. 



InkSoft said:


> Please contact me directly @ (480) 696-6081
> 
> We can't look up your ticket status without knowing your contact information. Thanks.
> 
> Also, please check SPAM for emails from [email protected]


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## jttucker87

Im just starting out with a 6/4 Riley Hopkins business package. We have been selling on campus and doing well for over a year and decided to jump-in deeper. I want to drive the bulk of my sales through e-commerce and social media; as well as exclusive contracts. I am the President of an entrepreneurial student organization at a business school. Our funds are leveraged but we want to be smart in keeping costs low. We have local demand for our products. We would like to utilize the product customization as one of the driving points for our website. Would you recommend and ink soft website to start?


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## Cortwrong

InkSoft said:


> Please contact me directly @ (480) 696-6081
> 
> We can't look up your ticket status without knowing your contact information. Thanks.
> 
> Also, please check SPAM for emails from [email protected]


 
You guys are in the Valley??? Sweet.....


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## Cortwrong

How do you link to your blank provider. I use Mccreary's and Mission Imprintables. There have been times when they are out of a certain size in a shirt color/brand.


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## krokker

For what it's worth, I was sold on inksoft as a great program for a small startup. I have been 2 weeks spending most of my precious time trying to set up this thing and i am thoroughly disgusted at this point in time. I was told 10 hr set up. I'm not even close. cant even select the supplier I use. on and on. I wasted my money here it seems.


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## ericsson2416

Been using inksoft for a year now. Setup was probably around 15-20 hours and still updating pages and learning new things. I like the idea from the online design studio to being able to add products and outsourcing my DTG through the interface. On the flip side I've had some just frustrating nights with problems, glitches, and updates they've done that changed settings I had to go in and fix. It's a great idea and somewhat smooth program but all support is by email so late night problems have to wait for the next day. Overall it's manageable but to sell enough shirts through your online studio to cover the monthly cost is tough with all the other big players in the market.


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## Cortwrong

I have been using inksoft for a short while and so far its been great. I don't use it so much to make online sales as I do to automate the art approval and quoting process. I work full time and screen print on the side so the time saving is worth the investment. When a customer wants to order from me I just send that customer to my site and ask him/her to log on and design their shirt. The customer gets the design they want and they get an automatic quote. I get the order notification via email then I make download the art chosen by the customer, make screens and well....you all know what comes next. Another great feature is the ability to upload their own art. I tell all of my customers that if they don't like the art available on my site that they can purchase and download their own artwork and upload it to my design studio, as long as they understand that they must abide by the license they have purchased for the art they have purchased.

The setup was a breeze and the tech support has been great so far. I don't need instant support so the email support is fine with me. The back end also can partially automate supplies orders if you have an account with San Mar or S&S which is awesome. It also talks to quick books but I don't use that part but I'm sure I will when i feel motivated enough to learn the process. 

My situation may be different from the majority but in my case it has been awesome but like I said I speak to each customer personally before the use my site. have a look for yourselves and enjoy the tour...

www.cortrightclothing.com


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## krokker

RE: my earlier statement. After getting more familiar I gotta say I think this could be useful in ways i had not thought of. The more I work with it the easier it gets. The support team is top notch. As with anything it needs tweaking, but I think I see that in motion.


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## BigPappy

Wow, after reading 21 pages, I am really leaning toward InkSoft. Actually have a call with Trevor today. 

We are a very young company, actually have all our equipment in a room in our house, this is going to help us move forward. 

Great product!


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## saltorr

It would be nice to find a software charging only based on Sales... like eBay for example or PayPal  .. any other recommendations other than DecoNetwork or Inksoft ? what about Live Designer ? any feedback appreciated . Thanks!


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## HumbleShirts

You'll never find that. You should just calculate your ROI based on what you intend on doing with the solution and go with the one that has more of the features you need. These are not really solutions for newbies or startups. You need to have a plan to put the solution into force.

With that being said, any solution out there is relatively inexpensive, even InkSoft. It's only worth what you put into it. Don't think you can put up a site and sit there and wait for orders to roll in. That ain't going to happen. You might as well burn your money if you think that.


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## saltorr

That's true!... Thanks!.


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## joe123

I've actually been curious myself. I'm looking up info as we speak.


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## HumbleShirts

Are there any plans to implement a bling process in InkSoft. Particularly something as simple as letting customers browse stock designs and be able to pick from a variety of shirts for them to choose from.


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## seeourdesigns

I have used inksoft for approx 5 months. There are some really nice features, but a couple of issues that have really troubled me. 

The one that presents the biggest problem is the products. SS Activewear loads like it should, whereas the Sanmar auto load seems useless. The Back Image (at least the ones I tried) never seems to load with it, and sometimes it comes with missing color images. The manual load is very slow... and is ... um... manual!
In addition I did use the SS Activewear, and a couple things I found is 1. they don't have new products, and 2. They have a tremendous amount of discontinued items on their list. 
I will give you 2 examples: 1. Adidas- if you go to polos approx 85% of the list has been discontinued. 2. Timberland- SS Activewear does not carry this line anymore.
So you have to be careful what you load. I got caught selling 2 Izod Raglan Polo, and had to buy them off Amazon.
I did submit a ticket over a week ago. I did not ask them to fix it (although that would be nice), because I recognize this is not a quick fix. I was just hoping for an explanation of how it will be rectified in the future or if it will be rectified, so I can feel comfortable moving forward with this product. 
They could not tell me anything, nor could they give me a time frame in which would could have that conversation. 
I would like a solution that would work 3 or 4 years down the road, but with this type of problem I am wondering if this will work 6 months down the road.
The conclusion that I came away with is that really all you could load automatically are the basics. The rest is a risk, as to whether they will be discontinued or not. 
My question is, how does DecoNetwork handle their product? Do they have similar problems


----------



## InkSoft

seeourdesigns said:


> I have used inksoft for approx 5 months. There are some really nice features, but a couple of issues that have really troubled me.
> 
> The one that presents the biggest problem is the products. SS Activewear loads like it should, whereas the Sanmar auto load seems useless. The Back Image (at least the ones I tried) never seems to load with it, and sometimes it comes with missing color images. The manual load is very slow... and is ... um... manual!
> In addition I did use the SS Activewear, and a couple things I found is 1. they don't have new products, and 2. They have a tremendous amount of discontinued items on their list.
> I will give you 2 examples: 1. Adidas- if you go to polos approx 85% of the list has been discontinued. 2. Timberland- SS Activewear does not carry this line anymore.
> So you have to be careful what you load. I got caught selling 2 Izod Raglan Polo, and had to buy them off Amazon.
> I did submit a ticket over a week ago. I did not ask them to fix it (although that would be nice), because I recognize this is not a quick fix. I was just hoping for an explanation of how it will be rectified in the future or if it will be rectified, so I can feel comfortable moving forward with this product.
> They could not tell me anything, nor could they give me a time frame in which would could have that conversation.
> I would like a solution that would work 3 or 4 years down the road, but with this type of problem I am wondering if this will work 6 months down the road.
> The conclusion that I came away with is that really all you could load automatically are the basics. The rest is a risk, as to whether they will be discontinued or not.
> My question is, how does DecoNetwork handle their product? Do they have similar problems


This is a source of major frustration for us at InkSoft. Most suppliers don't have a feed (electronic data) or have a quality feed. It is very unfortunate.

We, and our users are at the mercy of data available...or lack thereof. We've provided detailed instructions of what is needed for proper feed to suppliers. Most get 'photography' from the mills / manufacturers and won't invest in producing their own. 

Photography is really the main issue. Example: Broder / NES / Alpha has only one image to represent the entire style. They provide only hexidecial colors for all styles. A color only is worthless -- especially in an interactive design environment. 

We've had recent discussions with SanMar and they claim that they will addressing some of the issues mentioned above. We did manage to get discontinued items to no longer display. 

We are hopeful that our users continue to apply the pressure on suppliers to get a proper data feed organized.


----------



## seeourdesigns

InkSoft said:


> This is a source of major frustration for us at InkSoft. Most suppliers don't have a feed (electronic data) or have a quality feed. It is very unfortunate.
> 
> We, and our users are at the mercy of data available...or lack thereof. We've provided detailed instructions of what is needed for proper feed to suppliers. Most get 'photography' from the mills / manufacturers and won't invest in producing their own.
> 
> Photography is really the main issue. Example: Broder / NES / Alpha has only one image to represent the entire style. They provide only hexidecial colors for all styles. A color only is worthless -- especially in an interactive design environment.
> 
> We've had recent discussions with SanMar and they claim that they will addressing some of the issues mentioned above. We did manage to get discontinued items to no longer display.
> 
> We are hopeful that our users continue to apply the pressure on suppliers to get a proper data feed organized.


So to conclude... I am paying for a product that was advertised (by Inksoft) as being able to auto upload SanMar and SS Activewear, but it is not able to successfully.
Is that false advertising?
Ok... so it is not my fault, or Inksoft's fault, but the Distributors fault? And "we" the customer should pressure them?
Isn't that what we pay Inksoft for? or part of it? to negotiate with the distributors?
To me the simple solution is, if you can't provide a service you should not say you can. I just need to know what tools I have and don't have so I can accurately assess the time it will take to maintain my site.


----------



## InkSoft

seeourdesigns said:


> So to conclude... I am paying for a product that was advertised (by Inksoft) as being able to auto upload SanMar and SS Activewear, but it is not able to successfully.
> Is that false advertising?
> Ok... so it is not my fault, or Inksoft's fault, but the Distributors fault? And "we" the customer should pressure them?
> Isn't that what we pay Inksoft for? or part of it? to negotiate with the distributors?
> To me the simple solution is, if you can't provide a service you should not say you can. I just need to know what tools I have and don't have so I can accurately assess the time it will take to maintain my site.


Allow me to clarify: 

We state that we have integration with S&S and SanMar -- Which is accurate. We are integrated and use 100% of the data that SanMar makes available. They have some small deficiencies as noted above (inconsistent images / photography mainly / new products missing).

Yes. Suppliers are responsible for their data. Not InkSoft. Not InkSoft's users. 

As for applying pressure: It's easy for us at InkSoft to say: 'Hey. Create a feed and organize photography using these detailed instructions'. Its another matter when high volume accounts call their suppliers and apply pressure. No supplier wants to lose $1M+ accounts because they can't accomodate their valued clients. 

So, here is the conclusion: S&S Activewear has the best quality photography and feed. SanMar has inconsistent photography and they don't have new products included in their feed. We've made it clear in conference calls how to address these issues. 

If you want to learn more, or discuss please call me directly: JP Hunt / (480) 696-6081. I'd love to share a project that we are working on. We've requested the top selling products in 10 categories from each supplier. We are taking matters into our own hands with imagery. This should be quite helpful. We've created vector templates for male / female -- front and back. We are going to create an 'illustrated' product catalog for each supplier's top selling SKUs. Example: Droplr • Untitled-3* @ 66.67% (RGB-Preview) .png


----------



## seeourdesigns

InkSoft said:


> Allow me to clarify:
> 
> We state that we have integration with S&S and SanMar -- Which is accurate. We are integrated and use 100% of the data that SanMar makes available. They have some small deficiencies as noted above (inconsistent images / photography mainly / new products missing).
> 
> Yes. Suppliers are responsible for their data. Not InkSoft. Not InkSoft's users.
> 
> As for applying pressure: It's easy for us at InkSoft to say: 'Hey. Create a feed and organize photography using these detailed instructions'. Its another matter when high volume accounts call their suppliers and apply pressure. No supplier wants to lose $1M+ accounts because they can't accomodate their valued clients.
> 
> So, here is the conclusion: S&S Activewear has the best quality photography and feed. SanMar has inconsistent photography and they don't have new products included in their feed. We've made it clear in conference calls how to address these issues.
> 
> If you want to learn more, or discuss please call me directly: JP Hunt / (480) 696-6081. I'd love to share a project that we are working on. We've requested the top selling products in 10 categories from each supplier. We are taking matters into our own hands with imagery. This should be quite helpful. We've created vector templates for male / female -- front and back. We are going to create an 'illustrated' product catalog for each supplier's top selling SKUs. Example: Droplr • Untitled-3* @ 66.67% (RGB-Preview) .png


I am not sure which conference call this has been made clear. My job ticket is still open. Last I heard, which was Friday, was there was no resolution and there was no clear idea when there would be resolution. 
That being said this type of response is what I have been looking for, for the past week. How is this going to be resolved moving forward? Sounds like you have a plan, I am interested in hearing about it. I will give you a call tomorrow afternoon.


----------



## bumperk

Just adding my 2 cents. We have been using inksoft for about 2 months. It took us a few weeks to get it set up and then we released it to our customers and had $13k in sales so far. We expect that to go much higher as we actually start hitting them with print advertising (right now it is only email). The trick is, we already had a customer base. InkSoft is a design tool, not a marketing tool. It won't increase your sales without you doing the marketing to show why it is so good to use. 

Honestly, though, the InkSoft system is not perfect - but they are working on it and making it better almost every week. The good news is that the front end is nearly perfect (except the CC expiration date format - that is just silly). The end customer should be able to figure things out very quickly. The backend has the most problems, but I was able to preview the new backup GUI recently and that upgrade will fix most things. 

The system as a whole is the most flexible and fullest build in terms of options. There are small bugs with some artwork not rendering - but that has always been resolved with a ticket requesting the render and they have some magic they can make happen in the background.

As for price, I am worried that the price is too low. Our company is investing heavily in InkSoft design templates and simple time it takes to master a new system. At $150/month compared the $k's we are putting in time, the cost seems a bit on the light side. I hope they are charging enough to stick around a good long while.

For established businesses, I think this is a great addition. For new businesses who are willing to get out there and sell their web presence, it is also great. For someone hoping orders will fall in their lap because they have a website, this is not the solution.

Thats my few hundred words in a very long thread where this has probably all been said...


----------



## Henry1rew4er

I would make the investment if I knew that it has worked for others.


----------



## seeourdesigns

Just a quick update. Last Monday JP did call me. Had a nice conversation, and said he would call me Tue with the resolution. 
I never heard from him. On Wed Joseph called and said there would be an feed from SS and Sanmar to fix this, and my trouble ticket would be closed. So on Friday I checked and went to upload products. I did not notice a difference. I called to let them know, and received voicemail. I left a message. Joseph called back and left a a message, but I have not heard from him since. I have sent an email and tried to call (voice mail is full). 
But the problem persist. I have uploaded images of screen when I upload products. There are still a lot of products on their auto load system that are discontinued. The items I have highlighted are just examples, there are many more. Be careful what you upload, it could get you in trouble with your customer, like it has in my case.


----------



## jgabby

I add a look to the pricing for InkSoft Max Pro

The idea is great, but it is really really expansive.

Imagine 2 years with it, more than $ 6k, this is more than the price to make it from scratch in india...


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

I signed up for inksoft 4 days ago and I am seriously regretting it! I have a scheduled phone call tomorrow to try and work through the issues I am having but truth be told I am 95% certain I am going to have to cancel it and take it up the you know where with their $375 cancellation fee. Bottom line, I will never again buy software from any company that does not let you kick the tires for at least a week without having to loose money and I should have known better. 

I am no web genius by any means but I am also not an idiot either and I find the back end of inksoft a big mess and the customization abilities on the front end are bad at best. On some of the templates you cannot even change the color schemes. My feelings are the $1,000 set up fee is way to much and the monthly fee should be $99 a month. 

I was able to set up this website on shopify in literally one day without any web experience TUANIS APPAREL LLC | Tuanis is an authentic lifestyle brand rooted in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, outdoor adventure, music, arts and more. and have a good understanding of what the heck is going on but with inksoft I am LOST LOST LOST! 

Anyway just want others to know it's not so simple so they don't end up loosing $375 the hard way like I am going to :-(

I do want to make sure everyone knows I am not bashing the inksoft people by any means, every time I have emailed them for help they get right back to me but they do need to make some serious changes to the program because if one of the big boys like Shopify decide to add a design plugin they are going to be in trouble! 

Take Care



PhillyGal2008 said:


> I am interested in having my customers design their own products on my website and just came across Inksoft. Has anyone used this software or have any feedback concerning it? It is pretty expensive but so far seems like the easiest to navigate "design it yourself" tool. I would make the investment if I knew that it has worked for others.


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

I canceled my account only after 4 days and they still charged me $370.00! My advise is do not go with any company that charges a up front fee without a free trial. This was a very expensive lesson I had to learn so I hope no one else makes the same mistake I did. I should have gone with Deco Network, the money I lost in 4 days with inksoft could have paid for four months. 



TUANISAPPAREL said:


> I signed up for inksoft 4 days ago and I am seriously regretting it! I have a scheduled phone call tomorrow to try and work through the issues I am having but truth be told I am 95% certain I am going to have to cancel it and take it up the you know where with their $375 cancellation fee. Bottom line, I will never again buy software from any company that does not let you kick the tires for at least a week without having to loose money and I should have known better.
> 
> I am no web genius by any means but I am also not an idiot either and I find the back end of inksoft a big mess and the customization abilities on the front end are bad at best. On some of the templates you cannot even change the color schemes. My feelings are the $1,000 set up fee is way to much and the monthly fee should be $99 a month.
> 
> I was able to set up this website on shopify in literally one day without any web experience TUANIS APPAREL LLC | Tuanis is an authentic lifestyle brand rooted in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, outdoor adventure, music, arts and more. and have a good understanding of what the heck is going on but with inksoft I am LOST LOST LOST!
> 
> Anyway just want others to know it's not so simple so they don't end up loosing $375 the hard way like I am going to :-(
> 
> I do want to make sure everyone knows I am not bashing the inksoft people by any means, every time I have emailed them for help they get right back to me but they do need to make some serious changes to the program because if one of the big boys like Shopify decide to add a design plugin they are going to be in trouble!
> 
> Take Care


----------



## Cortwrong

If you watch the videos you will have no problems. I was set up and running in just over a day. It is a very large product with lots of details and options. If you take your time and watch the videos you will have a better site than any other custom print site out there. Not even the big guys like custom ink have a site as good as mine and I only print about 300 shirts a month.


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## uniquekreations

Cortwrong said:


> If you watch the videos you will have no problems. I was set up and running in just over a day. It is a very large product with lots of details and options. If you take your time and watch the videos you will have a better site than any other custom print site out there. Not even the big guys like custom ink have a site as good as mine and I only print about 300 shirts a month.


What's your site?


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

Cortwrong said:


> If you watch the videos you will have no problems. I was set up and running in just over a day. It is a very large product with lots of details and options. If you take your time and watch the videos you will have a better site than any other custom print site out there. Not even the big guys like custom ink have a site as good as mine and I only print about 300 shirts a month.


What is your website link?


----------



## southlandgraphic

I have been a inksoft user since the beginning. We have invested countless resources in time and money in developing our own system. When we found inksoft it was in beta and we saw promise even then. A big think inksoft had was color counting, automatic color counting. For screenprinters this is a NECESSITY and its something that Deco and others just dont handle very well. In the case of Deco they actually ask the customer to indicate how many colors are in the design because their system cannot count how many colors are in a design, even vectors. This is a huge problem.

When it comes to having a TEAM behind you, inksoft is great! I don't know how many people have really invested the time, let alone the money, in exploring building out a infrastructure like that of (customink,zazzle etc). There is ALLOT involved.

I for one love that INKSOFT has a whole team running tasks, updates, and all for me (and other users). It means I don't have to keep 5 or more people on payroll. Most tickets, if not all, are answered within the hour and the owners of inksoft are very heavily invested in making sure Inksoft stays around for the long haul, just in case you were worried about Inksoft fading away.

I just wanted to share some thoughts, I think Inksoft is a great product but it is not a PERFECT product, nothing is. But the team behind it is extremely committed to making sure Inksoft is the best platform out there.


----------



## DGPAGF

I have been using Inksoft for about 9 months. The back end is so convoluted it is not funny. Yes you can watch the videos, but it should not be that hard to figure out. They should hide most of the options and give a wizard, only setting the most important things. I even had their own tech support not figuring why a pricing was coming out the way it was and that was because there is so many places that effect pricing you have to keep drilling down to figure it out.

Sanmar products do not come in correctly. For instance Sanmar gives a product sku and an sku for each color, but when you order from the Sanmar site you can only search by the product sku not the color. Inksoft only shows the color sku in the work order which makes ordering difficult. Besides that we have a bug that wont let us submit an order to Sanmar. Their regular expression for images is the pits, It can't figure out what images belong to which product in the batch upload, so most of the time it fails. Loading images one at a time is very time consuming because it reloads the page and hides the product after each upload. I know I could do a better job with regular expression then they do.

Then their image cache hardly ever updates. Load an image and you rarely see it, you either see a blue circle graphic or the old image. That is with all three major browsers. 

The quick quote works fine, but if you want to show them a graphic it is not so easy.

The artwork does not get rendered for production as it does for thumbnails. The customer may see thumbnails with transparency, but then rendered art will not have it. 

Last and the big one, more than half of our customers have not been able to complete an order, either not being able to figure it out or in fails in the process.

The design studio is way to small. They act like we are still using screen sizes of the 90's. Flash allows for a full screen view.

We are still using Inksoft and may continue to do so as we hope things get iron out.


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

The simple fact that they don't allow a free trial should tell you something. $375 just to test it out is a RIP off!!


----------



## jesterapparel

TUANISAPPAREL said:


> The simple fact that they don't allow a free trial should tell you something. $375 just to test it out is a RIP off!!


Hey Tuaniapparel, Can I have your number? I want to try you out for free for a week. You know spend hours on the phone with you for a week and have you design shirt designs for me for a week. If I like them I may place an order. If not, I'll pay nothing.

Inksoft is the best out there by far. If you expect it to make money for you with you doing little work than this isn't for you. You have to spend days setting it up and months marketing it. You get what you put in it.

Try and create your own. It will cost you ten of thousands of dollars and way more man hours learning it and it still won't be near as good as inksoft.

Inksoft has fixed it's art issue, now hopefully they will fix the back in pricing so it's not so complicated.

It's a great product compare to the others.


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

Your not even making any sence I don't sell sofware. You have to compare apples to apples and guess what I have printed many free things for people to try and earn their buisness sometimes it pays off other times not, it's part of doing business. I don't care what hype you want to pump about insoft $1, 000 setup fee for templates that you can't even change colors on half of them is a rip off! $149 a month is fine but $1, 000 for what??? The back end is a mess even the inksoft guys I spoke to admitted it. I am glad you are happy and successful but I am a startup and don't have time or money to pay someone to spend weeks setting up a website that I was pitched as being easy and turn key.


----------



## jesterapparel

TUANISAPPAREL said:


> Your not even making any sence I don't sell sofware. You have to compare apples to apples and guess what I have printed many free things for people to try and earn their buisness sometimes it pays off other times not, it's part of doing business. I don't care what hype you want to pump about insoft $1, 000 setup fee for templates that you can't even change colors on half of them is a rip off! $149 a month is fine but $1, 000 for what??? The back end is a mess even the inksoft guys I spoke to admitted it. I am glad you are happy and successful but I am a startup and don't have time or money to pay someone to spend weeks setting up a website that I was pitched as being easy and turn key.


You can change color on all their templates now I think. Came out last week. It's pretty sweet. 

Again, it must not be for you. But you should have asked the question on whether there was a free trail. If you did and they said yes, then you have the right to complain. 

$1,000 for what? So they can make money and improve the product. Nothing wrong with them asking that if the market bears it.


----------



## bumperk

Honestly TUANISAPPAREL, either pay the set-up fee or don't. Complaining about it continually seems a bit silly. Honestly, it is obvious that the set-up is very complex - and it is how they chose to do business. Is inkSoft perfect? No. Is it good? Absolutely. We have over $28k in sales on inkSoft now after 5 weeks. It has been a hard learning curve, but we are making money and the product is only getting better. Everyone wants flexibility without complexity - but it is near impossible to have both (it is certainly impossible to make everyone happy - as this thread shows).


----------



## Bae1ayri7c

We are still growing ours, but it's been worth it.


----------



## TUANISAPPAREL

I disagree, shopify is very flexable and not complex. Does it have a t shirt designer? NO but thats not what makes inksoft complex its everything else about it. Look you like inksoft I get that and I don't have an isuue with your opinion but for now with the way they have the back end set up I want people to know that if you don't want a cookie cutter website like everyone else using inksoft be prepared to soend $5k to $10k 

Why is it that shopify can offer merchant services like stripe that does not charge a monthly fee and inksoft cant? I am done waisting my time on this thread my, only reason I posted was so people could get a balanced view of the good and the bad and make an educated decision. I am glad you sold a lot with it that is great!


----------



## DGPAGF

One more other thing that I forgot about Inksoft. They have a product feed for Google merchant account, but the problem like so much of inksoft there is a failure. Google finds bad links in the feed and disables your account.


----------



## thec0wboy

Just curious...

Does inksoft offer solutions for other types of websites? We have a vinyl decal business and a print show interested in doing something similar to this. I haven't browsed all the pages, but everything is t-shirt related. Did anyone post anything other than that?

(Yes - I do realize I'm on a t-shirtforum) lol


----------



## Coaster

I have seen inksoft sites that sold mugs and othrr promotional products


----------



## krokker

I have tie dye tees in one store without the design studio implemented. Limited only to your imagination and product. You can have multiple stores with the ability to be exclusive or even hidden. I like that.


----------



## LG86Print

DGPAGF said:


> I have been using Inksoft for about 9 months. The back end is so convoluted it is not funny. Yes you can watch the videos, but it should not be that hard to figure out. They should hide most of the options and give a wizard, only setting the most important things. I even had their own tech support not figuring why a pricing was coming out the way it was and that was because there is so many places that effect pricing you have to keep drilling down to figure it out.
> 
> Sanmar products do not come in correctly. For instance Sanmar gives a product sku and an sku for each color, but when you order from the Sanmar site you can only search by the product sku not the color. Inksoft only shows the color sku in the work order which makes ordering difficult. Besides that we have a bug that wont let us submit an order to Sanmar. Their regular expression for images is the pits, It can't figure out what images belong to which product in the batch upload, so most of the time it fails. Loading images one at a time is very time consuming because it reloads the page and hides the product after each upload. I know I could do a better job with regular expression then they do.
> 
> Then their image cache hardly ever updates. Load an image and you rarely see it, you either see a blue circle graphic or the old image. That is with all three major browsers.
> 
> The quick quote works fine, but if you want to show them a graphic it is not so easy.
> 
> The artwork does not get rendered for production as it does for thumbnails. The customer may see thumbnails with transparency, but then rendered art will not have it.
> 
> Last and the big one, more than half of our customers have not been able to complete an order, either not being able to figure it out or in fails in the process.
> 
> The design studio is way to small. They act like we are still using screen sizes of the 90's. Flash allows for a full screen view.
> 
> We are still using Inksoft and may continue to do so as we hope things get iron out.


We are having the same issue. How have you resolved ?? How is the marketing of the site going ? Lots of interest but found that the landing pages are not user friendly ?
Would like to hear your thoughts


----------



## HumbleShirts

What engine is behind the design studio of www.logosportswear.com?

Is this an Inksoft implementation? Anyone know or is it a custom piece like www.customink.com?


----------



## jesterapparel

HTT130 said:


> What engine is behind the design studio of www.logosportswear.com?
> 
> Is this an Inksoft implementation? Anyone know or is it a custom piece like www.customink.com?


It's not inksoft


----------



## nathancummings

I was wondering what everyone thinks about using this program for a t-shirt shop that may only want to sell 1 or 2 shirts at a time instead of a bulk amount?


----------



## codyjoe

We've been using InkSoft for a few sites for some time now so I can tell you it's both good and bad.

The software is phenomenal on the eCommerce side of things as you can directly insert thousands of products and allow people to create their own designs within the Design Studio and you just need to download the vector file and you're ready to print.

The site falls extremely short when it comes to designing a site and establishing any form of an SEO presence. Your best bet is to do as we've done and have a professional web designer develop a great looking site that you can continue improving SEO on over-time.

There's just no way to design their fairly crappy/lackluster templates for all their customers. So spend the extra money and build a website that has an awesome eCommerce aspect to it and you'll be set for a few years.


----------



## HumbleShirts

codyjoe said:


> There's just no way to design their fairly crappy/lackluster templates for all their customers. So spend the extra money and build a website that has an awesome eCommerce aspect to it and you'll be set for a few years.


 
So you recommend building your site around Inksoft and use it in an iFrame? Is that what you're getting at?


----------



## codyjoe

HTT130 said:


> So you recommend building your site around Inksoft and use it in an iFrame? Is that what you're getting at?


Pretty much. Just incorporate the Design Studio as an iFrame along with any of the other features. The main thing with InkSoft is that their back-end is extremely proficient so just plug the system into your own custom website and you'll be good to go.


----------



## brixen

VAprinter said:


> I have just joined and purchased inksoft recently, and I am very impress with the whole wire frame and layout of it all. The support team is top notch and I believe this is what us garment decorators are going to need to be able to keep up with the changing times. JP and Anya are ,what seems to me, to be the backbone of the operation. They provide exceptional support and should be the face of customer service for every company that is out there. The technology and html coding of the wireframe are as up to date as any other major website out there and there is so much that the site can offer to printers as a whole. Well worth the money, if you wanna step your game up.


do you have link to your site. ? you are speaking like you are selling it. ? or do you have a site yourself. ?


----------



## codyjoe

I'm hoping someone can help me with this. I'm specifically trying to get in contact with someone running an InkSoft site that has been achieving some decent traffic. We've got two InkSoft sites, one running through WordPress (still not complete because InkSoft doesn't support custom sites and wont help much). The other is a template on the InkSoft system and that's the one we're struggling with to gain traction. If you've been using InkSoft for a bit now then please send me a message on here as I've got some questions particularly about SEO within the system and best practices you've found to work.


----------



## HumbleShirts

I think you'll find that people that have figured that out will want remuneration to provide that kind of information. A lot of that can be proprietary and have a lot of cost on the front side.

I usually freely offer advice on most matters of our business but there is a reason that people won't freely discuss what works for them with SEO. They'd just be handing you their customers on a silver platter.

I say you find a good SEO marketing firm that specializes in this area and go from there. Remember, your investment into the Inksoft solution doesn't stop with just the purchase of their platform. There is a lot of work and cost involved in tweaking your site for YOU! Budget for this or you won't get very far.


----------



## Dornoch

LG86Print said:


> We are having the same issue. How have you resolved ?? How is the marketing of the site going ? Lots of interest but found that the landing pages are not user friendly ?
> Would like to hear your thoughts


AGREED! It is NOT an easy platform and has few options to customize to actually make your online storefront LOOK GOOD and PROFESSIONAL. I've asked my partner to integrate the software into the ecommerce sites of the clients we are managing this program for but he said you can't because you still have to "check out" on the inksoft platform. aka it would navigate away from the site where the customer chooses and builds the order. 

I don't know how all that works I just know they paid a fortune for a "custom design" platform that our client doesn't even use because its inadequate technology. As many times as I've consoled them to terminate the service they won't because they "hope it will get better". 

My opinion, It's no surprise or great wonder that inksoft is a horrible program considering they got it through a deal when they purchased their anajet mP5 (p for paperweight). 14 months later and over 30K later and they haven't been able to use either!! I feel for my clients loss!


----------



## codyjoe

Serr77ano said:


> I would make the investment if I knew that it has worked for others.


The system works just fine. They give you a few very basic to design your site on though and it has very limited SEO capabilities and that's where the issue comes into play. It seems InkSoft and DecoNetwork are kind of in the same boat when it comes to installing their systems on custom sites. Both allow you to simply copy & paste an embed code for the Design Studio but when it comes to displaying the products on any page within a custom website built on say WordPress, you have to use the API's supplied by both companies and have it custom coded to properly display the information.


----------



## GaSlim8

I want to ask a "dumb" question regarding the Inkspot site. Do they print and ship the products or is it simply a design and quote website and printers still print the actual products? It may be obvious but I am new and looking into the service for design purposes only.


----------



## ericsson2416

It's design and quote. We're trying to implement it in out store to run the whole process from start to finish for our customers but still seems to have some bugs in it. Hopefully the new version they are beta testing will be an improvement.


----------



## GaSlim8

ericsson2416 said:


> It's design and quote. We're trying to implement it in out store to run the whole process from start to finish for our customers but still seems to have some bugs in it. Hopefully the new version they are beta testing will be an improvement.


Thank you!


----------



## codyjoe

ericsson2416 said:


> It's design and quote. We're trying to implement it in out store to run the whole process from start to finish for our customers but still seems to have some bugs in it. Hopefully the new version they are beta testing will be an improvement.


What issues are you specifically running into with your InkSoft store? Perhaps I could help as I've spent a lot of time trying to implement it into our custom t shirt site. How it functions, we no longer have bugs. It's just trying to display things like products properly on an external site (like ours) that is a problem.


----------



## ericsson2416

Hey CodyJoe

We're still struggling and have been with the outsourcing function (inksoft has been working on fixing a glitch for the last two weeks), some of the outlines in the artwork pull from the site chopped up or broken (inksoft has a work around), and simple things like shockwave crashing, product pricing, and formatting of pages. To inksoft's credit they are quick to respond usually with some type of workaround for the time being. I'm anxious for but nervous of the new update. When we updated to their latest artwork pack (which was awesome) we lost and had to redo SEO info we had for the categories. It's a work in progress.

Thanks for the offer.


----------



## cottonking

Well, It has lots of nice features. There is a learning curve of course, they do have a great support team but you have to email them with questions and they get back to you. They have video tutorials but some are old and not the same as current format. That is a little frustrating to be honest if your trying to do something and now you may have to wait until the next day to get your question answered. I recommend 2 computers side by side to build your site, one to watch the video and the other to build as you watch the videos.

a couple of major problems is the templates are kinda klunky looking, you can change that if you can write html code, there is a place you can create your own areas to make it look cleaner and not like a template but you have to use html. the other is when you want to order 2 different sku's (products) with the same design. it does not recognize them as the same order, so 24 long sleeve tees and 24 short sleeve tees will get priced out as 2 orders of 24 pieces instead of one 48 piece order. It can change the price quite a bit for the customer. It's a great site if your selling pre printed shirts. Trinity International University - Cotton King is one of the stores we run on this software. I am still putzing around with our main site...but don't like the way it looks need to change it with the html code modifications. 

cost is about $1500.00 plus $165.00 per month flat fee.


----------



## codyjoe

ericsson2416 said:


> Hey CodyJoe
> 
> We're still struggling and have been with the outsourcing function (inksoft has been working on fixing a glitch for the last two weeks), some of the outlines in the artwork pull from the site chopped up or broken (inksoft has a work around), and simple things like shockwave crashing, product pricing, and formatting of pages. To inksoft's credit they are quick to respond usually with some type of workaround for the time being. I'm anxious for but nervous of the new update. When we updated to their latest artwork pack (which was awesome) we lost and had to redo SEO info we had for the categories. It's a work in progress.
> 
> Thanks for the offer.


I don't mean to crush your hopes but the new update is nothing more than a revamp of the back-end. Currently dabbling around in the settings is like working on extremely early stages of web development systems that were around ten years ago. They're just making it look pretty and easier for every user to understand. When it comes to the core functionality, website templates, and SEO (all of which InkSoft lacks severely in) they will not be touched in this update.


----------



## garagegirl

We are small. Think little. We live in an economically depressed nipple of Southern Illinois. We don't want to process payments online. We only want a design lab linked to our cheapo GoDaddy website, that serves our purpose fine. We aren't looking to compete with anyone else. We just want an easier way for our regular clients to create their own art. As it is now, they go to Custom Ink, design it and then send us the email that says "this is what we have in mind, can you do something similar". This seems shysty to me. I don't want to pay anyone any portion of my gross fees. I want to pay a one-time amount for the lab and then maybe a monthly fee for the site upkeep. Am I unreasonable?...(this is where everyone else in my life says I'm unreasonable about everything.)


----------



## DCans

garagegirl said:


> We are small. Think little. We live in an economically depressed nipple of Southern Illinois. We don't want to process payments online. We only want a design lab linked to our cheapo GoDaddy website, that serves our purpose fine. We aren't looking to compete with anyone else. We just want an easier way for our regular clients to create their own art. As it is now, they go to Custom Ink, design it and then send us the email that says "this is what we have in mind, can you do something similar". This seems shysty to me. I don't want to pay anyone any portion of my gross fees. I want to pay a one-time amount for the lab and then maybe a monthly fee for the site upkeep. Am I unreasonable?...(this is where everyone else in my life says I'm unreasonable about everything.)


Amy have you looked at OpenTshirts – T-Shirt Design Website and Software


----------



## HumbleShirts

garagegirl said:


> Am I unreasonable?...(this is where everyone else in my life says I'm unreasonable about everything.)


Uh, pretty much. Even designers work for a living and you can either pay their asking price or hire a developer to design it from scratch for you.

Things in life are just not free, as much as you would like them to be.

What I don't get is why people want to pay so little or NOTHING for a tool that will make them money.

It's like being in the t-shirt printing business and expecting the suppliers to give you their ink for free.

Incredible!


----------



## sgosline

I became interested in Ink Soft when I was looking for business management software and found out that Ink Soft had recently added it to their program. I went back to the beginning of this thread which was in 2011 and started reading, then skipped to the end. It was interesting that most of the sites that were posted look like they are no longer in business or are still under construction? Are any of those earlier users still around and are they still happy with the Ink Soft program?


----------



## codyjoe

sgosline said:


> ...Are any of those earlier users still around and are they still happy with the Ink Soft program?


We've been using them for awhile now. Overall it's very useful but you have to take advantage of what's given to you. It's no lie that the stock InkSoft sites are very difficult to work with in regards to SEO. Also, just about all of them look like very old websites. We've got one site (Graphix Outlet, for local use) that is strictly using one of InkSoft's templates. Where we have another site (Best American Tees, national use) with some of the InkSoft data embedded (Design Studio, Designs, Products) on WordPress.

If you're looking to accomplish national sales you absolutely need to have a custom site.

I should add that InkSoft recently updated to a great new back-end and they will be releasing a brand new front-end system shortly along with two new templates that should look much better. With a new front-end system I would assume that brings along better SEO so I would recommend jumping on board now.


----------



## krokker

I have had inksoft for about a year or so. I have local clients/schools that are now using it to design what they want and contact me for a quote. It's a real time saver and valuable tool for me as a small start up. I still find need to hire out to freelance graphic artists for some things, but my design ability and inksoft covers most of it for me. I have had no real luck with online orders, but It is not an issue at this point. I am in the process of building secret stores for potential clients/shops with specific needs (smoke shops etc.). I like it.


----------



## codyjoe

krokker said:


> ...I have local clients/schools that are now using it to design what they want...


This is where InkSoft is extremely powerful. Setting up custom stores for schools can be a massive advantage. It makes it an easily sell as well. If you can get in touch with some schools and just show them the system and how easy it is for students and parents to purchase merchandise, you'll be golden.


----------



## InkSoft

krokker said:


> I have had inksoft for about a year or so. I have local clients/schools that are now using it to design what they want and contact me for a quote. It's a real time saver and valuable tool for me as a small start up. I still find need to hire out to freelance graphic artists for some things, but my design ability and inksoft covers most of it for me. I have had no real luck with online orders, but It is not an issue at this point. I am in the process of building secret stores for potential clients/shops with specific needs (smoke shops etc.). I like it.


Thanks for the feedback. Have you all seen what we did with InkSoft Business Tools? This is a new series of features to support the everyday type of activities such as quoting, invoicing, art approvals, scheduling etc. 

Make sure to check out Business Tools here.

Our next major undertaking is to add more value to the InkSoft front-end. The new Design Studio is the first component to this. 

2014 will be an exciting time to be an InkSoft user.


----------



## sgosline

For the business tools, one thing I did not see was whether it will integrate with QuickBooks.


----------



## InkSoft

sgosline said:


> For the business tools, one thing I did not see was whether it will integrate with QuickBooks.


It does! See here.


----------



## PrintMyThreads

InkSoft said:


> It does! See here.


Does this include Quickbooks Online or only the desktop versions? I watched the video and it doesn't specify if the export function integrates with Quickbooks Online.

Thanks!


----------



## Anonoprinter

InkSoft said:


> Thanks for the feedback. Have you all seen what we did with InkSoft Business Tools? This is a new series of features to support the everyday type of activities such as quoting, invoicing, art approvals, scheduling etc.
> 
> Make sure to check out Business Tools here.
> 
> Our next major undertaking is to add more value to the InkSoft front-end. The new Design Studio is the first component to this.
> 
> 2014 will be an exciting time to be an InkSoft user.


Regarding the new business tools, is it possible to convert a quote to an order? We haven't figured out how to do this yet. Thanks in advance.


----------



## InkSoft

PrintMyThreads said:


> Does this include Quickbooks Online or only the desktop versions? I watched the video and it doesn't specify if the export function integrates with Quickbooks Online.
> 
> Thanks!


InkSoft generates a QuickBooks .IFF file format. This can be imported into QuickBooks desktop. It is common to use the Desktop version as a bridge to sync data to a QuickBook online account. 

Learn more about QuickBooks .IFF format here.


----------



## PrintMyThreads

InkSoft said:


> InkSoft generates a QuickBooks .IFF file format. This can be imported into QuickBooks desktop. It is common to use the Desktop version as a bridge to sync data to a QuickBook online account.
> 
> Learn more about QuickBooks .IFF format here.



Thanks for the quick response... just did a little digging in the Help Center for Quickbooks online since importing files has been an issue for us before and it looks like QB Online doesn not accept .iif files. 

Just thought I'd give you a heads up as this would be a nice feature.

I know there's a way to import invoices into QB Online since Printavo has this feature/option available... just not sure how it's done.


----------



## Anonoprinter

(Bump)

Any ideas on this question?

Regarding the new business tools, is it possible to convert a quote to an order? We haven't figured out how to do this yet. Thanks in advance.


----------



## InkSoft

Anonoprinter said:


> (Bump)
> 
> Any ideas on this question?
> 
> Regarding the new business tools, is it possible to convert a quote to an order? We haven't figured out how to do this yet. Thanks in advance.


Indeed! You can convert a Quote to an Invoice as seen here. You can also revert an Invoice to a Quote. 

Once you convert to an Invoice you can, or your users can make payments against the invoice. 

We are also in the process of developing a 'Production Manager' as seen here. This will allow you to manage online orders and invoices in a centralized workflow.


----------



## Anonoprinter

InkSoft said:


> Indeed! You can convert a Quote to an Invoice as seen here. You can also revert an Invoice to a Quote.
> 
> Once you convert to an Invoice you can, or your users can make payments against the invoice.
> 
> We are also in the process of developing a 'Production Manager' as seen here. This will allow you to manage online orders and invoices in a centralized workflow.


Great! Thank you!


----------



## justin_86

Does Inksoft have integration with Xero account software?

Also is there a demo for the backend? very interested after seeing the new updates.


----------



## InkSoft

justin_86 said:


> Does Inksoft have integration with Xero account software?
> 
> Also is there a demo for the backend? very interested after seeing the new updates.


Not familiar with Aero. Can you import data via Excel?

We don't have a public demo of the InkSoft backend. We offer personalized, one-on-one tours of the backend. Give us a call and we'd be happy to show you around!


----------



## hbapparel

Hey JP, I sent a contact form in a week ago about beta testing the Kiosk designer and a couple other questions. If you could, would you PM me? 

Thanks
Antony


----------



## InkSoft

hbapparel said:


> Hey JP, I sent a contact form in a week ago about beta testing the Kiosk designer and a couple other questions. If you could, would you PM me?
> 
> Thanks
> Antony


Send me a PM with your contact vitals and I will follow up. 

Thanks.


----------



## justin_86

InkSoft said:


> Not familiar with Aero. Can you import data via Excel?
> 
> We don't have a public demo of the InkSoft backend. We offer personalized, one-on-one tours of the backend. Give us a call and we'd be happy to show you around!


PM sent.

I cant call since im in Australia.


----------



## tshirtsrus

Any plans to have a version in Spanish? Also how it works with thermal vinyl process?

Thank you.


----------



## InkSoft

tshirtsrus said:


> Any plans to have a version in Spanish? Also how it works with thermal vinyl process?
> 
> Thank you.


Part of our product roadmap includes localizing InkSoft for other languages, currencies, taxes, payment processor and shipping vendor support. This is quite an undertaking! At this time we don't have an ETA.


----------



## tshirtsrus

InkSoft said:


> Part of our product roadmap includes localizing InkSoft for other languages, currencies, taxes, payment processor and shipping vendor support. This is quite an undertaking! At this time we don't have an ETA.


Thank you.

How about the vinyl process?


----------



## InkSoft

tshirtsrus said:


> Thank you.
> 
> How about the vinyl process?


For vinyl: You can set up unlimited pricing schedules, i.e., 'vinyl heat transfer' and set pricing per color. 

Then, you can assign the a print pricing schedule to a product. 

In short, InkSoft support vinyl production / pricing.


----------



## tshirtsrus

InkSoft said:


> For vinyl: You can set up unlimited pricing schedules, i.e., 'vinyl heat transfer' and set pricing per color.
> 
> Then, you can assign the a print pricing schedule to a product.
> 
> In short, InkSoft support vinyl production / pricing.


Great! Thank you.

I may switch from a competitor of yours, they don't support heat transfer vinyl, I've been waiting for more than a year for this feature.


----------



## justin_86

Wow a vinyl option sounds great!!!!

Hopeing you can work with me in Aus


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## VeggieSan

Hi. We have just started using deconetwork. Im very impressed with it. I know it doesnt support vinyl yet but i just used the screen printing option n changed it. Also yes thay do take a 1.85% from online SALES if your customer pays cash or another way that isnt through ur site then ur fine. Besides from what u get with deco its a small price to pay. 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using T-Shirt Forums


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## SAIL

Subscribing to thread...


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## garagegirl

HumbleShirts said:


> Uh, pretty much. Even designers work for a living and you can either pay their asking price or hire a developer to design it from scratch for you.
> 
> Things in life are just not free, as much as you would like them to be.
> 
> What I don't get is why people want to pay so little or NOTHING for a tool that will make them money.
> 
> It's like being in the t-shirt printing business and expecting the suppliers to give you their ink for free.
> 
> Incredible!


I don't expect ANYTHING for free. I don't mind paying a flat fee for anything, but I'll not play the portion of my gross game. Not an option.


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## acca

It a business decision for each individual to make. We prefer to pay monthly and receive tech support and improvements. I will say inksoft is constantly enchancing it's services. For example, they just recently added "business tools" which allows us to send digital invoices to customers which they can then review and make a payment, all online securely. This is great for those of us that run a brick and mortar shop as well as have an online presence, It really helps with cash flow.

We've tried many other options before and only inksoft has allowed us to actually make a profit, it really pays for itself. One thing I should mention, you cannot just have a website up and expect business to follow.
Customer will only purchase though your website if they trust you, you need to build reputation. In our case, we have a physical location for customers to visit and get comfortable.


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## 6stitches

I agree with ACCA...You can't just create your page and expect to have the sales flow in. That is true for your main store front and any other sub store you build in Inksoft. SEO is key and I am in no way a master at it. It is a lot of work. This is my first time working with a website so I could not say if Inksoft has a nice set up for handling the SEO facet of building your store. 

We signed up with Inksoft in July of 2013 year and went live with our main page in September 2013. There are many ins and outs of creating the main site and it took me about two solid weeks of work to get it decent enough to go live. We have encountered bugs along the way and the Inksoft crew has been there to help. Some answers/solutions take longer than others and knowing that a problem is occurring on your live site makes the wait feel like an eternity. I think what makes the bugs so frustrating is that some of the bugs are found either by customers or by chance while using your own site. You begin to wonder how long they have been there. This could happen on any site I guess; so it is cool that you can at least browse the support site or email them for help. That is a plus. 

I believe that the initial investment we made was worth it and we have made the decision to revisit the service at the end of the year. We are on the Inksoft Pro tier and there is only the monthly flat fee from Inksoft. It is a nice presence even with the standard templates which is what we use at the moment. After reading through the threads, I realize that I should have accounted for having someone code a custom page for us on top of the Inksoft platform. Having products, design templates, clip art, Design Studio, and back end management in place is worth the price. I believe we would have paid a lot more for a new custom site and support. Here are a list of things I think could make it better:

1. There is no easy way for a customer to message you directly. Meaning to click on a link or page to enter some basic information to request a quote and add some attachments. The Inksoft team suggested Wufoo to embed some coding for forms. There is an additional monthly fee associated with using these forms and it is not the only one (see # 3 below; meaning, that the fees for features eventually begin to accumulate). It seems that there should already be a way to do this since it seems crucial for a customer to be able to easily send you a message. The "Quick Quote" link is basic and does not really establish a connection with the potential client. 

2. It would be cool at some point to allow for "drag and drop" (I am not sure if that is the correct term) type page building. Even to modify existing templates. It took me one full day to research online on how to center a banner on my page. It is funny but goes to show that I am not a web builder. I would much rather be screen printing instead of trying to figure out HTML code. 

3. The shipping module is good. Keep in mind that there is an additional cost of $15 +/- a month to use Stamps.com to provide a USPS shipping option. Sometimes the UPS shipping rate is very high so we wanted to have a US Mail option on the list. It would be great if we could work directly with USPS and just pay and print for postage that we use. Stamps.com requires you to put money into an account to use their service. I go directly to USPS site now and only pay for what I need. 

4. I saw a post that someone was having an issue with the vector artwork downloading with some discrepancies. I have found this to be true on outlines/contours and layout discrepancies from designs created by the customer. I even went as far as to vinyl cut some artwork only to find that some of the design elements in the artwork version I downloaded were overlapping and conflicting with the layout that the customer created where same elements that did not overlap. I can see this being a huge problem for users without vector program experience who buy into the service believing that the artwork arrives in ready to separate and print level. Do not get me wrong the Design Studio is a real nice feature to have and it is easy to use. But you have to sell it to your customers. Let them know it is there to have fun with at the very least. Trying to create layouts for a customer who does not know what they want takes time. At first I used it more than my customers but I believe they use it as much as I do now. I have found some success with offering the capability to my customers. They create the designs and let me know when they have saved the artwork. I now have phone, email, & text dialog with my potential customer. That is golden. A nice feature would be for the customer to create the design and select to send me a notice that it is ready for review. Design Studio is cool but you still have to be a real person. I have yet to have an order come through where a customer created and ordered a design with out contacting me at all. In fact, I have not had one sale go through the site. People want communication. They want a real person to interact with. We are looking forward to the Design Studio upgrade as it is my understanding that it will be tablet friendly which is very good. 

4. I noticed a previous post that indicated that you can send an invoice using business tools in Inksoft. This is a cool feature. It is the same for quotes. However, the customer can only approve the invoice. The option to pay the invoice is not there. At least not on my invoices. Maybe I am overlooking a feature and can get some direction on that. It would be a nice feature to allow a customer to click on a "Pay Now" button on the invoice to either put a down payment or pay the invoice in full. 

5. In regards to screen printing vs vinyl cutting (heat pressed) artwork. I would still need to investigate this a little further but in my experience thus far there is no real way to identify artwork that you are willing to fulfill with a vinyl cut graphic for smaller quantities. For this reason, I put my minimums to 12 pieces. I would like to offer lower quantities for vinyl cut graphics that are not complex or with more than a couple of colors. It is a problem for a sub store too cause it seems to me that your printing capabilities are governed by your main store. Meaning, you could not just create a sub store for vinyl cut graphics and limit the designs to two to three colors. 

I hope this helps. If anyone has any questions please feel to message me. I am happy to help. 

Thanks ~ RVS


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## stevegamble

subscribing to thread.
Deco vs Inksoft


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## Teamlogo

Joined in 2012, at that time they were recruiting new customers with the new embroidery feature... the sales person said it would only be 3 more months... still no embroidery module in 2014. No refund. No explanation, just lied pretty much. Anyway I am still a member but have grown really tired of the way they do things. This past December (2013) our busiest time for online sales, they updated the systems.. what a cluster F*&^. Really? The busiest time of the year you roll out a major change that requires me to work on my site or makes me re-learn how to fill my orders? Discovered some time later that they updated the system from a "Standard Color Palette" to you having to define each color yourself. I may have gotten warning but I never saw it, just discovered one day that my customers had no way to change text colors that they added to products until I go in an configure a new palette. This takes a while. This is how they do things at inksoft. Mislead you, change things at the worst time possible. I will be leaving soon. Been working with another product that seems a little better with embroidery. I cannot recommend these folks. They have a "pretty good" product but whoever is running this company, questionable at best. That's my experience and my 2 cents worth.


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## stevegamble

What "other product" and hoping you'll report back.
What you describe as Changes in December, is not cool at all.
Nobody should touch anything in December, not you or me or them..
December is Nuts when we stick to what we know.. let alone try something new?
Not cool at all.


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## ericsson2416

We also struggled with the new back end that rolled out in December. Along with the ordering (it added a lot more clicks to do anything) they changed outsourcing to a system where we had to change financial systems to even be able to see who we could outsource to (the explanation was that we had to match the person we were outsourcing to instead of just paying via PayPal or credit card). It was a mess with Christmas gifts because we usually outsource our smaller orders to DTG printers. The new backend has added a lot of steps and hasn't been smooth. They have been helpful in trying to fix problems on the fly but I hate finding out about problems via a customer finally reporting it to me.


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## 6stitches

Update: 

I learned that the invoice link where customers can click on a pay now link is possible but you either have to buy your own SSL certificate or use Inksoft's. But the Inksoft's SSL option comes with a catch, when using inksoft's SSL (for free) you may run into an issue with SEO because your site is diverting to another site to finish the transaction. I have made the decision to just stick with my standard set up even though I pay for PayPal Pro. 

Also, I must add that I found a post within the support forums that requested an "undo" button to be added in the design studio feature. There are a large amount of votes from Inksoft clients in support of this and yet it has not been addressed. I was amazed that it has not been addressed yet. 

In regards to the update in 12/14. I like the feel. I think the biggest problems are having to continually filter for information. You just can't open up a list. Then, reverting back to a filtered list is not always possible. Also, I am not a big fan of the iframe scroll bar on the products page. It really sucks.


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## HumbleShirts

*Oh boy, something tells me fireworks are about to go off on that post. You do know that Inksoft monitors this thread, right? Got another job lined up?*

*Just lay it all out there OZ......*


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## Teamlogo

Follow up on Inksoft . I cancelled today. I had started building my new online designer with Deconetwork in March. We launched 3 weeks ago. Our sales from the new deco site (3 weeks) has reached 76% of our total sales for all of 2013 on inksoft. Yes you read that correctly, 3 weeks in Late March, early April has nearly matched sales for a whole year on inksoft. AND THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TSHIRTS!!!!! I haven't even added custom tees yet! Personally I think the customer used designer is easier to use. Also the quoting tool is great. I can submit quotes to the customer with mock ups of their layout right through the software, and then the customer can accept the quote and pay for it very easily. Great sales tool. Now Deco has it's bugs, but so far it is hands down better. Support is VERY slow, but they have a very active forum of users that can help and do help tremendously. Deco also has the embroidery module which is a plus. My staff and I have been busy converting embroidery files and uploading them onto my site for customers to use. Took a while to figure out how to do this but now all is good with converting dst to emb (and maintaining colors). If I were rating the 2 services, having used both, I would rate Inksoft 4 out of 10 and Deco 7 out of 10. My 2 cents worth.


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## garagegirl

Thank you so much.


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## stevegamble

Yes, Thank you for all that feedback.
Always hear about Great product, but bugs and slow customer service with Deco.
Probably like many of us, just short on staff to handle work load.


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## Anonoprinter

Teamlogo said:


> Follow up on Inksoft . I cancelled today. I had started building my new online designer with Deconetwork in March. We launched 3 weeks ago. Our sales from the new deco site (3 weeks) has reached 76% of our total sales for all of 2013 on inksoft. Yes you read that correctly, 3 weeks in Late March, early April has nearly matched sales for a whole year on inksoft. AND THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TSHIRTS!!!!! I haven't even added custom tees yet! Personally I think the customer used designer is easier to use. Also the quoting tool is great. I can submit quotes to the customer with mock ups of their layout right through the software, and then the customer can accept the quote and pay for it very easily. Great sales tool. Now Deco has it's bugs, but so far it is hands down better. Support is VERY slow, but they have a very active forum of users that can help and do help tremendously. Deco also has the embroidery module which is a plus. My staff and I have been busy converting embroidery files and uploading them onto my site for customers to use. Took a while to figure out how to do this but now all is good with converting dst to emb (and maintaining colors). If I were rating the 2 services, having used both, I would rate Inksoft 4 out of 10 and Deco 7 out of 10. My 2 cents worth.


That's a big improvement!
To what do you attribute the dramatic increase in sales? How are your customers finding your site? (i.e. paid search, organic search, driven to site with direct marketing such as mail or email) Are they new customers or your previous customers returning and finding a better store and designer experience?

I'm glad you are experiencing success with the new site, and I'd like to understand what you think is driving it.


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## sgosline

We are planning on going live with deconetwork in June when I will have more time to work with it. Glad to hear it is working out well for you teamlogo. Are you offering your big customers their own website?

Sylvia


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## HumbleShirts

HumbleShirts said:


> *Oh boy, something tells me fireworks are about to go off on that post. You do know that Inksoft monitors this thread, right? Got another job lined up?*
> 
> *Just lay it all out there OZ......*


Just curious ay why my quote was edited by someone other than me?

Who is admin4tee?


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## kenb321

What store themes has everyone found to be the most useful? I do not like the fact that on some of the themes the products will pick 1 product and only show different colors of the same product. Does anyone use a theme that will show different products on the home page? I would go through all the different stores but it takes to long to get the sites to change!


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## stevegamble

I Like Winter Lake.
You need a little HTML CSS to change things like colour, font, but it contains more on the homepage than any other template.
More content-more traditional layout, with header, buttons, footer info.
etc.. I spent 2 days playing with every one.


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## sgosline

How much website design knowledge do you have to have to use one of the templates? I am seriously considering signing up but I am concerned with the upfront costs of web design and then ongoing maintenance.

Sylvia


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## wade4916

Is it possible that the finished T shirt design can be displayed in a 3D model?


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## AMPrideUSA

You can still process the occasional phone in orders using Virtual Terminal on PayPal, even on the Standard (Free) Program. Simply go to your Profile Page, activate Monthly Billing (turns on Virtual Terminal), Process the card.....When it is completed, go back and Turn Off Monthly Billing. You will not be charged the $30 monthly fee, unless you forget to turn it off at the end of the month. 
We discovered this "glitch" in PayPal and have used it several times over the past several years. 

Another option is to get the Square Reader...but for cards manually input the fees are significantly higher (around 4.5% vs 2.9%). But, it does give you the ability to process those occasional phone in orders, if you don't want to use Virtual Terminal on PayPal.


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## teeman72

After searching the forums left and right it seems that most would prefer deconetwork vs inksoft... out of those that use deco, how many use mac? 
The biggest drawback for deconetwork for me is that everything is in corel draw.. do the files download as eps files or coreldraw native files?


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## KristineH

We are Mac and illustrator based. You can choose how files download - eps and PDF are available. 

We do have Corel but do not use it often. Only to create templates for DN.


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## stevegamble

I am currently using(trying out) Inksoft and we like and use Corel Draw.
It is cheaper and easier to teach to staff.
It easily converts files text to curves and saves to .eps or svg or jpeg etc..
Just more simple to use for Logo EDIT - Illustrator is better for Logo creation. (layer separation features etc..)
Just my opinion.


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## teeman72

Now the way I understand is that deco network has the ability/option to create pricing grids for screen printing and embroidery but what about dtg? What about inksoft- it looks like only screen printing and maybe dtg


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## tshirtsrus

You can do it for dtg too in Deconetwork, and new in the coming V7 you will be able to priced by the sq inch calculated from the actual graphic or from the bounding box of the graphic.


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## teeman72

Why is it so hard to find any information out regarding inksoft? I understand that there is the personalized demo with a salesperson but I'm trying to find limitations and do an apples to apples comparison between deco network and inksoft and not having very much luck


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## DGPAGF

I use inksoft, is there something I can answer?


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## teeman72

What are your thoughts with it. Is it slow to bring a site up? Pricing grids available for just screen printing and dtg? No embroidery option pricing? Support when problems arise fast good or slow? The initial fee is non refundable correct? I like what I see from inksoft but see more issues about them on here compared to anything good to say


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## DGPAGF

I cannot be objective about setting up the site, because I have never used anything but Inksoft. They changed the back end interface since I set it up. The new interface seems slow and chunky. Like when you go to your orders page, nothing shows. You have to filter to find something. I am use to a default showing, like new unapproved orders. So you have to take to many steps in my opinion to do things. You can set up price grids, but as of now there is no price grid for embroidery. I also believe their pricing is not done properly. Here is a link to a post I have about it. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t410402.html. They are good about support. We did not have to pay the initial fee, because we got it with our printer purchase.


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## teeman72

Thank you, that's what I have been looking for. I just wanted an honest observation of the product.


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## Sublyminal

DGPAGF said:


> I use inksoft, is there something I can answer?


Hi there....I've just read through all 29 pages of this thread, and still have an unanswered question (or two...). Maybe you can help...?

I do not want to use inksoft or deconetwork for website build and/or hosting. In my opinion, there's no way they can fulfill my SEO desires. However, I think i need them for the consumer "designer" feature, and quite possibly their shopping cart functions. 

I've read at least one post in the last 29 pages indicating that you can "embed" inksoft's designer into your own website, but I'm wondering if this is just merely linking them to your existing site, or if it's an actual integration...? 

Do you have any input on this? Basically, what I'm asking is this: Is there an intuitive way (without having to be an expert in programming) to utilize inksoft's consumer designer feature (and cart) on a currently existing wordpress-like (ish) website? 

Thanks for looking....


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## stevegamble

DGPAGF said:


> I cannot be objective about setting up the site, because I have never used anything but Inksoft. They changed the back end interface since I set it up. The new interface seems slow and chunky. Like when you go to your orders page, nothing shows. You have to filter to find something. I am use to a default showing, like new unapproved orders. So you have to take to many steps in my opinion to do things. You can set up price grids, but as of now there is no price grid for embroidery. I also believe their pricing is not done properly. Here is a link to a post I have about it. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t410402.html. They are good about support. We did not have to pay the initial fee, because we got it with our printer purchase.


Do you use the old designer then ?
Does it run smoother ?
Since launch we have had Minimum 3 email complaints per week that they find using my designer frustrating and then send me a design made in CustomInk. Yet less than that in orders.. which means more than half the people who attempt to order though our site get frustrated and move on.
I wonder if the old Inksoft designer is more user friendly for the consumer.?


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## Printwizard

InkSoft said:


> It does! See here.


Xero integration? Much better than quickbooks and myob.


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## AMPrideUSA

Here is my take on InkSoft. We "bought" into it about 5 weeks ago,,,,and this is a message I just sent to them as feedback....(its not the first one)....Personally.....If you are looking....keep looking. ....we will be changing soon. We are deciding which way to go, if we even need the "Design Studio". We can Add subdomains for additional stores through our servers.....so that is not an issue. 

We originally got InkSoft because we were launching a "Fundraising Platform" to help fund a Homeless Veterans Program we are starting. We liked the idea of their "ability" to provide that for us. Turns out...we are not sure about how its going to work...if at all. 
We get calls daily about our Inksoft Webstore and the problems people have with it. 

Here is the message to Inksoft...today:

As a Business owner, I feel that we wasted a ton of $$$ getting the Inksoft system. It was not an "investment as some would imply.....its a waste of Money. Not only is it not very "user Friendly", the so-called "help and video files are sketchy at best. Instead of "walking us through" the process, too often it simply gives and "overview?" and the speaker says "familiarize yourself with these items".....and the added information provided on "those items" are as sketchy as the first segment. A training program should be helpful, with complete details on how to complete a project. I am speaking from experience, having designed, written and implemented multi-user, multi-tiered training programs for a lot more complex systems than this is. This training program is targeted to users, assuming they already know more than basic levels of how your system works. Not even your "help" reps know a tremendous amount about the system....only the basics. which does little or no good to us, the real users of the system.
The average business owner who would be using this software package, does not have the time during the day to "create" the store, and (like me) works on it at night. During the day, we are operating our business, so we can pay our bills. This means that availability during your "normal" business hours is very limited. Since you are not available after hours....we have no real help when we are working on a project. If the videos and "help" files were more concise, it would be more beneficial to everyone...and you would have a lot more satisfied customers. (me included)
We are already researching other options, to accomplish our goals. We are in week 5 and some of our issues still hae not been addressed. When I do get to call in, I have to spend 85% of the time trying to get the person on the other end to "understand" what I want to do. I feel like they are not listening to what our problem is....they are simply waiting to Provide a "canned" answer, or they are listening to someone else (radio, co-worker, who knows). I have had InkSoft reps on the phone, on our webpage with me.....and they still could not understand what we wanted to do.....even while reading the page. After explaining to them what we wanted to be able to do several times....they ask "now what is it that you are trying to do?" 
Our web "store" page is Live....and only portions of it work properly....even after several attempts to have someone Help" us resolve the issues. 
We spent (wasted) $2,000 to "activate" a piece of garbage system.....plus the first month.....not to mention the hours of my normal family time for 5 weeks to get things "functional".....We still do nt have the ability to add a second side print, even though we have it defined in our "products" management area. This was brought to our attention by a customer. When we asked how the site was otherwise, he responded with "cumbersome, "I could not find your designs in the Design Studio, Even though the categories are there, and the images are there until I try to select them....then it comes back with "no Designs found". This was supposed to be "fixed" with a re-sync" of our design portion, from your end, earlier in the week. Still not fixed.

No, I am NOT a satisfied customer, in fact, I cannot wait to find an alternative to InkSoft Soft ware. We feel like we have been ripped off....money that could have been put to better use helping the homeless Veterans we work with.....You should be ashamed of yourselves....charging so much for "activating" a software package that isn't really even ready for public use....

I will also be posting this on several forums I participate in...others need to know that InkSoft is not what it is being promoted to be. 
If there is an idea in here it would be to Fix the software, and the training videos so that it is usable by the absolute lowest level of Novice that would be using it....not targeted at someone who already knows the system....chances are....there are not as many of those kinds of users as the total novices. If you are going to charge an "activation fee" then you need to provide more in service and real, viable help.....other wise that $$$ is wasted....the only one who wins with the program is InkSoft.....the rest of us are left to "figure it out on our own (if we are lucky). 

Jimm Mooney
A very dis-satisfied Customer
American Pride USA


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## garagegirl

Good to know. Thanks so much.


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## Teamlogo

Anonoprinter said:


> That's a big improvement!
> To what do you attribute the dramatic increase in sales? How are your customers finding your site? (i.e. paid search, organic search, driven to site with direct marketing such as mail or email) Are they new customers or your previous customers returning and finding a better store and designer experience?
> 
> I'm glad you are experiencing success with the new site, and I'd like to understand what you think is driving it.


Hi, I do not monitor this forum all the time so I just realized that you asked me a question and I had not replied. My apologies. We operate 2 web sites for custom items. 1 is our original site which allows customers to easily name drop designs we offer. Easy. More and more though people want more control over designs. So we went with inksoft. The reality is we were lied to. We were told that they would have embroidery in no more than 3 months, that was years ago and they still don't have it. We offer the same advertisement to the new deco site as we did the inksoft site. links on our site telling our customer that they can design in real time. As far as advertising, we advertised them the exact same way. Now part of what I think has helped in the increase is things I have done. Deco has a GREAT video series on step by step of how to set things up. In that neither of them have a normal process of setting up products like a non designer site, the videos were extremely helpful! I think their "Bootcamp" videos has 8 videos? Boring but helpful. Inksoft was lacking in this. So I think I made a better presentation. Also for a lack of sales... did I mention that Inksoft did a huge update just a few weeks before Christmas? This update took away my color palette. I had no idea. I do not remember getting any notice, I just decided to go one day and find out why there had been no sales..the only imprinting color was BLACK! I had to create a whole new palette. Again, I found no notices. But now I am 6 months into Deco. Still learning and still making money. My sales this year should be in excess of 10X what I sold on Inksoft last year. I really think it is faster, easier, the folks at Deco while not perfect by any means, they seem to "GET IT" more than those at Inksoft in my experience. My site is still being put together slowly. I am one who believes in slow responsible growth but it is doing very well and after my experience with inksoft it FAR EXCEEDS my expectations.


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## AMPrideUSA

InkSoft has contacted me in response to the above post. I spoke first with a rep, then with JP Hunt directly. I have agreed to give them 1 hour a day for a minimum of a week....in the mornings, to work out any non-resolved issues with the software...and to learn the system better with their help.. They seem eager to provide more information to better "educate" me on the system. They are providing us with a single individual to work with, one who has been with the company for several years.
While an acceptable interim solution, it should have never come to this, this way. 

InkSoft has an incredible platform.....with a lot of versatility that we need. The problem we are having is getting from point A (Square 1) to point B (Full on, ready to go web store) . We launched perhaps a bit early....as a "work in Progress", so we had something Interested groups & new customers could begin to look at, and get a feel for. It has served us well, in that we have gotten some valuable feedback about products and other things that we may or may not offer in the future. It also provided us with some "Flaws" still in the system, we had not discovered. In reality, it will always be a "work in Progress" to some degree, as we grow and expand. 
As a trainer myself (over 40 years experience at some level or another) one thing I have learned is that in any training program, live or otherwise, it has to be directed at the lowest level of user or it loses effectiveness. For those more experienced, it may seem "boring", but at least those with the least amount of understanding "gets it". I hope InkSoft looks at some of their Training Video, and help files to improve the information provided....After talking with JP Hunt, I would like to believe that over time, (it won't happen overnight) Their training will improve for those of us who virtually "know nothing" about this. Not all of us have the means to "hire" a developer to do this for us....so we have to do it ourselves....during our own time...outside of business hours, in order to operate their own business. We got something like the InkSoft system, so that we could improve our business and increase or visibility to continue to operate...and even hopefully grow.
At least, InkSoft has stepped forward to work with us, and make it right....one on one... to make this a reality for us. For that, I do have to say their Customer Service is well above average. They are not willing to lose even one customer, if they can figure out a way to "fix" it. Thank you JP Hunt & Jason.....I look forward to working with you.


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## InkSoft

AMPrideUSA said:


> InkSoft has contacted me in response to the above post. I spoke first with a rep, then with JP Hunt directly. I have agreed to give them 1 hour a day for a minimum of a week....in the mornings, to work out any non-resolved issues with the software...and to learn the system better with their help.. They seem eager to provide more information to better "educate" me on the system. They are providing us with a single individual to work with, one who has been with the company for several years.
> While an acceptable interim solution, it should have never come to this, this way.
> 
> InkSoft has an incredible platform.....with a lot of versatility that we need. The problem we are having is getting from point A (Square 1) to point B (Full on, ready to go web store) . We launched perhaps a bit early....as a "work in Progress", so we had something Interested groups & new customers could begin to look at, and get a feel for. It has served us well, in that we have gotten some valuable feedback about products and other things that we may or may not offer in the future. It also provided us with some "Flaws" still in the system, we had not discovered. In reality, it will always be a "work in Progress" to some degree, as we grow and expand.
> As a trainer myself (over 40 years experience at some level or another) one thing I have learned is that in any training program, live or otherwise, it has to be directed at the lowest level of user or it loses effectiveness. For those more experienced, it may seem "boring", but at least those with the least amount of understanding "gets it". I hope InkSoft looks at some of their Training Video, and help files to improve the information provided....After talking with JP Hunt, I would like to believe that over time, (it won't happen overnight) Their training will improve for those of us who virtually "know nothing" about this. Not all of us have the means to "hire" a developer to do this for us....so we have to do it ourselves....during our own time...outside of business hours, in order to operate their own business. We got something like the InkSoft system, so that we could improve our business and increase or visibility to continue to operate...and even hopefully grow.
> At least, InkSoft has stepped forward to work with us, and make it right....one on one... to make this a reality for us. For that, I do have to say their Customer Service is well above average. They are not willing to lose even one customer, if they can figure out a way to "fix" it. Thank you JP Hunt & Jason.....I look forward to working with you.


Jimm:

It was a pleasure speaking with you. You have a huge business opportunity before you by offering fundraising web stores. We are excited and eager to help you get set up and realize your opportunity. 

We'd like to invite anyone who is interested in InkSoft's fundraising web store solution to join us for a live webinar titled: '_Create and Launch Online Fundraising Web Stores_'. Register here. 

You can access our 'white paper' on the fundraising opportunity here.


----------



## acca

Our experience has been very different. We started with Pikiware, who later became deco, then tried another company which I can't remember at the moment but was never able to generate any sales with either company. We were about to quit and just focus on our retail store but decided to give it one last shot and took a gamble on inksoft. The initial setup cost was about a thousand and a monthly fee of $150 was very steep but we didn't want to give up on the potential upside of having a meaningful online presence. I invested almost 100 hours reading, watching and learning the intricacies of inksoft, while running our retail store front at the same time. Late at night I would email questions to inksoft support team and by the next day I would get a reply. It was really hard but eventually it paid off. We are now listed on the first page by google organically and our online sales is quickly approaching our in-store sales. We are now discussing whether or not to move into a warehouse if online continues grows larger.

Inksoft was especially helpful because they kept stressing to focus our business locally, meaning we can't compete with custominks of the world so instead concentrate in our area and beat the larger online companies with service. We are fortunate enough to have a physical store which really helps build our customer base. Early on we would give anyone who came to our shop a card with our website and directed them to go online, design at the comfort of your home, then just come by to pick up. This allowed us to move up in page rankings organically.

We also implement inksoft's business tools, specifically their invoicing. At first we were not going to even bother, we were/are using quickbooks. But after giving it an honest try, I am impressed. First, inksoft invoice allows for customers to pay their invoice online through a web-link which is really helpful in getting payment ahead of time. Second, I really like how I can attach art images and files to an invoice, sometimes it is helpful to see the job. If you have a store, inksoft invoice is a valuable resource.

Business tools, switch to html5, fundraising are all recent additions to inksoft. Now I realize why we pay the $150 monthly fee. It is to get the constant improvement and to evolve as inksoft evolves. No likes to pay a monthly fee, but I think it is worth it for our company.

I think each business is different therefore what works for one may not work for others. Inksoft, deco or what ever system you use there is a definite learning curve. It takes hard work, no short cuts, if you have a physical location and are running an online presence it's akin to running two business full time, it takes that kind of commitment.

I just wish inksoft would implement a pricing system which adjust cost to size of the print. A pocket size print should be less than a full size print with regards to DTG printing.


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## Ink13

I have also been going back and forth between InkSoft and Deco. I spent some time on the phone with the Inksoft rep today and he told me that embroidery will be online in 3 months. Looking back on the posts I guess that must be a standard saying they have when confronted with the embroidery question. It looks like deco dropped the percentage of sales charge but added number of transactions maximums. They obviously have a huge advantage not charging $2000 up front. The only thing I don't like is the clip art. It's horrible compared to the templates on inksoft. Also the customer has to pay for the artwork. If there was anyway around that I think I would go with them.


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## stevegamble

Man.. The last thing you want to do is launch your online platform based on some free artwork??
Buy the art from 3'rd party..
sign up with who has Consumer friendly designer and a back end that is user freindly to you and your staff.
You need the transactions to go without a hitch from the customer to your product paid and shipped.


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## tshirtsrus

Honestly... nothing is free, with Inksoft you pay for those graphics in advance with the so call setup or activation fee, with Deco you have a choice to add you own graphics or adsorb the cost of the graphics making them free for your customers, this way you'll pay only when you're making a profit, 3 months to have embroidery ready? lets assume they do, do you think is going to work perfectly right out at launch? no, it will take time to have it right, is perfect with Deco? perhaps not, but that's how they started years ago so I'm guessing they are years ahead with this process than anyone else. Just my 11/2 cents.


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## mmcghee

The information AMPrideUSA gave in his posts is very accurate in regard to any system issues you may encounter as a new user. Further feedback can be found at http://itsnotclxssified.squarespace.com AMPrideUSA we hope you have found resolve and have been able to move forward. We would love for you to message us with any further insight you have from your training session and further time of using the system. Best wishes.


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## AMPrideUSA

For those users who have used other platforms (besides INkSoft) such as Deco or others.....how would you honestly rate them in comparison to InkSoft for Ease of Use/Set Up; Customer interaction (end user friendly); Functionality etc?

I agree with those who say that we should not make our decision based on the availability of "free" graphics.....Tee-spring has some pretty basic graphics and they do millions of tee shirts. And, with InkSoft, you "pay" for those graphics with their High "sign-up" fees. THat being said, I think we made that mistake....Sadly enough. 

I am not here to blast InkSoft....I just think its not what its "promoted" to be. We spent the $2000 back in August, to bring InkSoft into the mix of what we do...and are planning to do. Part of our organizational goal includes providing other organizations that provide a service to our Veterans a "platform" to do fundraising and e-commerce on, with a portion of our own proceeds going towards helping homeless Veterans. InkSoft , at the surface, seemed like it would be a good fit....Now we are not so sure. 
Granted, the support we have gotten since our last input has been above and beyond expected. But all the "support" in the world is not worth much if you do not have a fully functional system that operates and functions "as advertised", or in a way that we need it to. 
However, I still find a lot of issues with the whole package that are a bit unsettling. I think we would have been better off outright purchasing the software from another source for about half the cost. I feel that we would probably had the same growing pains going that route...but we would own it outright, without the long term payments for a product that still appears to have its own growing pains. 
For those considering using InkSoft, Be prepared to spend a lot of hours (more than 30) to get things "configured" so that its functional. Not sure how Deco would compare, but I am sure that there is also a "learning curve" associated with it as well. Do not think that you can get this and be "live" online with it in a couple of days or possibly even a couple of weeks.....It's not going to happen. It wasn't designed that way. 
It was certainly not built with the "novice" web designer (like me) in mind. And, there are far too many instances that I have been told either "it's easier for us to make that change than for you to" or, 'that change can only be made at our end". 
Keep in mind, these statements are from my own personal perspective and experiences......I am sure that there are many others who may not echo these experiences and there are also some who will agree with me. It all depends on their own perspectives, experience levels and many other factors. 
For those at InkSoft who would "warn" me about posting what you would consider "slanderous" information.....with threats of libelous lawsuits.....Keep in mind.....This is from my own personal perspective and experiences within your own system over a very limited time frame. Its not based on misinformation or gossip or from any outside sources. 
Remember, I am just like any others here....I am entitled to my own opinion based on my own experiences....whether or not you support that opinion or not is up to you...but I am entitled to my opinion....and to share it with others who might be interested. After all, this Thread was started by someone who wanted to hear comments from both the up side,....as well as the downside. 
If I had it to do over again....would I make a Different choice?....Possibly.....and possibly with the same outcome. Since I have no other experience with other "platforms, I cannot make an educated comparison, nor do I want to even try. I just question now, whether we made the right choice or not, at the time the choice was made. 
Will we stay with InkSoft? Or will we scrub it as an option? That still remains to be seen. We are currently discussing and exploring our options.......either way, we are out $2,000 for a system that we are not really happy with or even sure is going to function for us over the long haul, as "promoted" to us at the beginning.
Sometimes that is the price you pay to be in business. 
When making your decision....it might be easier on the "budget" to "test" drive a platform that doesn't have the High "start-up" fees to get a feel for how it will work; ......just food for thought.


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## mmcghee

AMPrideUSA,

I'm sorry to hear you have continued to experience frustration with the system. We acknowledge the frustration and how it's affecting your cause/business. If there is anything we can do to support you and your cause, please let us know. We do believe Inksoft has the best potential of any of the platforms on the market if they can resolve some of these issues. I know it's very difficult to maneuver. Sometimes just having a listening ear helps, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you would like input on how we are dealing with certain issues or how we have recommended for them to resolve some of the areas. We can only hope they are listening to ensure it becomes the best. Again, in the meantime, please feel free to stay in touch with us. Best wishes. mmcghee


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## samjosh

Does inksoft work with signs and digital printing too?


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## ladybird

I love Inksoft 

I had been previously with Deco for over 2 years and I had never been able to get a store online. I joined them back when
you paid transaction fees per month and also paying for all the artwork depending on what packages of art you wanted.
I felt really hopeless in ever being able to get a store online. When I would call for help, I would feel like no one
really wanted to help me.

Finally I had to decide how long I was going to keep paying them and not seeing any future of getting it up.
When I canceled I was very surprised that after all that time I didn't even get any reply or offer of anything or help
or asked why I was leaving.

I knew I still really wanted an online shop and with some nervousness I approached Inksoft. All I can say it was
the best decision I ever made  When I first spoke with them, I decided to give it a try. 
One memory that really sticks with me, was the first time I phoned support for a question. I said I will save up all
my questions and how much would it cost me when I phoned back with the questions or how many times will I get
help to set it up? I almost was in tears when they told me that you can call as many times as you want at no charge.

I want to also say, that I run a very busy shop (consisting of 6 different businesses) and although I work 
12 - 14 hours a day and usually 7 days a week, I was able to get my shop up in under two months.

Now that the shop is up, my only regret is that I will really miss talking to everyone at Inksoft. I will prob just
phone to say HI 

If anyone is thinking of Inksoft ... all I can say is go for it  I could go on and on but if

you have any questions you would like to ask me please feel free to send me a message.


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## MTNeedles

I'm looking for an order management software to run my shop with. Mainly we are looking for a way to manage the various jobs that come through our shop. We do embroidery, print and cut and cut vinyl, and promotional products. However, we've looked at numerous project management software for the apparel industry and have been disappointed with everything we've seen. Some have great features, and horrible reviews, others have so so features and better reviews. I must say that InkSoft seems to provide the order management piece and the online store options are a bonus for us as we plan to market wholesale rhinestone designs. We will be scheduling a demo in the next few days. 

Anyone have any advise?


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## brixen

One advice.. Take a look at Deco also.. Works really good.... I don't known inksoft. So can't say much about that.... Also. The guy on the post above who couldn't set up Deco in two years is simply lying.. It takes no time. So check it out. Good luck.


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## ladybird

Hello 

I do take offense to the remark that I was lying. I was indeed with them for over 2 years and didn't get my site live. I am happy for you that your experience was better than mine.


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## clippernate34

I recently bought inksoft i am about 2 weeks in. I am at that stage where i want it to work but just not knowing if it will!! In fact I need to see if I am still in the 2 week window to get a refund I love it if I could get the whole thing up and running.

Past posts are correct in saying it will take a lot of time to get up and running a lot of time!!! Now I think that will be like that for all the programs not just inksoft. Because you have to put in all the custom details in the design studio and that takes time and a lot of photos to insert.

Where my main complaint and maybe i am just frustrated at this moment is I have watched the training videos for the certain action but my backend does not do what theirs does.

So I am on pacific time I call yesterday at 4:30pm they are gone!! so I am stuck I leave a message they call me back at like 6 am when i am not even awake as they are on mountain time.

So I call back again today at 9 am pacific time and I never get a live person to help me!!! I want to get this setup done now!! So here I am waiting around all day for them to call me back its now noon my time so my guess is I will get another call at like 5 or 6 am my time saying whoops we called you!! 

So this right now is not working for me. Yes most of the stuff can be done but I have glitches in mine right now that I cant fix.

Also when you update the site it does take a while sometimes to show for me like 5 - 10 min. so I think it didnt take so I go back and then tomorrow it shows like 5 entries in the field and so forth really throws me off!! 

Man I am really hoping I can get this worked out. 

Guess I should have just hired a web designer.


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## shirleyg

I understand and feel your pain. I bought InkSoft when it first came out and have spent many, many frustrating hours working on it. 

InkSoft has changed (improved) several times. Often the back-end changes and then my old instructions to myself are no good anymore. Also, their "how to videos" don't match the new system, either. That's why those help videos often do not help..

Mine works okay now, but I rarely mess with it anymore. It just exists. I do not promote the sight because I do not have the time or patience to re-learn stuff again & again. I will likely cancel it soon. It costs too much for what I get out of it. 

That said, if a business has a staff person who can devote themselves to being the "website person" and stay on top of what's happening with the InkSoft site, then I am sure it will pay off for them.


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## clippernate34

For the record I did get the call back and they did help me as it was something really minor that i did not explained in the video so now i can proceed and they were very nice. 

I am going to try and push through this and see if I am able to load everything up. Some peoples sites who use inksoft they load so much stuff up there its insane!!! They must have spent months doing it!!!

I am really wondering how many people really go online and create the shirt I am guessing very few but I am hoping they will get excited enough to call and get it completed! 

Thats what I am hoping for


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## shirleyg

Good luck! (Now we all know what you'll be doing over the Thanksgiving weekend!)


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## stevegamble

shirleyg said:


> I understand and feel your pain. I bought InkSoft when it first came out and have spent many, many frustrating hours working on it.
> 
> InkSoft has changed (improved) several times. Often the back-end changes and then my old instructions to myself are no good anymore.
> 
> That said, if a business has a staff person who can devote themselves to being the "website person" and stay on top of what's happening with the InkSoft site, then I am sure it will pay off for them.


+1 on that end.
Love the company, awesome to deal with, they really try to help.
But the software is not simple enough, too slow, and we can't get any positive feedback from customers.

Inksoft;
If the retails customers like - we business owners will subscribe and pay you for it.
Sure having us like the back end is nice too.
But the general public out shopping for custom shirts won't use the platform/designer etc.. then why would we keep it ?

I just keep hoping better things are just around the corner.
But most everyone I talk to who try my site and designer, never return.
The features are not in your face enough.
remove background colour
save and share a design.
design without a product.

I would also ask Inksoft to make a few video's that we could use to post on our site to help end users with the designer.
A Tutorial for the end user, not just the back end stuff for us.


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## shirleyg

I used to tell the Inksoft folks the design studio and really, the whole thing is just not SIMPLE enough for the average user, let alone the "below average" user. We all have ordered from online companies where it virtually says on the screen: "STEP 1" "NEXT" "STEP 2" "NEXT" etc. The client does not have to search for what to do next or just guess. 

As far as the back-end, I am often told (when I'm trying to do such & such), "Oh, there are several ways to do that." I don't want several ways -- I want one way that will work for me every time. ...I need to stop now; I can feel myself getting cranky. 

I agree the folks at InkSoft are very nice and try to be helpful each and everytime I contact them. (And I used to contact them a lot!)


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## NY Label

AMPrideUSA said:


> Here is my take on InkSoft. We "bought" into it about 5 weeks ago,,,,and this is a message I just sent to them as feedback....(its not the first one)....Personally.....If you are looking....keep looking. ....we will be changing soon. We are deciding which way to go, if we even need the "Design Studio". We can Add subdomains for additional stores through our servers.....so that is not an issue.
> 
> We originally got InkSoft because we were launching a "Fundraising Platform" to help fund a Homeless Veterans Program we are starting. We liked the idea of their "ability" to provide that for us. Turns out...we are not sure about how its going to work...if at all.
> We get calls daily about our Inksoft Webstore and the problems people have with it.
> 
> Here is the message to Inksoft...today:
> 
> As a Business owner, I feel that we wasted a ton of $$$ getting the Inksoft system. It was not an "investment as some would imply.....its a waste of Money. Not only is it not very "user Friendly", the so-called "help and video files are sketchy at best. Instead of "walking us through" the process, too often it simply gives and "overview?" and the speaker says "familiarize yourself with these items".....and the added information provided on "those items" are as sketchy as the first segment. A training program should be helpful, with complete details on how to complete a project. I am speaking from experience, having designed, written and implemented multi-user, multi-tiered training programs for a lot more complex systems than this is. This training program is targeted to users, assuming they already know more than basic levels of how your system works. Not even your "help" reps know a tremendous amount about the system....only the basics. which does little or no good to us, the real users of the system.
> The average business owner who would be using this software package, does not have the time during the day to "create" the store, and (like me) works on it at night. During the day, we are operating our business, so we can pay our bills. This means that availability during your "normal" business hours is very limited. Since you are not available after hours....we have no real help when we are working on a project. If the videos and "help" files were more concise, it would be more beneficial to everyone...and you would have a lot more satisfied customers. (me included)
> We are already researching other options, to accomplish our goals. We are in week 5 and some of our issues still hae not been addressed. When I do get to call in, I have to spend 85% of the time trying to get the person on the other end to "understand" what I want to do. I feel like they are not listening to what our problem is....they are simply waiting to Provide a "canned" answer, or they are listening to someone else (radio, co-worker, who knows). I have had InkSoft reps on the phone, on our webpage with me.....and they still could not understand what we wanted to do.....even while reading the page. After explaining to them what we wanted to be able to do several times....they ask "now what is it that you are trying to do?"
> Our web "store" page is Live....and only portions of it work properly....even after several attempts to have someone Help" us resolve the issues.
> We spent (wasted) $2,000 to "activate" a piece of garbage system.....plus the first month.....not to mention the hours of my normal family time for 5 weeks to get things "functional".....We still do nt have the ability to add a second side print, even though we have it defined in our "products" management area. This was brought to our attention by a customer. When we asked how the site was otherwise, he responded with "cumbersome, "I could not find your designs in the Design Studio, Even though the categories are there, and the images are there until I try to select them....then it comes back with "no Designs found". This was supposed to be "fixed" with a re-sync" of our design portion, from your end, earlier in the week. Still not fixed.
> 
> No, I am NOT a satisfied customer, in fact, I cannot wait to find an alternative to InkSoft Soft ware. We feel like we have been ripped off....money that could have been put to better use helping the homeless Veterans we work with.....You should be ashamed of yourselves....charging so much for "activating" a software package that isn't really even ready for public use....
> 
> I will also be posting this on several forums I participate in...others need to know that InkSoft is not what it is being promoted to be.
> If there is an idea in here it would be to Fix the software, and the training videos so that it is usable by the absolute lowest level of Novice that would be using it....not targeted at someone who already knows the system....chances are....there are not as many of those kinds of users as the total novices. If you are going to charge an "activation fee" then you need to provide more in service and real, viable help.....other wise that $$$ is wasted....the only one who wins with the program is InkSoft.....the rest of us are left to "figure it out on our own (if we are lucky).
> 
> Jimm Mooney
> A very dis-satisfied Customer
> American Pride USA



Wow, that has been almost my exact experience! I am so fed up with them. I agree that they are selling something that is not truly ready for the public.

My site is live, and it's quoting customers prices that are four times higher than they should be, and we're losing sales every day. That is just our most current problem. The amount of problems we've had has been endless. The customer service people don't know what they're doing. For every problem, I get an email saying it's been passed on to tier 2, and then I don't hear anything for weeks! I'll contact them periodically, and they'll just tell me their developers are working on it. That's great while I'm over here losing sales with every day that goes by.


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## Printwizard

I have always said that Inksoft needs to create a live document training manual that can be added to by users and Inksoft themselves and that manual updated with the versions along the way. Its interesting - I was involved with Inksoft early and the whole reason is to make money. This means how margin is calculated and ironically they never understood this and instead had a price less discount option - not a cost plus margin model. You need cost plus when you sell a wide range of product from a range of suppliers to calculate your profit margin. Anyway now many years on and being in contact with users who say they dont make money off Inksoft..... They need to listen to this. Code the program so it will be profitable for users in terms of working on profit centres instead of graphs and tickets and metrics and graphics. Needs to be a business behind the wow factor, and it needs to be easy to use. I paid my licence and couldn't even register or setup because I only have a 4 digit zip code being in New Zealand. Paid my hard earned money for nothing and have been waiting 4 years on the sideline with nothing.....


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## shirleyg

I told the Inksoft (J.P.) a couple of years ago, that the system was NOT user friendly. Even I couldn't use it, so how could I expect my customers to figure it out. My suggestion was to invite random people (young & not so young) to sit at a computer WITH the Inksoft programmers while the people tried to use the site. Programmers would not HELP the user, just note where the person had problems. THEN GO BACK TO THE OFFICE AND FIX THE ISSUES!

I never heard a word back and I'm sure they did not take my advice -- because if they had, they would have a user friendly site.


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## isaacschultz

What is your website? Can I see?


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## isaacschultz

It seems like people complain equally about inksoft and deco. Does anyone have a running site that they are relatively happy with ?


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## shirleyg

If you are asking about my website, the address is at the bottom of my post in the signature: Bold Images Enjoy!


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## ericsson2416

isaacschultz said:


> It seems like people complain equally about inksoft and deco. Does anyone have a running site that they are relatively happy with ?


We use inksoft and a link to our site can be found in our footer. We're relatively happy with it. Once you get the thing set up (we're talking it took us a full month) then fine tune it they do a good job keeping it up and running. We've had a lot of challenges on the back end along with frustrations but for the most part they've worked to fix them. 

It is definitely not a right out of the box tool but if you can make their model fit your business it can be a good tool.


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## crevarg

I also looking at online designer and price really do not justifies value. Also functionality of ink soft is not really great. In fact I just tried to go on websites form last two postings and both of them are stuck when I tried to open and edit any of Ideas they have on line. I don't know how that helping costumers. I am using internet explorer and that is what most of people will use. I will do good research before I spend so much money. I would like to keep simple and easy. As I can see there will be more and more of this online designers. It is good that I can learn from other people mistakes and thanks for this forums and opinions that people are posting.


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## plugintois

Oh my... I thought the InkSoft websites would look more appealing. I looked at bold-images and ashleysdesigns.com - the sites look very thrown together. My team and I are looking into integrating InkSoft API with WordPress so we can use whatever website design we want.


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## shirleyg

Very nice, Kevin...


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## plugintois

Thanks, Shirley. We're actually almost done. Just waiting for InkSoft to fix their API parameters for micro webstores to import products. After that, we're good. We could import the entire store into WordPress. I can currently import all products, users, clip art, categories and custom designs from my primary store, just not the add-on stores.


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## stevegamble

shirleyg said:


> If you are asking about my website, the address is at the bottom of my post in the signature: Bold Images Enjoy!


Good job on the site, looked like a lot of work..time.
Adding the awards was nice, too bad it was set up to design the award engraving area and just order, rather than getting into emailing or calling to get logo and or engraving information submitted.. I imagine lost sales with that extra step.. Effort, etc required.
I wish the designer could be more easily modified for the technology being used. Ie, laser engrave, vs dtg vs screen, embroidery, mugs for dye sub, banners, etc..
Sending in engraving by email still means you setting up the layout you think they want, choosing a font for them, sizing the text as you assume they want.. Etc..etc.. If they can design it, you save tons of labour expense, and time to get the order finished quicker... By at least two days.?
But this looks like one of the better sites of seen with the full Inksoft.


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## plugintois

Well, we're done on our part, but still waiting on InkSoft. If anyone wants to beta test it for free, PM me. I can send over the details.


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## stevegamble

plugintois said:


> Well, we're done on our part, but still waiting on InkSoft. If anyone wants to beta test it for free, PM me. I can send over the details.


Post your site in your sig?
I am sure many will visit it.


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## plugintois

The site is about 99% ready for the public... I mean, it's done, we just have dummy blog posts in there right now and we haven't linked to a purchase button. I was just wanting to find some folks wanting to beta test it before we go live. We might even work out a deal with InkSoft, who knows.


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## shirleyg

I was being facetious. My site is Bold Images.

How could I even look at your site since you don't sign your posts?


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## stevegamble

plugintois said:


> The site is about 99% ready for the public... I mean, it's done, we just have dummy blog posts in there right now and we haven't linked to a purchase button. I was just wanting to find some folks wanting to beta test it before we go live. We might even work out a deal with InkSoft, who knows.


You post it..
We'll beta test for ya.
Why make extra steps? Post..post.. I want to see..?:

Remember the golden rule for success ... Simple!


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## plugintois

stevegamble said:


> You post it..
> We'll beta test for ya.
> Why make extra steps? Post..post.. I want to see..?:
> 
> Remember the golden rule for success ... Simple!


LOL, I know. Just that for you to test it, you'd need to download the plugin and I didn't want to just give it to anyone. You'd need API access from InkSoft to even run it. 

And rules are there are no self-promotional stuff, so I can't mention it. 

On a side not, we're going to take it a step further this week and see about being able to edit each product in the studio after importing and displaying the product in the shop. That'll be hard, but we'll at least look into it.


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## plugintois

Quick update, we're almost out of beta. Still cranking out some new features and function to improve the program. Hope everyone who uses InkSoft will be able to benefit from this.


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## russntracy

We have been customers for about year now and really didn't like InkSoft. It didn't work well with our custom website. We create custom dye sublimation jerseys for Professional Bowlers and Professional Fisherman so we wanted a software that would allow our customers that just wanted a simple logo/ t-shirt design that they could create themselves. But we found that customers wanted to chat with one of our artists rather than on making a tee on-line. 

AND I'VE NEVER HAD SUCH AN ISSUE CANCELLING SOMETHING BEFORE INKSOFT. The InkSoft Representative was so combative from the FIRST time I said I wanted to cancel the subscription! I say FIRST because I had to have said "cancel our subscription" about 10 times! She continually insisted I was throwing money out the window, etc. 

We paid over $3000 and it really was NOT a benefit. We set up phone meetings to train us with using the software and INKSOFT rarely called the time, let alone the day, they set up our training!


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## cowmooo

Anyone want to sell their ink soft account?

Thinking of signing up but also looking for a better deal here


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## geauxprint

We wouldn't consider selling it because it is such a terrible waste of time and money that we wouldn't feel right unloading this junk on someone else. The site, at first, is very attractive and luring. That's about it. The "custom stores" never work the way they're supposed to, the clip art is old and stale, and the staff at Inksoft is either new, incompetent, or just plain apathetic. The most seasoned tech member "Jason" (Stevens, I believe) is like a buzzed frat boy, pawning off dudespeak as if it's comforting or something. He's a babbling idiot who apparently thinks he's fooling people with his annoying bro schtick all while stalling for more time because in essence he doesn't know anymore than customers such as myself. I'd suggest looking at something else, or if you do decide to go the Inksoft route, just know that it will be a temporary foray into the online design craze as it is no long-term solution. We are in the preliminary stages of building a custom site with a seamless backend and will never come back to Inksoft, even if it's free. So, I suppose there is one good thing about Inksoft - learning what NOT to do.


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