PrintSmith Vision

An innovative and modern software system for any print company.

Comments: Print Smith is what I started off with when I started my job. Print Smith Vision is the evolution of this order management system that continues to innovate and surprise its users. I would recommend this program to anyone running a printing or marketing management business.

Pros:

What I liked most about this software was all the new features in it. The amount of details and flexibility for each line item and job helps us push for more customers.

Cons:

My only complaint about this software is it does occasionally get weird glitches. These glitches take away paper stock we have and we have to wait on an IT tech to work on it.

Commercial Printer Approved; Easy Interface and New Feature Rollouts Often

Comments: I have looked into other similar applications that are competitive to PrintSmith, but nothing has been able to compare to the depth of detail and usability that PrintSmith has. Despite the bugs (which are inevitable in any software), this is a great system that makes our day to day very streamlined.

Pros:

The interface is relatively straightforward to use, making it train someone on. The ability to make templates and copy from the account history is helpful in keeping consistency across jobs as well. In the last few years, the developers have really taken on a lot of feature requests from users and are making significant updates that we have been asking for to make our workflow easier.

Cons:

It's a fairly buggy system to the point where we will have to make workarounds or a different process other than what is recommended to get the results we are needing. Support is helpful and fairly quick to respond, but sometimes the problems are hard to diagnose since there are so many ways to use the program (bug vs. user error distinction).

Alternatives Considered: DocketManager

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: This was a nice software but it relied heavily on integrating more systems that we currently use to make it worth the while for us. PrintSmith has the ability to add additional software integrations but functions just fine without them.

Solid product with great potential but still falls short.

Comments: We've been PS users since 2004. Each time new owners purchase the suite of products, development accellerates for a time, then resources are reallocated elswhere and updates and fixes come more slowly. This can be very frustrating, however it's fairly common in the software world of today.

Pros:

Of the MIS systems available, this is the most cost effective solution. Some support representatives such as [sensitive content hidden] are fantastic. PS is a solid base product with long development history.

Cons:

The development team, while good, is smaller so changes, bug fixes and enhancements take a long time. Third party solutions are needed to provide features that should be provided natively. Needs cost effective web-to-print option, better native CRM features, and better billing integration.

Alternatives Considered: Printers Plan and QuickBooks Enterprise

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: Printsmith was the most cost effective option.

PrintSmith Vision Review

Comments: We have been using PrintSmith since the beginning of time, so we have seen a lot of changes over the years. We are very pleased with how the application has developed into a robust application that is now able to interact with DSF.

Pros:

Once it is fully set up, it is an easy-to-use application. Most importantly, it allows the end-user to place orders online via DSF, which makes the whole data entry process easy to oversee and maintain.

Cons:

Some options are locked such as when searching Web Orders, the search option cannot be customized so instead of 'Invoice' as default, to change 'Web Order'

Alternatives Considered: Firespring

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: Yes, we use to print and track orders manually, using spreadsheets.

PSV is the only software we would use for our size business

Comments: PSV has been a solid piece of business software that is cost effective and is up for us 99.9% of the time.

Pros:

Great software - excellent support - have using PS for 20 + years - glad it is self hosting. Have the cloud option but will never use it.

Cons:

Does not have a report writer built in. I am able to use the i-net report writer as well as write sql statements to retrieve the data I need; however, a more intuitive simplified report writer would be nice.

Alternatives Considered: Printers Plan

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: More robust - Felt it was a better product supported by a larger company

PrintSmith accounting standpoint

Comments: On the accounting standpoint, it is usable.
On the estimating standpoint, it is outstanding.
On the reporting aspect, the tools could be better for finding facts and figures.
On the purchase orders, more space could be used or realigned if needed.

Pros:

Various menus and numerous options for estimating when printing any type of products.

Cons:

Not enough options for reports or options to change up what you need.

The Printsmith Legacy

Comments: Have used Printsmith since the late 80's. It's a valuable tool even as we use it being a small print shop.

Pros:

Comprehensive software for printers specifically with the ability to be used in many ways.

Cons:

Highly complicated but it has to be in order to conform to so many different companies that work in so many different ways.

Alternatives Considered: QuickBooks Enterprise

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: Like many of the things we use we end up paying for the more powerful tool even if we aren't using all that we are paying for.

This program has changed our business in a positive way!

Comments: Overall, PrintSmith is a wonderful, comprehensive program that has added significant value to our business.

Pros:

The convenience, consistency and accuracy of estimates and invoices.

Cons:

Some menu items can be confusing, as well as difficult navigating in some menus, etc.

Decent POS Software for Print Shops

Comments: Over all I use this program 4-5 hours a day and it has made our shop more profitable and able to work with a smaller staff. I am the main user in our shop and while the learning curve from a very old 2006 desktop version to PSV was steep I mostly like the program and can quickly get done what I need. The old program I had to open multiple windows and drag & drop for bringing forward older jobs (more than one) into new jobs. Now we can import old jobs from any account using the add job window. I do wish there was more flexibility on packing lists for when we have split jobs. as it is I save as a PDF and edit the PDF to show what is actually delivering.

Pros:

Having used PS for about 13 years I can say it has improved greatly over the years. I find it very functional and intuitive. I can take deposits, track orders and see our profitability. It is easy to do job builds and save presets. Looking up older orders and pulling them forward is very easy as well. I can take a job build and easily transfer to a different account for similar jobs. We have connected our PSV to SalesForce for sending out invoices, statements and following up on estimates. This has simply added to the functionality. We also have ShipExpress which allows us to ship right from an invoice and pull all the pricing into PSV as well as tracking numbers.

Cons:

I am no a big fan of some updates made in version 7.0.0.6166. Most especially the number search bar at the top. This used to hold the number so if you typed in a number for an invoice but it was on the estimate selection you could just change the selection to invoice and hit search. Now if you click anywhere on the screen the number disappears and you have to retype it. Sounds like a small thing - and had it not worked beautifully before that maybe it wouldn't be so aggravating. Also when processing a credit card we would leave the invoice # in that bar so once processed we could click search and go right to the invoice to both verify and print a receipt (PSV won't connect to my printer for some reason for receipts). This version also has slowed down load time. We have 30 years of customer info in this program, since this upgrade it lags when loading account searches. Very annoying. Also issues connecting to Ship Express and losing printer specifications. Sometimes my notes disappear while saving. very annoying and time consuming when this happens. Sometimes it also happens when converting from an estimate to a job - but only on clients that have notes saved to pop into all tickets.

Easy for Beginners

Comments: From start to finish, working with PrintSmith is easy to learn and pick-up on. As someone who was new to the printing industry, I had a lot to learn but PrintSmith made it a lot easier and brought the learning curve down.

Pros:

The software is very easy to learn for someone with no industry experience.

Cons:

Some things don't quite work all the time or as intended.

One of the best MIS on the market in my opinion!

Comments: We started with one of the older versions about 25 years ago. we did at one time try a competitor before our upgrade to Vision. we dumped the new software 6 months into implementation as it was going to take another 18 months to implement it and would take a dedicated person for that time. Instead we took a week and upgraded to Vision and have never looked back...well other then to make the payments on the software we scraped...

Pros:

I like the ease of use and set up. how it makes my company run more efficiently and helps gain and track profitability.

Cons:

i cannot say there are too many cons with the software. If we come by a problem or glitch, we let the support know and they work their best to correct it or show us where we were looking at it wrong.

Alternatives Considered: Avanti Slingshot Print MIS

Reasons for Switching to PrintSmith Vision: Was way easier to upgrade to Vision then to start over with a new product. but even if it was not an upgrade, it is still one of the best programs on the market for Printers!

I wish there was more...

Comments: We are moving to another MIS system after over 14 years with EFI PrintSmith and EPS PrintSmith Vision.

Pros:

user-friendly interface, ease of navigation, modular pricing, and knowledgeable sales.

Cons:

Support availability and response time, even for P1 priority (System down) requests. There is no 24-hour Support or support during major updates over the weekend. Limited credit card processor integration. USD-based billing, price and service.

PrintSmith Review

Comments: Been using PrintSmith for almost 20 years, including production and management.

Pros:

Very efficient to use. Breaks down prices as needed.

Cons:

Set up, including reports is very cumbersome

Great Service

Comments: We have had great experience using PrintSmith since last 3 years. The regular updates are good. The customer service back up is superb.

Pros:

Printsmith is very user friendly. All the information about your job work is at your finger tips.

Cons:

Not much. Their always a scope of improvement.

Sir Speedy Canada

Comments: Overall it has been a very good experience, couldn't function without it

Pros:

It is very easy to use, Invoicing customers and keeping track of payments saves me lots of time.

Cons:

I can't use it if the internet is down. Doesn't happen very often but a pain when it does.

Printsmith CRM

Comments: Quick, good options for storing and sorting for multiple department touches.

Pros:

The ability to interface with several of our other CRM products.

Cons:

Not effectively built to process signage estimates/orders.

Solid for traditional print shops

Pros:

Great UI. Easy to navigate for all departments.

Cons:

Building custom forms such as invoices is antiquated and cumbersome on Crystal Reports.

Love PrintSmith :)

Pros:

Our site order times have reduced considerably. Inventory has been much easier to manage.

Cons:

We've had to reach out for support a few times to get things resolved, which works out fine, but would love to be able to fix things without doing so.

A tour-de-force of inconsistencies and limitations.

Comments: Frustration and annoyance. You can make PrintSmith work, but it's far harder than it should be. We're locked in (both by corporate requirement and by a PrintSmith job history going back to 1994) but we would absolutely use something else if we realistically could.

Pros:

It's faster than PrintSmith Vision Legacy (the Flash-based one, not Classic).

Cons:

Operational security is terrible. Vision requires a connected browser with Flash and Javascript active. In 2020! Also, since all print output is generated as PDFs loaded in the browser window they can be reopened across sessions from history. Not good! Search is weirdly inconsistent. Sometimes you have to use special characters like % to search for partial matches, sometimes not, etc. Controls are inconsistent. Some dialogs are worded that clicking "Yes" is destructive, while in others "No" is. Columns in lists jump around when you change views and cannot be accurately resized. Why are some buttons round, some oval, and some rounded squares? Why are some controls buttons, others fly-out menus, and still others completely hidden unless you mouse over them? There doesn't seem to be a consistent reasoning behind these decisions. Many, many features that existed in PrintSmith Classic are non-existent or severely limited; likely all due to making this a web app instead of standalone client software. For instance: still no key-command equivalents for much of anything. Still no "Open previous document" command. Still cannot copy jobs from one pending document to another pending document in any way. It's extremely difficult to edit the templates for invoices, estimates, statements, etc. and requires different software (and training!) to do. It wasn't real easy to do in Classic, but it was better than this. I never thought I'd pine for the days of PrintSmith 6 on MacOS 9...

Can't wait to use all it's features

Comments: EFI is always awesome and on their game. If you need support from a group of people, you have the best with EFI. Even over other products, other companies, EFI is at the top with support. They know their job, too. Rarely do you spend hours or days on the phone with them. They fix you up right away.

Pros:

We didn't lose our history, we are still supported by EFI, it still has the same functions just located somewhere else. I really Like that EFI for the first time in 20 years put a space between Fast and Track. And spelled both words correctly. It's about time. And easier to find when doing an internet search.

Cons:

I don't mind the buttons, but definitely don't like: Looking all over God's country to find what had been easier to locate with drop down windows. DISLIKE the confirm my change to bindery addition (everyone of them, every time), then confirm it again on returning to job window on the second tab, confirm the change or no change to account information on the first tab, then going to third tab to save it. Were there real printers who are busy folks, test trial this version? DISLIKE the whole account history; don't like having to go to account history to add temporary contact in a new job ticket. When it was right there before. FT is a 4-wheel road to finding functions while driving a Euro car. I do take responsibility that I haven't used it long at all. As a rule, I don't ever have problems to figuring and finding what I need in any new software. I'll take the ease of adaptability of the Classic version any day over scouting what I need, and having far too many buttons/tabs to select to do a simple ticket. Loses all the ease. The stock selection is just a whole different deal. I personally have lots of work waiting on me. don't mean to beat it down, but the Classic only needed some mods, not a whole revamp. Color is nice FT.

Worth the investment if you have the time

Comments: Overall it has helped our business processes but it takes a lot of time to setup and manage. I wish more training was offered - I know we are only using some of the most basic features and at times we still feel like we are stumbling.

Pros:

It's nice that we can price complex jobs fairly quickly once the system was set up.

Cons:

The conversion to HTML (instead of Flash) has been very long, and we are still concerned about missing functions on the HTML side. It also takes a bit of time to go in and update pricing - could be much more user friendly especially for basic functions. Wish there were more standard reports available. We also purchased Digital StoreFront under the impression that the two systems would sync seamlessly, and this hasn't been the case. We have to manage complex pricing in both systems, which is a nightmare since the two use completely different pricing methodologies. One would assume that if you update a paper price in one system that you sync it with the other system automatically.

Vision and Digital Storefront

Comments: EFIs team is amazing to work with. They are very responsive and knowledgeable with the products that they sell. One on one training is well worth the cost and they help you customize the product to your needs.

Pros:

Vision is a great software and very versatile when it comes to estimating a project. It allows you to not only estimate a project but take it into production and then bill out at the end. It also has a good integration with Digital Storefront allowing easy access for clients to place orders.

Cons:

Vision can be challenging to learn if you do not have a printing background, so that is very help when it comes to operating the software. Also the integration with Digital Storefront is very time consuming and not as easy as expected.

Terrible Customer Service and upgrades are still a work in progress

Comments: Overall, we would appreciate a better response on the customer service side and be able to talk to someone that can help us migrate as well as figure out these issues with the new system.

Pros:

The new Fast Track puts things in front of you for easy access.

Cons:

Inconvenient to go from Legacy to Fast Track to access items not available in the new system yet. Customer service is lacking - requests to have someone call is answered with instructions on how to do it yourself and our request is immediately closed out. We finally had someone call us from overseas (India) and he was unable to get us operational on a new computer. At square one again as far as moving Printsmith to another computer. Reports are not as user friendly in the new Fast Track side. Can't easily retrieve Daily Sales and Monthly Sales as we were able to in the Legacy side. Would like a feature to turn off seeing every part in Work in Progress, to name a few.

Vision without goals equals no direction.

Comments: Excellent support services. Thank you!

Pros:

The users ability to make unique changes that complement a specific application. I can customize features that are unique to the way we do business. Such as, turning products on that we use and eliminating the viewable items that we do not use.

Cons:

We need to have merchant services more streamlined into the software to support the new way our customers pay. We now deliver all of our products but the person who needs to pay the invoice is not available upon delivery. Thus, an emailed invoice with an integrated secure online pay is necessary. I also want to send a paid invoice with the words PAID on it. Customers want to see a receipt of payment but the invoice by itself does not show that it has been paid. Yes, a statement works but our clients just need a paid invoice receipt.

PrintSmith Vision

Comments: Overall I would say my overall experience with PrintSmith Vision is a positive one. I feel once a person gets into it and starts using it. The software does what is expected of it.

Pros:

I feel PrintSmith Vision is probably one of the best estimating software for the printing industry. The real beauty of it is that you can truly break down your costs and see if you are making money on any job. It breaks it down to a monthly summary in all departments so that you can see how much each department made that month. Helps you identify your weaknesses and strengths.

Cons:

PrintSmith Vision does have a few things I would love to change to make it better for the users. For most of the stuff I would like to see fixed I can contact the support and request changes.