PrintSmith Vision Features

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

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...

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Good estimating support. Reliable. Decent reporting.

Communication around the migration away from flash was weak. Really had to guess and hunt and peck my way through it.

Emailing - Several variable data templates for; Invoices, Estimates, Post Payments, Cash Register, Purchase Order and Statements. Will list all contacts within an Account, allows you to CC yourself. When setup will add outgoing email tracking to customer Logs Pending List Search - No more scrolling, you can search from the column titles. Uses predictive text so just a few letters typically finds what...

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There has been a considerable effort to convert to HTML (the years spent on Flash were very unsatisfying and IMO the wrong direction to have gone) has left behind many bugs. I hope after October there will be a pause in new functionality to fix many areas of the program. Stock Definitions - Once a rock solid functionality now suffers from development moving too fast and not enough QA. The Job Details Stock picker is a great concept that needs additional attention as well as the new Stock Picker screen trying to squeeze too much in too small a space.

The point of sale information capture is what has been most impactful for our business. Having a workflow that eliminates touchpoints makes our daily operation more efficient. The need to use data for decision making is now possible and just like every process, it requires time to learn that skill. All in all, this system is what we needed to move forward because of obsolete operating modes.

The only difficulty with this system was finding the time to learn it while still operating. That is not a fault of the system but a paradigm change with our organization.

Coming from PrintSmith classic, Vision has made a big difference. It runs fast and is smoother. The Pending Documents menu is such an upgrade with the flexibility to filter out data and find things fast. The quick access menu gives you a great snapshot of everything going on in the company. love it.

Connecting it to online ordering is not great. Does not give you a lot of customization.

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

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.

This is not easy to use it now takes one more keystroke for almost everything you do compared to original PrintSmith. Trying to find help in the user guide is ??? I do not like the new version. But did not want to lose the account history.

Having to click confirm then go into invoice summary and click save. Waste of time. Also If you put the dollar amount in at the beginning and change it at invoicing time, it creates and "adjustment" that changes the amount going into your sales column. What is the purpose of that. The price changed for some reason it is not an adjustment with a separate line item.

It is extremely useful and proficient and covers all aspects of printing (estimating, invoicing, production)

The learning curve involved to become proficient in using it. The amount of time it takes to get support when you are not on a paid plan. The initial training took 4 full days. We were shown all the knobs and buttons but never allowed nor taught how to fly the plane.

It's gotten easier to use over the years, I like the browser based functionality and that we can access it from outside the office.

Don't like the reporting features or the secondary software needed to write reports. I think it should have better integration with other web products that is not expensive to implement. I don't like how much time there is between updates or the back up procedure.

It does what a small printshop needs to do - tracks information way better than doing so manually. Set up is fairly simple but takes some time to understand and become familiar with. In my years of working with many different EFI products (Hagen, Monarch, Epace, Printsmith) it's difficult to get someone on the phone who really understands printing and what is being asked. As an example - a field...

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Many of the features don't work as they are supposed to (inventory is one) - there is not an easy way to interface with EFI regarding the status of the software or bugs - one can log into a list serve and see the issues but who knows when something might work right. Before working at Ferris another company where I managed used PrintSmith as well. Similar issues. It does some things well, other things...

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The html5 update was long needed and helped put PrintSmith ahead of the competition when it comes to user interface. We use the EFI-hosted option which makes it a breeze to access from not only anywhere in the shop, but also makes it so much easier to access remotely. There are also integration options for Fiery RIP's if you take the time to set it up.

PrintSmith does a terrible job with handling production processes other than digital and offset printing. The way it processes wide format and merchandise production is clunky at best and leaves you wondering if the engineers ever even bothered to take into consideration the way that shops actually handle pricing and production. There are many strange (and often very cumbersome) quirks throughout the platform that make it seem like EFI doesn't care too much about refining PrintSmith to operate intuitively or smoothly and that they're more focused on making the platform simply appear versatile and easy.

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

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.

The best feature is the new ShipExpress integration. The ease of use over the years has gotten better for the experience Print industry professional.

Relying on Report Writer to create some of the basic operations that should be included in the working platform in the form of a dashboard. Report Utilities is an example of an improvement but as the information does not link to the next level of information that should be available, especially as you are trying to manage your AR.

It's the only software option available for the print industry that isn't outrageously priced. It does a good job of maintaining a database of clients, building quotes and managing projects.

This software is clunky, slow, and buggy. An unpleasant user experience and has always felt like a downgrade from PrintSmith Classic. Simple updates are a pain and we never receive notifications that there is a new update. PS Vision updates have never supported current operating systems, and are typically a few OS versions behind. EFI made the unfortunate decision to develop Vision in Flash which at the time everyone knew was losing support in favor of HTML5. This is most likely why it's so buggy. Hopefully they get the new version right but early versions of "Fast Track" leave me uneasy and lacking confidence because many important features we used in Classic and Vision are not available (for example dragging jobs and line items over from other invoices and estimates).

PrintSmith is flexible enough to not only provide good quotes, etc. for print on paper but also to help us enter orders for non-paper products like screen printing.

When we upgraded to Vision, PrintSmith has not kept the scanning of job tickets so it will function like under PrintSmith Classic. This is very important in our print shops to help us with production management. We are disappointed that PrintSmith has not made it a priority to address. We have been using PrintSmith since 2002 and have not had an issue like this until the Vision upgrade. Please consider how you can help us with this.

We had 30+ years of PrintSmith Classic data and it imported in to Vision seamlessly.

The upgrades like Tracker and Report Writer seem to be priced significantly higher than we would expect. We would actually expect them to be part of the actual base program. The constant updates to transition away from Flash should have taken place as a single upgrade instead of having to use company resources on multiple occasions. Also, transitioning from Classic to Legacy and then ultimately to...

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PrintSmith Vision includes every element needed to manage our digital printing operation, including estimating, invoicing, stock management, scheduling, shipping and delivery, and more. I love the way we're able to prepare estimates quickly and easily, and then convert them into invoices for actual job production. Once you get good at using the software, you learn how to create estimates/invoices so they contain all of the information needed for: the invoice the customer sees; the job tickets that each department of your production staff sees; the info needed to order stock; the info needed to ship or deliver the job and create packing slips.

There's very little that I don't like about PrintSmith Vision. There is a lot to learn and setup, but that is because the software does so much.

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.

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...

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We had been using PrintSmith for 10+ years, and had a very old version. We had a server with a USB device that served as the key, and would remote in to do jobs. Our print team was very reluctant to change cause it just worked, and had for a decade. So the upgrade process was a multi stage that could have been a real nightmare. But working with the EFI team we got them into our old environment they pulled the data upgraded everything and then deployed it into our new Vision environment. Than they did training for the user so they would understand how it has changed.

EFI had some growing pains with Flash and it no longer being used. That seems to be resolved.

Transfer of data from Classic to Vision went smoothly; overall user friendly design; allows for broad range of digital & offset print functions; tech support is helpful

lags if your internet connection is not stellar; forms & reports are difficult to create & standard forms are not designed optimally; having to switch to Legacy for some functions is slow & frustrating; still finding glitches which makes me question integrity of the estimates I'm producing, especially if pulling from previously filed jobs; stock definitions are not easily maintained

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.

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.

The quick reporting, estimating, invoicing, are all great features. Job history is great too. I like that it comes in segments that work for small businesses like mine, so I'm not paying for a bunch of features I don't use.

Now that it is all web based (I also used PrintSmith Classic) it would be nice if updating the software version was automatic.

This software provides account and order history to help us provide better quality customer service. It has replaced boxes and boxes of paperwork and helped us to keep jobs on our radar and eliminate duplication of effort or lost jobs.

It is not intuitive enough for counter/front line staff to use effectively in a small operation. It is not intuitive for removing / catching duplicates or editing existing data. When asked to watch the training software for Fast Track, employees had a hard time understanding what the software was doing or how it would improve their work. It is missing a significant functionality to allow access to the data in the software, which can only be remedied by adding and expensive add-on "report writer" which consists of thousands of "reports" as opposed to data file extracts.

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

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.