Upgrading the Shop — New Gear, Same Grind

If you’ve been following Illest Print Co for a while, you already know — this whole thing started in a small corner of the house, one printer, one cutter, and a whole lot of trial and error. From late-night sticker runs to early morning print jobs before work, every upgrade has been earned the hard way.

This past month, we made one of our biggest shop upgrades yet — something that’s going to make a real difference in how fast and efficiently we can create. We officially retired the old Ryzen 2600X setup and built out a new Ryzen 5 9600X AM5 workstation, doubled the RAM, and optimized everything to handle the huge design files that come through every week.

It might not sound flashy to most people, but anyone who designs, prints, or edits knows how game-changing a solid workstation can be. Before, some files would lag out in Illustrator or crawl through exports in VersaWorks — now it’s smooth, responsive, and fast enough to keep up with the grind.

Why the Upgrade Matters

Illest Print Co runs on precision — every sticker, shirt, and poster needs to look perfect. That means working with massive, high-resolution files, detailed cut paths, and layered print data that can eat through RAM and CPU power like nothing.

This upgrade means no more bottlenecks. No more waiting 10 minutes for a file to render. No more system freezes mid-print. Now it’s just straight-up productivity — we can move from design to print faster, clean up colors, finalize proofs, and keep the entire workflow running tighter and cleaner.

More Power, Same Passion

The goal has always been the same: create high-quality custom prints that people are proud to slap on their gear, walls, or merch tables. The new setup just helps us do it faster, better, and with fewer interruptions.

We’re still running the same lineup of equipment — the Roland BN2-20A for print-and-cut production, the Epson ET-2800 for small-batch test runs, and the Siser Juliet for fine-cut vinyl work. But now the computer behind it all can keep pace with the machines.

Every file, every export, every contour cut aligns perfectly — and that’s a huge deal when you’re printing hundreds of stickers at once and every millimeter counts.

Building Toward the Future

This isn’t just about faster prints — it’s about where Illest Print Co is headed. We’re laying the groundwork for bigger things: more product lines, larger format printing, new materials, and expanding what we can offer to artists, bands, and local businesses.

It’s wild to look back and see how far it’s come — from basic sticker sheets on an entry-level printer to running full production with pro equipment, clean workflows, and real branding behind it. And none of it happens without the support of everyone who’s ordered, shared, or even just told a friend about what we do.

Every like, repost, or custom order helps us keep building this — piece by piece, upgrade by upgrade.

Same Grind, New Tools

At the end of the day, the gear helps, but the grind stays the same. We’re still the same small, local, independent print shop — still pushing to make the best custom stickers, posters, shirts, and merch around.

The new workstation isn’t a flex — it’s a tool. It means faster turnaround times, better design flow, and more room to experiment creatively.

If you’ve got an idea — a sticker, a shirt, a band logo, or a campaign you want to bring to life — let’s make it happen. The shop’s ready, the machines are tuned, and the grind’s not slowing down anytime soon.