Our story

Before PrinterFlo, I ran a sign shop

I'm John Cogswell. I spent fifteen years in the sign trade, doing installs, sales and production. Fine Line was the shop I ran with my brother Dave.

Sign maker forming a channel letter return by hand from a strip of aluminum coil — Forming a return by hand from aluminum coil, 2011.

We bent our letters by hand

We made our own channel letters. We didn't have a letter bender, so we bent and shaped every return by hand from aluminum coil.

Channel letter returns on a shop bench, protective film still on — Returns on the bench with the protective film still on, 2010.

Shop bench with channel letters, returns, LED modules and a spool of wire — Letters, returns and LED modules on the bench, 2010.

The printers and the truck

Our wide format printer was a Roland SolJet Pro II, the 54 inch. That was the early 2000s, and it was amazing for its time. We also ran a Gerber EDGE 2.

We did our own installs too.

Channel letters being installed one at a time from a bucket truck — Channel letters going up one at a time, 2010.

Wooden frame for a large ground sign going up beside a bucket truck — Framing a big ground sign beside our old 1987 Ford F600 bucket truck, 2010.

Vehicle wraps

By 2009 we were doing vehicle wraps, in a time that almost nobody around us was.

Side view of a minivan with a printed wrap and lettering, parked in a lot — A minivan wrap we did in 2009.

Why a sign guy built shop software

We bent letters by hand, so we know which parts should never be by hand. Bending a return is the craft. Pricing on a calculator, typing the same job in three times and chasing approvals on the phone aren't.

By hand Working out a price on a calculator.: In PrinterFlo Your products price themselves from the size and the options you set up once, with your quantity breaks.
By hand Typing the same job into a quote, a work order and an invoice.: In PrinterFlo Type it once. The quote becomes the order, and the order becomes the invoice.
By hand Calling a customer to chase a proof.: In PrinterFlo They get one link, no login. They look at the proof, approve it and pay the deposit online.
By hand Guessing whether a job made money.: In PrinterFlo Click any line on a quote and see its cost, profit and margin.

Fine Line closed a long time ago. Dave has his own shop now, Images In Sign. We're two brothers who came up in the sign trade. Images In Sign was the first shop on PrinterFlo.

If PrinterFlo won't do something your shop needs, tell me. The "Stuck? Tell John" button at the bottom of every screen reaches me, and you can see what other shops have asked for on You ask. We build it.

John Cogswell, PrinterFlo

Shop software from the sign trade

Quotes, proofs, the jobs board and invoices in one place, built by people who have done the work.

Try it free. No card needed. Tell John

All photos are from my Fine Line days.