# Page 3 | PrintSmith Vision Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 3 - Is PrintSmith Vision the right Print Management solution for you? Explore 214 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/210917/ePs-PrintSmith-Vision/reviews --- PrintSmith Vision 4 (214) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Page 3 - Reviews of PrintSmith Vision ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 51-75 of 214 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use JB Josh B. Prepress Technician Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "PrintSmith" November 26, 2024 4.0 I don't know of much that I would add to it. It has been very functional as we need it. Pros All of the information I could want is easily found. Cons Would like to be able to integrate with our print systems without a prohibitive cost involved. Review Source MH Mike H. Network Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Love PrintSmith :)" November 25, 2024 4.0 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. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I wish there was more..." May 5, 2024 2.0 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. Review Source DW Danny W. System Implementation Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "PrintSmith Vision - Coming of Age" October 13, 2020 4.0 For years the PrintSmith department has been challenged by so many Users (over 4,000) that have been paying little to nothing for Classic. Now with the change in requiring maintenance contracts hopefully this will provide additional funding for expanded development and support resources. EFI/PrintSmith need to have better (any) notification of new releases. The forums say they do, but they don't. I manage to get all the marketing messages, but very few, if any notifications about new releases. The documentation of the User Guide use to be fantastic, now the User Guide offers little education and is specific to the release rather than a complete updated guide each time. I know the challenge of keeping this up, but the quality of what is there is poor. Updating the software is now very easy, the latest is 15 clicks and 15 minutes. Pros 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 you are looking for. Notify Customer - Much improved over Classic. Ability to create tasks for yourself and others, having reminders when you log in, and email functionality make this a very usable light CRM Digital Assets - A Classic feature grown up. Easy to attach artwork to each job makes pulling job history all that much better. You can submit those attached jobs directly to a compatible Fiery Device and monitor production from the WIP window Remote Access - No more VPN, Team Viewer, Go to My PC, Chicken of the VNC. The ability to access the system from any computer anywhere is a huge benefit. For Support people the ability to access the system dramatically improves support service delivery. It includes a true mobile application designed for Phones and Tablets goes even further to cut the cord. Customized Screens are Back - Dashboard, Pending List, WIP list are now all custom to the User...thank you Dashboard - In Fast Track this now becomes a truly usable overall look at the Center, whether by individual user or the whole Center, good ability to customize as well Cons 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. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Our organization supports a (too big) variety of MIS systems. Selection of PrintSmith is from a legacy not a choice, but the maturity of the product now puts it in the mix with any other MIS program for the Quick Printer market segment. Review Source MA Melinda A. Manager, Ferris Printing Services Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good for entry level users" November 5, 2020 3.0 PrintSmith does estimating and job management quite well. Inventory has been recently implemented but we're finding as have others that it doesn't work properly yet. For what it is, it works better than lesser systems but it doesn't do everything needed. Pros 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 might be called something. If you need clarification about what's meant to go there, good luck. Representatives can parrot back the help screens or what's in a manual but if you want more actual help with how the system is used, an incident has to be escalated to get a programmer to contact you. After that, it takes a bit to get that person to really understand what you are trying to do because they often aren't USERS and/or are not users in a Print Production Operation. Cons 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 not. Some things that seem logical, it does not do - like a mechanism that offers discounts or credits on the cash register. There's no way to allow a receipt of a coupon or enter a discount without entering a job and going away from the cash register. 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 might be called something. If you need clarification about what's meant to go there, good luck. Representatives can parrot back the help screens or what's in a manual but if you want more actual help with how the system is used, an incident has to be escalated to get a programmer to contact you. After that, it takes a bit to get that person to really understand what you are trying to do because they often aren't USERS and/or are not users in a Print Production Operation. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision We purchased Digital Storefront years ago. Then we learned that DSF doesn't do the print management side (only the order entry side). So we had to purchase and implement PrintSmith to manage our business as we thought DSF did. Review Source RM Ruffin M. Operations Manager Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good platform, but needs improvement in areas" October 29, 2020 3.0 While the new user interface makes PrintSmith much more appealing than a lot of other basic MIS options out there, there are enough issues with PrintSmith poorly handling different aspects of production that leave me with mixed feelings about the platform. It might be fine for small shops with limited production capabilities, but probably not the best/most efficient solution for handling production processes other than digital and offset printing. Pros 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. Cons 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. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision While I wasn't part of the initial selection process, PrintSmith was originally chosen because of its modular build-as-you-grow structure, it's integration with Fiery RIPs, and the fact that a few employees had previous experience with the platform. Review Source ES Erik S. Graphic Design Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Some honest thoughts about PrintSmith Vision from a longtime user" November 12, 2020 2.0 While PrintSmith Vision gets the job done, it can be an unpleasant experience. Printsmith Classic was a much better software and was incredibly fast. We could build quotes in real time while talking to a customer. Can't do that with Vision. It's too slow, unreliable and buggy. I hope this gets fixed in the new version. Pros 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. Cons 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). Review Source Mary S. General Manager Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "30+ years PrintSmith user" November 4, 2020 4.0 \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] are GREAT! Pros I grew up on PrintSmith for my business. Over the years EFI has referred many prospects to me for references. Now we purchased DSF and have a really powerful workflow: DSF > PrintSmith > Fiery. I like the way EFI is constantly working to integrate products which will increase our revenue and profits. Cons When the software goes down, it really goes down! We struggled for a year after hiring EFI to port our products to a new server (Azure). We had a contract with EFI \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] and I ended up asking \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\], respecfully, for a credit of $9332.20 because of my fiasco. I still haven't heard from him. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision PrintSmith back in the day was the only software which ran on a MAC. I worked with \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] on their PrintSmith. Review Source NC Neal C. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "EFI PrintSmith Vision is a key to our company's success" October 29, 2020 5.0 We started using PrintSmith Classic in 2001. A few years ago we switched to PrintSmith Vision. The way the programmers ported the functionality to a browser based version was nothing short of amazing. Then, they created a completely new user interface to run with HTML5, which is even easier to use, more powerful, and more responsive to the user. EFI support has been excellent. Pros 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. Cons 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. Review Source dH dietrich H. Server engineer Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Customer support was great" November 5, 2020 5.0 I was able to remove an outdated server, and replace it with a hosted solution that does the same functions for less than the cost of keeping a server running on prem. Pros 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. Cons EFI had some growing pains with Flash and it no longer being used. That seems to be resolved. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision We went with Vision so our business process did not need to change, going from the old version to the new. Than it being hosted it removes the need to upgrades in future. Review Source NG Nathaniel G. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "One of the best MIS on the market in my opinion!" October 12, 2020 5.0 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](https://www.capterra.com/p/118845/Avanti-Slingshot/) Reason for choosing 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! Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Office Manager Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy enough!" October 29, 2020 5.0 Pros 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. Cons Now that it is all web based (I also used PrintSmith Classic) it would be nice if updating the software version was automatic. Alternatives considered [QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/) Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Price point and the level of service in tech support made this an easy purchase. Review Source MG Mirinda G. Manager Government Administration Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Worth the investment if you have the time" October 29, 2020 3.0 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. Review Source JR Jeffrey R. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Long time User" October 29, 2020 4.0 My experience level with this software is quite high, along with knowledge of the system, so with that said it is an improving product. Fast track is an improvement on the Vision platform but EFI is only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what it can do. Pros The best feature is the new ShipExpress integration. The ease of use over the years has gotten better for the experience Print industry professional. Cons 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. Alternatives considered [Aleyant PrintJobManager](https://www.capterra.com/p/172960/PrintJobManager/)[DocketManager](https://www.capterra.com/p/145492/DocketManager/) Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Improving product and ease of use. While the others had more features, they were not all easily used. Review Source JM Jim M. Partner Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "An honest review" November 12, 2020 5.0 We depend on PrintSmith Vision to do what we do every day, consistently and seamlessly. Our experiences with the product has overall been excellent. Pros PrintSmith Vision is so complete and robust. It handles all of the tasks we need from estimating/quoting client projects, order entry, tracking, invoicing, account history, etc. From our CSR, to pre-press and production teams, to accounting, this software keeps us on track, consistent and timely. Cons Since it's so complete and robust it can be a bit intimidating at first. However, once a user is accostomed to using the software and it's numerous features, it becomes apparent that EFI has done a good job of thoughtful development. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Seemed better suited to our needs. Switched from [Esitmator](https://www.capterra.com/p/92564/Estimator/) Our Crouser & Associates alliance membership made the initial recommendation to us. Review Source RG Robert G. Sales Manager Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great but could use some improvements" February 3, 2022 4.0 I have used it for over 20 years now and I have been able to master the program over those years. I find it does the job and the positives far outweigh the negatives. Pros I like the updates to the software after they've taken in suggestions and requests for changes. They actually listen to customer input and make changes based on the number of requests received. Cons The functionality is sometimes clunky and they way the paper is calculated is backwards. I don't like the up's/on's formula they use for calculating the number of pages on a stapled or glue bound books. Alternatives considered [ePS Pace](https://www.capterra.com/p/99207/ePs-Pace/)[Avanti Slingshot Print MIS](https://www.capterra.com/p/118845/Avanti-Slingshot/)[wp2print](https://www.capterra.com/p/173857/wp2print/) Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Familiarity and ease of use plus integration with PrintSpeak. Review Source JD JOE D. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "PrintSmith Review" November 12, 2020 4.0 Our overall experience has been very good. Pros 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. Cons 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. Alternatives considered [Yes Prime](https://www.capterra.com/p/25891/Yes-Management-System/) Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Best value and fit our needs at the time in 2002. Review Source DS Del S. Operations Manager Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Its getting Better" October 29, 2020 3.0 we've had some bumpy rides starting up. The longer you work with the product and the upgrades are made the more comfortable you become. For a system at its price point the value is there. I think that most would pay just a bit more to have a bit more ease of use. Pros I appreciate that this product while it can stand alone and support a print shop. The most important thing about this software is that it integrates with MDSF which is our virtual print shop "front door". Cons My teams least favorite thing about the software is the limitations we have as it relates to making modifications for ease of use for an in Plant Operation. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision We chose EFI Print Smith first because of the demo and ease of use for an established customer. Secondly because it was more inline with the price point we were looking for at the time based on the volume of business we were doing. Lastly becuase it intergrates with Review Source SC Susan C. Co-owner, VP Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Much better than the alternative" October 29, 2020 4.0 Serves our needs, but definitely not the best software support I've ever gotten. Pros 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. Cons 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. Review Source GG Gina G. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "20 year user" November 3, 2020 5.0 We have had a great experience with EFI. The technical support team is very knowledgeable and helpful. They are a partner to your company and only a phone call away. Pros We love the account history feature. It is nice to be able to use the previous order to create the current one. It saves a lot of time! Cons We have had challenges with the updates. The software is on our server and it is more difficult to do than when we were using the Classic version. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision With my years of experience, it was the right move. I couldn't see trying to learn another product and then realizing that I should have chosen Vision. Review Source GM Greg M. Production Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Our PrintSmith Experience" November 16, 2020 4.0 Pros 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. Cons 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. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision The connection to \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] Switched from [Esitmator](https://www.capterra.com/p/92564/Estimator/) More features including a full workflow. Review Source Kris S. Graphic Desinger Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Vision a BIG step forward" October 29, 2020 4.0 We have been using PrintSmith for over 15 years. Vision is definitely the best upgrade/update. Pros 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. Cons Connecting it to online ordering is not great. Does not give you a lot of customization. Review Source RI Robert I. \- Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Your title is misleading "How has your experience with EFI PrintStream Vision been?" PRINTSMITH" November 12, 2020 5.0 I'm not looking Back to the Legacy version of PrintSMITH Vision. Use it very rarely. I'm Enjoying the New Fast Track Pros It is improving as it goes along. It is getting to be very USER FRIENDLY . The legacy was not much user friendly. Getting around is pleasant and quick. Cutting down on wasted time. Cons Other than Mousing around, I'd rather have a little more Keyboard use. Nothing to complain about EFI is improving PrintSMITH VISION fast Track. Taking time, but it's improving. Alternatives considered [PowerQuote](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010737/PowerQuote/)[Printers Plan](https://www.capterra.com/p/92567/Printers-Plan/) Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Didn't want to crossover to PC. Wanted to stick with Mac. Review Source WM William M. President Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "EFI PrintSmith Vision - Value" October 30, 2020 5.0 EFI has constantly evolved PrintSmith Vision, adding features and functionality. When I've had problems tech support has been there to fix it. Pros The ability to write up estimates for many various printing and bindery functions. Then able to convert them to Job Tickets and then invoices. After that able to track payments and receivables and merge that info with accounting programs. History of Customer orders along with contact info. Able to handle pricing from the smallest to very large complex printing jobs. Cons PrintSmith Vision is currently being rewritten in html, so there are functions that I'm used to that need to be incorporated in this newest version. But I already like many of the new features that are available. Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision I started with PrintSmith 26 years ago. It was the only Print Estimating program that would run on both Mac's and PC's. Review Source MP Michael P. Director - Operations IT Printing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Quick Review on EFI PrintSmith" October 12, 2020 4.0 The PrintSmith Vision team works to deliver a good product with a good support team. Partnering with them allows the PrintSmith team to be as responsive as possible. Pros PrintSmith Vision offers a reasonable cost click-for-print MIS system for users to be able to manage estimating, invoicing, AR and account management. The system allows for configurations and changes to fit the user and allows the user to add costing and pricing details which are specific to their business and market. Cons The inability to import or export data directly out of the system without using the API or user interface. Many of the menus or input resources do not have an import feature for data or the ability to export data in a print or CSV format quickly and without extra effort Reason for choosing PrintSmith Vision Historical data, ease of transition, institutional knowledge of the product. Review Source