Not a gimmick. Not a trap. Just deliberate choices.
In a print shop, every minute counts. In a few minutes' read, you'll discover:
- Where Place Projector comes from, and why it exists.
- How a small company can offer the grid for free, against systems that cost several thousand euros.
- How we make a living, in full transparency.
- What we believe in, and why you are at the heart of it all.
- And finally, how to reach me directly if you have any questions.
It's a bit long. But I'd rather explain things to you frankly than try to sell them to you.
Where does Place Projector come from?
For almost 14 years, I co-founded and ran custom apparel print and embroidery shops. We printed and embroidered several thousand custom garments. Rush orders, hot presses, designs to place in exactly the right spot, garment after garment: I know that daily life from the inside.
Back in 2017, we had put together a prototype: a projector that projected a simple grid onto the press platen. We had been using it for a year. We barely thought about it anymore.
Then came a rush order from a large pizza chain: 200 T-shirts to press with screen-printed transfers, to be delivered the next day. And that very day, our prototype projector had just broken down.
Placement was slow. Painstaking. Every shirt measured, checked, checked again. That's when we realized the tool had become essential, as much for speed as for the operator's comfort. And despite all our care, we're certain of one thing: with projection, those 200 shirts would have been placed even better.
“You only realize what a tool is worth the day it's missing.”
When we looked for a real solution, we noticed several things:
- Projection positioning systems exist, but they often cost several thousand euros. For a small shop, that's out of reach.
- Most shops still place their designs with a ruler, a cardboard template or by eye. It works… until the day it doesn't.
- The real cost isn't the tool. The real cost is wasted garments, time spent measuring, and depending on the one experienced operator who "knows how to do it".
- A placement tool has to stay simple to use every day, by any operator, even in the middle of a rush.
- Heat transfer and embroidery are often treated as two separate worlds, when the problem is the same: placing it right, the first time.
“The problem was never the price of a tool. The problem is the price of a mistake.”
So we set out to design the tool, and the offer, we had missed so badly that day.
Our choice: you, rather than our competitors
There were two ways to get started. The first: copy what already exists, a little cheaper, and fight over technical specs. The second: forget the competition, and spend all our time with print shops.
We chose the second.
“When you keep your eyes on your competitors, you turn your back on your customers.”
In practice, that means:
- Every feature in the app starts from a real problem found in a real shop, not from a product sheet.
- Heat transfer and embroidery are treated as equals, because you often do both.
- You control the tool from your phone, tablet or computer. No extra screen needed.
- Your designs and your customers' names are encrypted. Even we can't read them. Your customers belong to you.
- When you write to us, a human answers. Often, it's me.
Your ideas, your feedback, even your complaints shape Place Projector. When a design lands exactly in the right spot in your shop, you helped build that.
Why a subscription, and why free to start?
From day one, one simple rule guided us: you should only pay for what truly pays you back.
Selling a system for several thousand euros means asking you to take all the risk at once. If the tool doesn't suit you, if your business changes, the money is already spent.
And there's another thing people rarely talk about: projectors move fast. Every year, new models come out, brighter and cheaper. A system sold for several thousand euros locks you into yesterday's hardware. With us, the projector costs €199 excl. VAT: the day a better model comes out, switching won't break the bank.
So we did the opposite:
- The software is a subscription, from €0 a month: the projected grid is free, forever. The Basic, Essential and Pro plans (€9, €19 and €29 excl. VAT per station per month) add marks, saved projects and projecting your logos. And for 30 days, every option is free, with no credit card.
- No commitment: you stay because it's useful, not because a contract holds you.
- You use your own phone, tablet or computer to run it.
- We test the new projectors and pick the best of the moment. We deliver it prepared and set up, ready to use: nothing to program. €199 excl. VAT, with a one-year warranty.
- I designed sturdy aluminium mounts, sold once and yours to keep: wall or ceiling at €59 excl. VAT, or a table stand at €249 excl. VAT. When a better projector comes out, you keep your mount and your software.
“Placing it right is our job. Everything else should just work.”
This model has one important consequence: our interest is exactly the same as yours. If Place Projector doesn't save you time and money every month, you leave. So we have no choice but to be good, all the time.
So how do we make a living?
You're probably wondering how a small company can give the grid away, and offer complete software, constant updates and real human support from €9 a month excl. VAT. Here's the answer, straight up.
- The best projector of the moment, at a fair price. We keep testing the new projectors and keep only the one that does the job best. We sell it at €199 excl. VAT, prepared and set up: we're not trying to make a living on hardware. The intelligence is in the software: that's where we put our energy.
- No middlemen. No distributor, no reseller, no commission at every level. You deal directly with us, and the savings go to you.
- No huge marketing budget. We rely first on the best advertising there is: one happy shop telling another.
- A monthly subscription, not one big sale. We earn a little every month, as long as you're happy.
To get started, on the software side: nothing. You create your account with no credit card, and for 30 days every option is free. After that, the grid stays yours, forever. You only pay if you want to go further: Basic €9, Essential €19 or Pro €29, per station per month excl. VAT.
No hidden fees, no must-have option sold separately, no trap when you cancel.
Two ways of looking at it
Model 1 — The traditional purchase. You buy a positioning system for several thousand euros. You pay everything, right away. The seller already made their money on the day of the sale: every support call, every visit costs them. The more they help you, the less they earn. And when a better projector comes out, you're stuck with the one in the box.
Model 2 — Place Projector. Prepared projector and mount: under €300 excl. VAT per platen, paid once. The software is a subscription from €0 a month: the grid is free, forever, and every option is free for 30 days. Then, only if you need them, Basic €9, Essential €19 or Pro €29 excl. VAT per station per month, with no commitment. We only make money if the software is useful to you. The more we help you, the longer you stay.
Let's take an example: to spend as much as on a €3,500 solution, it would take more than 9 years of the Pro plan at €29 a month, projector and mount included. And quite often, those solutions cost even more. During all that time, you're free to stop whenever you want, and when a better projector comes out, you change it without changing anything else.
Also do a simple calculation in your own shop: how much does one ruined garment cost you (blank + transfer or thread + time)? How many do you lose each month? For many shops, the subscription pays for itself with the first mistakes avoided.
“So, would you rather tie up several thousand euros, or start for free with a tool that has to earn your trust?”
The questions you're probably asking yourself
"Free? It must be a gimmick."
That's the most common reaction, and it's a normal one. But the price of a system tells you nothing about its accuracy. What places your design to the millimeter isn't an expensive box: it's a precise calibration of your platen, done once and for all, and software built for the shop floor.
“A high price doesn't measure a tool's quality. It often measures how many middlemen stand between the maker and you.”
"What if it doesn't suit my shop?"
You try every option free for 30 days, on your own press, so you see before you pay. And the paid plans have no commitment: you stop at the end of any month.
"What if the projector breaks down?"
It's under warranty for one year: we replace it. Beyond that, an extended warranty is available as an option. And your mount, your software and your projects stay as they are: put a projector back in place, calibrate, and carry on.
"Who answers if I have a problem?"
A human. Not a bot, not a call center on the other side of the world. We're a small team, and that's exactly our strength: every shop matters.
Our mission
In a print shop, everyone is serving someone. The operator serves the customer waiting for their order. The owner serves their team and their customers. And the customer will wear that garment at their club, their company, their association, with their family.
Our role is to serve all of them, by giving you the tool that makes your work simpler, safer and calmer.
“A one-person shop deserves the same tools as a factory. Whatever its size, wherever it is.”
We believe a precision tool shouldn't be a privilege reserved for big shops. We believe you should only pay for what earns you something. And we believe a supplier has to earn your trust every month, not just on the day of the sale.
To wrap up
That was long, I know. But now you know us a little better.
Place Projector wasn't born in a marketing office. It was born in a print shop, on the evening of a rush order, between a hot press and 200 T-shirts to deliver. And it will keep growing the same way: with you, from what you live every day.
“Our only goal: to be the ones you trust.”
If you have any questions, about the tool, the price, or even your own shop, write to me directly. I'll answer you personally.
Luc, founder of Place Projector
luc@placeprojector.com