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Customer artwork

Geneva Olson

Geneva Olson

Expert Storyteller
I just want to know if others have this issue.
Customers come in and don't want to pay an artwork fee. Those get pricey. It seems like all of these customers have graphic artists in their family or have friends who are graphic artist. Turns out, they dabble in photoshop. I ask for vector files and they take a jpeg and export it into a pdf or eps file and voila, they think they did it. Turns out, when I get it and ungroup it, it's still just a jpeg.
I'm all about people "saving money" but I have had 2 customers TODAY ALONE who think they are awesome at creating artwork but when it comes to having to take the graphic apart, I can't do it because it's a jpeg.

What do you do when people present artwork that's not vector but are adamant that it is vector artwork?
 
untitled

untitled

New Member
It's really pretty simple, just tell them it is not vector artwork regardless of the file extension and they will need to submit acceptable artwork if they don't want to pay for it. If they don't want to believe me so be it, it's really not the type of customer I want. Some people will just not listen and they are not the type I want to work with. And then if they are being that cheap then they are probably not going to like the price of the final product and want it cheaper. Call it a day and move on. Let them go to facebook marketplace and get a crafter with a cricut to make their stuff for $5.

The other way around this is including your artwork fee in your total cost so the customer doesn't see a line item. Everything I quote has 1 hour of artwork worked into it. If they provide adequate artwork great, if not then just go ahead and recreate it.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
rjssigns said:
In the past I've explained why their file won't work then offer to fix it. Fixing starts at $100 first click then shop rate afterwards. Absolutely incredible the speed they manage to produce a good working file.:D
Click to expand...
Except, I start a lot higher than that.

I have 5 jobs exactly like this right now. It's an on-going problem, but it seems to have gotten worse..... much worse. 2 went out the door earlier this afternoon. 2 others are looking for thier files and one just said, ahh, you do it and do it right, then I'll have it. Yeah right. He'll lose it again.

For the most part, I tell everyone, if this is a picture file I cannot work with it, unless it is full size and a decent dpi. Either you must provide the vector/outline artwork or I must re-create. I'm telling ya, there is real vector artwork somewhere. Here's your choice, if you are too lazy to find it, it starts at $145 an hour to do this and this will take close to 2 hours to do. Good Grief, it's amazing how fast they find the proper file at that point.

Ya just can't explain things as they don't care......... until it hits them in the pocketbook.
 
Geneva Olson

Geneva Olson

Expert Storyteller
Jay Grooms said:
If they can break it apart and show me that's it's not just a placed image, I would be wrong.

But since they just wrapped a turd of a gif into a shiny .eps file, they won't be able to show you that it's vector.
Click to expand...
well I know I can't break it apart. it's clear they don't know what they are doing. I'm just trying to tactfully tell them that they stink at graphic arts. and i'm a recovering teacher who learned all my corel draw skills in about a year on the job training.
 
Geneva Olson

Geneva Olson

Expert Storyteller
Gino said:
Except, I start a lot higher than that.

I have 5 jobs exactly like this right now. It's an on-going problem, but it seems to have gotten worse..... much worse. 2 went out the door earlier this afternoon. 2 others are looking for thier files and one just said, ahh, you do it and do it right, then I'll have it. Yeah right. He'll lose it again.

For the most part, I tell everyone, if this is a picture file I cannot work with it, unless it is full size and a decent dpi. Either you must provide the vector/outline artwork or I must re-create. I'm telling ya, there is real vector artwork somewhere. Here's your choice, if you are too lazy to find it, it starts at $145 an hour to do this and this will take close to 2 hours to do. Good Grief, it's amazing how fast they find the proper file at that point.

Ya just can't explain things as they don't care......... until it hits them in the pocketbook.
Click to expand...
I really really need to do exactly this! Thank you!
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
I tell them I have to recreate it if they can't figure it out. I usually don't mess with it myself, I send it out to Ignition Drawing and charge them accordingly.
 
WhiskeyDreamer

WhiskeyDreamer

Professional Snow Ninja
when a client send me artwork and asks for a quote on the project, i check the art first.

if it's raster, i include a line item for tracing the art and include that a copy of the file will be supplied to the client at the completion of the project. i also include that if they produce a vector file, that some of the fee MAY be waived in lieu of a art prep fee. because we've all received those vector files that need an hours worth of editing to make it usable.

if it's a vector file but isn't clean, there's an art prep fee on the order. if it's vector and the colors just need to be set, i don't charge an additional fee (normally).

rates are usually between 95-125 for tracing because i send it out and then just clean up the file i get back. prep fees will range between 45-85 depending on the file and how much of a pita i expect the client to be.

these are all basic pricing and where i start out. there's always an exception to the rule. sometimes i dont charge a prep fee because it's a good client. sometimes i charge double because the guy is a hassle every time he walks through the door.
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
I've lost track of how many times customers have simply just sent us the very first JPEG image they find on their computer, web site or Facebook page. To them a digital file is no different from any other digital file. It is interesting how fast many of them will send us a vector-based version when they found out it's going to cost them some money to force us to work with the first dopey JPEG image they sent.

With so many people going the DIY route with their "logo" or other advertising artwork they often shoot themselves in the foot in various ways. I've seen it plenty of times where the "professional artist" they hire will churn out a pixel-based logo in Photoshop. When I tell them the artwork is not good for anything other than computer screens or small size printing they insist it's professional 'cuz they hired a "pro" to do it. The "pro" will sometimes turn out to be a person who doesn't even understand the difference between raster-based and vector-based artwork. Or it's a jerk who just insists on using Photoshop anyway because that's what he's used to using. The customers are never happy when they learn they're going to have to pay some money for a clean vector-based re-creation of the artwork.
 
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D

DPD

New Member
Geneva Olson said:
I just want to know if others have this issue.
Customers come in and don't want to pay an artwork fee. Those get pricey. It seems like all of these customers have graphic artists in their family or have friends who are graphic artist. Turns out, they dabble in photoshop. I ask for vector files and they take a jpeg and export it into a pdf or eps file and voila, they think they did it. Turns out, when I get it and ungroup it, it's still just a jpeg.
I'm all about people "saving money" but I have had 2 customers TODAY ALONE who think they are awesome at creating artwork but when it comes to having to take the graphic apart, I can't do it because it's a jpeg.

What do you do when people present artwork that's not vector but are adamant that it is vector artwork?
Click to expand...
Answering only your question: What's the job worth to you? If it's a nice size job then I incorporate the price of vectorization into the sign and be done with it. If it's a nickel/dime sale then I send the art back requesting a vector graphic.
 
Geneva Olson

Geneva Olson

Expert Storyteller
DPD said:
Answering only your question: What's the job worth to you? If it's a nice size job then I incorporate the price of vectorization into the sign and be done with it. If it's a nickel/dime sale then I send the art back requesting a vector graphic.
Click to expand...
It's an account. But it's one of those situations that the graphic worked fine when it was printed and put on a car. Now that we are screen printing shirts, I have to take it apart and if you look at it in wireframe it looks terrible. Also, the person who did the artwork is a person whos related to the owner of the company. The word from the owner is that "It's the artist's design so all changes must go through her". So, trying to go through her slows up the process because she waits for us to contact her 2-3 times before she responds. She's just a bit much to deal with...so, in the end, we redrew it so that we can get the shirts screenprinted.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
Geneva Olson said:
It's an account. But it's one of those situations that the graphic worked fine when it was printed and put on a car. Now that we are screen printing shirts, I have to take it apart and if you look at it in wireframe it looks terrible. Also, the person who did the artwork is a person whos related to the owner of the company. The word from the owner is that "It's the artist's design so all changes must go through her". So, trying to go through her slows up the process because she waits for us to contact her 2-3 times before she responds. She's just a bit much to deal with...so, in the end, we redrew it so that we can get the shirts screenprinted.
Click to expand...
I agree...sometimes if quicker and easier to just redraw it and add the price of it in the job somewhere. I was dealing with the student of the high school for some shirts for a musical and the teacher kept demanding I could do screen print from a jpeg. I asked the student several times if they had vector art to send me...never got it, just kept sending bitmaps. I guess the teacher who teaches design knows better than me. I spent 15 minutes recreating it, rolled my eyes and called it good.
 
signage

signage

New Member
Advanced Artist makes software to be able to print Raster/Bitmap/process colors to screen printing. It's a plug in for Corel.
 
2B

2B

Active Member
We created a quick reference for "customer supplied" files
Will do a preflight check and they MUST sign off before production will start

We also provide a couple of options
1. recreation cost
2. types of files that are in "Vector"

1624485789071.png
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Like stacey said, just assume you're gonna get bad artwork and pad the price to fix it. Then when you actually get workable files, be happy that you made a few extra coins.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned those customers that send you an angled photo of their t-shirt or truck door when you ask for their logo. I'm happy when they can actually dig up some blurry jpeg to send.
 
D

DPD

New Member
Geneva Olson said:
It's an account. But it's one of those situations that the graphic worked fine when it was printed and put on a car. Now that we are screen printing shirts, I have to take it apart and if you look at it in wireframe it looks terrible. Also, the person who did the artwork is a person whos related to the owner of the company. The word from the owner is that "It's the artist's design so all changes must go through her". So, trying to go through her slows up the process because she waits for us to contact her 2-3 times before she responds. She's just a bit much to deal with...so, in the end, we redrew it so that we can get the shirts screenprinted.
Click to expand...
Yea, understood. I've been there myself. I dislike giving away free labor or design but it's a bit easier to swallow than actually reaching into my pocket for cash to retain a job. I see vehicle graphics and screen printing as two different projects. Being the eccentric sort I am I never weigh future business (hey, give me a good price on this truck and I've got 10 more just like it - yea sure). If I had a designer sitting on his / her hands then yeah, I convert the artwork. Otherwise, prior to sending it out or doing it myself I notify the customer of the difference in cost and I don't mean the wholesale. I would give the retail price. Then go have a cup of coffee and wait for a response.

You set your own wages and then have to live with them. When we are working as independents this is a difficult concept for all of us to grasp. A chain sign company will simply eat the cost because the designer is getting paid anyway. Like I said though, I've been there, will be again, and understand what you are saying.

I'm rambling on so see ya' later.

- denis
 
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