grainy yard signs

[Pideas]

I recently sold 50 yard signs (double sided, 18x24") to a realtor client. It wasn't profitable for me to do a job this size in house so I outsourced the job to an online large format vendor. When the client (realtor) received the yard signs, she complained that her photo on the sign was very grainy. I understand that these signs were probably printed on a flatbed, 10 to a sheet and printed at a lower resolution.

How do you go about explaining this to the client -- that they shouldn't expect a super crisp photo on a yard sign?

 

[rossmosh]

Contact your vendor. Tell them they didn't do a good job. Request a reprint or a refund.

 

[James Burke]

Have her stand back the typical distance that type of sign is viewed.

If that doesn't work, have her drive by it at the posted speed.

Explain to her that billboards aren't high-res either, for the very same reasons.


JB

 

[bannertime]

Anything is grainy if you look close enough!

We say something like "these are priced and produced in a manner that is cost effective but high enough quality for outdoor advertising signage. We do offer better print quality for indoor signage needs, but that does come with a higher price."

 

[Superior_Adam]

the larger companies will run their machines on a faster profile. They are looking to get them out the door as fast as possible. 98% of the time we run all of our signage at showroom quality even yard signs. In doing that we have a lot of return customers as they don't think about these signs being on the side of the road with people driving by that will never notice the grainy print. They are judging them based off when they are holding them 2' from their face. I am sure if you view that sign from 20' away you cant tell.

 

[Jay Grooms]

I always tell customers you are supposed to read signs, not smell them. move back a bit.

I feel for ya though, Realtors can be some PITA's

 

[Gino]

Contact your vendor. Tell them they didn't do a good job. Request a reprint or a refund.

This....... all the way. Unless the picture supplied was p!ss-poor quality, there is no reason to print a grainy picture whether its 2" from your nose or 20' from your face.

• How do you explain those theories to the people walking up the sidewalk to look at the house ?? Oh, just look at the sign from halfway down the block and don't worry about the lousy job I did represented the showing of your house. )))))

 

[Dan360]

We always explain to our customers that quality will have to be sacrificed beforehand to meet a super tight deadline on a large order and then it's up to them what they want to do, you'll often find they're happy with maybe a half order for the day and the rest a few days later. These vendors are banging out sheets of coro all day and they go for speed. A photo on a lawn sign is something we address as soon as we see it to manage expectations.

Trying to explain this after the fact to most customers is just a headache.

+1 to realtors though. We had a big one move in and they gave us a pantone colour, we matched to that and they said it was wrong. Then they bring in one of these signs they got from corporate (flatbed, high speed, low res), and tell us to match to that. The amount of time we wasted trying to explain to them the sign they brought in is nowhere near their corporate colours is beyond belief.

 

[eahicks]

We had a big one move in and they gave us a pantone colour, we matched to that and they said it was wrong. Then they bring in one of these signs they got from corporate (flatbed, high speed, low res), and tell us to match to that. The amount of time we wasted trying to explain to them the sign they brought in is nowhere near their corporate colours is beyond belief.

We have had this problem A LOT lately. We've picked up some new customers (new to us anyway, we absorbed a customer base from another shop we purchased) and many of these jobs the customer has returned with the signs and bitched that the colors are off. We match them up with the PMS chart to the colors THEY GAVE US and most are pretty dead on. Then they whip out a photo or sample of PREVIOUS work we didn't do and yes, they are different. Because they weren't correct the FIRST time! Very frustrating trying to make them understand that.

 

[bannertime]

*****ed that the colors are off. We match them up with the PMS chart to the colors THEY GAVE US and most are pretty dead on. Then they whip out a photo or sample of PREVIOUS work we didn't do and yes, they are different. Because they weren't correct the FIRST time! Very frustrating trying to make them understand that.

We had this with a customer that was adamant about how color blind he was and could still tell the difference between a job done a few years ago by someone else and a fresh job by us. All he did was provide a file and we printed it. Then when we tried to explain why we would need to see the originals if he wanted us to color match to a faded print, he accused of calling him an idiot and that I shouldn't argue with the customer and just print the file as he gave it to us.

So sometimes you just have an idiot for a customer and no matter what you say will change their mind.

 

[bannertime]

How do you explain those theories to the people walking up the sidewalk to look at the house ?? Oh, just look at the sign from halfway down the block and don't worry about the lousy job I did represented the showing of your house.

You can't see really see the graininess when standing about 4-5 feet away from a 4over or S365 yard sign, but if it's in your hands, you can see it. So even walking by a sign is not a big deal.

If you can see it from that distance and it causes actual photo quality issues, then yeah, those need reprinted.

 

[Gino]

So, we've gone from grainy pictures to color matching.

That's always been a problem.... but was much easier when we hadda mix the colors of paint, til it was correct. Besides, back then, ya didn't have people carrying PMS books around or relying on their memory for these things. They'd bring the actual color in with them and you'd matched it. Today, with everyone's monitor screens looking different to using formulas which don't mean squat..... you still should have a hard copy for them to look at and physically match with them standing there. That's what they do at any paint store, when you're ordering customer colors for your dining room or bedroom.

 

[KY_Graphics_Gal]

If the realtor's photo was less than 500k, more than likely it is the photo that is to blame. Especially if the realtor texted the photo or pulled it off FB.....we have this happen ALL the time and people don't understand resolution and it's importance. If you can print the photo out on a regular piece of paper and it looks grainy it was your client's fault for providing a poor quality photo. If the photo prints out nicely, call the sign company and get a reprint. We outsource that type of sign to several of the big companies and a photo should come out looking as nice on coro as it does on paper.

 

[rvolkers]

I recently sold 50 yard signs (double sided, 18x24") to a realtor client. It wasn't profitable for me to do a job this size in house so I outsourced the job to an online large format vendor. When the client (realtor) received the yard signs, she complained that her photo on the sign was very grainy. I understand that these signs were probably printed on a flatbed, 10 to a sheet and printed at a lower resolution.

How do you go about explaining this to the client -- that they shouldn't expect a super crisp photo on a yard sign?

you got what you paid for - you should have either done yourself OR at the very least had them shipped to you for proofing! - ALSO - why would you even consider printing photos at lo-res?

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Realtor........enough said!

Realtors are notoriously cheap in my opinion.


Did you setup the artwork? What was the resolution of the image? Most realtors want their mug (face) on their signs and the images they provide are less than desirable in many cases.

I’m going to guess that what ever company you used opened and printed your artwork. Also assuming they printed at a lower resolution/high pass rate, these signs are most likely 100% sellable and they are just being picky.


We don’t do much for realtors any more and I’m happier for it. Also make more money NOT doing those types of projects. I have a friend and that is 95% of his business. While he makes money he is forever complaining about the realtors.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

If they're saying just the photo is grainy and the rest of the printed sign isn't, I'd say it's a bad file for the photo.

It would be a whole lot easier to give feedback on what I'd do with this if I actually had a picture of the "bad" signs.

 

[Dan360]

If they're saying just the photo is grainy and the rest of the printed sign isn't, I'd say it's a bad file for the photo.

It's usually the only part they actually care about. Went back and forth on some letterheads with a realtor one time for a couple months because they wanted the photo to be perfect. Went to print and there was multiple typos they never noticed because they were always staring at their picture.

In our experience with places like 4Over, even solids are very grainy due to the print mode/DPI of the printer. Look fine from a distance but I'm guessing that's what they mean.

 

[2B]

What was the quality of the photo used?
when you proofed the sign did you list any concerns of the quality or DPI?
Have you seen these "grainy" signs?

In the future, it is usually a good idea to get the products shipped to you for inspection before the client sees them.

 

[equippaint]

 

[Gino]

It's usually the only part they actually care about. Went back and forth on some letterheads with a realtor one time for a couple months because they wanted the photo to be perfect. Went to print and there was multiple typos they never noticed because they were always staring at their picture.

In our experience with places like 4Over, even solids are very grainy due to the print mode/DPI of the printer. Look fine from a distance but I'm guessing that's what they mean.

So, how does one go about having not one but several typos on a single order, if you pay so much attention to minute details ?? Granted, the customer is ultimately responsible, but unless it was weird names or foreign words, how does your staff make so many mistakes at once ??

Anyway, the OP only mentioned the picture was grainy, so I figured the same thing.... the copy was fine, but not the picture, which is most likely a bad file, which should've been caught by the person setting the file up in the sign shop, not the end user afterwards.