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The Vector Doctor

The Vector Doctor

Chief Bezier Manipulator
Does anyone have suggestions for the lovely Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents that you receive as "art"

I received a word doc and opened it up using an older version of Word, the latest Word 2011 (demo to expire shortly) and Openoffice

All 3 opened up the same file differently. WTF?

Here is my policy...

"MS Word and Powerpoint docs: If possible print out a sample of the file and scan in that printout. Include the scan along with the original doc or ppt file. These files often will look different from one machine to another. Neither format will warn you of missing fonts and items such as WordArt do not always display correctly. Neither program is design oriented so they are not the best formats to work from."

Feel free to use this disclaimer if you please
 
J Hill Designs

J Hill Designs

New Member
didnt GG have a workaround of saving the file as zip and unzipping? seemed that embedded images came out with more resolution that way? or something?
 
The Vector Doctor

The Vector Doctor

Chief Bezier Manipulator
jhilldesigns said:
didnt GG have a workaround of saving the file as zip and unzipping? seemed that embedded images came out with more resolution that way? or something?
Click to expand...

That only worked for docx files. Plus the issue with GG's workaround is that it still does not show layouts. You can retrieve images from the docx but it does not show how it is positioned alongside any text they have as part of their "logo" or if a customer wants a layout you can't see how they items are arranged from this workaround
 
Biker Scout

Biker Scout

New Member
I only accept .eps, .pdf, .ai, .tif, .png, .bmp, .wmf, .jpg,

I just simply flat out refuse Word, .ppt and Publisher files. Saves me time, aggravation and headaches... and the client money!
Because I will tell them straight up, I will charge you $75 to open any other kind of file then the ones I've asked for.
Somehow, they magically find a way to get me the correct file... hmm...
 
d fleming

d fleming

Premium Subscriber
Biker Scout said:
I only accept .eps, .pdf, .ai, .tif, .png, .bmp, .wmf, .jpg,

I just simply flat out refuse Word, .ppt and Publisher files. Saves me time, aggravation and headaches... and the client money!
Because I will tell them straight up, I will charge you $75 to open any other kind of file then the ones I've asked for.
Somehow, they magically find a way to get me the correct file... hmm...
Click to expand...


+1
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
I've been using this free website forever to convert word and ppt documents into .pdfs:

http://www.pdfonline.com/premium/SessionEnd.aspx

dunno if it'll help anybody but they've always come out right for us. Not sure if that helps you with what you're trying to accomplish but a .pdf is usually easier to get into illustrator than a .doc file, that's for sure.

edit: it's been a while since I signed up for it, but somewhere you have to create an account and then log in, it's free, I've never gotten any spam or anything from it either, so I'm not sure why you have to do that, but oh well...
 
Biker Scout

Biker Scout

New Member
Dude... you're awesome at what you do. It's a skill AND a service. Start demanding what you are worth.

I won't take any less that $35 an hour for my time now. I used to be able to charge $60, but I've cut back to the old standby phrase, "You should be earning a $1 an hour for every year of your age"
 
The Vector Doctor

The Vector Doctor

Chief Bezier Manipulator
insignia said:
I've been using this free website forever to convert word and ppt documents into .pdfs:

http://www.pdfonline.com/premium/SessionEnd.aspx

dunno if it'll help anybody but they've always come out right for us. Not sure if that helps you with what you're trying to accomplish but a .pdf is usually easier to get into illustrator than a .doc file, that's for sure.

edit: it's been a while since I signed up for it, but somewhere you have to create an account and then log in, it's free, I've never gotten any spam or anything from it either, so I'm not sure why you have to do that, but oh well...
Click to expand...

How do you know the results from the sites like these provide the correct file? Maybe I need to take the burden off my shoulders and leave it up to the customer since they are the only ones to know what looks correct

But yes these probably are a good solution for those that don't know how to create pdfs or dont have the software
 
d fleming

d fleming

Premium Subscriber
The Vector Doctor said:
I wish I could charge $75 to open files
Click to expand...
Sorry. Let me clarify. I won't accept word files or publisher files or power point files. Not worth the time. I can usually recreate from scratch faster than I can import/export/swear/throw things. etc. Most of the time the "art" that is in those files is crap anyway. I'd love to get 75 smackers just to open a file too!:supersmilie:
 
Biker Scout

Biker Scout

New Member
Yeah, it's only happened 3 times where the clients just wanted the project done. struggling back and forth with bad unprintable files... they gladly paid. One of the instances they refused to pay the "Artwork Re-Creation" fee and paid the $75 instead.
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
If they are giving you a MS Office file you can bet they haven't the skillz to PDF it.
I convert to PDF, email it back for approval then go from there.
It's a pain but better than hearing them squeal about horrendous font substitution.
 
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