Need Help I suck at Photoshop...please help me

[RaymondLoewy]

...they already have a couple hundred signs our there in this tiny town...

This makes it seem your competior/s (or at least the shop you are stealing from) will know what you have done and yet you have no shame. I bet your neighbors love your kind. I am sure you are the toast of the town for low balling your fellow citizens in your small and precious community.

 

[RaymondLoewy]

You know, there's been a few times where a client comes in and asks for a specific type of vinyl followed by a design that's clearly clipped from another sign shop's proof, and they say "can you make this?"...

My answer is NOT "I can, but I won't, you should go back to our competitor where they clearly didn't ask for a deposit when they should have, and also didn't meet your needs if you're coming here."

I've had designs taken - and if I spend a lot of design time I had a deposit that covered it. *shrugs*
Someone that threw a outer glow on a chopped up headshot didn't spend a lot of design time.

This enable the completion of the stealing/recreation of the design, don't be dense. The same fucks who have whined about it for years because they got caught slipping are giving a pass due to an age claim?

I don't care your age, if you steal my IP I will kick you in the nuts.

 

[GAC05]

This looks like a prime thread for the former Sign Shop Mentor to step in on.

 

[RaymondLoewy]

This looks like a prime thread for the former Sign Shop Mentor to step in on.

Yes, but do any of us still have faith since our God that has abandoned our tribe and deemed it not worthy of the teachings?

Some one needs to go one-to-one to save this sinking ship of fools. We only have our selves to blame. WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED!!!

 

[GAC05]

Yes, but do any of us still have faith since our God that has abandoned our tribe and deemed it not worthy of the teachings?

Some one needs to go one-to-one to save this sinking ship of fools. We only have our selves to blame. WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED!!!

Easy there with the caps-lock Moses, no need to panic, we have time - it hasn't even started raining yet.

 

[RaymondLoewy]

O

Easy there with the caps-lock Moses, no need to panic, we have time - it hasn't even started raining yet.

Dude, it started with the latex printers, time to arm up - they are coming for our solvents!!!!

 

[Pewter0000]

How many sign companies or even freelance graphic designers claim an ongoing copyright ownership of a logo they designed for another company? If I design a logo for someone, either thru my day job or freelance after hours for non-sign-related work I'm going to charge them one time and then be done with it. The design itself and time involved researching and creating it is worth something. But once the client buys that logo it should belong to the client outright. You can maintain the original files and even charge fees when they need something done with the design or logo files. Regardless of the arrangement it's best to get details in writing, even a contract in some cases.

This is different from charging first use serial rights for something like an illustration published in a magazine. The illustrator gets to keep the original piece of artwork and the copyright. If the magazine wants to buy the image outright, even the original artwork, then those terms get negotiated for the illustrator to get paid considerably more money.

Many of us have been burned by clients who took our PDF sketches to rivals and had them reproduce the work as is. Once in awhile the rip-off is a bad enough act to justify getting attorneys involved. Most of the time I just blow it off. The vast majority of our clients are pretty trustworthy. When I do get a bad feeling about a client I'll do several things to digitally trash up things like PDFs so any sign company trying to use it will have lots of technical problems.

Then there's jobs where there's not much you can protect in the design. If the client gives you a bunch of assets (photos, logos, etc) where little in the design is created from scratch there's not much that can be protected. Major companies all have their branding guidelines where signs are supposed to be composed in a specific way. In those cases you're just doing leg work and not creating anything new. A rival sign company can try to undercut your bid with the same exact design. Your relationship with that client could make the difference on them taking the lower bid.

Yeah, I totally agree. I don't mind doing some quick mock-ups, but anything more involves commitment from a client - a deposit for the sign, design, etc. And most clients totally understand that. If you're doing free designs, you're putting yourself at risk from step 1.

I've seen some of my quick mock-ups around town that I didn't print, and the first thing I think is not "SoMeBodY StOLE It". I think "Why did I lose this job? Did we quote too high? Did we move too slow? Should I have discussed different materials with the client? What can I do to try and keep my clients with me moving forward?" They left for a reason.

Surprisingly, I do enjoy customer service - I want to make the people that walk in the door happy. And if they've left some other shop and they're asking me to reproduce someone else's design, I'm going to do my best to make them happy so that I get their continued business, and a decent review from them. The other sign shop will hopefully have covered their butts with a deposit - and if not, they can ask themselves why they lost the job.

 

[RaymondLoewy]

I can see there are sickening f*cks on this forum...little pussy *****es that have no work to do so they hang around on here and wise off...kinda makes you never want to come here again...
Somehow they think they know every little detail of everybody's life...
They don't know what is happening or the people involved but like the little *****es they are they think they know everything there is to know...

It is experiences like this that makes me glad I will be retiring soon as there are too many know it all little *****es in this world anymore and I think a few of them have found their way to this forum...

To the moderators here.....it's been nice but these whinny little *****es that apparently have no signs to be working on have completely ruined the vibe here...it's pretty sad...
I will say one more thing...**** like this is not helping the forum at all...

Thanx to those that helped and to the whiny little *****es...well, you know...

I would love to have this as my signature, but every turd nugget trails on too long. You disappointing, sick fuck.

 

[Bly]

The guy just asked for some help in Photoshop! All of us ask for help identifing fonts, we did not create the font in the logo, someone else did. You guys need to get off his back. "If you live in a glass house do not throw rocks." Okeesignguy seems like a good fellow. If you don't want to help just move on.

He didn't ask for help so he knows how to do it himself.
He just wants someone else to do the job for him.
Copying another shop's design...

 

[RaymondLoewy]

The guy just asked for some help in Photoshop! All of us ask for help identifing fonts, we did not create the font in the logo, someone else did. You guys need to get off his back. "If you live in a glass house do not throw rocks." Okeesignguy seems like a good fellow. If you don't want to help just move on.

What ever boomer. It is nice to say since people say it to me at 39.

 

[RaymondLoewy]

The guy just asked for some help in Photoshop! All of us ask for help identifing fonts, we did not create the font in the logo, someone else did. You guys need to get off his back. "If you live in a glass house do not throw rocks." Okeesignguy seems like a good fellow. If you don't want to help just move on.

Sorry to wake you, but your Red Hat friends on the forum finally learned your is avatar is Divine - I hope this won't wreck your relationship with Gene O. Have a good night.

 

[Johnny Best]

Raymond, you need to stop standing to close to your printer and breathing the solvent fumes.

 

[Andy D]

The same ****s who have whined about it for years because they got caught slipping are giving a pass due to an age claim?

I don't care your age, if you steal my IP I will kick you in the nuts.

It's called showing some respect for the original sign makers who paved the way...
Are you really this obsessed over a 20 minute design? After I make the sign I don't give two shits who wants to use it...
It's much harder to recreate a design than create one.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Sorry to wake you, but your Red Hat friends on the forum finally learned your is avatar is Divine - I hope this won't wreck your relationship with Gene O. Have a good night.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

It's called showing some respect for the original sign makers who paved the way...
Are you really this obsessed over a 20 minute design? After I make the sign I don't give two shits who wants to use it...
It's much harder to recreate a design than create one.

Exactly. If anyone has ever made a street sign or warning sign then they have "stolen" someone else's design. Get paid for what you do, try hard to keep your customers happy and returning and move on with life. If someone "steals" your customer and does what they ask for then look in the mirror first and ask yourself why you screwed up and lost them.

 

[Bobby H]

Well, plagiarism is plagiarism. Usually when a client comes to us with sketches from someone else I really don't copy what the other sign company did verbatim. Not unless it's something from a major corporation where my hands are tied by their sign and branding guidelines.

I try hard to first spot what's wrong in the existing design. Not only do I find ways to improve on it but I try to make our layout substantially different so it looks like we at least put some work into the job. But this is an exceedingly rare scenario. Usually the cheapskates come to our company first to figure out just what kind of signs are needed. Then they try getting the same work from other people for less. If I know I'm dealing with one of those kinds of clients up front they'll get PDF sketches where the actual artwork is converted into pixel-based objects of barely acceptable resolution (and with some watermarks or other trash embedded in it). It can be a lot of fun deliberately doing funny things to totally contaminate artwork a client might attempt to take to a rival sign company.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Well, plagiarism is plagiarism. Usually when a client comes to us with sketches from someone else I really don't copy what the other sign company did verbatim. Not unless it's something from a major corporation where my hands are tied by their sign and branding guidelines.

I try hard to first spot what's wrong in the existing design. Not only do I find ways to improve on it but I try to make our layout substantially different so it looks like we at least put some work into the job. But this is an exceedingly rare scenario. Usually the cheapskates come to our company first to figure out just what kind of signs are needed. Then they try getting the same work from other people for less. If I know I'm dealing with one of those kinds of clients up front they'll get PDF sketches where the actual artwork is converted into pixel-based objects of barely acceptable resolution (and with some watermarks or other trash embedded in it). It can be a lot of fun deliberately doing funny things to totally contaminate artwork a client might attempt to take to a rival sign company.

Plagiarism?? So a customer comes to you with their concept, their verbage and you put their idea on paper, they pay you for it and somehow you think you own it?
A customer calls needing a new sign, says I like what I have just need to redo it as it is. You tell them no, only if you agree to do something different? If someone wants DOT numbers do you change the font since you didn't initially pick it? (I do them in aerial BTW, if they don't fit then I squish them until they do). This all seems pretty silly to me

 

[Patrice Brunelle]

Hi, I don’t know how to do my job. Can someone do my job for me for free please?

You sound like someone who charges is mother 140$/hour to remove red eyes from family photos. Believe it or not, but, It's ok for someone to 'not know everything' and it's also ok to ask for help, and it is also ok to help other people for free sometimes. Too bad if you're a selfish person, but at least, if you're not here to help, get out or shut up.

 

[Bobby H]

Plagiarism?? So a customer comes to you with their concept, their verbage and you put their idea on paper, they pay you for it and somehow you think you own it?

Their concept? We're talking about clients taking a concept created by one sign company over to another sign company to get produced for less money. First they visit the reputable sign company to figure out what they need, often requiring a bunch of leg work, multiple sketch revisions, etc. Then they literally send the resulting sketches (often digital files) over to rival sign companies to reproduce exactly. Some of those rivals aren't bothered by things like ethics or copyright law.

If the client created the artwork himself, including digital files, assets, etc then yes he owns all that stuff. But he does NOT own the sketches and digital files our company created, or all the leg work it took to make them. Many projects require us to survey buildings, job sites, existing sign structures, etc. If a client wants more than one sign company to bid on a project that's his prerogative. But he should make the other sign companies start from square one just like us.

 

[iPrintStuff]

You sound like someone who charges is mother 140$/hour to remove red eyes from family photos. Believe it or not, but, It's ok for someone to 'not know everything' and it's also ok to ask for help, and it is also ok to help other people for free sometimes. Too bad if you're a selfish person, but at least, if you're not here to help, get out or shut up.

I am here to help. Not to do other people’s jobs for them. Happy to teach anyone that’s willing to learn - not happy to just help other people steal other companies designs - for free!