No one ever listens

[inkman996]

Check this out we have a client we have been doing their shirts for for many years. It is a large hiking club that hike the App trail in Vermont, once a year they do a big tshirt order for the members and always we have the art custom created for them. This year they decide they have someone that is a good drawer and he will do the work because they do not in any way spend the typical $200 they usually do each year.

Now i tell them since he is drawing by hand I need it scanned high res. Then i tell them the most important thing since it is white ink on a brown shirt that it has to be drawn considering that, pencil on white paper is not how it will look on a dark shirt light ink. Oh sure no prob yadda yadda they say. Sure enough I get the sample today in the mail, sure enough looks terrible light on dark. I explain and show a proof they say well we are providing the art it is our responsibility to make work on any color shirt they choose with no art fees. I explain impossible it needs to be addressed by an artist which will take some time and cost some art fees, they wont have it and fully believe what they provided is print ready. What do I do say screw it and print as is and look stupid? Or give them the ultimatum to either pay for art prep or refuse the job?

[Fresh Baked Printing]

Art time is the same for creating custom art as well as the time spent working on their art. An hour is an hour.
Maybe say: "Awesome artwork but I'll still need to work on it to make it print ready.".   Stroke the artists ego but still make it clear that it's not suitable as is, to print.

[squeezee]

It's a return customer, give him what he asks for?  Maybe suggest some improvements?

[Frog]

I often explain the black now printing white thing to folks. My simplest is that the more detail, the less it will work. Highlights become shadows, and vice-versa. I then sometimes show them an example which makes a nice puppy dog face look downright scary.

My best memory of "folks who don't listen" was when a bigoted club ordered their design done on a black jacket with no change other than ink color.
Their art contained cartoonish figures in line art that now had black faces! They were not happy! Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch!

Oh, and by the way, Inkman, the best compromise solution? Talk them into tan shirts with a dark brown print.

[Socalfmf]

what?

[Shawn (EIP)]

Check this out we have a client we have been doing their shirts for for many years. It is a large hiking club that hike the App trail in Vermont, once a year they do a big tshirt order for the members and always we have the art custom created for them. This year they decide they have someone that is a good drawer and he will do the work because they do not in any way spend the typical $200 they usually do each year.

Now i tell them since he is drawing by hand I need it scanned high res. Then i tell them the most important thing since it is white ink on a brown shirt that it has to be drawn considering that, pencil on white paper is not how it will look on a dark shirt light ink. Oh sure no prob yadda yadda they say. Sure enough I get the sample today in the mail, sure enough looks terrible light on dark. I explain and show a proof they say well we are providing the art it is our responsibility to make work on any color shirt they choose with no art fees. I explain impossible it needs to be addressed by an artist which will take some time and cost some art fees, they wont have it and fully believe what they provided is print ready. What do I do say screw it and print as is and look stupid? Or give them the ultimatum to either pay for art prep or refuse the job?

I had a local tatoo artist submit art work of the same nature , looks like crud on a black shirt, showed him the proof he liked it, printed them anyways... his customers love them. Next week I'll print something amazing and the custy will hate it... the life of a screen printer.

[Dottonedan]

Did you get to show him an example?

See attached.

[Homer]

 I would love to hike the AT, it's stupid long though, takes about 6-8 months. . .as far as the art -suck it up buttercup. . .outline it.


I don't even know what that means. . .but do it anyway.

[Artelf2xs]

I simply invert it into a negative image and apply a chocolate gradient map... then sens it to them as a comp.... telling them I like the poop colored moon!

Yeah Like Dot did

[inkman996]

If my post is read thoroughly you will see yes I did exactly what Dan did and sent, they do not like the look as expected and thought I would work magic and make it look right on dark colors.

Really the whole point of this thread was pointing out how we had the conversation in the beginning and they were absolutely understanding that if they want to avoid art charges then the art needed to be provided to me suitable for white on dark. They agreed. Not unlike politicians they got amnesia after i showed them the inverted image and went into this whole spiel about the art being print ready and will not pay for any art prep. They don't like the inverted image, and they are refusing art fees so screw em, they may be repeat but only once a year not worth it.

BTW I like the art it isn't bad at all

[jason-23]

the customer is always right, print that junk as is if they are being stubborn.

[Sbrem]

Like Andy, I use the cartoon line drawing to make the point to the customer, but I don't point out that the skin color is screwed, but that the whites of the eyes will be black, and the pupils white, like the kids in "Village of the Damned" (a bad 60's horror movie). That usually helps. Now if a customer tells me that it's my job to fix their art for no charge, I tell them that quite simply, they are wrong. "Do you work for free? If you do, why?" Funny, they always say no.

[mk162]

I didn't think it looked bad inverted.  Maybe because I have seen worse...much worse

[inkman996]

It is not horrible inverted but they did not approve it.

I have since come up with a solution, I talked them into a tan shirt with a dark brown ink, also a white screen filling in most of the rocky areas and dogs. They agreed once seeing the concept because it does look good that way.

[mk162]

But it's all your fault probably.  That is how it always works....

I had a girl call on Monday that needs shirts Friday, she complained that the last company doubled her price quote.  I could see why, she was quoted between $10-12 each, but the art was a 5 color back, 1 color front on 25 pcs. The real quote came in at $22.  So she called me, our artist traced the design, we are billing $12 each and printing them on our digital printer...wham, done.  But sometimes people don't have a concept of what they are asking for.  It's a shame, and I don't fault the other company at all and I certainly didn't badmouth them.