Unusable Art

[3Deep]

How do you get it into your customers head that the jpeg/png art they sent you on the garment is not ready to use art?  we've lost jobs because people refuse to pay or don't want to pay any kind of art fee.  We like to lay everything out so our customers know exactly what they are paying for, but it's getting tough and I know it's has something to do with the transfer revolution going on now.  So one customer ask well what do you have to do to get it print ready and I tell them I have to redraw the art and they why? it's right there on the shirt I sent you on the computer.  Somebody give me good advice before I lose the rest of my hair LOL

[GoWestRob]

Depending on how large the order is you might be able to build the redraw cost into the shirt price.  That way you could just skip the part where you debate with them about redrawing it.  We use Ignition Drawing for vectorizing, their cheapest fee is $16.  If it's a 36 piece order, just charge another .50 per shirt in the quote.  That is, unless they're trying to get some wild low-res photoshop creation, in that case try it with Supacolor SupaDTF that has no minimum.

[3Deep]

Yeah I got Ignition on the rolodex and have used them from time to time, but your right it's the low pc order's that are problems big order's normally have custom art or like you say we bill it in.

[whitewater]

Most of our orders are easy, so I use vector magic for years. recently I found " HitPaw Photo AI" Download it and it really helps with poor resolution on a lot for me so far. So with that combo I can be quick. But in my pricing the art is built in pretty much.

But there are sometimes when I see something come though, and I let them know there will be an art charge. Doesn't happen too much though.

But like I said, 90% of our orders are easy.

[GraphicDisorder]

When the art is crap we simply say it either needs to be recreated or something better created for you, most of the time they see our work and they want something new any way and we certainly bill for it.

[Homer]

what amazes me is the amount of business that do not have a decent copy of their own logo.

[GraphicDisorder]

what amazes me is the amount of business that do not have a decent copy of their own logo.

Ive found they do, but you have to press for it because people are lazy and dont want to find it.

[ebscreen]

Nissan was doing a big promotion for one of their vehicles, a GT something something.
The art they sent us for several thousand pieces was literally a fan created jpeg they had pulled from a forum.
Emails got nowhere, and phone calls went in a literal loop through their phone system from the purchaser to marketing
to some other department to "who placed this order" back to the purchaser.

Guess who will never ever buy a Nissan?

[Frog]

what amazes me is the amount of business that do not have a decent copy of their own logo.

Ive found they do, but you have to press for it because people are lazy and dont want to find it.

Back in the old days when folks wanted a dozen or so sponsors on the back of a shirt, those sponsors would often send terrible art, like tiny scans of business card logos. Only when they received estimates of my art time to re-draw, did they take my advice and look in the file cabinet for the folder with the professionally produced "ad slicks".
Fast-forward to the digital age and I still explain that they probably still have a similar folder, albeit now on their computer.

[3Deep]

Heck Andy I still get those sponsors on business cards LOL, by the way I finally drilled it into my customers head that art has to be recreated before we can print it

[Evo]

Send a screenshot of the art scaled to print size so they can see what 4 pixels per inch *actually* looks like and they will go hunt for the full res file.

[T Shirt Farmer]

Depending on how large the order is you might be able to build the redraw cost into the shirt price.  That way you could just skip the part where you debate with them about redrawing it.  We use Ignition Drawing for vectorizing, their cheapest fee is $16..

There are vendors that charge $10 or less and have the files back to me in 12 hours. I suck up the fee as my time is way more valuable than 5 emails back and forth plus the frustration created with client

[3Deep]

Depending on how large the order is you might be able to build the redraw cost into the shirt price.  That way you could just skip the part where you debate with them about redrawing it.  We use Ignition Drawing for vectorizing, their cheapest fee is $16..

There are vendors that charge $10 or less and have the files back to me in 12 hours. I suck up the fee as my time is way more valuable than 5 emails back and forth plus the frustration created with client

How much can you suck up on 24 36 to 48 pc orders, like I said big or no problem it's the small ones

[blue moon]

D,
somebody here said it long time ago and it's been my gospel ever since. If you are not happy to take that small order, you are not charging enough. Every order should bring a smile to your face! So... raise the prices, lose some customers and laugh all the way to the bank. There is plenty of fish in the sea, you will find more customers! And don't worry about the guy next door doing it for less, he is about to go out of business. Plenty of them have, just look at the abundance of equipment for sale.

pj

Depending on how large the order is you might be able to build the redraw cost into the shirt price.  That way you could just skip the part where you debate with them about redrawing it.  We use Ignition Drawing for vectorizing, their cheapest fee is $16..

There are vendors that charge $10 or less and have the files back to me in 12 hours. I suck up the fee as my time is way more valuable than 5 emails back and forth plus the frustration created with client

How much can you suck up on 24 36 to 48 pc orders, like I said big or no problem it's the small ones

[GraphicDisorder]

D,
somebody here said it long time ago and it's been my gospel ever since. If you are not happy to take that small order, you are not charging enough. Every order should bring a smile to your face! So... raise the prices, lose some customers and laugh all the way to the bank. There is plenty of fish in the sea, you will find more customers! And don't worry about the guy next door doing it for less, he is about to go out of business. Plenty of them have, just look at the abundance of equipment for sale.

pj

I agree with that in general, but just remember you can go out of business probably just as easy or maybe even easier being over priced.