cleaning an image

[sportsshoppe]

Is there some tips on cleaning an bitmaped image up some? Trying to work with some rough art work. I am using PS for the seps. thanks

[Frog]

I thought that I had a link to an article describing the basics in PS, but could only find this article by Scott F on his T-Biz site, dealing with the process in the Corel suite. Perhaps it will still describe something to help you or help someone who does want to do it it CorelDRAW and Paint.

http://t-biznetwork.com/computergraphics/improving-photos-in-corel-draw/

[sportsshoppe]

Thanks Frog I appreciate that and will check it out. Would love to send it to someone to sep but I got a tight wad customer that wants to save a buck or two and I guess pay me to learn. Thanks again

[JBLUE]

Whats it look like?

Screen shot a piece of it so we can see.

[Sbrem]

I have some tricks up my sleeve for that; it's not great, but usually acceptable if that's all you have and the customer won't pay to have it recreated... post the image.

steve

[Dottonedan]

I did this vid as a test for considering to purchase the recorder. It's a pretty bad vid and long but it has some good things in it for those who don't know about them.

http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,2482.0.html

[sportsshoppe]

this is what they sent me.... Dan it is a low budget print so they are like so many I deal with trying to save a penny and want the knock out print. I explain to them that I cannot make chicken salad out of chicken s**t but they seem to be satisfied with the work I have been doing because they keep coming back. This one is really a rough copy probably off an internet site and no more than 72 dpi. To top things off they want it in 2 weeks and I am swamped but need the work. Thanks to all who have replied I really do appreciate it .

[sportsshoppe]

I have some tricks up my sleeve for that; it's not great, but usually acceptable if that's all you have and the customer won't pay to have it recreated... post the image.

steve

Thanks Steeve

[Dottonedan]

I see what you mean. They want the best they can get for free.

Do you know that you are held equally as responsible as the printer. I don't know all the law, but when I try to tell that to the judge. What do they say?  They say ignorance of the law is no excuse. Just saying.  Don't get me wrong, it sooo common. Every printer has experiences this same thing and will continue to. You get soo many customers trying to save money and "they know" something about this is not right, but they take an image down from the internet and try to print their own shirts with it. I had a customer send me a jpg for a quote.  It was an obvious and well known image...printed by another well known retail printer that sells on line. I knew right away who's it was, because they were also my customer. So I have my customers customer wanting to rip off another customer of mine. SHEESH!  The printer can't do that. The customer can't do that. We would all get in trouble.

When a customer comes in with an image and (he) is the one that wants you to print it...that does not relieve you of any responsibility, financially or otherwise.  It's like when someone tells you to steel something. You can't say,
"Well, HE told me to take it. I didn't know it was steeling".

Now, on the other hand, artist's and artist wannabe's and needtobe's will all use reference off the internet all day long. I get on daily and research styles, looks, feels of current and old art. NEVER, can we duplicate an image exactly and we do not have a specific "level or degree or percent" that a image can be changed...in order to legally be used. It gets very complicated on how to determine what you can and can't do, but this is the business we are in. ART and the reproduction of art is what you do and it's legally tricky to say the least.

[Sbrem]

What Dan said... and, look up PhotoZoom Pro for the cleaning up (somewhat) of low res images. It does look like someone somewhere owns the art already...

Steve

[Ripcord]

You might try reducing the bitmap until the resolution is about 300 dpi. then give it a very slight Gaussian blur and then resample it to about 800dpi and re-enlarge it. Then play with your "sharpen" settings and see if you can get it to look a little better.
.
None of this is a substitute for getting original artwork in high resolution, but often by messing around with it you can at least improve it a bit.

[Gilligan]

But at what point do we stop being copyright police?

I mean, if someone sends me the NFL logo then it's hard to deny that I knew it was copyrighted... but if someone gives me this artwork how am I to know?  It's not my job to research all that.

When you send off something like this to gotprint, they don't research it.  You sign a waiver saying you aren't breaking the rules and you are submitting artwork that you legally have the right to use.

Beyond that what can you do?

[Dottonedan]

But at what point do we stop being copyright police?

I mean, if someone sends me the NFL logo then it's hard to deny that I knew it was copyrighted... but if someone gives me this artwork how am I to know?  It's not my job to research all that.

Good question, How are you to know?  Well, technically, yes, it is your job to know.  Like a restaurant owner cooking chicken.  You say it's not done and he says, "How am I to know when it's done"?
The answer is, because the customer will tell you how they want it done and you continue to check it until you are comfortable and believe it to be done.  Same with the copyright laws.  We have the obvious, Like the NFL and Disney.  ....but C'mon now, do you know how many people send me Disney stuff for a family reunion wanting em to separate something someone slapped together?
but I digress.  We have the obvious like the NFL and the Disney's... but we also have the obvious like this job.


A, It's small in dimension. RED FLAG
B, Its a pixelated jpg RED FLAG
C It's 72ppi.RED FLAG
 D, The customers are very tight on the budget...but they have an art (image) in it's original state that would have cost $1000.00 ( at a minimum).RED FLAG


I think we can all say that this customer does not own the rights or have permission and should at the least, have them confirm or deny.

When you send off something like this to gotprint, they don't research it.  You sign a waiver saying you aren't breaking the rules and you are submitting artwork that you legally have the right to use.

Ok. then. There you have it.  They had you sign a waiver stating that they are not liable. You are.  Do you have your sketchy customers or all customer sign off on art submissions with any kind of waiver/disclaimer? Maybe you should.

The real kicker here tho is, they actually WILL still be held liable for a portion (if a judge so see's fit).  It's all left up to interpenetration but just the judges, not yours or mine.  Kodak has a disclaimer in your local CVS pharmacy when you get your photo's printed out.  So a disclaimer must work to a degree but then again, you aren't mass producing your photo's at Kodak but for even the one off's, of photography, doesn't that say something to us if they require a disclaimer from you that says we are not steeling an image that is not ours?

Beyond that what can you do?

Well,  I don't know. If you are operating in a mode where you take on these jobs on a regular basis, I'd say, keep back a portion of your income like we do for taxes and save for your get out of court fee's fund.      Many people get away with it for years, but if someone wants to make a deal out of it, it can be done. Do what you feel you need or want to. We are our own keeper. I guess it's not the end of life as we know it when you get caught.

I know plenty of shops still operating who have been caught, slapped on the hand, fined and even sued and lost but are running strong.For them, they were big enough (to be gotteen after) by someone and they were also big enough to recover from it. It was a hiccup along the way. I can say tho, when they do get caught, they change policy. Yeah sir, you betchya!  It's like maybe they say, ught ooooh, I better not do that again.

[Frog]

But at what point do we stop being copyright police?

I mean, if someone sends me the NFL logo then it's hard to deny that I knew it was copyrighted... but if someone gives me this artwork how am I to know?  It's not my job to research all that.

When you send off something like this to gotprint, they don't research it.  You sign a waiver saying you aren't breaking the rules and you are submitting artwork that you legally have the right to use.

Beyond that what can you do?

Play dumb if you wish, but especially now that you are a professional in the graphics art reproduction industry, you know damn well that if someone comes up with a low resolution version of a fairly sophisticated piece of art, it's because they are using an internet copy unauthorized for reproduction.
So, now, it's merely a matter of how honest are you?

As to what you can do, ask them for the original painting or drawing or computer file evidence that it was their work, and/or find yourself a legal disclaimer, and have the client sign that it is their work to reproduce (not that they're merely not breaking any rules). Some folks say that the disclaimer may not hold up though, so perhaps to best answer your question, to be really safe, perhaps you shouldn't accept any outside art, especially since you express doubts in being able to recognize even obvious rip-offs.

Myself, I have a pretty good feel for it.

[Gilligan]

I asked my insurance agent to quote me some IP insurance but he's lazier than I am and never got back to me.