The first sign of trouble ...

[Frog]

was when the customer answered "Adobe" as the program in which he created the design.

And yes, the hits kept coming.

[Homer]

love it. . second best -

me: what design would you like on the shirt?

them: oh it's not a design, it's just a logo.

. . and that's when it happened officer. . .

[Denis Kolar]

I love when they supply you with "high quality" "artwork" in PowerPoint.

It happened more than once

[Shanarchy]

Received this morning. We are going to be off to a busy new year!

I'm interested getting some t-shirts done.
i want to start off with at least two t's .
i want them to say .... **** **** ...i have an open mind on designs maybe you can help me with.
thanks , *** ***

[blue moon]

I love when they supply you with "high quality" "artwork" in PowerPoint.

It happened more than once

at least you are talking to ppl off the street. We are dealing with same issues and are doing contract work only!
I have two guys doing over $10k per year with ZERO understanding of the artwork!

pierre

[244]

My best one is "It's just like an M&R only cheaper"!

[Denis Kolar]

I love when they supply you with "high quality" "artwork" in PowerPoint.

It happened more than once

at least you are talking to ppl off the street. We are dealing with same issues and are doing contract work only!
I have two guys doing over $10k per year with ZERO understanding of the artwork!

pierre

We are getting those at the big printing company where I work full time. And those are coming from big corporation sometimes.
I got that only once in the last year for screen printing

[Ripcord]

How about when someone sends you vector artwork...And it looks just fine until you click on it and learn that it is a "Group of 49,567 objects"...

[Dottonedan]

Received this morning. We are going to be off to a busy new year!

I'm interested getting some t-shirts done.
i want to start off with at least two t's .
i want them to say .... **** **** ...i have an open mind on designs maybe you can help me with.
thanks , *** ***

I've heard this many many times before. Half the time when a customer is acustom to ordering multiple designs, they may refer to them as tee's in conversation when they are really referring to an entire order when they say " this tee or that tee". This tee being an order of let's say 100 tees and that tee being an order of 200 tees.  Just tossing that in as well. You may already know the real intent, but you might want to clarify the customers statement.

[inkman996]

My best one is "It's just like an M&R only cheaper"!

Becareful you are sounding like a screen printing fascist!......

[Command-Z]

I always laugh when these customer-bringing-artwork-that-isn't-really-artwork stories come up. They never fail to deliver the funny.

But consider this... these people off the street aren't supposed to know raster from vector or Powerpoint from Corel Draw. That's your job. The general public doesn't deal with this stuff daily like us. They are bringing their stuff to you so that you can solve their problems.

Every napkin logo and web banner jpeg is an opportunity. You should welcome them. Most of you have art departments, right? Don't miss chances to make some extra money on art charges.

"Well the customer doesn't want to pay for art. Well, if I bid too high the customer will take the order elsewhere." Bullsheet. Guess what, your customer doesn't want to pay for screens, setup or the shirts themselves, either. What other business gives skilled labor away for free? Try getting free artwork from an offset printer sometime. No, if they won't pay, let them take their order to the sucker who gives away their time and skill.

Explain the extra charges up front and bill them for it. Educate these people on how printing works so they know why it's just as expensive to print 2 shirts as it is to print 2 dozen, even if it means showing them around your shop. If you lose the order, so what? Let your competitors deal with them.

[JBLUE]

I always laugh when these customer-bringing-artwork-that-isn't-really-artwork stories come up. They never fail to deliver the funny.

But consider this... these people off the street aren't supposed to know raster from vector or Powerpoint from Corel Draw. That's your job. The general public doesn't deal with this stuff daily like us. They are bringing their stuff to you so that you can solve their problems.

Every napkin logo and web banner jpeg is an opportunity. You should welcome them. Most of you have art departments, right? Don't miss chances to make some extra money on art charges.

"Well the customer doesn't want to pay for art. Well, if I bid too high the customer will take the order elsewhere." Bullsheet. Guess what, your customer doesn't want to pay for screens, setup or the shirts themselves, either. What other business gives skilled labor away for free? Try getting free artwork from an offset printer sometime. No, if they won't pay, let them take their order to the sucker who gives away their time and skill.

Explain the extra charges up front and bill them for it. Educate these people on how printing works so they know why it's just as expensive to print 2 shirts as it is to print 2 dozen, even if it means showing them around your shop. If you lose the order, so what? Let your competitors deal with them.

EXACTLY!!!!!!

[3Deep]

 @ Command Z    Easier said than done

[Frog]

I always laugh when these customer-bringing-artwork-that-isn't-really-artwork stories come up. They never fail to deliver the funny.

But consider this... these people off the street aren't supposed to know raster from vector or Powerpoint from Corel Draw. That's your job. The general public doesn't deal with this stuff daily like us. They are bringing their stuff to you so that you can solve their problems.

All true, but what is my guy, for instance, doing with $500-$1800 bucks worth of the newest CS? I can barely justify the expense, and I would use it almost daily.

It's not unlike the novice rider getting, as his first bike, four times the horsepower and performance than he can handle. (or the recent winner of the Lamborghini who immediately crashed it!)

And, btw, in my world, at least in this instance, for two $21 digital transfer shirts, I can only get so much for additional artwork.  Fortunately, these are for a trade show important to them, so they will pony up.

[Ripcord]

But consider this... these people off the street aren't supposed to know raster from vector or Powerpoint from Corel Draw. That's your job. The general public doesn't deal with this stuff daily like us. They are bringing their stuff to you so that you can solve their problems.

Depending on the job, many times I'll vectorize raster artwork for no charge (or an added charge that i don't itemize) just to be done with it so I can get on with the job. As you said, the customer usually doesn't understand why it's necessary to change anything about the 72dpi graphic they stole off someone's website and I can usually fix it in less time than it takes to explain to them why I need to. This also is a good way to get an edge on the competition because a lot of companies make the ordering process more complicated than necessary. I say just gimme what you got and I'll do what I need to to get the job printed. Also, now that I alone possess the vector artwork it makes it more difficult for them to shop around when it's time for a reprint.