DTP


 
Lively discussions on the graphic arts and publishing — in print or on the web


Go Back   Desktop Publishing Forum > General Discussions > Business Matters

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-28-2005, 03:55 PM   #1
djb
Member
 
djb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Posts: 492
Default Clueless clients...

Does anyone else get email from designers like this one that arrived under an hour ago:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the PDF file for the ad to run.

Please fax a proof for approval to ###-###-####.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

So we'll print her PDF on the laser printer and fax it back so she can approve it.

Or this one:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the PDF file for insertion order #######.

Please email back a PDF proof.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

So we email back the PDF she just sent us, and she's happy.

To quote Emo Phillips, some days it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

djb
djb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2005, 05:55 AM   #2
donmcc
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sarnia, Canada
Posts: 1,122
Default

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a big thread?

<g>
donmcc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2005, 07:43 AM   #3
Michael Rowley
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ipswich (the one in England)
Posts: 5,105
Default

Don:

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a big thread?

Well, I'll make it bigger: is a 'proof' produced on an office printer (a machine) a satisfactory proof? When not much mattered other than the text, a proof made with just an ink roller and a brush was sufficient, but now that the pretty pictures are all-important, is anything less than a sight of what the printer (a person) will produce in the final process good enough?

   
__________________
Michael
Michael Rowley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2005, 10:04 PM   #4
donmcc
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sarnia, Canada
Posts: 1,122
Default

The print shop I used to work at offered something called Blues as page proofs, for position only. I understand that about once every two years someone would complain that they wanted black type.

You might use the old FPO (for position only) instruction on your proofs, or at least refer to them that way. Let the user know if they want colour match proofs, they can have them, but that they'll have to get their wallet out.

A simple "these proofs cost you 40 cents a page (or whatever), but do not show the exact color. If you want exact colour proofs, we can get them for $3 a page (or whatever)", might get past your problem.

Don McCahill
donmcc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2005, 10:59 PM   #5
vavroom
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 21
Default

Have to figure out something like that for web design

   
__________________
Nic
Joomla core team member - Usability & Accessibility
vavroom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2005, 12:32 AM   #6
annc
Sysop
 
annc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Subtropical Queensland, Australia, between the mountains and the Coral Sea
Posts: 4,592
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by vavroom
Have to figure out something like that for web design
One of the problems with web design is that the client views the design one one monitor and with one browser, so has no understanding of the effort that goes into making sure that 99.9% of potential viewers will get an acceptable view of the site.

   
__________________
annc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2005, 07:17 AM   #7
donmcc
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sarnia, Canada
Posts: 1,122
Default

So true. Both resolution and color will be different on different monitors. And I can just see a client holding up his brochure to his monitor and noting "the color does not match."

Sigh.

With resolution issues it is easier. You can just shrink the window on his/her monitor and note that some people will see things that way, and that's why there is all that "wasted" space along the sides.

Don
donmcc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2005, 12:48 PM   #8
annc
Sysop
 
annc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Subtropical Queensland, Australia, between the mountains and the Coral Sea
Posts: 4,592
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by donmcc
So true. Both resolution and color will be different on different monitors. And I can just see a client holding up his brochure to his monitor and noting "the color does not match."

Sigh.

With resolution issues it is easier. You can just shrink the window on his/her monitor and note that some people will see things that way, and that's why there is all that "wasted" space along the sides.
Well, I always use fluid layouts, so there is no wasted space. But it's the effort needed to make sure that the idiosyncrasies of all the major browsers and platforms are taken into consideration, and then testing, testing and testing again that takes the time. The client can never see that.

   
__________________
annc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2005, 07:39 AM   #9
Michael Rowley
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ipswich (the one in England)
Posts: 5,105
Default

Don:

The print shop I used to work at offered something called Blues as page proofs

Your message confirms that 'proof' means different things to different people. I'd be a bit careful about calling a designer 'clueless' for asking for a 'proof' when he has submitted a PDF, which he has, presumably, already tested of his printer. The printer should perhaps explain, as a matter of routine, that production proofs would be prohibitively expensive.

   
__________________
Michael
Michael Rowley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2005, 08:52 AM   #10
ktinkel
Founding Sysop
 
ktinkel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: In Connecticut, on the Housatonic River near its mouth at Long Island Sound.
Posts: 11,187
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by donmcc
The print shop I used to work at offered something called Blues as page proofs, for position only.
Bluelines are still common enough. They are useful proofs, of somewhat more than position — you can see (from changes in color density) whether second colors appear as designed, for one thing.

And for clients who can only ever see errors when they are found “in print,” blues offer a last chance to fix typos that were invisible in faxes, PDFs, or other preliminary versions.

   
__________________
[SIZE=2][COLOR=LemonChiffon]::[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
ktinkel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The clients want the files? djb Business Matters 21 11-18-2006 11:30 AM
Domains, clients, rights dthomsen8 Business Matters 14 10-30-2006 05:19 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 08:46 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Contents copyright 2004–2019 Desktop Publishing Forum and its members.