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Preparation of Final Artwork Files

So you've gone through the presentation process, you know that ben some tweaks revisions? What have you and your client has agreed on your logo? You know, part of your contract is going to say that you're going to deliver digital artwork to them and, you know, three or four different formats um, before you do that there's some things that you need to do to make basically good to make it as clean as possible and so that it can't get you know, it doesn't eliminate, but it basically decreases the chances of it getting messed up on someone else gets their hands on it. Um, first of all any type you have to expand that to pass, so you outline it so that it's not a fault anymore because everyone should know if you leave it a zafar and whoever give it too doesn't have that fun it's going to default to another phone? Um, so you want to be one outline all your type, but, um, I would keep a version I would keep a version that you worked on where your type is still text just in case like it's a ta...

gline or something or they want like, if you've got something that's got a secondary message on a banner you know, in a circle or something and they want to change your tweet that message you know, like starting from scratch and just go back and just go back in and it like said it's always I always like keep you know, like copies ofthe stuff a different you know, various stages of the project so I have and I have a file of that stuff so I could just go backto um you want expand strokes and that's relative to the thing that I was talking about during the computer demonstration is that if you have something that has a stroke way to sign to it, like I said, a lot of vendors you know, beyond it's like offset praying like fabricators and stuff and screen printers will like a lot of black actually want and an illustrator file to work with and do whatever they need to do an illustrator but if they open it up and they resize it and that again that scale stroke wait isn't checked and they don't catch it it's got your things in your life you're going to get distorted so you want to expand, you want expand strokes we didn't get into any effects um there's like some warping effects um filter fax and things like that and illustrator um you want to expand those as well there's actually even if you say it was a pdf or whatever there's not necessarily guarantee that those effects are going to translate when they you know when it goes to whatever type of output device or whatever processes the file that that's going to work so you wantto you want to expand those two so that it's um so again that it's has thie effect applied and it's all outline pass and strokes you also you know you want to look around basically what I do is you know, at this point you should have everything on one larry should have multiple layers and what I do is like select and any artwork it's in the logo if it's not all one compound path that that it's at least group to get these things group together and then I select that and I lock it and then I do a select all just in case there's like a straight you know, like a straight point somewhere or something and I can't see and then hit delete just to make sure that, um you know, because if if there's something in the file you know that has another color assigned to it other than what you're going to dio could end up out putting, you know, a plate just for the fact that there's that file information for color and their whatever so just to make sure that there's no point no no points or anything uh that can show up or cost problems later on um remove any unused colors from the palate it's also a part of that idea to check the colors in your logo to make sure that when you select those that it's highlighting you know the only colors that you have left in your swatches palate um I can't tell you how many times like I've I've gone and converted something in black and white for a screen printer and found that I had like two different black somehow uh it's like sure that you know uh and all your colors need to be um for at least for offset printing need to be spot colors if you pick pantone color of legos, you need to make sure that in the dialogue box if you've used the swatch panels that have the pantone colors they're automatically um spot but otherwise um like I said, if you went to output the film it would if it wasn't spot it would read the scene like a values and now put four pieces of film and, you know, screen built for that um the file formats that I normally um give the clients unless they require something else um are the original bill state illustrator format um and it's probably not a bad idea to save it save a copy of it or one version of it in a in a pre creative cloud format um just because sometimes there's problems opening up um newer files in older versions of illustrator um so it doesn't hurt to do that um also um gps because a ps can be used just placed like an image but a ps stands for encapsulated postscript which means it's in postscript language which is you know, it's vector it can be scaled without any it's not ready oh sh independent it's something you can pay scale just like the illustrator file and that could be opening photo shop it can be placed into an image there placed into a document you know, like in design or something's a placed image um the only downside the gps is they're pretty large files so compared to like saving it out at the same size and j peg or something it's a lot it's a lot bigger file but that's the only that's really the only the only negative with gps I would save it as a pdf because against very flexible they can print it that could view it. And acrobat reader uh like most printers actually asked for p f you know pdf files. So since that's compact you know compatible with pretty much everybody I would save his pdf and then again unless there and that's a requesting you know, like a j hagerty f or something because in most cases in a pps can fill that because it can be placed could be opened info shot but the only other the only digital format I um I kind of do it like a za standard is png and the reason is because unlike any other like tiff and j peg and things like that, it has the option transparency. So if they want to drop it into something and it's like it's, like in a regular shape it's not, you know it has area. It has, like a bounding box in areas that are blank, which are goingto are going to translate toe white one it's saved and a j peg type thing. And png that area's transparent. So if they want to drop into, you know, on a color without having a white, you know, a white porter box around, they can use that format. Um, the other advantage, the png eyes that generally, you know, at the same resolutions were hunter or whatever. It's a smaller filed and tough and maybe even j peg, I think that's because the white, you know, there's? No, um there's, no white pixels that it has to incorporate into the memory of the file when you're giving files to your clients like the png in the pdf ce do you give them, um, larger files that they can make smaller if they want to or do you give them variations of the size is, um the only thing the only time I would do different like different sizes their resolutions would be for that would be for the png because it's going to be something that's going to be placed you know your hire as many more as our laura's application. So you give them three different sizes only for the png, the other ones because they're you know they have the vector information. A I p s and pdf is that they can they can determine the resolution when they open that file, like in vote in a photo shop, they can make it as high rest, you know as they want when they opened the filing photoshopped so it's really not that's not necessary. The other five for months? Yes. Question. What about for your clients that don't have an in house graphic designer anyone like that and pretty non savvy computer users and they continue to call you for more files? Do you charge them by the hour for little changes or tiled? Generally, like I just had a client call me or shoot me an e mail that the day and, um, hey just wants me to add an outline, you know, outline to something I mean, it's literally gonna take me two ends, and so if I charge him like it's, probably not going to go over I mean, he probably pay it but um it might not go over well and I'd rather you know, not jeopardize the client relationship but you can say a product like okay, you know, I won't charge you for this one but you know, but from here on out you know it's going to be fifty dollars now or whatever whatever you're whatever your rate is especially I mean where that becomes an issue is when they're like calling you and interrupting you and you have to stop and drop what you're what you're doing that's you know, that's him consider and hurt your workflow on it you know can jeopardize stuff that you're working on for other clients so it's not definitely not something you want them to take advantage take advantage of uh yeah option is you can you know you can recommend somebody that's more of a production you know, it's more production designer but you know that does that on a freelance basis or as somebody know that you know would be grateful for that type of work so um in terms ofthe deliverables would in fact be something that you discuss that's that's something you'd actually put in your proposed and you're proposing your final local anything after that? How many times you oh um yeah, I would put and we can talk about this when they get in the contracts, which is the last thing um I mean I would you know the term of the number of concepts that you're going to present and then you know say you're upto whatever you're comfortable upto like two revisions for one of the you know, for the concept direction that's picked to going forward with andi just put a statement in there anything that's about you know anything beyond that anywhere any work beyond that any changes whatever we'll just be building in our great rate of excellent ripper out x x amount per hour and just the last one as a designer where'd you cut the line I know you give us the cheap in terms ofthe what you shouldn't do in terms of providing something but the client uses when you didn't expect them to use how do you determine what's um what's satisfactory for you as a design of us is what the client needs um you know that's the one thing that's frustrating as a designer is that you know ultimately the design or the client has the final say and you can do your best and make the greatest case for your concept but at the end of the day that you know you can lead him to our but you can't you know you can't make him drink um but like I said you you have a little bit of control over that if you're not presenting something you wouldn't want them tow you know to go forward with on again, you know, even when you're reviewing your work before the presentation again, you want to revisit what the you know, because you'll come up with something that looks great. But then, if you like, go back and read through what the project objectives are and who the target market is. It's like a wonderful design. But it's, like, you know, as far as how it measures up to what it needs to do and who it needs to reach it's on that basis. It's. Not the strongest, not the strongest concept. Hey, I think, you know, I'm guilty of it. But I think designers in general are sometimes guilty of designing more for themselves. Then the client, um, so, you know, I will gravitate toward the thing toward the preference is that you know that we have, um, and sometimes we could make that work within a within a project.