Topic awaiting preservation: Designer being ripped off needs help

Hi,

Im a freelance graphic designer who does large format poster printing for a client with overseas branches. They are detailed posters with lots of text so im always required to send v.hi-res jpgs for final approval. After that, a few large format A2 posters are printed for them at a reasonable price. What they let out to me by accident is they send my jpgs abroad to be printed for those overseas branches!!!! I can't drop the client & can't stop them from doing that.

Is there a way to produce hi-res jpgs which look great on screen & print well on desktop printers but trip-up large format printers, like image corruption etc. ? It has to be in jpg format.

Thats very tough as whatever looks good on screen or desktop printers can be scaled up & printed just as well by large format printers without much quality drop. Please help. Appreciate it, livelihod affected.

I'm not an expert. Can you watermark them so it's very light but on a large poster it will show up?


The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. --Groucho Marx

So...the problem is you'd prefer you printed everything, thereby being paid for the printing?

Can't you just stipulate that?

You say you "can't stop them from doing that", well...if you can't do that, then I doubt "doing" it by tricky means like you seem to be looking for will be appreciated by your client.

Be honest, just tell them you think it's fair you either get the printing job, too, or get paid by number printed or something. If that's not an option, then, I suggest you bite your lip.

such things should be covered by a contract. do you have one? if so, what does it say about such things?

if not...

why can you not drop this client? if it's the money, but they're ripping you off, it's a bit of a catch 22.

put all of the stipulations of your agreement in writing. if they won't agree to a mutually benefical arrangement, they're not worth the trouble.

(or, as reisio suggested, suck it up and deal with it...)

Clearly you shouldn't send anybody your work just for a good word. You should have a contract as mentioned above. It seems that you -let- them steal your work. It's your problem, if you can't organize it properly. Don't take it as insult, it's just my opinion.

(Edited by Arnitald on 03-13-2005 11:00)

honestly, if you catch them making illegitimate prints of your work, you send them an invoice, hopefully detailing when and where they infringed.

If that does not work, you start considering other options - like legal action, or encoding your jpegs into a 'no print' pdf.

Hi,

Having a few year experience with freelancing (both web- and printdesign), I have found that keeping customers happy is often much more important than getting paid for all the services you (part)render. As long as they keep coming back for the work as they have done.

Sometimes I see letterheads and logo's I've made appear on flyers and banners I never heard of being made. Legally thats not kosher. The thing is, if I start with the ownership argument it will give resentment and the client will have a (small) distrust next time they need something.

Try suggesting you are willing to print their "oversees"posters as well for an interesting fee so they understand that you slightly diasagree with their way of working. If you can, find out what the reason is for their method. Never put an emphasis on legal issues as long as you feel the client is still good for some work. Try win them over even more by giving good service and proving yourself a good partner.

And ofcourse, a good contract describing and limiting the use of products is always a good start. If they want to negotiate those subjects, you know what to expect and you can make the choise.

Hope this helps.. Good luck - I hate those things....!

HersenSpinsels.nl