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Print designers doing Web design

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17-Feb-09 23:18

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simon

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Posts: 1959

In the ELATED Extra this week, I've been offering some possibly harsh, but definitely sound advice to print designers submitting design work for Web designers/developers to build. Are you a print designer moving to Web, or maybe you're a Web designer having to interpret a 200px-across InDesign file for the Web? Sound off below!

Simon

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18-Feb-09 03:57

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cat

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Posts: 454

From: Australia

Great piece in the Extra, Simon.

I've had flat PDF's with impossible to extract background images. Plus pixel problems, body text set in non-system fonts, and link text that looks identical to non-link text!

On the other hand, I've also had the fortune to work with print designers who have said, look I don't know what I'm doing with the web, and asked me for advice on how to proceed. More of these please

Cat

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Web design for natural therapists

18-Feb-09 06:04

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matt

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Posts: 3328

From: Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia

Ridiculously complex background images that would take a year to load on dialup.

Layouts that use framesets in the most hideous ways imaginable.

A fixed-width design, where the width in question was 2000 pixels.

A navigation system that might work for a print magazine, but that would make Web users tear their hair out in frustration.

The dreaded "Click Here" link text everywhere.

That's just off the top of my head.

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18-Feb-09 09:11

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simon

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Posts: 1959

"Ridiculously complex background images that would take a year to load on dialup."

I had such a good example of this before Christmas. I only wish it were professional to name and shame the agencies involved!

Simon

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18-Feb-09 09:14

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simon

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Posts: 1959

@Cat,

Sometimes you can extract the actual images used from PDFs if you're lucky. Just in case you don't know the trick:

- Open a PDF in Photoshop
- Choose Images rather than Pages from the Import PDF dialog.

This gives you access to any embedded images rather than the versions you see in the PDF layout. This one's saving my proverbial this very morning.

Simon

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18-Feb-09 16:13

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mguerra79

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Posts: 67

From: Viseu, Portugal

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Or something like it...
By Albert Einstein

18-Feb-09 18:41

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AlisonMeeks

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Posts: 1

From: Georgetown, ON, Canada

I loved your article Simon and am pleased to report many giggles were had. Thank you.

Another personal fav of mine is when designers do a logo for a client then will not part with the files so the client can have their website done - even when the designer that did the original work doesn't do web design or even have their own website. (yes it does happen and I met one recently)

Thanks for the giggles and for my friend for turning me on to Elated.com

Alison

18-Feb-09 19:15

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simon

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Posts: 1959

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19-Feb-09 03:51

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mauco

Silver

Posts: 154

From: Africa

I recall an experience sometime ago when I requested for the clients logo and was told to 'just pick it' from their business card because they didn't have the original files and the logo designer was nowhere to be found!

I agree with what Simon said about "old school print production houses looking down their collective nose at web work".

Also in my country these old school print production houses see those that are into web as a threat to their existence and as such are not ready to cooperate.

And the clients too are something else...!

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http://www.mauconline.net

19-Feb-09 09:06

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simon

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Posts: 1959

@mauco: Yes! I've been told to scan it off clients' headed notepaper! Amazing.

When i first started web work in the mid 90s (that's how old I am) the print firms *really* didn't get it. These days they're actually much nicer.

Simon

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