The time a client's logo file was basically a postage stamp

I was in my shop last Tuesday, about to run a 500-piece order of custom tote bags for a local brewery. The client sent over their logo file, said it was 'print ready'. I opened it up and it was a 72 DPI JPEG, maybe 2 inches wide. I called them and explained it would look like a blurry mess blown up for the bag. They got a bit defensive, said their nephew made it and it looked fine on their phone screen. I ended up spending about an hour walking them through finding the original vector file, which turned out to be on an old laptop they had to dig out of a closet. The whole job got pushed back a day. It makes me wonder, where's the line? Do you just flat-out refuse to print with bad art and risk losing the job, or do you become a free tech support service to try and salvage it? What's your hard rule on file specs?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sarah3mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, sometimes you just gotta make it work. I printed 200 shirts last month with a 150 DPI jpeg because the client was a small nonprofit and their event was the next day. It wasn't perfect, but they were thrilled to have the shirts at all. If you turn down every job with a bad file, you're turning down a lot of business from normal people who don't know what a vector is.

the_tara3mo ago

I had a client last year who insisted on using a tiny logo from their Facebook page for a banner. We printed it and the blurry result actually hurt their brand image at a trade show. Setting clear file standards upfront saves everyone from disappointment later. Sometimes saying no to a bad file means saying yes to doing quality work that doesn't damage your reputation.

brians2718d agoMost Upvoted

Gotta side with @the_sarah a bit here but I think the real issue nobody talks about is how clients store everything on their phone now. That guy's nephew probably made the logo on Canva on his phone and emailed it straight from there. The problem isnt just file specs, its that people stopped saving things properly once cloud storage and phones took over. You end up being a digital archaeologist digging through their life for a vector file that may not even exist. I just started asking clients to screenshot me the file info on their end before I ever open it. Saves me the phone call and the frustration. Maybe we need to be more upfront about file requirements from the first email instead of assuming everyone knows what vector means.