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Copyright © 2005
Laurie Campbell
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What is involved in the creation of my printed marketing tools?
What happens after I approve my proof? What is the preferred way to supply files and documents? What is involved in the process of creating a web site? What do I need to prepare for my web site? What happens after my site is completed? Note: Every job is unique and some may require specialized services. |
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The best process includes the client in an on-going collaboration as we create your printed materials. Initial designs are provided either electronically as a jpg or pdf and/or printed proofs for your review and editing. These steps allow the client to give feedback, corrections and criticisms throughout the entire project. This ensures that the end product is an effective professional marketing tool completed to our client’s satisfaction. A simple approach might be: Vision/Mission Ideally, we should receive all content in digital format. Word .doc files or even simple .txt files work best for any written content. Printed material can be converted to digital text files, however OCR or extensive typing will add to the cost of a project. We can accept and convert a wide range of data. Images should be in digital form, but we can also scan and return photos sent to us. When we receive images, we prepare them for print, cropping and sizing for layout placment. Digital composites, retouching and enhancements are available in-house. Once you’ve approved the design proof of your brochure, portfolio, business card, postcard, sales sheet, or catalog the files will be digitally archived onto 3 CDs (1 for you, 1 for the printer (unless they prefer emailed files or time constraints require email or FTP of file) and 1 for our archives). The printer will then print a final proof from their press. Once this proof is approved, there will bre a press check, the pieces will be printed, the finishing work completed (collating, scoring, cutting, folding, binding, shrink wrapping or boxing) and delivery will be made. Direct mail fulfillment is available upon request. Small quantity printing and production services available in-house. If it is a magazine or newspaper ad we will provide a proof for your file approval, make archives of the file onto CD and submit the file via CD or email to the advertiser. Hopefully that publication is willing provide a proof that is close to the quality of the final output. Please note: Magazine and newpaper printing qualities vary. Intuit Image is not responsible for shifts in color or density due to inconsistant or low quality printing by any publication. It is very important that your advertising representative provides you with a proof. We are a MAC & PC based design company and work with many MAC & PC files. Document Formats: Plain text, ASCII Text, PDF, Notepad or Microsoft Word are the best formats. We can work from many word processor file types. Image Formats: jpg, gif, psd (Photoshop), bmp, png, tif, ai, cdr, just to name a few. We can work with virtually any image format or can scan and prepare images from your photos or printed materials. Royalty free licensing for high quality stock photos can also be purchased. No Publisher files please. File Handling/Media: Files can be emailed or sent by regular mail on magnetic media. Email applications allow you to attach a binary or formatted file to an email. This avoids problems of magnetic media compatibility. Our preference for magnetic media are DVD or CDs. We can also transcribe your printed documents. The best process includes the client in an on-going collaboration as we develop a web site. Initial designs are placed online and the client can give feedback, corrections and criticisms throughout the entire project. This ensures that the end product is completed rapidly and to our client’s satisfaction. We suggest that our clients construct an outline of their web site. This gives the client an opportunity to focus on what they want, need and expect as the site is developed. We use the outline to assist in analysing and constructing the skeleton of your project and it’s functions. Ideally, we should receive all content in digital format. Word .doc files or even simple .txt files work best for any written content. Printed material can be converted to the web, however OCR or extensive typing will add to the cost of a project. Dynamic content can be created from existing client database or new database structures. We can accept and convert a wide range of data. Images should be in digital form, but we can also scan and return photos sent to us. Digital cameras are an excellent choice for acquiring most web photos. When we receive images, we prepare them for the web, cropping and sizing for layout and compressing them for file size and faster loading. Images and text content are added to the page templates and arranged. Meta tags and keywords are added to aid search engine visibility. Clients can have full administrative control of the finished product through an online, password protected administration area. When the last piece of code has been put into place, we upload all the files to the client’s web server or hosting location and final test all functions. IntuitImage.com can assist in locating a fast, inexpensive and reliable hosting Internet Service Provider (ISP) and providing periodic web updates of your web site. |
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First, we suggest that you purchase a domain name. You can go to www.godaddy.com (or any reputable domain name registrar), do a ‘whois’ search and reserve a domain name if you have not done so. Chances are very high that the perfect name you want to use for your company may already be taken. Even if you are months away from producing your web site, get your domain name in your pocket now, it may be gone tomorrow. Always set yourself up as the admin and billing contact. We strongly advise against allowing any registration service, third party or ISP to put their name as admin contact. It can create problems later if you decide to move or change your account. By listing yourself as admin contact, you control your domain, not someone else. Typically your webmaster or someone at your Internet Service Provider (ISP) should always be registered as the technical contact and they can provide you with this information. This allows them to make technical changes in equipment settings that may become necessary from time to time. Second, we recommend creating an “outline” of your site so that we can share your vision. A simple example might be: Home (welcome info) Experience/Background (Vision,mission/philosopghy Policies/Guarantees Services (services 1, 2, 3 list/intro info) service 1 details service 2 details service 3 details Contact (contact info & map)The process of creating this outline will help you to visualize the structure of your site and can serve as an initial blueprint for our designs. Collecting images, photos and content to fill in the pieces of your outline is the next step. Digital format is best. Many businesses may already have usable document files and databases which can translate easily to the web. Once you’ve approved the layout, design and content of your web site and we have thoroughly tested it’s function, we install all your files to your server or the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of your choice. Your web site can be served by any ISP in the world. You may want to inquire locally if you already have a dial-up account. The right ISP to host your site is important. Unfortunately, not all ISPs are created equal. Some may lack the services you need to adequately support your site. We will need to verify that they have the neccessary capabilities and will do so in our analysis at the beginning of any project. How can I update my web site? Some web sites may need little or only occasional maintenance if any, and others, because of their nature, may require frequent, even daily updating. A static web site will require manual updating. This means opening the file and manually editing the code to make changes, and then uploading the new file. Although this is an easy process for us, if you’re brand new to the net you may want us to do the updating on your site for a while. Updating would include items like price changes, adding, editing or deleting a sentence or paragraph, adding a new link or even adding more structure, images and pages. For presenting dynamic content, e-commerce or database driven web pages, all of the above tasks and more can be built in and automated. Web pages can be written “on the fly” with updated content pulled from a database or from interactive information supplied by the user. Web content can be tied to your existing business database structures so that when information changes, it is automatically reflected on the web site. Secure administration pages can be created to allow management of the online business from any connected computer in the world. Like our clients, we have a business to run and often don’t have the time to learn new software that is not directly related to our business. Most of our clients feel the same about updating their web sites and they appreciate our fast response whenever updating or making minor changes for them. A few enjoy the creativity and hands on feeling and want to do the coding and image editing themselves. For these clients, we will recommend investing in the best software to get them started. |
