this guy is good,, And fast. http://vectordoctor.com/ I sent an email with a tiny jpg logo file a couple hours ago.. and its back,, done and perfect..
I will not do this vectoring myself again.. I simply cannot do it as fast and as econoomical as he can.. I tried the usual time tested methods and couldn't get a good trace no matter what,,
And guess what?? Its goona cost the customer. I'm going to profit from this. I did the rest of the job while waiting for the vectored logo to come back.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I've heard nothing but good things from this service - I've yet to try it, although I have it saved in my favorites & will as soon as I get something too complex that I jus don't wanna re-create - -I hear the first ones free - - p.s. wonder what software they use -wouldn't you love to be the fly on the wall when they do your art - bound to learn sumthin there - - -
[ February 15, 2006, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Carl Wood ]
-------------------- Carl Wood Olive Branch, Ms Posts: 1392 | From: Olive Branch,MS USA | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Ah, just what I need. There are so many fonts out there. I have about 8,000 of them, and so very often the one I need, I don't have or can't find.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3814 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
they don't trace,, they reconstruct with illy
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I guess the level of accuracy a person needs or is willing to accept is a personal choice.
A recent example that I was involved with, was apparently, not that acceptable.
For most peoples use a cheap vectorisation is "close enough"...
but for some folks, a more accurate vector is needed.
You DO get what you pay for.
If you want to see examples of GREAT vector work check out anything that Don Coplen does. And I am sure he doesn't do it cheap.
Sorry Curtis..I was not impressed at all with the work that "the vector doctor" did with a file I saw. It was crude and inaccurate. But it WAS almost close.
You get what you pay for..if you are satisfied with a $15 special that is great..but if you want it to be done right..do it yourself..or pay someone to do it correctly, at an appropriate price.
[ February 16, 2006, 01:22 AM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
that is an unexpected & unprofessional insinuation Dave & I am surprised to see it coming from you.
You have every right to make a claim in reference to the ONE file you saw...
but to insinuate that for it "to be done right"... or for "someone to do it correctly"... that it will have to be at YOUR idea of an "appropriate price"
...and to insinuate that this will not happen if Eric does it.. that is not only pure bullschitt, but it is an insult to residents who IMO, have done enough around here to earn you respect, & who have just praised the fact that Eric does EXCEPTIONAL work based on our PERSONAL experience.
So, anyone who thinks Dave's perception of quality is so superior as to discount Curtis's, Bob's & my suggestions to try this guy out... go ahead...do it yourself.
The rest of us will continue to enjoy, not only the quality we are getting, but the impressive turnaround time that can not last forever if everyone finds out what a great service this guy is offering.
posted
Ouch.....& I was just thinkin of 'postin sumthin fun - but am now enjoying the fireworks!! Hey ya gotta 'scuse me - I only drank one beer tonight - one of them new mini-kegs - they just got 'em around here - they are kinda pricey but good - they hold 5 liters & have the pull-out spout - this one was a Coors Light Super Bowl XL Special Edition - will 'proble sell it on E-bay & git some of my money back - - -Cheers - Carl
-------------------- Carl Wood Olive Branch, Ms Posts: 1392 | From: Olive Branch,MS USA | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
"You have every right to make a claim in reference to the ONE file you saw..." -------------------------- Well, the ONE file I saw, actually all of them, are the ones the vendor chose to show. I presume he advertises his best, not his worst.
I can't tell if the samples are exactly accurate. At screen resolution they look OK. But the prices are pretty remarkable, and I'd like to know how that's done.
-------------------- Bruce Williams Lexington KY Posts: 945 | From: Lexington, KY, USA | Registered: Mar 1999
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Haven't had any personal experience with the service (I prefer to do my own - but I'm not under the time constraints that some here are)....but it seems like the perfect business to me.
A great niche service business. I bet he's really busy. A fantastic idea that caters to many markets - not just signmaking.
I bet his competition will grow in short order as lightbulbs blink "on" in future enterprisers little noggins.
Now, can I be the first one to ask, "Hey, how about Chinese for lunch?" (Beat ya to it Bruce...hahahaha)
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Mornin' Don - the fees are surely underpriced - no question.
But the concept as a business model is dynamite....you might consider setting up a siimilar site and charge a more realistic fee.....
Even though you'd be more expensive than "fellow X"....I bet you'd still stay busy.
However, as long as there are people willing to do quality work at Chinese Child Labor rates....people will take advantage of the service.
Maybe this guy is working on the WalMart business plan. He'll probably be the next billionaire. Sell quantity at bargain basement rates, work his butt off till he can get some college kids to work cheap for him, watch the business grow, slowly raise his fees as his reputation grows as "thee" place to relieve the tedium of vectorizing art, and eventually sit back with a margarita and enjoy the show.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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I won't pick on anyone here, but Mr. Grundy I would love to know which file you saw you weren't happy with.
I won't say garbage in, garbage out. I think I do a pretty good job considering some of what comes my way. Actually garbage in, pretty damn close out. For instance, if there is a shape in some logo and I am not familiar with it, I can only trace what I see. A dot to an "i" I know should be a circle. A corner of a square, will be sharp. A smooth curve sharp, unless the art shows otherwise. But if the shape is a blob and I don't have any frame of reference, I will trace a blob.
I have been offering this service for over 3 years now, not once have I had a complaint or a request for a do-over. It's usually the complainers who are the loudest.
No child labor, no oversees help, just me working until sometimes 1am.
I have been using Illustrator on the Mac since it first came out in the late 80's - too long ago to remember. If you do something long enough you get very good at it = efficient.
Doug Allan and Bob from Skywatch are 2 customers of mine from here that immediately come to mind. Thank you for the nice compliments.
I will gladly respond to any questions and concerns regarding my work and or quality.
-------------------- Eric Schmid Schmid Design 1550 Aniko Ave. Lewis Center, OH Posts: 5 | From: Lewis Center, Ohio | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Oops, I should have said, smooth curve smooth, not sharp.
Oh and the $5-6 jobs, don't take me 1 hour to do, that would be silly.
-------------------- Eric Schmid Schmid Design 1550 Aniko Ave. Lewis Center, OH Posts: 5 | From: Lewis Center, Ohio | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I'd have questions, but I'm too busy putting together my post to participate in "Free Advertising on Letterhead.com Week". I've got some CDs to sell.
posted
Hi Eric, haven't used your services yet but your site has been bookmarked, you've already seen the benifit of free plug here, maybe you'll find advertising to be a cost effective means of reaching a segment of the graphics market who use vector files regularly.
Don... not quite sure where youre coming from on this... something about glass houses and throwing stones comes to mind.
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
posted
Free advertising? Yes it would appear that way, and I am deeply sorry but that is not my intention.
OK, I "joined" the group about a month or so ago after being informed of this group from a new customer. I did not join to sell my services, I thought I would give back by helping with font ID's and such. But you guys seem to be a well informed and intelligent bunch. Very few requests for ID's go without someone finding the answer. I'm amazed at the "names" here of people I have read about in sign/design magazines over the years - sign celebreties I think.
My response here happens to be my first post. I wanted to defend my quality of work.
I am part of another forum. I don't "advertise" my services there. All I do is give design advice and help with font ID's. You see fonts long enough day in/day out you get good at it. I did not join there to promote my business - in fact my signature does not indicate who I am like it does here. I don't say, "hey I can recreate that logo for you" I try to keep it as low-key as possible.
Back to my registering here. The sign up required I put in my name, business name etc to weed out the flamers, spam, etc, I guess. I would be happy to remove my signature here, but I keep getting error messages when I try. I get this message... Sorry, there was a problem with this action, contact the admins for help.
If Mr. Shortreed wants to remove my signature for me, that's fine.
-------------------- Eric Schmid Schmid Design 1550 Aniko Ave. Lewis Center, OH Posts: 5 | From: Lewis Center, Ohio | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
What Mike says - and welcome to Letterville, Eric!
-------------------- Jon Aston MARKETING PARTNERS "Strategy, Marketing and Business Development" Tel 705-719-9209 Posts: 1724 | From: Barrie, ON, CANADA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Sorry last post about this, but the register page from this site says....
Signature This signature file is very important. All posts must be signed. It should look like this... Your Name Company Name Address Phone (optional)
Thought I was following the rules, I never want to take advantage of anyone's hard work.
-------------------- Eric Schmid Schmid Design 1550 Aniko Ave. Lewis Center, OH Posts: 5 | From: Lewis Center, Ohio | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Hi Eric, I never heard of this service before, but you will be hearing from me in the future. Welcome!!
-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Dr.Eric, Welcome to Letterville- don't let a few posts give you a bad image of this community. I appreciate you taking the time to defend yourself and what you do, I personally did not see any misuse of "free advertising" or at least no more than anyone else has posted. I just found it ironic that the same people that were bashing you and your services then suddenly wanted you to spend money and advertise here.
I provide similar services to several local screenprinters, it is a niche market that is greatly needed. They don't have the time or the know-how and it is great for them to have somebody do it. For others, that can do it themselves- great for them.
Now get back to your overseas sweatshop and whip those little workers into shape!
-------------------- Michael Clanton Clanton Graphics/ Blackberry 19 Studio 1933 Blackberry Conway AR 72034 501-505-6794 clantongraphics@yahoo.com Posts: 1736 | From: Conway Arkansas | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Welcome Eric. Glad to see you posting here. Thank you again for the great work.
And Dave, I know I have no talent, I know I do not have the paint skills you have , and I know I do not have the creative abilities you have. I have nothing to prove. There I said it again. So, you have no reason to fear me anymore.
So pour yourself another tall one and enjoy the sun..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Thank you for the warm welcome from some of you here. When I joined back in November I thought about how helpful I would be with font ID's and such. Little did I know you were such a sharp group of people, that have the same eye for fonts and are so quick to reply - even the obscure ones.
I almost did not register because it required (or so I thought) to have a full disclosure signature. I did not want to be accused of taking advantage. The new guy amongst a group of veterans.
BTW, I have tried changing browsers, still cannot edit profile to remove my sig. Error message results when trying.
-------------------- Eric Schmid Schmid Design 1550 Aniko Ave. Lewis Center, OH Posts: 5 | From: Lewis Center, Ohio | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I, for one, have used him once (so far). I heard about him on this board, and was more than impressed with the time-frame, quality and communication I received. All I had to give him was a very low resolution gif, probably copied from a web page, and not very attractive to begin with. Not the kind of thing I want to spend 1-2 hours cleaning up, which is how long I probably would have taken. It came back perfectly clean with minimal nodes and in more than one version I could use: solid overlapping pieces or cut-out pieces. It was great! I can't wait to use him again. Time-saver, money-saver, and most importantly a headache-saver...
-------------------- Tracie Johnson Signovations Ventura, California Posts: 444 | From: Ventura, California | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Mike, I'm not really sure what you're referring to. The only thing I can think of is Don's cds which are sold by Letterhead Sign Supply. You can access them by clicking here or by their link on the merchant page.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I have used Eric a couple of times and I'm impressed by his speed and quality. He's also a very nice guy to deal with and professional. This is not his only job.
I sent some very rough pencil sketches just to see what he could do. They came out very close to what I would have done, and fast.
If he has a good piece to use, you get a better result. If it's rough, then it's about his interpretation of what it "should" look like versus yours.
I don't always have time to node edit art for simple vinyl jobs because we are a busy shop, nor do I want to edit nodes all day long when I can be doing something else.
In a small shop, outsourcing is our way of being highly productive and this is one example of a means to an end.
Oh, and Eric, you really should be a merchant here. I think the good will outweigh the bad.
I am not as big, or busy as some of the others on here, so I do my own vectorizing. But if I need help, I will know where to go! Sometimes as I sit here playing with nodes, I get restless legs & can't stand to sit here any longer!
-------------------- The Word in Signs Bobbie Rochow Jamestown, PA 16134
724-927-6471
thewordinsigns@alltel.net Posts: 3485 | From: Jamestown, PA 16134 | Registered: Oct 2002
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I didn't see you as intending advertising here or attempting to solicite work, but responding when your name was criticized in a manner you felt unfair.
Over the years when someone wanted to promote their business they would be informed about joining as a merchant. Shortreed's can provide you with the skinny on that and you can see if it's desirable to you.
I also would like to thank you for wanting to help folks with font recognition. Wanting to help someone is a trait we all need to emulate.
Again, welcome.
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6714 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Eric, I don't think you took advantage of anything at all. You didn't start the thread and you didn't even answer until you had to defend your service. Nothing wrong with that.
I haven't used your service, but have used two different vector services that I "believe" are overseas. Sometimes I just don't have the time to produce vectors, so paying a few bucks and charging more to the customer is an option. I wasn't aware anyone in the states processed artwork so cheaply.
I don't know how you do it so cheaply, but then again, I really don't care I'm gonna bookmark your site as well.
-------------------- Randy Graphic Details Promotional Merchandise Distributor South Glens Falls, NY Posts: 381 | From: South Glens Falls, NY USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
First I apologise for having started a "flame" war.
I expressed my opinion, based on what I have actually seen. Just as others have expressed theirs.
I believe that it is acceptable to have a differing opinion and express it in a non-confrontational way. And I don't see anything confontational in what I posted at all. Just my opinion.
This is my only comment on the thread......
Eric, if I have helped to bring your services to the attention of more people, then great. It wasn't my intention to do so, but if it increases your business, great.
I also do not think you have taken any advantage of free advertising.
That's all I have to say.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
you don't consider it confrontational? ...just "expressing your opinion?"
Curtis said "good, and fast... Bob says "quality is top notch", & I added report of my 3 "satisfactory" transactions. Sure, if what you saw washis work... & if it was from a suitable original... then of course "it is acceptable to have a differing opinion and express it in a non-confrontational way. "
but, based on your limited, second hand, un-documented experience... you make it sound as if, regardless of reports to the contrary, it will never be "right", or "correct" if he does it.
quote:Originally posted by Dave Grundy: ..if you are satisfied with a $15 special that is great..but if you want it to be done right..do it yourself..or pay someone to do it correctly...
posted
Hey, all I know is I have this really flakey rash on my elbow....and I'm considering asking the doctor to take a look at it.
It could be that it's nothing more than dried mashed potatos from when i accidentally put my elbow on my plate the other night. Sometimes I forget to wash my elbows...so it could be residual taters getting kinda flakey.
In any event....if you happen to see me on the street, please don't point at my elbow and laugh...or go into a mean-spirited dissertation over my poor bathing habits...
I hate confrontation and I'd hate to have to transfer the taters from my elbow to your left temple.
Good day.
Oh....and how's about the Chinese food?
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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