Q: How can signs made by Sign City help my business?
A: Your image and how you represent your company is one of the most important aspects of business and of how customers and prospects identify you. Most people make decisions based on the look of your business image.
Q: What if I don’t know what I want?
A: You are not alone. Many people come to us with a skill or talent to produce a quality product or provide an outstanding service, yet they have absolutely no design abilities or creativity and they openly (humbly) admit it. Great! because I can’t replace my radiator on my car either. We all do our parts to make the world go round’. Our part is to make your business look good! We will ask questions and provide recommendations to produce a product that “works” for you and your business.
Q: How much does it cost?
A: Naturally there is a wide variety of products making an equally wide variety of costs. Quotes are provided up front so there are no surprises! We are always happy to offer you options to meet
your budget.
Q: How long will my sign last?
A: We have many levels of materials to choose from. We use some of the best materials in the industry: 3M, Avery, Gator Foam, Orajet, etc. If you only need a quick sign that will be taken down after a few weeks or months, we can make your sign in a less expensive material. If you need it to last a few years, we will make it with a better grade of material to withstand the elements for the time period you need it to last. If you need it to last 5-7 years or longer, we will go with some of the best material available on the market today and you will be able to enjoy your signage for years and years to come.
Q: How do I know if I’m going to like the design or even the finished product?
A: Clients are never surprised with the final product because we provide a full color proof of what it will look like before anything goes to final production. In most cases, we will email the proof for your approval. If a change is made, we will provide another proof to insure your satisfaction.
Q: Can I approve the sign before it’s made?
A: Absolutely. Before we begin production, we require your approval of the artwork, colors, spelling, and layout. Once you are satisfied, we begin producing your sign. This way, we’re both clear on what we’re producing.
Q: How fast is your average job being completed?
A: The turnaround time for your average sign varies based on your specific needs. We keep all the major materials in stock because we understand our clients needs are sometimes more urgent and we need to have everything in place and ready to go. That’s how we’re able to crank out a job with a very short notice. We also try to work with suppliers that are close and/or deliver next day, so we can get the rush jobs done if we need to.
Q: How do I submit artwork / files?
A: We work with most professional design applications including Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator, etc. If we’re “cutting” the lettering or logo out, we will be needing a Vector File, otherwise we can digitize (or Vectorize) the artwork you provide us in a JPEG, TIFF, PSD, GIF, etc. at an additional charge. You can email us your “print ready” or “cut ready” artwork, mail us a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD or USB flash drive or upload your file to our website. Please be sure that artwork is sent “high resolution”. If you have questions concerning your artwork or need help uploading, feel free to contact us by phone or email.
Q: What resolution is acceptable for artwork submitted?
A: If sending your artwork in “real size”, please send your work 150 dpi. We can also work with a one-inch-to-one-foot ratio (Example: if the art is to be 6 feet long and 4 feet tall, the submitted artwork should be 6 inches long and 4 inches tall) at 300 dpi.
Q: What is dpi?
A: Dpi is the standard of measurement for the resolution of images that describes the number of dots per inch (dpi) that are used to create an image. The higher the dpi, the higher the resolution which translates to better quality of your final product.
Q: What is the difference between vector and bitmap images and which is better?
A: Vector and bitmap images are the two major graphic types. Both types are made up of many individual objects, and both respond differently when enlarged and/or reduced to produce different sizes of images. We can use both types of files, however we prefer vector files and we can change sizes easily without sacrificing quality using original vector formats. Vector images can be output at the highest quality in any scale because they are made of lines and panels rather than pixels or dots. Vector images are resolution independent. Common vector formats are eps, ai and pdf. These formats are available in most graphics programs.
A bitmap image (also called a raster image) is made of pixels (sometimes referred to as dots). The number of pixels in one square inch of an image is called the dpi (dots per inch) and is known as the resolution of the image (Example: 150 dpi means that the image has 150 dots per square inch within that image). Quite simply, the larger number of dots you have in your image produces a higher quality of reproduction. Bitmap images loose quality when the are re-sized from their original size and must be created with consideration for their output use. Bitmap images should be built at 150 dpi if they are built at the actual finished size. You can build the bitmap files at a smaller proportional size than the final usage size, but you must increase the resolution accordingly. For instance, if you build your file at a ratio of 1 inch = 1 foot, you should build the file at 300 dpi. In this case, you would build a 2 inch x 2 inch file at 300 dpi to print a resulting 2 foot x 2 foot image at 150 dpi. Common bitmap-based formats are jpeg, jpg, gif, tiff, png, pict and bmp. Although vector image is the preferred format for submitting artwork, it is not as common for non- designers and bitmap images at the correct resolution can be substituted.
Larger resolution files also use more bytes of memory & sometimes require special methods to transfer the images. Many graphic files become too large for standard email servers to upload so contact us if you need to get us a larger file.