UNclear graphic/logo

[CaronWorldWide]

Hi I was hoping to get a bit of information to clear up my logo graphic.
First of all I didnt make it. It was made for me I paid quite a bit for it. It was made as signage for my car and it was told to me I can alo use it on my website. But I tried to take a picture of it and she even faxed me a copy of it to scan,now it looks lousy on the site.How can I clear it up?
I have tried the to cut out the lousy edges and it still looks lousy.I tried many attempt thru a photo program to clear it up and it still doesnt look good.
She said she would recreate it for me but it would cost me the same as when she did it the first time.
Any suggestions?I dont know how to post it here to show you but I dont know how. If you want, just look at my site and it is located in the upper left hand corner.
Thank you for your time
Sheila & Ernest Caron

[Mac 5]

The logo you have on your site is probably beyond fixing. The sign company should be able to save it as a .jpg, .gif or do a screen capture of it and send it to you. If not, take a close up digital photo of the car sign. With a little photoshop cleanup you should have a good enough photo for a graphic that small. A fax would be last on my list of options to try.

[staceman]

The printer should give you a file from which they created the sign. Depending on the logo and the sign, it may be a vector or bitmap. Both types of files can be manipulated with most common graphic apps. Feel free to PM me if you still need help.

[CaronWorldWide]

Thank You both mac5 and staceman
I will get on the phone and se if maybe the manager can find what they did for me. They did not give me a copy in any type file just the signs.
They are not as reputable as we once thought thy were i am shocked to see them still around
Thanks Again
Sheila & Ernest Caron

[crankydave]

If you are not able to get a digital photo, you can get a nice clean shot with a good 35mm camera. Almost all photo developers can put the photos on a disc for you.

Good Luck!

Dave

[cguild]

A while back I had the exact same problem and this very site was hosting a contest for the best flash short. (The contest was sponsored by cartoonsmart.com.) Any way I viewed the "free" tutorials and liked them so much that I bought the one about animating logos (http://www.cartoonsmart.com/logo_animation.html) and within an hour I had a logo that looked identical in theme and color to the "nasty" scanned jpg I recieved from the client, but it was a vector file. That meant that it could be put on anything from a website to the tail of a 747 and keep it's quaility.
Just a thought! It won't do you any good if you don't have flash, or know someone who uses flash.

[Eagle Imagery]

Your original designer/agency should have given you the vector source file when you bought it!

Good luck with getting the file from them.

Mark

[alienzhavelanded]

Originally Posted by cguild

It won't do you any good if you don't have flash, or know someone who uses flash.

You dont need Flash for vector graphics.

[info202]

Sheila,
Rather than continuing to upset yourself over this logo, why not consider getting a new one done... unless, of course, you really feel you need the one you have for your car..
you can try this site:
www.egtrix.com
he has some inexpensive, budget priced logos (and some higher priced ones) and you may find one that you like.

[oblius]

Originally Posted by Eagle Imagery

Your original designer/agency should have given you the vector source file when you bought it!

Depends on the agency. I've ran into a lot of smaller/medium sized ones that don't give you the original files right off the bat.

The only difference with them is that when you ask for the files - you get them right away.

As far as your logo problems go: If you can take clear digital photo (or hi-res scan of your image) and get it to me I'll see what I can do for you.
PM if interested.

[pmhb]

Looks like you're getting loadsa help... the original design shop/designer/whomever should have been a little more professional in their attiude to you.

Still, as there is light at the end of this tunnel for you, good luck but there are lots of great folk associated with this forum who will help probably FOC too. As you have demonstrated, all you need do is ask...

Now anyone got a spare 1 mill. ?

:)

[akbigdog]

Everyone else who has said that your design agency should have given you the original artwork on a disk is correct, too, and acquiring that artwork from them should be the first thing you try. It's irritating to me that they did not give it to you WITHOUT you having to ask for it, let alone give you a hard time about it when you DO ask. You paid for it, so it is yours. I have always given my customers the original artwork in some form. I realize that obtaining the artwork from this company may not become a reality, though, and I offer my input on working with what you have.
I've faced similar problems to this before; I've had logos in small, low-quality files on the computer. But thankfully I have Photoshop and Illustrator, and was able to convert the logos to vector.
If you can get a decent image of the logo into Photoshop, you can use either Select > Color range, the magnetic lasso or the magic wand to select the outline of the logo. You can then make spot touch ups where Photoshop didn't get it quite right, then smooth the selection by a few pixels (depending on how large your file is, you can smooth more or less). Then, by right-clicking, you can convert the selection to a vector path. Further, the path may be exported to Illustrator where you may touch it up more, if desired.
If you're not comfortable with trying this yourself, or do not have either of these programs, feel free to post the file here or e-mail it to me and I'll see what I can do with it.

[picklestoo]

I noticed its in a png format.
Is that the way you got it?
Can you convert it to a jpg or gif.
If you have a large version of it try to convert or
if you have a drawing on paper, try to do a scan.

[CaronWorldWide]

WOW!! Thank you all for your replies. And sorry all I do not know what a vector file is (or how to open one either)I do know I have flash (well, my computer has flash)
As of 9:30am (my time) I contacted the person that designed it and after a discussion she is sending me the file with my stuff on it.Apparentantly there were 2 graphic artists there. The first one I spoke to is now gone. The original designer is back and she has no problem with giving me the artwork.The original one is the one that did the design.
Image202: I know I shouldnt worry too much about logo but everything (signage, business cards, pens, and soon magnets) are all with that same logo.(alot of expense for a business that only is found in one search engine)I figured I should match on everything.
PicklesToo: I didnt save my pictured or scanned image as a png.It is either a BMP or JPEG(Dont know how to open png)When I had to put it in the gallery on my site (to upload on my site) it was transformed to something else.
Akbigdog: Thank you for your offer of working with my file. We appreciate it. Obviously by having a discussion with the original artwork designer is all I really needed to do. I am glad she is back she is an asset to that company. (As mean as this sound I am glad the other one is gone)
Pmhb :

Now anyone got a spare 1 mill. ?

I'm sorry I dont but I'll keep you in mind if I find it in my couch cushions. :)
I apologoize not addressing each of you. But I do appreciate all of your replies.
Thank You again
SHeila & Ernest Caron

[staceman]

Glad we could be of help. Just so you know, a vector file is drawing file made of lines. This opposed to a bitmap image, which is made of pixels. Think of the difference between a line drawing and a photograph. Bitmap images are limited by their resolution, or dots per inch. If you take a picture and double it in size, your resolution drops by 1/2. The larger you make the picture, the "fuzzier" it gets. Vector images do not have a resolution, they are infinately scalable with no loss of image quality.

If you need anymore assistance, it is obvious that there are plenty of people here willing to help! Good Luck!