Why Do We Even Bother Explaining?

I regularly produce printed materials like postcards, business cards, and now, mobile app graphics. None of my clients have design software on their machines, so I send either low-res PDFs or JPGs in order to show the work and not bung up their email servers with large files.

Me: “Please find attached the first draft of your job. Please note, this is not a print-ready file. Let me know when you’re ready for it.”

Two weeks later:

Client: “Hey, I got your file. The printer says it isn’t print-ready. He says it needs ‘bleeds’.”

Me: “…”

It doesn’t get better with digital products:

Me: “Please find attached the first draft of the app graphics. I’m sending these as JPGs because the finals will need to be in Photoshop, but you won’t be able to view those files. Let me know when we’re approved so I can send you a link to those.”

Two weeks later:

Client: “The app company is saying all the graphics you provided are low res. I need HIGH RES web graphics.”

Sigh.