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Greetings everyone,

Today’s topic is short but important for those of you who place orders using our online order system.

It is important for all of you to know that the General Comment text box IS NOT meant to be used to ask questions, request quotes, request rush service or to enter information where you expect to receive feedback from myself or any of our employees.

This text box is only meant to provide instructions for the design which are not apparent simply by an examination of the art.

If you need to ask us a question about an order please call us prior to submitting your order, I 100% promise you will be more pleased with the process if you call us first for issues similar to the examples shown below.

Based on this image one (possible) example for the proper use of the Comment Box is show here.

The Comment box SHOULD be used to provide specific instruction for how to program a design as shown here.

The following 4 images are examples of how NOT TO USE the Comment box.

1. The Comment Box should never be used to request quotes. We have a specific area of our web site for requesting quotes. The staff who reads the Comment Box do not have the ability to reply to your quote request. They will forward these quotes to my attention but this really slows the process down.

2. The Comment Box IS NOT the place to ask questions. Again, the staff responsible for programming your design do not have the ability to communicate with you directly. If you ask a question the design will be put on hold and staff will forward your message to me for review. But again, this can slow your order by as much as a day.

3. NEVER request (or expect) rush service when requesting in this manner. Our web based order form has a button you can click to request Same Day Service. However, it is important to note we do not have a service level between Same Day and our standard Next Business Day. If you are really in a pinch for a rush order you must call customer service (877-733-4390) and request special help prior to placing your order. Rush requests must be reviewed on a case by case basis and we may not always be able to accommodate you. Also, Same Day Service orders are only accepted up to 4:00pm eastern time.

4. Do Not ask opinion based questions. If you need to discuss a design you will receive much better service if you call us prior to placing your order.

You should be aware customer service is open 9:00am to 9:00pm eastern time, M-F. If you send an email or leave a message on our phone systems outside these hours you may not hear from us before the next day. However, you should be aware I monitor email in the evenings and on the weekends. If you send a message with a brief question I will most likely respond to you but it might not be until later in the evening when I settle in to catch up so I won’t be buried the next day. Since Qdigitizing is “my baby” I am around during the full course of our customer service hours. However, Flora only works an eight hour day starting at 11am eastern and knocks off at 8:00pm eastern. Flora does not answer phones or emails outside normal customer service hours. Do not expect to hear from Flora outside these published hours. Our production facility operates 24 hours a day 6 days a week. We are 100% closed on Sunday and all major USA Holidays.

I look forward to speaking with all of you soon. Feel free to send me messages here or don’t be shy and email me at steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com

Steve Freeman
Qdigitizing.com

Hello everybody in the wonderful world of commercial art and embroidery…

Before I get in to the meat of today’s topic I would like to make a request.  If any of you would like me to speak to a direct topic will you please drop me a line at steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com and let me know what you think would make a good topic.  If it is in my area of expertise I will do my best to write a compelling article.

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Welcome To Cora’s Corner, where every month I am going to help you with your artwork issues. However this month I’m including production issues.

This month I’m going to discuss; What kind of art is submit-able to Qdigitizing?

Qdigitizing has a wonderful Vector Art and Graphic Design service. However, there is a limitation to what kind of art can be done within our set up and price structure. The general rule of thumb is the better the reference image and description of the customer needs, the better service we can provide. The better the quality and cleaner the image the customer provides, the closer the image can be duplicated.

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Welcome To Cora’s Corner, where every month I am going to help you with your artwork issues. However this month I’m including production issues.

This month I’m going to discuss maximum efficiency and screen print shop capacity.
There are a lot of factors to consider when you are considering how to maximize your efficiency and fill out your shop’s capacity potential.
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Greetings everybody,

We are a little late with our newsletter this month but rest assured it is not because we didn’t have a lot to say. Things have just been surprisingly busy so far this quarter and we have been working hard to keep up with unexpected demand at what is traditionally a slow time of year. To that end I would like to thank each of you for continuing to support Qdigitizing. Without you, we are nothing and I appreciate the business from each and every one of you.
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As 2012 takes off, many companies have resolved to finally take the leap into social media marketing. And why not? Social media provides smaller companies with the opportunities to market themselves in the same way major, global brands do. However, for small businesses with limited staff, the task may seem especially daunting as many questions undoubtedly loom. Where should we start? How do we start? How are Facebook and Twitter going to help my business? Who will take on the responsibility? Fortunately, social media is so accessible that the only thing standing in your way is, well, you! (more…)

For the past three years at Qdigitizing.com week three  has been the slowest week for order volume for the entire year.  We have to see how the rest of the year plays out but week three 2012 is already slower than weeks one and two.   And if the trend continues next week will be busier than last.  Based on this information it is also safe for me to make an educated guess that next year week three will also be slow.  Will it be the slowest week of the year?  Maybe, Maybe not; but I am confident it will be slow.  Planning for that and why it is important from a production standpoint is a matter of forecasting which is what this blog is about. (more…)

Resolution, and graphics size is a vast and often confusing topic, even for experienced designers. For those new to screenprinting it can be overwhelming. Before you panic at the thought of what you don’t know about resolution, focus on what you do know and some basic, easy to understand facts. (more…)

Welcome To Cora’s Corner, where every month I am going to help you with your artwork issues.

This month I’m going to discuss VECTOR images vs. RASTER images.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on the correct definition and usage of Vector and Raster images.   There is even more confusion on what kind of image is needed to use for a project.

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One of the most frequent questions I receive in one form or another is, “How should I price my embroidery work?”  On the surface this might seem like a simple question but it is not easily answered and depending on how involved you want to get it can be exercise in advanced accounting.

However, for the purposes of this discussion let’s keep it simple.  Start by asking yourself two critically important questions: (more…)