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 FAQ For CLM GraphicsThese are some of the currently frequently asked questions. 1. How do you make your artwork? They are made using a computer paint program called PSP 7 from Jasc Software. I draw the images by choosing colors from the palette and then drawing with the mouse on the screen. It's just like drawing freehand only with a little more dexterity. PSP has all kinds of tools, but I normally just use the paint colors themselves and draw my art by painting, repainting, reworking, and tweaking until I'm satisfied. I do use limited "shape" tools such as squares if I am doing buildings and houses and I take advantage of the "mirror", "crop", "copy", and "paste" tools. I do enjoy working with the opacity and density levels of the paint in order to do shading. Generally that "undo button" and "erase" tool gets overworked, but I don't delve too much into all the extras of the paint program. I like to keep my computer artwork simple just like I would draw naturally on paper. I don't use tutorials (step by step instructions), line art (outline patterns), or tubes (premade base graphics) for any of the CLM Graphics. The artwork I make is all original, drawn from scratch, with the ability that my Maker gave me:) I use only a mouse and no writing tablet devices. Would love a pen tablet but can't see making the investment in one right now. 2. How long have you been drawing? I have sketched and drawn most of my life and have always had an interest in artistic and creative things. I played around in regular Microsoft Windows Paint for a long time but bought my Paint Program in January of 2002. I began selling my artwork online not long after. 3. Do you offer custom work? No. I just don't have the time to devote to it. I will take suggestions for websets, but if I use your suggestion, the websets will not be sold exclusively to you, but offered for anyone to purchase or if it is made into a linkware set, anyone can use it. 4. Can I use the layouts that are in the html pages that come with the linkware or purchaseware graphics? Yes. Just make sure if there's any of my urls within the html, that you take those out:) Those layouts are just made up of html tables mostly. There's nothing too unique in them and you do not have to link back here to say where you got your layout. It is just basic html which anybody can do. Even if you don't know html very well, there's lots of free table wizards and generators on the web. I love playing around with tables and what I lay out my html pages for my graphics with are just some that I layed out when I first started my website. 5. Why don't you offer premade adoptions and sigtags for sale? I used to make premade adoptions and sold quite a few but because the type of websites that offer them to the public frequently don't stay on the web long and close their doors, most of my creations ended up leavning with them. I don't want to spend my time making something if it has no lasting value. I don't offer sig tags because they are really not worth the time invested in them from a business standpoint because so many graphic makers make them, that sig tags have a low price value. I do make sig tag goodies from time to time for those that purchase my graphics as extra goodies for them, just because I do enjoy making them once in awhile, but I do not make any for sale. There are a few generic type sig tags in my Linkware. You also are welcome to use any of the Linkware or Purchased graphics in your emails as long as you don't alter or add text to them. Just make a credit link to CLM at the bottom of your email. 6. Do you require any special scripts on my pages in order to use your graphics? No. I don't require a no right click or anything extra to your pages. If you want to protect the graphics in some way, that's up to you. The majority of my graphics are sold to small business owners, and most of their visitors aren't just out to steal the graphics off of their pages anyway. They are there for the purpose of shopping, not taking graphics. No right clicks disable the movement of your visitors because many people like to surf using their right click to open new windows when they want and slowing them down on a business website can be very risky to your sales. Those type of scripts are not fullproof anyway, and you are only hindering a very small number of people by placing scripts like that in your pages and probably annoying the large majority of people who just want to navigate with the right click of their mouse. I disable the right click on my pages with an "oncontextmenu=return false" in the body tags of my html but if I had any other type of a website other than a Graphics site, I probably wouldn't restrict the right click of my visitors. I do make sure any outside links always open in new windows to make things a little more friendly for navigating. 7. Why do you allow a copyright statement and not require a "link" back on purchased graphics used online like most of the country graphic artists? I know how hard it is to start an online business and how hard it is to keep those visitors at your website and buying your products. My customers are mostly online craft, candle, and soap merchants. I have taken an interest in these small business owners who are mostly sahm's, and I want them to succeed. Most of the people that buy my graphics are owners of small websites with very little traffic and I offer my artwork from my Creative Ladies Ministry domain, which is a large website full of numerous pages to explore. Because my main website is "sprinkled with fun":) it is easy to park yourself here for awhile, and I was ending up keeping the traffic from the small websites linked to me. In an effort to be fair to the owners of those sites who graciously purchase graphics from me to decorate their websites, I now give an option for either a link or just the copyright statement without a link. This allows my customers to give proper credit and also if someone is really interested in my graphics, they can do a search on my name and end up at the CLM website and be able to find me. Also, a link is just a form of advertisement (not necessarily just giving credit as some would argue, as you can do that with a copyright statement without a hyper-link) and I don't feel I need to "make" my customers advertise for me as a must. Many of them willingly make a link to my website because they like my artwork so I feel that is sufficient and also a gratifying way to receive links. More links into a website helps you go up further in the search engines and I appreciate any links given back to me for this purpose, but it isn't necessary with purchased graphics because I realize the gravity that one link out of a website can lead to the loss of a sale if you are a business website. I do still require a link for the free graphics that I offer in the Grab-N-Go and also for the Linkware Page Sets, but anything my customers purchase from me, I will not require them to advertise for me as well. For specifics on use of the images, please see the Use Policy For specifics on payment options, or how long it will take to process your order, etc, please see the Order Info. CLM Graphics Home Back to Top of Page |
Content and Images Copyright ©2006 Julia Bettencourt |