Greetings!

For those of you that don’t know, I am the Customer Service Manager for the prints side of things here on deviantART. Many of our print artists have requested that we keep them more informed of the goings-on of the Print Program, and a more viable way of giving us your comments and suggestions.

Shazam! Meet the new Print Artist Weekly Update.

We’re going to be running this update similar to the Community Development report that comes out once a week, so keep an eye out for future updates including tips and hints for utilizing the Print Service from our Quality Control Team, breaking news, and a list of resolved, known, and mystery issues for your viewing pleasure.

We are nearing the end-of-the-year-Holiday-Season boom, a fantastic time for our Artists, so please pay attention to the updates below about some changes in source files and the addition of new products. Now is the time to start preparing if we wish to make the upcoming season a profitable one for you, and a smooth one for our customers.

Key System Explanation

As you can see at the very bottom there is a Key System. The way this will work is simple. If you have a specific inquiry or suggestion for a specific department, begin your comment with the appropriate Key Code, that way we can search the page and compile them and address them in next weeks update.

Ch-ch-ch-change-es (Think Bowie)

The Prints Team is gearing up once again for the final launch of the Basic Print Program. This program, as many of you know, will offer a free printing account to all deviantART artists, with limited functionality and a decrease in profit percentages for the artist.

We’re all very excited to begin welcoming new artists into the fold! The Print Program has in the past been a very powerful tool for artists to get their digital work shown off a computer screen, and the launch of the Basic Print Program represents the fruition of the original lofty goals of the Prints Program since its launch almost 4 years ago.

Included in the launch will be many major bug fixes, tweaks to the program as a whole AND ….

New Products!

We are currently working with our printing partner to re-launch panoramic prints and greeting cards in ample time for the Holiday Season.

To up the stakes even further, we will be launching white t-shirts, black coffee mugs, printed ceramic tiles and the long-awaited introduction of canvas printing!

We will be releasing the image requirements for these products shortly so that our artists have time to design and prepare to upload their source images before they are actually launched.

Quality Control Update

Product Changes:

The following products have had their source file requirements adjusted to improve quality and reduce the need for reprinting due to cropping issues. Please see each product’s new specifications individually and update your current source files if you currently have any of these products for sale:

• Calendars
• Magnets
• Mouse Pads
• Coasters
• Mugs

The deadline for updating these source files is October 17th. We understand that replacing these source files may be an inconvenience to some of our artists, but it is imperative that these issues are resolved as quickly as possible. If you do not meet the deadline on these image requirements, the products affected by the changes will be removed from sale until you have the time to do so.

You can find a list of the changes here.

Houston, We Have Liftoff.

Templates have landed!

To make things easier for our print artists who are creating artwork with printing in mind: we now have print source image templates available for download in the FAQ. There are currently 3 PSD files for each available print size in addition to one template that covers a full aspect ratio range at 100, 150 and 300 DPI, complete with bleed edge guides and additional cropping indicators for products with round corners.

These PSD files will also work in the GIMP and there are corresponding jpeg versions available as well.

Customer Service Update

The Prints Customer Service Team is proud to continue providing a 24 hour -or less- response time for our customers and artists. We have recently added %WallOfTruth to the team, and $hexentanz has parted to become the new Community Help Desk Manager.

The Location is Fab-u-lous Dahling.

Please make sure that you are sending your print-related inquiries to the Prints Help Desk, and not the Community Help Desk. Doing so will ensure that you are assisted fully in the timeliest manner possible.

Money Money Money Money ... (Money)

A print artist profit audit was completed this past quarter to ensure that all of our artists are receiving their full profit earnings. Quite a few people showed balance changes that might look strange in light of the dates these were made in the accounting system, so if you have any further questions regarding your profits, please make sure to let us know as soon as possible.

Bend Not, My Son

We have received a few inquiries from our customers regarding the addition of “Do Not Bend” stickers to outgoing orders. As of last week, this has been added to our shipping method to further reduce the chances of an order being damaged in shipment. We do still recommend utilizing expedited FedEX service where possible because of the greater care they take with packages entrusted to their service.

Current Issues

• Source File Corruption: The technical department is working earnestly on resolving the remaining corruption issues. Please keep an eye out for further updates.
• Submission Issues: Steps have already begun to improve the submission process for our print artists. We are streamlining the process to make it less confusing and resolve the remaining bugs.

Hey, Man, I Gotta Suggestion!

Pulled straight from the forums! The following suggestions are currently being discussed for possible implementation. Future updates will include those that have been approved for development, and reasons why the others cannot be implemented.

• Check box style listing of prints on one page (possibly more than one for users who have large numbers of prints) for multiple price updates at once.
• Ability to see a print's price history alongside sale statistics for profitability comparisons at different price options.
• Quality Control and Auto Reject responses listed in the print management section so emails are not lost, and an artist can easily see the results of their uploading efforts all in one place.
• Listing of all order status which include prints from your store.
• Listing of print wishes in the Print Management section for easy review of which pieces are more popular.
• Signed/Limited Edition Prints

That’s a Wrap!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? We’re here and listening.

While you’re waiting on the next update, please don’t forget to check out the links below. They are filled with useful information for all of our print artists, be they n00b or veteran. If there are any specific things you would like to see a tutorial or reference written up on, please make sure to let us know.

Print Artist Guides

• The Printing Press
• Basic Print Program - Print Submission Guide
• Premium Print Submission Guide
• FAQ Exploration - Part 1 - Crop
• FAQ Exploration - Part 2 - Borders
• FAQ Exploration - Part 3 - Getting Creative
• Getting the most out of your keywords
• Prints Knowledge, Issue #1
• Prints Knowledge, Issue #2 - Artist Store Administration
• Prints Knowledge, Issue #3 - Stock Photography in Prints
• Keeping the Quality - Part 1

Print Artist Interviews

• Tegan Coddington
• Directors Cut
• Dan Meyer
• Bradley W Schenk
• Jason Engle
• Tom Wilcox
• Phillip Prescott
• Stephanie Dodson
• Rick Pirman
• Joseph Arruda
• Tobias Zeising
• Nicholas Rougex
• Lia Saile