This blog offers free desktop publishing for charities.
What happens then if you are NOT a charity but interested in getting me to work on your project?
Make a donation.
I feel it is time we give, give, give, to offset a bit all the selfish taking. If you are a company or an organisation making profit, I will negociate a fee with you, which you must convert into a donation to the charity of your choice (not a corporate existing foundation, something else).
This way, I will not compete with a self-employed designer, because this will cost you something, but at the same time, do some good.
Showing posts with label Terms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terms. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
About image copyright
Copyright is an important issue. Anyone who takes any photo creates a right. It's called the author's moral right. It does not require any paperwork, it is just the act of creation.
That means that when you take a picture you have a right on it. Now you may publish it on the internet and some people may think publishing it on the internet is like giving it away. Wrong.
It's like someone taking a picture of you and thinking that because your face is on the memory card in their camera they are allowed to publish it. Wrong again.
Photographs belong to the person that takes them. Some people post images on sites like flickr (www.flickr.com) with nice licenses that allow you to use them provided you give them credit, some sell them for a one-time use on sites like www.bigstockphoto.com but that single use only costs one dollar or two, and then you can ask for exclusive rights and that usually costs fifty dollars and upwards.
If you're a photographer it's nice. You can take a picture of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and sell it for a handful of dollars, it looks so cool it ends up on t shirts and becomes an icon photo and you feel like you sold the hen that lays the golden eggs.
If you are a Robert Doisneau and believe what YOU do is worth more and better, you take the pics, keep the rights, print the posters, sell them yourself and enjoy prosperity.
Or you take a picture of a massive tsunami and give away the right to millions... while the Red Cross could have sold these rights and financed help to the victims.
That means that when you take a picture you have a right on it. Now you may publish it on the internet and some people may think publishing it on the internet is like giving it away. Wrong.
It's like someone taking a picture of you and thinking that because your face is on the memory card in their camera they are allowed to publish it. Wrong again.
Photographs belong to the person that takes them. Some people post images on sites like flickr (www.flickr.com) with nice licenses that allow you to use them provided you give them credit, some sell them for a one-time use on sites like www.bigstockphoto.com but that single use only costs one dollar or two, and then you can ask for exclusive rights and that usually costs fifty dollars and upwards.
If you're a photographer it's nice. You can take a picture of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and sell it for a handful of dollars, it looks so cool it ends up on t shirts and becomes an icon photo and you feel like you sold the hen that lays the golden eggs.
If you are a Robert Doisneau and believe what YOU do is worth more and better, you take the pics, keep the rights, print the posters, sell them yourself and enjoy prosperity.
Or you take a picture of a massive tsunami and give away the right to millions... while the Red Cross could have sold these rights and financed help to the victims.
About fonts and font licencing
Fonts are not free. Not free in the sense that someone made them and has been or must be paid for them. Unless they gave them away. This is called font licensing and to put it bluntly it is a well kept secret.
Because a font file is defense-less. You get a TTF OTF or Type 1 file from a website or a friend, et voilà! You think you have the right to use this font commercially. There is often an embedded message in the font, and when you get this message from Linotype, ITC, it means you're using a font without permission.
Sometimes you get a font when you install your Operating System. Ok it implies the OS manufacturer gave you the right to use this font for the normal operation and this includes commercial use. You can happily print your company brochures with Arial and Times New Roman and Microsoft are ok with it.
Like software, it means you cannot resell Arial or TNR like they belong to you (I'd like to know who would buy them given that they have a fairly bad reputation as fonts), you cannot reverse-engineer them either. This is because their designer sold one big license for the design itself, and Microsoft passes this license on to you with the right to use them for private and business use.
Most fonts are not in that situation though. Gill Sans, Helvetica, Geneva, Onyx, etc. etc. (won't bother you with more than a few known names) are covered by a license. It means you need to pay to get the file, and then often you are limited with whether a third party is allowed to get them, or just print them.
When you create a picture with text, and give this picture for printing, you are transferring to the printing bureau something which cannot be used by them. It's ok.
Since Adobe Reader 4 fonts are embedded in such a way in PDFs that you can't retrieve them so it is acceptable to send a PDF for printing because your provider will not have access to the font file.
The subject of font licensing has one small light on for people without financial ease. Some people generously develop fonts which you can share, use for commercial use and some even have access to the source files (which is not relevant to me or you possibly, the other two maybe more).
You can find plenty of resources from www.scribus.net, but I'd like to express my gratitude to Hirwen Harendal, who delivers free fonts from Arkandis Digital Foundry:
perso.orange.fr/arkandis/ADF
Because a font file is defense-less. You get a TTF OTF or Type 1 file from a website or a friend, et voilà! You think you have the right to use this font commercially. There is often an embedded message in the font, and when you get this message from Linotype, ITC, it means you're using a font without permission.
Sometimes you get a font when you install your Operating System. Ok it implies the OS manufacturer gave you the right to use this font for the normal operation and this includes commercial use. You can happily print your company brochures with Arial and Times New Roman and Microsoft are ok with it.
Like software, it means you cannot resell Arial or TNR like they belong to you (I'd like to know who would buy them given that they have a fairly bad reputation as fonts), you cannot reverse-engineer them either. This is because their designer sold one big license for the design itself, and Microsoft passes this license on to you with the right to use them for private and business use.
Most fonts are not in that situation though. Gill Sans, Helvetica, Geneva, Onyx, etc. etc. (won't bother you with more than a few known names) are covered by a license. It means you need to pay to get the file, and then often you are limited with whether a third party is allowed to get them, or just print them.
When you create a picture with text, and give this picture for printing, you are transferring to the printing bureau something which cannot be used by them. It's ok.
Since Adobe Reader 4 fonts are embedded in such a way in PDFs that you can't retrieve them so it is acceptable to send a PDF for printing because your provider will not have access to the font file.
The subject of font licensing has one small light on for people without financial ease. Some people generously develop fonts which you can share, use for commercial use and some even have access to the source files (which is not relevant to me or you possibly, the other two maybe more).
You can find plenty of resources from www.scribus.net, but I'd like to express my gratitude to Hirwen Harendal, who delivers free fonts from Arkandis Digital Foundry:
perso.orange.fr/arkandis/ADF
Friday, November 16, 2007
Free graphic design. Why?
There are many ways to make a contribution to the world around us.
I decided to give graphic design away. Some people give their time caring for others, teaching for free, distributing food or looking after the elderly.
I can do desktop publishing (designing brochures for print), and I like doing it, so I give it to those in need. Although in today's web based world paper seems old-fashioned, the skills required have not changed, have not become easier to learn and paper is still a very important way to communicate, maybe because it is a part of the real world.
Charities, Not-for-profit, Associations caritatives et à but non lucratif (this is for my goggled friend).
The purpose is to get my skills to grow, do something which will be valued because it is usually fairly expensive, and not try to sell it because it would be like doing dumping on those who make a living out of it. Hence hosting on a blog. Won't make money, should not cost me money either. Just time.
This blog will contain messages in several languages - but I'll repeat myself a bit, it's just for the Search Engines.
I decided to give graphic design away. Some people give their time caring for others, teaching for free, distributing food or looking after the elderly.
I can do desktop publishing (designing brochures for print), and I like doing it, so I give it to those in need. Although in today's web based world paper seems old-fashioned, the skills required have not changed, have not become easier to learn and paper is still a very important way to communicate, maybe because it is a part of the real world.
Charities, Not-for-profit, Associations caritatives et à but non lucratif (this is for my goggled friend).
The purpose is to get my skills to grow, do something which will be valued because it is usually fairly expensive, and not try to sell it because it would be like doing dumping on those who make a living out of it. Hence hosting on a blog. Won't make money, should not cost me money either. Just time.
This blog will contain messages in several languages - but I'll repeat myself a bit, it's just for the Search Engines.
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