Deviant

[balaa]

To my grand surprise (not really) deviant notified my that 'Guardian' was rejected as a print because I was using copyrighted material. However, upon browsing recent prints I noticed a few prints of 'Aslan' or 'Aslan inspired' art for sale. Of course I also noticed what looked like copyrighted anime characters also for sale and this is somehow more ok? Well it doesn't really surprise me, I think it bothers me simply because I feel singled out. And why after what a week of it being up do they only pull it now instead of rejecting it in the first place? Maybe I am being too touchy of late, which could very well be the case..

But then I am still p-oed with deviant because the order I placed for prints in early octboer STILL hasnt been processed. They told me because of the delay it would be free...well does that make me any less valuable of a customer??? Ok so fine, I figured since I was getting it for free I shouldn't really complain. BUT at the same time I need those prints and I cant sit around waiting forever and still not seeing them arrive. So I contacted the help desk several times on the matter. I received polite responces to my polite questions. Finally I got angry because all they were doing was giving me a 'happy' answer to shut me up for a little while so I wrote a perturbed note, still diplomatically polite but bluntly asking why this was such a difficult order to process. Well finally I receive a responce from them and what do they say? First "Please do not send multiple queries on the same problem to the help desk?" WTH? how long amd I supposed to be tossed around without any STRAIGHT answers?? Second they tell me the source file to one of the requested prints was corrupted. Thats funny, someone had already ordered said print and told me how nice it looked via pm. Well anyway I got angry because why couldn't they just say that in the first place 4 weeks prior when I first contacted them..or perhaps the second..or third..or foruth time I contacted them?? Alright so I tell them just process the order without that print and they say "ok' and thats the last I heard of it.

I am just really tired of the run around. I like the quality of prints I receive frojm them but the stress and run around at a time when I am already an emotional basketcase is just not worth it.

Does anyone know of reputable 'big name' printers that I could go to have my work printed from without the slap in the face? Or to you Washington state residents...perhaps smaller name printers through whom you have bought prints? I need to buy larger prints (up to 18 x 24 inches and such). Preferably I would like prints to made on good quality paper and hopefully not costing an arm and a leg...since I just can't afford that.

Thank you in advance and my apologies for the absence..but I'm going through some personal issues that are making me literally a basketcase of emotions.

And to all those that left such wonderful words to me via yim..or e-mail..I thank you guys so much. I am sorry I didn't tell you whats going on, I just can't..but I am grateful to your kind truly caring words more than I can begin to convey.

Also I am working on present commissions, bare with me folks...I should have an art update entry soonish :). Thank you for your patience.

Comments

[fer-lomarcan.livejournal.com]

I've got a question , can I have your email or could you email me? Mine is on my info page.
*HUGS*
Sorry to hear your having a rough time. I wish there was something I could do to help.

[binsybaby.livejournal.com]

Well Aslan is just a Lion. There isn't anything about him that can diffinitively set him apart from a normal lion (not that I know of) so just... try again and say "It's my lion. His name is... Fabio." and they should be ok with that :D

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

ROFL Fabio the lion..thats some new world of wrong there...you just violated my image rofl. But meh I don't care, I will still offer prints of it through me. Just think its bogus of dev to allow others to sell prints of suppposedly copyrighted material. a lion is a lion is a lion..give me a break.

[binsybaby.livejournal.com]

MEH. Different staff memebers = different levels of retardation! :\

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

amen to that.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

*lion snuggle*

I was talking to a dear friend about this the other day. He use to make prints of his work through Kinko's. Eventually since he used their services so much, that certain store began offering him discounts if he continued being such a valuable customer there.

That's as far as I know about printing. Sorry I can't be of more assistance. :(

*snuggles again, but tighter* I hope that the days will become brighter for you in the coming days, and that the good spirits upon the world will bless you with good fortune.

If you need someone to cling and cry on, I'm always available. Simply because I know how it feels, and it pains me to see someone else in the same situation.

[wicked-sairah.livejournal.com]

The only places I can think of are...


Office Max

Office Depot

Kinko's

The Minuteman Press (I don't know if you have those down there, but they're all over up here)

Sudden Printing

I would just forget about using DA anymore. What a bunch of jerks!!

If there is anything I can do to help you with the printing stuff, let me know. I can always take a disk to one of these places and get a quote for ya. :)


*hugs* You take care, hun.

[binsybaby.livejournal.com]

Staples has a nice printing service too :)!

[wicked-sairah.livejournal.com]

YES! I knew I forgot one. heh

oh great wicked one!

[fer-lomarcan.livejournal.com]

Would one of the on-line print sharing places (like Kodak) work for what she needs?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_patches/]

I can ask that guy I had my stuff printed on. I had it printed at 24x27 and it was $36 on really thick matte paper. He's getting all kinds of new print stock (photo paper, thick vinyl, regular glossy stuff). The printer he has is this one, which can print up to 600dpi. Let me know if you're interested. It's less than a mile from my house and no problem at all to do anything for ya. :)

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

from what I have seen 36$ for a 24x27 is quite hefty O_o...I suppose that depends on the kind of paper they use and such. I shall look around and if all else fails dont be surprised if you have an annoying liger tailing you ;).

Also starting (yeh finally) your prelims. Hmm I had one hell of a time with the pose...I think the screenshot had really wonkie anatomy..especially simba's back legs O_o. So I may try just from my head and see what I come up for you :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_patches/]

He charges by the square foot printed. The paper I had it done on is extremely thick stuff. But yeah, offer is open if you need it. ^^

And I'll be watching my inbox. :D

[nambroth.livejournal.com]

I don't like to sell my prints through any service- DA or elsewhere, because I like to have careful quality control on my artwork as well as the ability to physically sign it.
That said I make a much larger profit while being able to charge my customers far, far less than DA charges! (not to mention the quality on mine are as good as it not better than DA's) I sell 16 x 20 canvas prints, hand-stretched, for half of what they do on DA. And then my customers are getting a signed piece, what could be better? It takes a bit more work on my part since I handle all of it, but to me it's worth it.
I use a few services to print my larger prints, and when I do canvases I buy the stretcher bars and stretch them myself, but the end is worth it. The best bet is to shop around online, I had to do a lot of research before I settled with a company. Feel free to email me if you have any questions!

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

who do you go through i I may ask??

[glddaisy.livejournal.com]

omg! *cries* my post died!

to repeat real fast what I said.

You cant really blame DA for the aslan print =P any other print featuring copy writed characters will probably get deleted soon if they hadnt already and if not then you can report them because they can get DA in alot of trouble.

and I dont know any good printing places unfortunately. The only one I've been to and know of is kinkos and they suck and its pathetic.

anyways, I just ordered some prints from DA (the first time in a long time) Ill let you know if I have any problems because it is my main way of getting prints.

[glddaisy.livejournal.com]

oh others mentioned kinkos too.

The Kinkos here claims that they are only good at copying businessy like paperwork and such =P

they print terrible, my print didnt even print its full size (I dont know what they did) and it left terrible little ink lines on my page.

they also didnt scan things to well.

They are expensive too =P so choose wisely.

[uniformgrey.livejournal.com]

One thing DA is constant at is showing off its stupidity time and time again.

A good example of print banning stupidity happend to Bara-Chan wherein her Naruto inspired Ninja of her persona that had a Naruto-esque headband on her thigh was taken down because it infringed copyright. Funny thing is that that picture was over a year old or so and was the REASON she got a print account! They GAVE her one because it was such a popular image and was one of the top prints for quite some time as well and then suddenly POOF! It's gone.

I'm sorry that DA is screwing up so badly on you. There is NO REASON why they should not be able to process your order ESPECIALLY if its free because they screwed up! If anything they should be processing it faster because they messed up and still want your buisness.

I find Staples a good printer, though I'm from Ontario and prices in US may be different. You might also be able to find some online services that print out posters etc. It's a matter of poking around the net and see what you can find.

I hope you can get something figured out. :)

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

yes Ive heard several things about Staples..I think I just need to shop around and risk getting a few bad prints to get to the good printers :).

Thank you kindly for your input. And I must agree with you, of late DA has become nothing short of stupid.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stellaluna_/]

The only online printing service I can think of is Cafepress.

[foxcutter.livejournal.com]

It almost seems like the printing service decided your work was to good, there for won't print. The fear is that with a good piece of art it's actually a pro's work and if they printed it they could sued for it. So anything that looks to good (and that picture is definitely pro work!) get's rejected.

[king.livejournal.com]

I got a really cheap print from a UPS store. I think it may have been $6, or maybe $9... I dunno. It wasn't very big though - about 24" x 12" or something. However, the service was fantastic and I got little prints for a very cheap price. The quality was amazing (the original file was, of course, about 2000pixels x 1000+ though).

Good luck! Sorry about all the shit you're going through. Chin up.

[king.livejournal.com]

Another thing about the service at the UPS Store is that the people actually let me walk back to the computers and fiddle around with the images until I got what I want. Also, when they couldn't open a file I'd brought with me, they offered to have me email it to them (I didn't, but it was a generous offer). Not sure if this is just my UPS Store or if other printing places are like this, but it seemed really special of them.

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

I never even knew the UPS store did prints, might have to see if they have a place here in town :). Thank you for your input, much obliged!

and in case I forget...Happy holidays to you and yours.

[rtdn.livejournal.com]

I like http://www.photoworks.com an awful lot and use it pretty regularly.

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

only thing that discourages me from them is their prices seem a bit high..but I bookmarked it so I could do a bit more research. Thank you for the heads up, truly appreciated.

OH and thank you for the link! thats a LOT of lions :D!

[hibbary.livejournal.com]

*throttles DA* Those pissers!! Shit. That could have been any lion, but just because you said it was Aslan they throw it out? That seems kind of silly. Maybe you should resubmit it as 'Narnia inspired' and see if it goes through. *bitterbitter* I didn't know DA was such a pain in the ass. And I was thinking of making some prints over break. Fah!

O, balaa, I am sorry everything is going on insanely. But ya know that there are lots and lots of people who are willing to catch you, should you fall. Ya know? Even though we all be very far away. (most of us,anyhow >_>; ) *gets out Balaa flag* We're all rootin' for ya.

And anyway, no matter what is going on, don't forget that you have TONS of talent, and that you're far from being a failure. You're a kind, fun, clever, talented person. I hope everything goes well for you.

Er... I don't know any good printers :/

[cathicks.livejournal.com]

Dude I'd so go with the Fabio thing. lmao!

I really don't know of any public print labs! I always use Ringling's. :( Sowwy.

[starrydance.livejournal.com]

Ugh what do they know.

Darn, and I was campin that image hopin for a print!

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

I'm still selling prints, just through me instead of deviant :).

Printing

[odious.livejournal.com]

Just get kinkos to do it, your standard everyday printshop is fine and they'll treat you fine since they want your business. DeviantArt is teh sux in the customer service department, so much so that I'm afraid to even consider hosting my work there. I'd rather host it myself but that requies some setup and could take time to get up and running, not that I have anything worth hosting at this point.

I need to catch up with the work you've done of late. I've been really busy with schoolwork so I haven't had time to keep up with your gallery of late. =O( If you're doing Narnia art I'll definately have to order some prints or something.

Re: Printing

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

yep I did one narnia piece so far but I want to do tons more, perhaps from other books other than The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe..though I am biased and that was always my fave story as a child.

Re: Printing

[odious.livejournal.com]

No kidding? My mom read those to me when I was a little kid so the Chronicals of Narnia are some of my favorite books. I haven't read them in a long time so I'm hoping to pick up my box set when I visit for christmas this year.

[whiskerwing.livejournal.com]

Ursula Vernon swears by Ellen Million graphics (I hope that's the right name)

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

I am checking them out, thank you :). BTW like your icon...pink is the demon color but but your rabbit is brainwashing me O_O.

make it stoop

[whiskerwing.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Chibi did it for me! Isn't it mindnumbingly adorable? She did a series of christmasy candy cane icons for some of her friends. <3<3 She's too sweet.

*dumps a bucket of pink paint over you and scampes off*

[jammycat.livejournal.com]

THINK OF YOUR HAPPY PLACE BALAA :D

Oh snap I'm so damn helpful XD *snuggles*

It is widely know that DA staff are copyright Nazis anyway, and I totally agree with Emmy, your Aslan is no different to any other lion, yours is just situated in front of a "fantasy background" ;D Ahaha, copyright loopholes are fun, no?

[sammysmee.livejournal.com]

I Submitted a Aslan image and it got accepted! As far as i know it is still available for sale! and thats definatly not fair if yours has been taken down! i think its difference of opinion amoungst the print workers over at DA.
ive personally never had any problems with DA's prints
(only ones been them ignoring the fact i had submitted for one)

but ellen million graphics is a good one, im with her portrait adoption.

[xcourtkneex.livejournal.com]

umm...if you do find another place, let me know - i REALLY want a balaa printness <3 i'm asking for it for christmas, as a matter of fact! *snuggles*

[nyokirrr04.livejournal.com]

pfff, DA... I have my galleries to share stuff with my friends, and to watch good artwork, but, from what I've heard from different places, DA... Well, it's a too big community, annd I've heard about too much nonsense there.
- Nyo.

[x-thor.livejournal.com]

I had some trouble with the Deviantart print service also.. I cancelled one of my orders once due to various reasons, it was being processed as refunded, and then like a week later i got an email saying it had been shipped, and then they re-opened the closed order and charged my paypal for it. >.< So frusterating, I ended up sending so many different emails to different staff members, they said they would put me through to the supervisor but never did. I sent a big long complain and a couple days later they refunded me and told me to refuse the package once it gets here.

just.. a big frusterating thing that shouldn't have happened.

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* that really is unprofessional. Up until that point I had heard many bad stories about deviant but as you know its never quite the same until you experience it for yourself. I must say I am dissapointed because I wanted to believe they were reputable and fair since the prints service is meant to help give artists a chance to get quality prints of their own work. it is an art community..but now it seems to be going the way everything goes..corporate. Screw the little guy, its all about making money *shakes head sadly*

[maui-dolphin.livejournal.com]

I bought a semi large format epson, because i was pissed at kinko's service.
But i can only go up to 13 X 19 normally and 13 x 44 on a sheet. It is an expensive and timely process. The paper is 50 dollars for 25 sheets of 13 x 19. And it takes 8 inks. All 14.99 each, which need replacing every few prints...
They are stubborn and love special treatment. Large format printers are high maitenance.
I have no idea what is up with DA and their policies, they are quite contradictory. They remove some screenshots because they are "policy violations" just because they are from and game. Yet leave others up.
I know what you mean about copyrighted characters being prints. It's just strange...