What would you like Designers to know?

[shavari]

(I hope its okay for me to post this)

I saw a similar thread on another forum and thought this was an awesome idea. If Holly or a Mod thinks it shouldnt be here, please remove it

If you had the chance, what would you ask or advise a Designer regarding their kits and the content?

Here's some suggestions to start you off:

1. TOU - please make these a txt file. Image TOU files take up valuable download Mb that some of us dont have.
   
2. Please include your store URL's and screen names for each store in your TOU so we can properly credit when using items. If you have a blog, please include your blog URL.
   
3. Please name your Kit preview image as folder.jpg as this will allow Windows (not sure about MACs sorry) to automatically set the preview as the thumbnail on the folder.
   
4. please limit file names to less than 20 characters if possible. Some programs cant handle long file names and will crash when trying to load them. This means the purchaser needs to rename all the files before they can use them.
   
5. It would be awesome if you could prefix your items in the kits with your initials and an abreviated Kit Name. ie. ss_SnS_flower1.png
   
6. Please keep any preview files under 150kb in size (under 100k is even better). If the purchaser is interested in seeing more of the kit, they'll visit the store!
   
7. If you have a program that allows you to add tags or metadata to your files, please include your designer name, kit name, item category (ie. paper, element, quick page, etc). I know Photoshop and ACDSee will display tags and metadata set by the authors and this is an AWESOME way to search for items when you have oodles of stuff.
   
8. If your kit is relatively large, please chunk it into 25 - 30mb chunks. Dialup users can time out on larger downloads.
   
9. Please dont include blinkies or other graphics in your kits as these add to the download file size. If you wish purchasers to grab your blinkie, please add a txt file titled GrabMyBlinkie.txt and include your blog or store where your blinkie can be snaffled from.
   
   and one last thing ..
   
10. Please please please .. if you include a bow or button in your kit, please include a full length ribbon or string in the same colour so we can place these on our layouts. I love bows and want to use them all the time but without the ribbon, it looks like Ive just 'plonked' it on my layout.

If you have read this, thank you SO much for taking the time. I personally think all designers are awesome .. and deserve all the thanks they can get!

{hugs}

[Veronica]

Just read your thread here now. Thanks so much for the suggestions- all noted! Personally, I enjoy it when we get feedback and suggestions - it really helps me to create better kits!

[Debra]

boy, this is a great idea! I wish I had seen it sooner too..

[anitastreet]

and as someone with a high speed connection I love one download vs several..

my biggest pet peeve though is when I unzipped stuff and it's not in it's own folder.... then I have to sort through everything and find where it goes.

I agree about TOU's, please make them text files.. not jpgs or PDF's either... and only give me one of each..sometimes I get half a dozen of the same file in a kit...

as for the preview being named folder..well I don't know.. I kind of like it being named "kit name_preview" so it has a one of a kind file name. I organize everything by store, then by designer, then by kit..

so I have a BIG GDS folder...under that I have all the designers...

....so lets pick Jessica Alger because I have almost everything she has :) .... under that folder I have each of her kits... but in the main Jessica folder I have each of her kit previews..so at a quick glance I can decide which kit to use or what colors I want to work with. Does that make sense?

[HollyS]

Originally Posted by anitastreet

and as someone with a high speed connection I love one download vs several..

my biggest pet peeve though is when I unzipped stuff and it's not in it's own folder.... then I have to sort through everything and find where it goes.

I agree about TOU's, please make them text files.. not jpgs or PDF's either... and only give me one of each..sometimes I get half a dozen of the same file in a kit...

as for the preview being named folder..well I don't know.. I kind of like it being named "kit name_preview" so it has a one of a kind file name. I organize everything by store, then by designer, then by kit..

so I have a BIG GDS folder...under that I have all the designers...

....so lets pick Jessica Alger because I have almost everything she has :) .... under that folder I have each of her kits... but in the main Jessica folder I have each of her kit previews..so at a quick glance I can decide which kit to use or what colors I want to work with. Does that make sense?

In the few dd's that i've created, I include a folder.jpg as well as a hollyann_ddname.jpg for preview to accomplish both things :)

[nachtstern]

The TOU in txt form is the best.
I normally open it up and copy the "kit name yx by designer xy" pert for crediting, saves time.
And I really don't like it when there are multiple huge previews for other kits in it, sometimes even in non-freebies, puts me right of off checking them out.

my pet peeve is if the zip file does not contain a folder but just files... I normally download a bunch and the extract them at the same time. if the zip file has no folder in it, all the files get mixed up *grumble*

great idea for a thread!

[PamWhit]

What awesome suggestions!