How are you handling ai (not illustrator) files

[WildWestDesigns]

yes i recommend sites like gigapixel and topaz but some are looking for the cheapest way and don't always want to pay for that service either

Tire Kickers evolved into version 2. Which is what "AI" was created for. What automation is mainly created for. Lowering the cost of production. Problem is, eventually that knowledge is lost so when that automation breaks down, no bueno.

People not knowing what vector files are or their capabilities have been a problem for a long time, even with some people in the industry. This is just going to make that and other aspects like that, more of an issue.

 

[Stacey K]

Maybe you could get Topaz and add it to your services? I use Topaz and it works pretty well. I do have to do a little extra fixing here and there.

 

[netsol]

I’ve sent it to you once or twice!

Other times I use topaz photo with their ai upscale and it usually does an alright job.

Other times I tell them their 3” x 2” ai generated graphic looks like shit on a 24” x 36” sandwich board, and they can pay to have it redone as close as possible… or come back to me when they have the proper sizing.


Sometimes you can send the image back to ai… and ask it to upscale it and it does a decent job.


Usually If it’s a good customer I try to upscale it first - then tell them it won’t work, and come back with the proper file. If it’s a new / low paying customer I just say their art won’t work.


Ai is getting better though. I know a lot of graphic artists don’t want to hear that… but in a year or two I think it’ll replace anyone who hasn’t learned to use it as a tool. It won’t fully replace an artist, but a graphic artist who can use ai can cut art room time down by so much.


I was at an anime convention with the wife and kid - the wife saw a poster she wanted… and we like to support small artists, we bought probably 10-15 posters from various artists - this one artist looked for 20 mins and couldn’t find the poster… she said she must have sold out. We asked if we could buy it online… and she said unfortunately not as it was all her stock and she wouldn’t be getting more made for months. So we bought a different poster…. And I asked if I could print it at hole
If I took a photo of it… she was more than happy to allow that, so I did and gave an extra $20. Took a nice straight on shot thinking I’ll just print it at home and the wife will be happy - when I got home I realized the shot wasn’t perfect, so I threw it into ChatGPT and asked it to recreate the image to 100% likeness as a 48” tall poster… and it took my photo and it was almost bang on. The background colour was a bit darker…. But that was easily fixable. I couldn’t tell a difference and neither could the wife.

Since then I’ve been throwing random logos and signs into ai and asking it to remake it, just to see how it does. and it does a really good job at 90% of them. Started using an ai that can output to vectors and it even makes ok vectors - not perfect, but in 1-2 years I imagine it will be….


I think everyone on the ai hate bandwagon are the ones who are going to get hurt by it. It’s a tool like all others - graphtec obsoleted hand painting, Wide format printers obsoleted screen printing (somewhat) and a lot of cut vinyl…. It’s a new tool, and if you learn to use it… you can get more done faster, if you bury your head in the sand and protest so data centers… you’ll be replaced with someone who can use it.

whoever invented topaz ai should be in line for the nobel prize

granted, i am a terrible graphic artist, i write and draw like a 3 year old, so this sort of thing is a PITA for me

i seems all i need to do is drag the file into topaz ai and it does the rest

i have seen client s send real garbage and topaz cleans it up

about 2 years ago, some poor unfortunate told me he wasn't happy what i did with the sign he submitted. he said "that is the flag of my country"

i went off. he submitted a cell phone picture as a text . the ORIGINAL was the size of a business card. before he took a picture of it, with a really crappy ohone he wanted it to be 24" x 96"

BUT WAIT, you say, a 24x96 sign is a different ASPECT RATIO than a business card. (i had noticed this)

he told me he was a "franchise company" and yet he submitted s**t like this for his signs

Topaz saved the day (other than that pesky aspect ratio thing)

since we already had a sign mounted on that building we finished the job.

then i made him promise to never call again.

 

[Scottbnj]

This is an acceleration of an age-old problem, and I pretty much agree with MrDav3C that in general this saves us early design time from trying to read minds or pull ideas from a customer's brain -- worst case scenario, they're starting us with a design they "like" -- best case scenario, I just upscale with gGemini and print the graphic.

More often, though, I have to re-draw their art to vectorize it and create printable art and/or cutlines -- same problem as previous decades. However, we're finding the ease of these ai tools allow ordinary people to tinker and resend their art many times after they submit it to us -- and amateurs (not an insult) think they think that print/sign shops can update our versions just as quickly. So at our shop 90% of the time we get ai art, we tell clients "We will fix your artwork 1x to make it printable/cutable. BUT ONLY ONE TIME." After that, they must submit changes/requests directly to us and we typically start charging them from there (but it cuts down the changes once they know they have to pay).

Again, it's similar to what we've all been dealing with for decades, but now that ordinary folks have unlimited free access to a bad graphic designer (AI) we have to find new ways to stop things from spiraling.