FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We have put together a FAQ to help you on your LSS journey..

ORDERING


The easiest way to order is by emailing us with a few details:

- Label Size (width x height)
- Qty of Labels
- Vinyl Type
- If you have print ready designs, or if you are wanting us to create some magical designs for you!

You can email us at: hello@longstoryshortdesign.com.au


Design

We work on a 2 week design queue. Of course sometimes we are on top of it and get to your orders quicker, however factor 2 weeks into your timeframe. If your order is missing information this will prolongue the process so make sure you give us all the information we need to minimise any edits or our team coming back to you. 

Print

It really depends on your order!

- Normal Vinyl Printing - 3/4 business days
- Specialty Vinyl printing - 5 business days
- Swing Tags/Card Orders/Scratchies - up to 10 business days

If your order includes design, you will need to factor in our design queue which can be anywhere from 3 -10 business days depending on how busy we are. 


We don’t have a minimum order amount! Although we do have a minimum of 10 labels per artwork/design. 20 labels if it is foil.


Yes we do! Although they are generic samples to show you the quality of our vinyl. If you are wanting a sample of your design, we recommend ordering our minimum of 10 labels. Order your sample pack here


We sure do! Bulk pricing starts at 250. We have made sure our bulk discount structure is easy to understand. You can have up to 10 artworks/files within the bulk discount which can make it very easy to make up the numbers.


Yes, our customer service team will email all tracking updates to you on the day they are dispatched to your provided email address when ordering

If there are any issues with your order please email us at:

customerservice@longstoryshortdesign.com.au

Please include a description of the issue as well as any photos. Before you contact us, please check your final proofs to see if the error was in the final proof before contacting us – as LSS cannot be held accountable for any errors not picked up in the final proof.

Unfortunately we no longer offer combined orders as it can confuse our process, and we like being organised as we will get your order out quicker for you!

No, we prefer you don’t as it can get very confusing, as there are so many stages to both design and print. If you would like to add send us a message and we will let you know at what stage your order is, but if we have started it, it is usually better to start a new order.

DESIGN

After filling in the questionnaire, we will gather all of your information, including any inspo pics you may have sent us, and will do up an initial proof based on our understanding of the information you have provided. If designing a label we will always do up one design first, before moving on to any variations. We ask that you tell us all revisions at this stage. We also ask you to check spelling and grammar at this stage. Once the initial proof is finalised we will send you a final proof, with quantities, vinyl type and everything that we are printing. Any mistakes not picked up in the final proof will be printed, so please check very carefully!


Unfortunately no – we take full payment before starting any work on your design. Design as you can imagine takes up a lot of time, and it is only fair that we are paid for the work we do. It also isn’t fair on those who have paid as it will slow down how quickly we can get their designs to them.

Often, designers do not release design files to clients – your payment is payment for time in designing your files, however ownership of the files remain with them, or you can purchase at a cost. However, we understand that as small businesses sometimes you need to be able to print yourself. For this reason we have come up with a tiered price solution.

Design - with and without files

For most products, we only offer the full design rate which gives you access to your files. 

For candle makers, and other businesses with a large variety of products and fragrances we offer a discounted rate should you be happy for us to keep your files on hand for next time you print with us. 

The two options explained

The first – Design with files.  This is the price that includes us sending you a copy of your files. It means you have a copy of your design and you can print them with us, at home, or with another printer. Sometimes brands will choose this option if they want a little bit more flexibility. This is our full design price of $80 per file. 

The second and more popular option – Design without files. This is a discounted price to help ensure that design prices do not become restrictive to small businesses – as our whole aim is to ensure you have the same access to design as the big guys. What this option means, is that we keep your designs on record for you. This is the best option if you think you will mostly be printing with us. If you ever choose to buy the files in the future you have the option to.

Both options give you exclusive rights to use the design, however LSS retail full ownership of the files. Please note, regardless of which option you choose, we cannot control if another customer requests the same font, pantone colours or stock images if they are freely available on the internet.


We have been doing this for many, many customers so we are good at understanding what you want, should we be totally off mark though this is ok, just be honest with us and we can revise where the design was headed.


When you view your artwork on your phone or computer, the display is powered by a graphics card, and the output can vary greatly. See the explanation of RGB and CMYK colour below!


Easy! We just charge a small fee and can alter any designs we have on file.


Yes, they can be, but normal design fees apply ($30 for the first design, and $5 for each subsequent design). This is because we are essentially having to redo the design from scratch every time we customise a design.The minimum also becomes 10 labels per variation, regardless of the original pack size. 


Yes you most definitely can! Have a look at our artwork page here However if you provide your own designs they must:

- Have 3mm bleed
- Be 300dpi minimum
- Fonts must be outlined


Yes sure, have a read here


Yes, we will need to set your file up again from scratch so our usual design prices will apply, however we can definitely match your current design as close as possible, so long as you have all commercial rights to your original artwork.

If you don’t have a logo this is ok, we will ask you if you want a script font or a block font for your business name within the design and we don’t make more than one or two font revisions. We do always recommend you have a professionally designed logo, but if this is out of your budget we do understand


Unfortunately, we cannot recommend sizes based on images, or photos of other peoples similar products. This is because photos can be very deceiving. Also, several sizes could work, but you might want something specific. For example – a front and back label will look very different to a wraparound label. While we can give a very general thought on sizing, ultimately we will need you to tell us what size you need. We usually recommend cutting a piece of paper to size until you are happy with the size then measuring it, this is a great way to figure out what label size you want.

No, we cannot use images off google image search, or any other images off the internet.  Images generally that are found online are only 72dpi so that makes them too small for print. It is also illegal to use images found online, especially if using for commercial purposes. If you need images, we do have subscriptions to stock image sites with the right licencing and can utilise those instead.

PRINTING

Most people are surprised at how well their piece matches what they see. But because of wide differences in monitor calibration and the different technologies used, some printed colors may not exactly match the colors on your specific monitor.

Computers use a colour system called RGB, the colour scope on a digital screen is crazy, there are millions of colours! Our printers, like most printers use a colour system called CMYK. This stands for Ceyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (or black). At some stage your RGB file must be translated to CMYK in order to print it on a printing press.

The CMYK system is what most printers use to print. As we are limited to the combinations of these colours, the colour scope is not as wide as a digital screen – for this reason, colours will vary slightly when they are printed. Also, every printing machine will print slightly differently. Materials will also take up inks differently, and so one colour may look different on paper as it does on vinyl.

While we try to take all care that your colours are correct, we unfortunately cannot guarantee how your colours will print, especially if the files are supplied to us.  

There are however a few things you can do to help us ensure colour consistency. 

1. Provide us with a CMYK pantone colour which our prints can use as reference. 

2. If you are working with a designer ask them to provide a spotcolour in your artwork. 

3. Send us a physical sample of the colour you want to achieve. This could be a previous label you have had printed. 

Unlike many other printing studios, we do most of our printing in house. However, if you ask for something we cannot do – we are more than happy to explore our options and organise printing for you through one of our print partners – we will always disclose if we are organising your work to be completed elsewhere.


Yes! This is actually very helpful, as we cannot match a colour without a printed sample. We welcome you to post us any samples you have and we can colour correct/match.