Do you feel a designer should give up his psd files to the clients?
 

Don't worry no drama here...I have always given them up..may rethink that...just wondered.

I know a lot of designers don't...some do.

We do.

depends on what you agreed on.

your too nice snuckums




i dont expect them when i buy a logo or something:glugglug

yeah i think it is a good idea. most people are way too lazy to look up and see what secrets your using to make the wonderful design. Its also useful because what if their domain name chances, instead of makinga brand new image, then they can fix it with the PSD file

yes, if you don't make sure you tell' em up front.

why not .. I can't see a reason not to, after all the person is buying the design.

no kidding...that's not really the issue...do you think they should..should it be a requirement?

What if a designer told you no?

Would that keep you from using that designer?

Funny you ask. I had this issue come up with our designer today. I don't understand why if you have a site designed exclusively for you why the designer needs to keep the .psd files. I mean, what else would they use them for?

At over $8,000.00US for 5 sites, the designer wants an additional 30% for the release of the .psd files. That's a chunk of change when I need them for small things like if I want to change the font on a button or remove an element of the design.

Just my :2 cents:

Depends on the deal and if the client has actually paid. I'd say yes but the client should probably expect to pay more for the .psd for obvious reasons depending on the quality of the .psd.

A lot of design work starts from previous templates.. nomatter how different they may end up from the original template. Perhaps for small changes a specific level of detail could be provided inside the .psd for changes you need to make yourself .. rather than an entire complex template.

yes. i always get them when i pay for design work

yes

i think a designer SHOULD give the PSD files if asked - albeit at an extra cost to the client.

I cant see any reason why a designer would refuse to hand them over if paid for

i always give PSD files

do you feel you should be charged for them?

I wouldn't deal with anyone who didn't supply the full psd's. If I need to make changes I like to do it myself or have my other design.

If that guy wants 30% extra for his psd's he should be shot, time to find a new designer mate

damn girl you still around?

Can't agree more.

We do..

I always give the psd files up.

I know your asking baddog hehe but here's my view

if you got a real bargain rate on the design - then perhaps you should pay for the psd files, thats just fair.

If you paid premium rate for design - you just get them free.


personally I offer 2 rates for all design work
a budget rate - they just get the finished product. - this is less than most ppl charge for a standard rate
OR if client wants to pay small % extra (so a standard rate plus tiny bit extra) they can have the PSD files plus I'll offer free upgrades (conditons apply to what upgrades include though).

I was awake until 4 am
went to sleep
now it's 2pm i just woke up
and Im back for another shift :thumbsup

I hear you and it makes sense.

LOL well good morning er...afternoon to you ;)

depends. for existing clients we always do. for new ones, its better to be sure, we only give screencaps. lots of scammers around, we always protect the designs of my our own people.

I read that a couple of times and must be tired, because I don't see what you are getting at.

Our designer did these three sites (none of them are live, so this is not being spammy)...

www.teenivirgins.com
www.webspies.com
www.wildcollegeteens.com

Now, if these started from the same or a similar template, it was in my opinion a waste of time to use a template because none of them look anything alike in my opinion.

However...

The member area templates are ALL the same for those sites (aside from the headers). I needed to change some buttons for the member area pages. For ex. I did not want some pages to have graphical links to our "chat" or "e-shop" pages. But ALL of the pages had those buttons. So having the .psd files I could quickly and easily change the buttons and go on my way. Some of these buttons had text the came off of the nav bar, so just modifying the original button wopuld not work. The whole header had to be adjusted.

This small issue took me but a few minutes because I had the .psd files. In talking to the designing and working out a deal for another 5 designs, I would have thought that for that much work throwing in the .psd's wouldn't have been a big deal.

Again, my :2 cents:

I'd drop any designer that didn't include them, or wanted more than a token amount to include them.

What if your designer croaks or goes out of business? Its like selling software without the source code, not good.

I'm saying that inside some psd files are certain things that would have been done at an earlier time ( not specifically for this project - but for many project in the past) and is used many times over by the designer.
I'm not talking about all designs/designers/psd files. But this may apply to some, in my opinion some happens to be a lot ( i may well be wrong)
Yep, I'm not saying not to give the client the psd.I think they should be included ( i would want them) but i think the designer has a right to be paid for what he or she provides. To me it's like getting a plane ticket that you can change the date/flight etc ( you pay more for those options).

We provide all psd's with finished projects as standard, no extra charge.

We've always given psd's, I dont know how you would justify charging a fee to include them.

Wait till one of you catches a client altering a template into 12 different sites , just by changing text , colours etc ..
Your policies will change .

The source isnt the project .

I release PSD's for logos , and sites ( if I am asked and payed and extra amount and I thouroughly trust the client not to build all sorts of templated sites )

Also you'd be surprised how slightly altering a site template will leave you with a couple hundred dollars worth of gallery templates


Also , I have noticed after releasing PSDs , you will start noticing the same layer styles start showing up in different stuff .

A PSD is something someone can learn design from , we arent selling a design lesson , we are selling a website design or what ever it maybe .

After all why buy 10 gallery templates when You can buy one get the PSD and make a 1000 .

good call
:disgust

good points. MGK

I think designers always should release them and I wouldn't use anyone who refused to. I feel I'm buying the whole work to do what I please with, not just the designer's time.

Well its bad enough design prices are being driven down lower and lower each day .

on top we have to give out the source , so clients can save another couple hundred and potentially make another couple hundred dollars worth or design ..

And Ill bet you somewhere , sometime some mother fucker is changing PSDs and selling the designs as a designer ..

Think of how many componants can be given away with one PSD , the potential is there for millions of combonations with just a few colour changes .


Im glad Im on my way out of this rat race within the next 6 months :)

The revolution begins .

you should give them, you wil have no use for their designs in the future, and if they want something edited they may want to do it in house or with another designer

I release them if they ask for them. If not I just keep them on file if they need changes later on.

Well are you paying for more than just the designers time?

Serious questioni.

I charge $30 for a single gallery. It could take me 1-2 hours to complete..do the math..that's anywhere from $30-$15 an hour..

Well good luck wherever your path takes you :)
You're a damn good designer.

If I am paying for design then hell yeah I want the psd's. If things don't work out, the last thing you need is a designer holding the master files outta spite.

Who wants to play a game ?

Ill post a PSD and we'll see how many sites we can build with it ..

Ill only post one if someones game .
gimme time to dig one up I didnt use ..

1 PSD can render you with 100s of galleries banners etc etc .. that you wouldnt have had the talent to make on your own .. thats why you're paying a designer .

I only buy design work if I get the PSD's with them. I am not going to pay to have minor things changed.

For the record .
If someone comes to me and asks me to make changes .
I Almost always do it Free of charge , providing the " changes " dont require me to turn the site upside down untill its another site .

I believe it really depends on what the 'job' is... I mean sometimes, I think it's better if you keep the PSDs when some other occasions you'd better give them up

I include psd's fonts and anything I used in the design, i.e. stock photos or content.

Ahh , Ill never stop designing :)
tis my passion , Just changing who I am doing it for
Within the next 6 months I will close the doors to new clients .

Working only with my existing client base ( which is large enough ) and on my own projects . the time has come to make the profit off my work rather than watching others , unfortunatly I havent had time to do both over the last 2 years

but I also agree with the thought that it should be mentioned in the beginning of the job/bid....same consideration and process is usually involved when I ask for 'source' when I bid jobs with programmers...

I would refuse to do business with a designer who didn't provide me with the PSD, free of charge. As someone already stated, we're paying for the design of our site/logo/template and if I, as a consumer, want to change it, I want to change it.

Button text, email addresses, phone numbers, business location(s), etc. All of that stuff should be able to be changed without waiting for the designer to have time to do it for you. :2 cents:

I guess have to agree with this one. I do give PSDs in some circumstances, but not all the time. If I really trust someone or if they have a really valid reason for asking for it, then it's not a problem. But it's not a good idea, IMO, to release full PSDs to just anyone.

PSDs are somewhat like software... most programmers don't release the source code of their programs for a very good reason, and some even go to great lengths to encrypt the source. PSDs can contain custom layer styles, gradients, patterns, shapes... all kinds of things that a designer spends time creating and perfecting... and all kinds of things that clients could just rip and use themselves over and over. Unless you're charging a premium price, or unless you trust the client implicity, why take that risk?

yup, i like to change things after a while and without psds i cant

The simple fact is as in all things in life there is a charge included..it's just hidden better in other businesses.

however as machine gun kelly pointed out the competition around here is getting fierce and people want to get things as cheaply as possible..so with that in mind it would be a bit more difficult for a designer to "hide" that cost...so does the old addage "you get what you pay for," fit here?

In other words would you rather pay higher for a good quality product psds included or get a cheap quality product with no psds included?

unfortunatley, nothing is free.