Comments on: Handing over source files to clients: Be realistic

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 03:09:56 +0000

This is absurd. As a designer you should not give away your source files.

The source files are a separate entity from the final design and will be treated as such.

In regards to your comment… “So withholding the source files from your client will only ensure that you’ll never get work from that company again, nor any company that your client contact goes to work for in the future.”

And that designer will be grateful to not work with companies such as those. Usage rights are understood quite well in the “real world” by well established businesses.

A few analogies to end with:

If you buy a packet of apples, you don’t get the tree they grew on.
If you buy a meal at a restaurant, you don’t get a recipe and food samples to give to another chef.

By: Fluk3

Fluk3 — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 23:03:30 +0000

I agree with Caspian.

Why give the next designer, your competition, a leg up on you by handing over your skillfully masked, meticulously clipped, expertly layered working files? If it took you 20 years to master a set of techniques, why should you make the replacement’s life that much easier? Yes, give them a printable, editable file with supporting links for reproduction, but not all your production secrets and personal styles with it.

Why would a client come back to you if you don’t reserve your hard earned expertise for your own workflow?

Let the next guy prove his own worth, or fail if need be, to show why you can command the rate you deserve.

The article sounds like it was written by a client wants to undercut the professionals.

By: Caspian

Caspian — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 22:35:59 +0000

While I agree that as a ‘gun for hire’ the client may indeed have the rights to your outputs (unless you have a contract that spells it out otherwise — which mine does). What I think you have left out of the discussion is the designers IP in the creation of said artwork/design (and of course fonts…)
Not all files are created equally and to hand over the years of ones learnings with a client is, in my opinion, unnecessary. If the gig is over then the outputs of ones creative endeavours are usually theirs, but knowing personal approaches/efficiencies (nested styles, advanced stylesheets, conditional texts, super-smart objects based on many years experience is not. I’m not advocating crippling a file, but one should think carefully about exactly what one is sharing.

By: Don Brandt

Don Brandt — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:47:14 +0000

Have to agree with you on this subject. Files are useless to you if the customer goes elsewhere. Who can use some other companies files. I have only ever had to hold files ransom for payment. That is the only situation where I will hold files. No payment, no files. I do not work for free.