How do I send my website material?

There are many options available to you for submitting website material. The rule of thumb is: the more material you can put together on your own, the more affordable your project will be.  

I accept materials on CD, through email or through traditional mail. If you send paper materials through the post office, I will convert them into electronic format for you. You'll be billed for this service at the current hourly service rate. (See Pricing) If you need this kind of service, ask for it specifically ahead of time to avoid unexpected delays in completing your project.

Tips for sending your material

Text
Spell-check and review your text for accuracy before sending. It may not be possible to preserve formatting in Microsoft Word documents. However, if requested, I will make a reasonable effort to retain the appearance of Word documents.

Other Preformatted Documents
Adobe PDF documents are very popular with some clients. If you like to use Adobe PDF, or other document types like Excel, Quark or Publisher, we'll discuss how best to use them on your website.

Photos / Artwork
Digital images or scanned artwork are best at FULL quality (not web optimized.) Logos are easier to work with when a source file is supplied. If your logo needs to be edited or recreated, try to find out what font(s) was used for the lettering. Some of the image formats I accept are: PNG, GIF, JPG, eps, bmp, wbmp, psd, tiff, tga, Adobe Illustrator (ai and art), pic and pct, sgi, MacPaint, FlashPix, and FreeHand documents.

Audio
Most popular file formats are accepted including wav, mp3, ogg, xac, aiff, afc, iff, au, vox, mat, voc, snd, and more.

Video
I can work with most video formats, including DVDs, mpeg, and avi files. Professional quality, pre-edited videos are best.

I gladly accept Windows Media Video, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and Flash video formats, which can be placed directly on your web site. You should edit your video beforehand so it appears exactly as you want it.

Product Listings / Catalogs: If we're working with a small number of product listings, it's okay to send individual photos and descriptions by email. For larger catalogs, Excel format is preferred but a comma-delimited file may be acceptable if properly formatted.

Many clients enjoy the added convenience of having their own online administrative area so they can manage their product listings. The initial web development cost is higher, but will save you time and money in the long run. Ask about adding this feature when you request a quote.

What to do when your files are large
Video and audio files are often too large to send through email. Files larger than 2 or 3 MB tend to get swallowed up (lost) by mail servers. If you'd like to try something other than sending them on CD (or maybe you don't have a CD burner), I can set up an FTP account for you.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a simple way to exchange files over the Internet. To send your files using FTP, just follow these instructions*:

• Click on this link (it will open in a new browser window, so you won't lose this page):
  ftp://ftp.dirtcheap4u.com
• You'll be taken to a page that looks like an empty folder on your computer.
• A box might pop up asking for your username and password.
• If a box doesn't pop up, you can right-click in the empty window to see a menu. Click on the option to "Login As..." This will give you the username and password box.
  
• Enter your username and password exactly as I've given it to you. Leave the "Log On Anonymously" box unchecked. Then click "Log On".
  (If you don't have a username yet, contact me and I'll set one up for you.)
• Once logged in, you can copy and paste, or drag and drop, your files into the FTP folder. You can even create and delete subfolders, just like you would on your own computer.
• After you transfer your files, I can log in and retrieve them.

Logging in: Click on a thumbnail to see a screenshot.

* If you have a non-Windows Operating System installed on your computer, contact me for assistance using FTP.