DVD Conversion

an artists impression of dvd disks converting into binary ones & zeros

Time for some old family movies now!

A client has dropped off three old family movies on DVD, that she has been unable to play on her TV’s built-in player. They all start, but then freeze after a few seconds.

Turns out they were originally recorded on DVD+R Disks, in the DVD-VR Format, both of which can be problematic with modern equipment.

As DVD is a bit of a dying format these days, I enquired whether her TV has a usb port & how old it is. That way I was able to offer a conversion to a digital file, so that she can easily play them back on pretty much any device, or even upload to YouTube/Facebook etc.

For the Tech Heads out there, I chose an MP4/H.264 format for ultimate compatibility & reasonable file size. I personally prefer MP4/H.265 for better compression, but only the latest kit can play it back at the moment.

Save The Date Cards

Next job is for a client who had been let down by an “Artist.” This “Artist” had taken over 3 months to produce an expensive sample for her Save The Date Wedding Cards.

The sample had been printed on some rather cheap & nasty “cereal box” type card, at very low resolution. Also, it was stained & dog-eared.

I knew that scanning & cleaning up the image would have taken a long time to give a fair result. Therefore, I did a quick scan & dropped the image into Google Pic Search….

Within a couple on minutes, I found the original (Royalty Free) image at no cost. The “Artist” had charged my client £100+ for an “Original” design.

After a few tweaks in Photoshop, I printed it on “the “Faux Canvas” 220gsm” Faux Canvas” 220gsm paper. The difference was nothing short of amazing. The colours were so much richer & the detail was off the scale. These save-the-date cards are looking really stunning now.

Another happy customer, who has saved nearly £200!

School Photo’s

Up Next… Editing some school photo’s.

This client had purchased a couple of VERY overpriced school photo’s, and wanted some larger ones for a Fathers Day present. As anyone with children will know, the school photography game is very lucrative for the photographer, but can make a severe dent in a family budget, often costing well over a £100 for a couple of large prints.

After scanning the customers photo’s in @ 600dpi, I was able to reproduce three 6″x 4″ & four 7″x 5″ on some thick glossy paper for just £20, saving my client about £150.

Certificates

First job of the day is printing some certificates/diplomas for the Swedish Match Commercial Academy. Certificates Printing is an essential part of professional events like this.

My client’s colleague usually sorts these out, but due to being struck with a heart attack, he’s not able to help. Bluesdigital to the rescue! Fortunately, certificate printing is something I can take care of quickly.

I had to come up with a design from scratch to include the company logo & colour scheme, and get them sorted within a couple of days. When it comes to printing certificates, design and branding are very important.

Within just an hour, I found a hi-res company logo & graphics (Public Domain-Free to use) and completed the design.

Next up was the print. I used a nice Faux Canvas 220gsm art paper, which really makes the colours pop & gives crisp text reproduction. It also has a great “Feel” to it, which really adds to the finished print. In conclusion, printing certificates on quality paper delivers a professional and impressive result.

Then a few min’s on the guillotine to finish, and we are done.