In our weekly installment of Clients from Hell, a hilarious collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers, we present “I need a 'file' format.” For previous posts, click here .
I was designing an email flyer for a pharmaceutical company. I sent a .jpg file to the client for review. I received the following response.
Client: Can you send the flyer as an attachment?
I checked the first email I’d sent; the file was attached.
Me: Did you not receive an attachment the first time? Here – I’ll send it again.
I sent another email with the .jpg.
Client: You don’t understand; I need an “image” format.
Confused, I converted the .jpg file to a png file and sent that. Honestly I wasn’t sure what they meant and was just trying to test them to see what they meant.
Me: I sent another image format. Please tell me if is what you need.
Client: There is a problem, I can see the image in the mail. I need a “file” format.
Still guessing at what he meant, I sent him a PDF version.
Me: I sent a PDF, but it isn’t the optimal way to send an image in email. It won’t be displayed correctly on all platforms when you send it. You’d be better off with a .jpg or a .png.
Client: I don’t need a PDF. I said I need a “file” format.
I put the pdf in a .zip folder and sent it.
Client: Thank you, that’s all I need!
I thought about sending a .jpg in a zip folder, but it would only get worse.
