A broken record?

Not only have I been getting quite a few e-mails lately, asking me to clarify personal vs. commercial use of my designs, but I’ve stumbled upon quite a few things online that make me feel the need to clarify…

Commercial use licenses must be purchased from me if you use any of my designs (Pattern Pieces, Just Because Prints, ABC Prints, etc.) in any way, shape, or form that is generating income.

For example:

• If you accept money for craft kits that include my designs in some way… you need to buy a commercial use license from me.
• If you accept money for one of my designs that you’ve re-created in vinyl, paint, etc…. you need to buy a commercial use license from me.
• If you accept money to design printables for a party… and in your design you incorporate one or more of my designs… you need to buy a commercial use license from me.
• If you accept money to design personal blogs and/or websites… and in your design you incorporate one or more of my designs… you need to buy a commercial use license from me.

Etcetera…  It’s a simple request.  It’s the right thing to do.

If you have any questions, regarding personal vs. commercial use of my designs, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I love offering freebies on this site.  However, seeing people blatantly profit off of my hard work, that I’ve put out there for free, makes me a little less inclined to continue what I’ve been doing, if you know what I mean.

I have a lot of fun designs planned for release in the next couple of months… I’m really excited about them!  (And I want to stay passionate about this whole blogging business, too… it’s just hard when you feel ripped off, if you know what I mean.)

For those of you who have alerted me to commercial use of my designs, thank you, thank you.

If you have been using any of my designs commercially, no hard feelings (I can accept that it was an honest mistake)… just please contact me ASAP to purchase a Commercial License.  Thank you!

FAQ regarding my freebies

I’ve been receiving a lot of the same questions lately via e-mail, so I thought I’d save all of us the trouble ;) and address them in a quick post.  (Because I’m really, really bad about staying on top of my inbox!)

You can find a listing of all of the freebies I’ve offered on Sprik Space here.

 

Sizing, resolution, and coloring of the freebies

On each freebie post, I specify the size(s) in which I have designed the printable.  These are the sizes to order and/or print them in if you don’t want them to be distorted from what you see on the screen.  Again, for best results, be sure to order the printables in the size already specified on their individual post. 

Most of the freebies are 300 pixels/inch resolution, with exception of printables sized 11x14 and larger – those are 200 pixels/inch.  As of right now, until I hold still and learn Photoshop, that’s the best my sad little designing program can do.  For your basic typographic printable, these resolutions are just fine, and you shouldn’t run into any problems with your photo printer.

In simple terms, as far as discrepancies in the coloring of the freebies, I design in the RGB color model and color printers use the CMYK color model.  Therefore, there will inherently be differences between what you see on the screen and how your printed product turns out.  (I won’t even get into how colors can be slightly different from computer monitor to computer monitor.)  Whenever you can, turn off any auto color correction tools when sending images to a printer.  I typically send my prints to Costco, because that’s the most convenient and cost efficient place for me.  Zemya Photography recently posted a really cool comparison on various photo printing services. 

If the colors in which I’ve offered the printable just don’t do it for you, please contact me about color customization – more details here.   

 

How to download from 4shared

I receive a few e-mails each day from readers wondering why they have to pay to download my freebies from 4shared… guess what – you don’t!  :)  Here’s how you should go about downloading from 4shared…

Once you’ve clicked from my freebie post (typically the image embedded within the post is your download link), you’ll come to a page that might look a little like this.  This is where you’ll choose the color(s) you want to save for yourself.

After you’ve chosen the color(s) you want, you’ll see a page similar to the one below.  Downloading from 4shared is FREE, as long as you click on the purple “Download Now” button, located beneath and to the right of the image you want to download.

Sometimes, your download will begin immediately to your pre-appointed download folder on your computer.  Oh happy day!!  However, many times 4shared requires you to wait several seconds before they make the download link fully available.  Please be patient.  I use 4shared because it’s a free file-sharing site… and you come to Sprik Space for free printables.  It’s all good.

After your wait time is up, the download link will appear.  Click on those purple words: “Download file now”.  Your download should begin immediately to your pre-appointed download folder on your computer.

 

Sharing my freebies on your site

If you would like to blog about any of my free printables, or share them on Facebook or Pinterest, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to their post.  As a courtesy, please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to the post page.  Additionally, if you happen to blog/share about a personal use project you completed using any of my freebies, I would love a link back to Sprik Space – it would mean the world to me!  (And, if you let me know that you’ve posted something, I want to share your post on the Sprik Space Facebook page.)  Thank you for your understanding!

 

Simplified (and clarified, once again) definition of commercial use

Do you happen to be using any of my freebies in your own ventures that are generating income for you?  (Personal, self-designed blogs running advertising that use Sprik Space freebies in their blog design are excepted… and I’d love a link back!  If those self-designed blogs are generating income for your home/small business, we should talk.  I know it’s a little confusing, just contact me if you have questions.)  Let’s talk about a commercial use license.  :)  More details here.

 

Do you have other questions about Sprik Space?  Please check my main Disclaimer & FAQ page here.

 

Still have other burning questions?  :)  Please feel free to contact me.

 

Would you like a Sprik Space button for your blog?

<a href="http://sprik.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Sprik Space" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3mBm6vGTT1eERUne7ErfCVDVIz3yqU-SqGjlf3N3Ja2fJj1ADVR3BGPVVni8wCHnuo_l2nlWzpVsRv0DFyG8iO6FBT0pzyU6lK7vENmbmEC2kGwZzs0HTQBPkA0KQ2p6dV-tyA/?imgmax=800" /></a>

Thank you... thank you... thank you... for all of your support!

 

 

Further clarification

I’ve been getting quite a few e-mails lately, asking me to clarify personal vs. commercial use of my designs.  :)

If you accept money to design printables for a party… and in your design you use one or more of the Sprik Space Pattern Pieces… you need to buy a commercial use license from me.

If you accept money to design personal blogs and/or websites… and in your design you use one of the Sprik Space Pattern Pieces… you need to buy a commercial use license from me.

Etcetera…  It’s a simple request.  It’s the right thing to do.

If you have any questions, regarding personal vs. commercial use of my designs, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

For those of you who have alerted me to commercial use of my designs, thank you, thank you.

If you have been using any of my designs commercially, no hard feelings… just please contact me ASAP to purchase a Commercial License.  Thank you!

Number of times I mentioned the word “commercial” in this post = 7

 

Clarification

Sorry if I came off a little annoyed yesterday.  Not my intent at all.

Thought maybe I should clarify what I mean by personal use and commercial use, because you all have sent me several questions about it…

If you’ve used my designs in your parties, to decorate your walls, to give as gifts, to use in creating free printables on your own site, etc… YIPPEE!  I hope you’ve sent me pictures, because I want to see!  :)  This is what I consider personal use, and this is what I was hoping for by posting them as freebies.

If you’re making money, or attempting to make money, off of my designs, please contact me.  No hard feelings, really.  Simply altering the designs in color or size doesn’t make them your designs.  Please contact me so we can work something out.

For those of you who have alerted me to commercial use of my designs, thank you.

In other news, I hope to release more in the Pattern Pieces series soon… :)  And, I have a few more cute printables up my sleeve.  Just need to steal some time on the computer…

It's time...

I love seeing the projects that you all accomplish using my free printable designs.  Seriously – it makes the long days with a whining toddler so.much.brighter!  I’ve been highlighting them on the Sprik Space Facebook page for all to see.  I’m honored that you like them enough to display in your homes, to give them as gifts, and to reinterpret them in so many creative ways.  It blows me away!

That being said, I suppose the only thing disheartening about this whole journey is seeing my printables being used without permission in a commercial format... typically in an Etsy store somewhere.  Just because you alter them by changing the colors and/or sizes (easy to do in Photoshop), doesn’t make them your designs.  Lately, I’ve seen a lot of the Pattern Pieces series pop up as backgrounds to party invitations and printables or birth announcements listed for sale on Etsy.  Seeing someone else monetarily profit off of my hard work, without my permission, makes me sick inside.  Every time this type of “theft” happens, I end up reconsidering why I bother offering freebies at all.

Since I began doing printables and offering them for free, I’ve always held that my designs are for your PERSONAL use only.  I have granted the use of them commercially on a few occasions, but ONLY WITH PERMISSION.  You can read more of my disclaimer details and frequently-asked-questions here.

As of today, I am now offering Commercial Use Licenses on my designs. 



Two types are available, as detailed above.  If you have any questions, please contact me.

Commercial License Terms

This license is intended for small businesses only.   

Unless a commercial license is purchased, Sprik Space designs may only be used for PERSONAL use. 

If you would like to use any of my designs as a way of making money, then I ask that you purchase a commercial license.

You may not claim these designs as your own either in their original state, or in an altered state.  If selling your products online, I ask that credits to me be given on your website: “Graphics created by Sprik Space at sprik.blogspot.com and used with commercial license.”

You may not produce items for mass distribution containing my designs.  Once again, this license is intended for small businesses only.

If you are interested in using any of my designs COMMERCIALLY, please contact me here.


Terms subject to change without notification.

Prior to this announcement, if you have been using any of my designs commercially, no hard feelings… just please contact me ASAP to purchase a Commercial License.  Thank you!