• I have ordered a personalized mug as gift for my friend. I would like to appreciate you very much because, with your production, I can give my friend an exciting gift. Today I receive the mug but I'm rather disappointed, since it shows a significant color discrepancy between the original picture which I uploaded to your website and that on the mug. One of the decoration is her portrait. However, the color of her hair becomes read and purple, but she really has black hair. Before placing the order, I have checked the uploaded picture on your website carefully. Everything seems okay including the color. You have promised "we'll decorate your mug(s) exactly as you designed and submitted it" in your confirmation email of my order. Apparently, it is not so. I can send you an photo of the received mug if you need one. You will be able to see the notable color difference. I'm looking forward to your quick reply. Thank you.
  
  
• I designed a white mug. In the picture the mug looks yellow and the image I chose is black with a white back ground. The white background looks horrible on the yellow mug. I don't want a yellow mug. If the mug is white it would look like a black image on a white mug. Will the mug actually be white? I saved my design. Can you look at it so you can see what I mean?
  
  
• We are trying to make a mug that has a logo. In MS word I have set this logo to have a transparent background. When I upload it into the mug design maker it comes up as a white background instead. We are using a the ceramic white mug for this gift. DO you think this will be a problem or will it still come out ok? (The white mug actually appears pinkish in the deign program which I took to denote that the mug is not perfectly white and that any white background may still sho up...) Let me know what you think.
  
  
• Can you put my digital images on the inside of your coffee mugs, on the outside bottom and/or on the mug handle, too?
  
  
• Why do my drop shadows have a "pinkish" hue to them on your coffee mug decorations. In my digital file they show as real gray?
  
  
• What is Pixelation - or Pixellation?
  
  
• The virtual mug decoration you e-mailed with your order confirmation does not cover the mug completely
  
  
• The virtual mug you e-mailed with your Order Confirmation is rather fuzzy. Is this how the printed mug will be?
  
  
• I printed my image on my printer but your mug decorations are not the same
  
  
• How can the same image look different on the same color monitor depending on whether I chose RGB/Windows or RGB/Macintosh and also look rather different on the actual mugs
  
  

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• I have ordered a personalized mug as gift for my friend. I would like to appreciate you very much because, with your production, I can give my friend an exciting gift. Today I receive the mug but I'm rather disappointed, since it shows a significant color discrepancy between the original picture which I uploaded to your website and that on the mug. One of the decoration is her portrait. However, the color of her hair becomes read and purple, but she really has black hair. Before placing the order, I have checked the uploaded picture on your website carefully. Everything seems okay including the color. You have promised "we'll decorate your mug(s) exactly as you designed and submitted it" in your confirmation email of my order. Apparently, it is not so. I can send you an photo of the received mug if you need one. You will be able to see the notable color difference. I'm looking forward to your quick reply. Thank you.
  
  We're very sorry to hear that your custom mug decoration did not come out as you had imagined it. We indicate very clearly in many pages of our web sites, that we're not, and cannot be, color perfect; nor have we ever claimed to be so. On the contrary. May we offer your some links where this is explained in more detail: http://giftmugs.com/ourfaqs/artwork_1.html#07169998 or here: http://giftmugs.com/cgi-bin/FAQ/faq.cgi?search===Why%20is%20the%20full-color%20reproduction%20of%20my%20digital%20art%20work%20on%20your%20coffee%20mugs%20different%20from%20what%20I%20see%20in%20my%20monitor?%20=70=1322331482 Also you can search our FAQ pages under artwork and search for color, or any similar keyword that would apply to your case: http://giftmugs.com/ourfaqs/index.html The situation you describe cannot be verified by us and we strongly suggest in all our web pages and order forms to order a sample mug first if color fidelity is of importance. We use a dozed different computers and monitors in our production line and the same digital image appears different on each monitor. Hence we're not able to see the design exactly as our customers have created it since each image in each monitor looks different. Since all images submitted for custom-decorated mugs are customer created and we will not change or modify it in any way, we indicate that: "we'll decorate your mug(s) exactly as you designed and submitted it" Again, we're very sorry that your're not happy with the coffee mug decoration you created. All orders for mugs, custom decorated with customer-supplied digital image files are final as we have no influence over the quality of the art submitted nor the colors therein. You also accepted our company policies by placing your order which, among others says: ALL ORDERS ARE FINAL!! If this is not acceptable, please DO NOT PLACE YOUR ORDER! Thank you for your order and we hope that you'll be able to take into consideration the above indicated. Sincerely yours,
  
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• I designed a white mug. In the picture the mug looks yellow and the image I chose is black with a white back ground. The white background looks horrible on the yellow mug. I don't want a yellow mug. If the mug is white it would look like a black image on a white mug. Will the mug actually be white? I saved my design. Can you look at it so you can see what I mean?
  
  Yes, indeed, the representations of the coffee mugs in our fully automated Coffee Mug Designer are shown in some sort of beige - or as you call it yellow - color. This is done so that the mug image can be clearly seen on the web pages; because if we'd make the mug images white, then they could not be seen on the white background of the web page. Should you have any concerns about how your custom art work will be printed on our coffee mugs, we strongly suggest your order a sample mug first. Our ceramic coffee mugs are "white" as regular ceramic mugs are, and our porcelain mugs are a bit whiter. As always, all custom-decorated mug orders are final, cannot be returned or exchanged, nor will we be able issue any credit. /
  
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• We are trying to make a mug that has a logo. In MS word I have set this logo to have a transparent background. When I upload it into the mug design maker it comes up as a white background instead. We are using a the ceramic white mug for this gift. DO you think this will be a problem or will it still come out ok? (The white mug actually appears pinkish in the deign program which I took to denote that the mug is not perfectly white and that any white background may still sho up...) Let me know what you think.
  
  White Coffee Mugs:  Digital art with white background and/or transparent background.

  As a general rule, we CANNOT print the color white.
  Any color that may or may not show up in your digital image files as white and/or transparent will NOT BE printed.
  
  Also, we CANNOT show our coffee mugs in our web site and order pages in white, as our mugs would not show up against the white pages used by our web sites.
  Hence all mugs shown in our web pages have a tint of one color or another.
  
  Also, our actual white mugs may or may not be pure white - they are just sort of whitish.
  They are called white only to differentiate them from coffee mugs that are, for example, red.
  
  Thus, all white spaces (and transparent spaces)  that may or may not be present in your digital image files or photos, will automatically show on the finished coffee mug decoration in the color of the un-decorated coffee mug.
  
  For example, should we decorate a red coffee mug, then the resulting coffee mug decoration would show red where your digital art shows white or is transparent. The background color of the mug will vastly influence the overall aspect of the finished coffee mug decoration.
  This fact should be taken into consideration when creating coffee mug decorations.
  
  Should you be interested, we also offer Image Evaluation Services.

  
  
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• Can you put my digital images on the inside of your coffee mugs, on the outside bottom and/or on the mug handle, too?
  
  We can only decorate the white outside of all of our coffee mugs.

  That includes our:

  • all-white coffee mugs, our
  • inside-colored, and our
  • rim-and-handle colored coffee mug,
  • Stainless-Steel Travel mugs.

  Nor can we decorate the bottom of our mugs (either inside or outside) nor the mug handle itself. The outside bottom of our mugs carries only our own back stamp label.

  In general terms, it is not recommended to have any food or liquid come in permanent contact with any decoration of any kind on any kind of ceramic or other materials - and might even be illegal in some states/countries.

  
  
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• Why do my drop shadows have a "pinkish" hue to them on your coffee mug decorations. In my digital file they show as real gray?
  
  

  The sublimation pigment inks we have to use to decorate our full-color mugs or tiles with are very complicated, and on some occasions they might not reproduce colors faithfully (and grey is one of them) even in the space age.

  It is very likely that your drop shadows (or any grey for this matter) have a pinkish hue to them as it is rather complicated for our pigment-based inks to reproduce a CMYK gray color (as for example a 35% or 45% pure CMYK black)

  By the same token, any color density of about 15% or less might not be printable at all in any color.

  In color-critical designs it is hence strongly recommended to have a Sample Mug decoration made to determine the degree of color shifts (if any) so that remedial actions can be taken, such as, for example, NOT using any CMYK mode colors at all, especially for grays and use instead these RGB mode colors for:

  - Light grey:     R154-G155-B159;  or C33-M27-Y27-K0;
  - Darker grey:  R111-G117-B121;  or C55-M44-Y44-K3.

  which will produce much "better-looking" grays.

  In general we recommend that RGB mode color be used for the creation of any digital files destined for mug decorations and not any CMYK mode colors at all.

  
  
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• What is Pixelation - or Pixellation?
  
  The easiest way to describe what pixelation, or pixellation is, is to show you what we mean:

  Very pixellated, low-resolution image	High-resolution image
  The lettering is very rough and clearly shows a "stair-step" pattern in it as well as in all lines.	Lettering and lines are smooth as they should be.
  Resolution: 72 or 96	Resolution: 300 or 360 dpi's
  Likely raster file formats: .gif and .jpg	Likely raster file formats: .psd, .tif and .cpt
  Please remember that optimal digital files should have a: Resolution of at least 300 dpi's;  AND /li> be in the dimensions (or larger) that have to appear on the finished mugs. Both requirements go hand in hand

  
  
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• The virtual mug decoration you e-mailed with your order confirmation does not cover the mug completely
  
  We always use the digital art work submitted by our customers AS IS

  We always use the digital art work submitted by our customers If its dimensions are such that they do not cover the maximum space we can decorate on our various coffee mug sizes, then the decoration will have much more "white" space around it than normally, as we cannot decorate the entire exterior surface of our coffee mugs under any conditions. (By the way, we cannot decorate the mug handle, the mug bottom, nor the inside of our coffee mugs.)

  You can easily determine the maximum areas that we can decorate from the information readily available in this web site.

  
  
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• The virtual mug you e-mailed with your Order Confirmation is rather fuzzy. Is this how the printed mug will be?
  
  The virtual mug layout/decoration we many times send to our customers along with our order confirmation is not representative of the printed mug decoration. This virtual mug decoration is only so that you can see what your mug might look like overall and might or might not be like the finished coffee mug decoration.

  Our virtual mug decorations always have a resolution of only 72 dpi's as otherwise many e-mail programs and Internet Access Providers (AOL, for example) will not receive it and, if they do, the file would be so large that it might virtually take hours to download over a slow phone connection. Furthermore, we compress all our virtual mug layouts with the lossy compression format of .jpg which further decreases the image quality forever.

  If the digital file you sent us has a resolution of only 72 dpi's and/or is in the .jpg (or in even the unsuitable gif) format - just as our virtual mug decorations - then, of course, the printed mug will look very similar to the virtual mug decoration.

  We suggest that any digital art work files submitted to us for the decoration of coffee mugs have a resolution of at least 300 dpi's as this is the resolution we'll use to decorate your mug order with notwithstanding the resolution of the art work you submitted. Hence, we'll print, for example, your low-resolution digital file with our printing resolution of 300 dpi's;  yet this will not result in a high resolution mug decoration, but in a  rather pixelated low-resolution mug decoration based on your digital image resolution.

  Furthermore your digital file should be in the .tif format AND in the dimensions, or larger, that have to appear on the finished mug decoration. 

  Here we offer some detailed suggestions on digital image preparation.

  
  
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• I printed my image on my printer but your mug decorations are not the same
  
  

   

  We use uniquely-formulated, special pigment-based inks to decorate our white coffee mugs, while you're most likely using the standard ink jet or laser printer inks that came with your printer which where developed for printing on paper only, the printed results will be very different.

  Even if you'd use the same pigment inks we use but printed with a different resolution from ours, the print-outs would be different as different amounts of ink would be printed at different resolutions and, hence, the color saturation will be rather different.

  Also, the same ink used on different printers will produce different print-outs even if the same resolution is used...not to mention the medium on which we print our mug decorations which will greatly influence the final appearance of the printed image as the chemical make-up alone of each will produce different results.

  Another important point to remember is the particular software used to create, display and then print your digital images. Software - graphics applications specifically - are responsible for bringing all your image components together. And we all know that they are not created equal and hence each will produce a different out-put. (To further complicate this, you might want to read here and here.)

  And as if this would be not be all, we still have to fire the print-outs onto the mugs - which is another chemical reaction.

  It might become apparent that there is a very, very slim chance that your print-outs will equal the decorations on the finished photo coffee mugs.

  Based on this as well as the many other points made elsewhere in this FAQ section, if color fidelity is of concern, Sample Mugs will have to be created so as to be able to adjust your digital image to arrive at more-or-less the mug decoration you require.

  
  
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• How can the same image look different on the same color monitor depending on whether I chose RGB/Windows or RGB/Macintosh and also look rather different on the actual mugs
  
  

  Because of the way the two computer platforms handle color, the same image is "seen" differently on either a PC or a Mac monitor. You can very easily "see" this difference if you open an image, for example, with PhotoShop, and then from the Menu select >View  >Preview and then alternate between the >Macintosh RGB and >Windows RGB formats.

  The numerical values of the colors do not change at all. They are identical in both views, yet the images display completely differently. The RGB/Macintosh appears to be "lighter" in appearance, and "darker" in RGB/Windows mode. And while we're at this, you might also want to take this opportunity to check on the "printability" of your image by turning the Gamut warning on:  by going to View >Gamut_Warning. Immediately you'll see which colors cannot be printed as seen on your monitor so that you can change them to colors that can be printed. (See also an expert's opinion on this.)

  Based on this fact - and many others mentioned elsewhere in this web site -  it is impossible for us to print images/colors exactly as they are "seen" on any monitor - this on top of all the other reservation and limitations that exist on this topic. 

  The color decorations on our coffee mugs will thus either be "lighter" or "darker" from what the original creator of the digital art work file "sees" on the color monitor. You should also expect color shifts.

  Furthermore, images seen on a monitor are similar to slides in traditional photography. Slides - which are backlit, just as images seen on your monitor - are much more brilliant than any print will ever be...and mug decorations are just like prints. A monitor can display over 16 million colors while only a fraction of these colors can actually be printed by any means.  Hence, it is important to also check the gamut of your digital art to actually see on your monitor which colors cannot be printed and for which the printing process will substitute other colors which can be printed.

  Since we're PC-based you might want to consider turning the  "Windows RGB" mode on when creating your digital images for our sublimation, full-color mug decorations to keep the color differences you actually see in your monitor to a minimum. See also here.

  We prefer that all our customers prepare and send in their digital files in the RGB format ... whenever possible.

  In conclusion, we'll not be able to print your images with the same brilliance and luminance as you see on your monitor. Our mug decorations are only print copies and reproduction that will never equal the images seen on your screen and you should and cannot expect them to be like images seen on any screen...maybe someone will invent a better printing process in the future but for now we can only use the technology available today with all its limitations and short comings.
  
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