FAQs

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As digital resale becomes more and more popular, we receive many questions and links to online stores and individual items asking what is or is not in violation. To help Members better understand The Graphics Fairy’s Premium Membership site’s terms, we are addressing these questions with examples (found directly below the Term of Use). In 2019, we updated our terms to: clarify what individual image formats are, add detail to protect our always-expanding library of written & video tutorials, and clarify use of the printables we include with the image bundles as a bonus for Members who are paper crafters. Those updates are in bold in the terms below.

TERMS OF USE

The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site

***Thank you for your purchase from The Graphics Fairy Members Site!

***By purchasing and downloading these items, you are agreeing to the personal and professional use terms herein.

***The license is a single user license. It cannot be sub-licensed, resold, transferred, shared, or redistributed in any way.

***Items from The Graphics Fairy Members site may not be redistributed or offered as-is elsewhere for any reason. They may not be offered for sale (e.g. reselling to a stock resource website), offered as freebies, and they may not be made available for download or sharing outside of the site: members.TheGraphicsFairy.com

***Individual images  (.png & .jpg images, brush sets, vectors) downloaded from The Graphics Fairy Members site may be used in the creation of personal projects, in artwork that you offer for sale, and for client projects. There are no limitations on Personal or Commercial use on individual image files, provided you have made the resource part of another work or are not directly selling the resource itself for profit.

***Printables (.pdf) downloaded from The Graphics Fairy Members site carry a limited commercial use license.  Printables may be used in the creation of personal projects, in artwork that you offer for sale, and for client projects, provided you have made the resource part of a handmade physical product. Printable .pdf files, (or portions thereof), may not be digitally extracted, resaved, or resold for profit.  

***Written and video tutorials may not be resold, transferred, shared, or redistributed in any way.

***Thank you so much for your purchase and we hope you enjoy these creative resources!

***If you have any other questions, please email [email protected]

Commercial Use Questions, Examples, & Interpretation

To help you further understand The Graphics Fairy’s Premium Membership site’s terms, we are addressing common questions with visual examples, where possible.

I make digital stamps or sell digital elements in kits, can I use a couple images in a kit with my own things / other things and sell it?

No. You may not take an individual image file from the site and resell it as-is (this includes offering it as an image file within a larger “kit” or “offering” of multiple images). This violates the terms of use regarding offering as-is elsewhere.

What if I add a small change to an existing image, can I resell it?

In order to resell a digital copy of an image purchased through The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership site, the digital copy being resold must have undergone a change, making it a new work.  Typically, the industry understands this to be approximately a 40% change.  Visual examples of acceptable changes are included below in the discussion of what a “new work” is.

Can I take the images of an entire bundle (or images from several different bundles), add them to a page and create a collage sheet PDF?

We welcome you to make collage sheets that incorporate the images in a new work. The printables on the Premium Membership Site are great examples of digital collage sheets (made using images on the site mixed with other resources and effects) that are acceptable.  However, if you take images from the site and add them as-is on a sheet of paper and save (and sell) as a PDF printable, this is not considered a new work. Why? If you are offering a printable like this in digital format, it is extremely easy for the purchaser to extract each of the original images.  For this reason, you would essentially be reselling an entire image bundle as-is and conveniently grouping the images in a single image file.

I love this tutorial and think my blog readers would enjoy it too.  Can I copy it and post it on my site?  Don’t worry, I will let them know where I found it and who the author is.

No. The tutorials and videos are written and recorded for site Members. If the content is copied and reshared elsewhere (even with attribution), the redistribution creates a violation of the terms of use.

This printable would be a great freebie on my website! Can I offer it?  Don’t worry, I am not reselling it.

No. The printables were created exclusively for site Members to print out and use.  If the printable is copied over and reshared elsewhere (even with attribution), the redistribution creates a violation of the terms of use.

What are good examples of approved commercial use for printables?

We welcome commercial use of the printables provided they are made part of a physical product (printables cannot be reoffered wholly or in part digitally).  Here are a few good ideas on appropriate commercial use of printables:

• Printable papers used as wrapping papers for craft items you sell (e.g., soap)
• Printable tags used as price tags for items offered for resale in an outdoor market
• Printable collage sheets made in to jewelry pendants and resold
• Printable collage sheets printed on shrink plastic and incorporated in to an art tin
• Printable pockets, envelopes and ephemera reused as part of a junk journal
• Printable cards and envelopes printed out and embellished with embossing powders, stamps, jewels, etc. and resold

What is a “new work”?  How much of a change do I really have to make to be able to resell an image digitally or as a physical product?

The printables on The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site are great examples of how bundle images can be reused and reimagined to create a new work.

For digital images, a new work can be achieved by doing things like: adding other images, adding effects, adding text, or digitally altering files to create a new conception of the image.  Typically, the industry understands this to be approximately a 40% change.  The best examples of how to reimagine an image or use an image in a new work is to look at the printables offered with each bundle.

A “new work” for our digital images is not:

• Reorganizing images as-is on to a single page as a digital collage sheet
• Taking images as-is and simply reorganizing them (or including them with other images) to make a digital stamp “collection” offered for sale
• Adding a simple change to an image and reoffering it digitally or as a printable
• Extracting portions of an existing printable and reoffering (in whole or in part), digitally or as a printable

For printables found on the site, a new work can be achieved by printing out the page, and altering it in to a new physical product. This can be achieved through processes like: decoupage, incorporating in a journal, image transfer on to another surface, making jewelry, adding embellishments, etc.

A “new work” for our printables is not:

• Extracting portions of an existing printable and reorganizing them as-is and reoffering as a printable
• Adding a simple change to a printable digitally (e.g., line, color change) and reoffering digitally or as a printable
• Printing out a printable and reoffering as-is individually or in a collection of paper elements

Below are examples of what is and is not considered a “new work.”  

EXAMPLE #1:  The original bee image from the site on the left, and a newly designed sticker using image (added text, shape, paper background, & lines) on the right.

This is a new work.  This is acceptable! 

EXAMPLE #2:  The original postcard image from the site on the left, and a newly designed digital image (postmarks removed, color changed, & subtle distressing added) on the right.

This is a new work.  This is acceptable! 

EXAMPLE #3:  The original rose image from the site on the top, and a newly designed rose swag digital image (separated flowers, duplicated & recombined in to a new graphic) on the bottom.

This is a new work.  This is acceptable! 

EXAMPLE #4:  The original sheet music cover image from the site on the left, and a newly designed background paper digital image (cropped, changed color & added distressing) on the right side.

This is a new work.  This is acceptable! 

EXAMPLE #5:  The original flower image from the site on the left, and a newly designed flower digital image (flipped, changed leaves, added another graphic (butterfly), & added shadows) on the right side.

This is a new work.  This is acceptable! 

EXAMPLE #6:  The original three image bundles used are on left, and a newly compiled journaling kit on the right side (changes include: image flip, add border line, slight color change).

This is a NOT new work.  This is NOT acceptable.

EXAMPLE #7:  The original image bundles and printables used from the site are on left, and a newly compiled printed collage sheet on the right side (images pulled from different bundles as-is, elements pulled from our collage sheet printables and reused as-is).

This is a NOT new work.  This is NOT acceptable.

What we offer is a mix of scans from our own collections of images scanned from Antique Books, Postcards, Ephemera etc, and images that come from very carefully vetted sources. We purchase a lot from Europe, and of course the U.S. as well. Occasionally we do haul videos on YouTube, showing some of our finds, be sure and check them out, if you are interested.

All images that we offer go through an assessment and improvement process. They are cleaned up (sometimes a lot!) and altered as needed.  We may change the color, remove stains, repair rips or damage, remove portions of an image, change the size, sharpen, and in some cases drastically alter the image to fit our theme, or just make it generally more usable.  We then painstakingly remove the background areas, so that you have a transparent image to work with, and the work is already done for you. This entire process takes hours and hours of work!

Here are a few photos of our archives, where we keep our Ephemera. Each of the books in the photos are loaded with illustrations, as well as all of the file drawers and multiple large postcard binders. They are all chock full of inventory!

New bundles are released each Monday at 7am Eastern Standard Time.  They do not need to be downloaded immediately.  The great thing about the Premium Membership Site is that you can access & download the graphics any time you need them.  As long as you have a membership, the site will be available to download images and bundles as you need them.

Each individual bundle has a theme for the week, with image files, printables, a Photoshop Elements tutorial and a crafting tutorial.

Note:  In many bundles, we have also included the same files in additional formats for those who have different software. For brush sets (.abr) you will need Photoshop, and vector formats (.ai, .eps) you will need software like Illustrator, while other vectors (.svg) can be opened by vector software & cutting machines.

In this video, Karen takes you through a tour of an individual bundle page to see what you get each week. Explore what is in each bundle, where to find & how to download images and printables, where to find related Photoshop Elements & craft tutorials, and learn about additional file formats you may see (vectors & brush sets).

Here is a short video where Karen explains how to search for images, bundles, printables, digital tutorials, & handcraft tutorials.

You can search through all images and all the printables by clicking on either the ‘Image’ or ‘Printables’ buttons in the menu at the top of the site.  Click on either icon to see a search page of thumbnails of either all the Images or all the Printables.

Note:  I am showing the Image search here, but the Printables search works the same way.  Each will bring you to a search page, where you can either search through images (Images icon) or Printables (printables icon).  Click any categories on the left to filter your search results.  Click any thumbnail image to bring up the full resolution original.

When you click on the thumbnail of an IMAGE, the image will come up in your internet browser as a full size image.  To download this image, right click on the image in your internet browser, and choose Save image as.

When you click on the thumbnail of a PRINTABLE, the printable will come up in your internet browser as a full size document.  Click on the print or download button to print or save the printable.

You can also find the images and printables on INDIVIDUAL BUNDLE PAGES, which you can access from either the home page, or bundle downloads page.

To download individual images once in a bundle page, scroll down to the thumbnails of the images in that bundle.

Click on the thumbnail of any image you want; the image will come up in your internet browser as a full size image.  To download this image, right click on the image in your internet browser, and choose Save image as.

To download individual printables once in a bundle page, scroll down to the thumbnails of the printables in that bundle.

Click on any thumbnail to bring up the full size PDF in your browser, then choose the download or print button.

The images throughout the site are 300 DPI and come in a variety of sizes (e.g., stamps may be 1.5” while large documents are around 12”).  The size offered highly depends on the source document’s size & quality.

If you experience a blurry image for some reason, it could be one of several contributing factors (download process, save/export process, image manipulation, software settings, shortcuts used, printer settings).  Here we will share the most common reasons an image on the site may appear blurry for you when you view or print it.  There are illustrations and videos to help you understand these points below too.

Not Saving the Full Size Image

If you save individual files from the site, be sure you bring up the full size image, and are not inadvertently saving a thumbnail version.  Thumbnails are smaller files, and thus lower quality when you enlarge them to work with. (Note:  if you can’t clearly see the difference in quality below, you may want to click the image below to bring it up even larger in your browser)

This video below demonstrates the incorrect way (and correct way) to save individual images.  We look at clues to help you identify if you are working with a lower quality thumbnail, including clues in the image file’s name, file size characteristics, and what the image looks like in an image editing program.

Copy / Paste Images from Website in to Other Programs

Some are used to using keyboard shortcuts or copying/pasting images from one location or website directly in to an image editing program.  Variables like the browser you use, computer settings, and the program you are pasting in to, could give varied results, including:

• a lesser quality or web version of the image gets pasted in, not the full size image
• the browser or program changes a transparent png to another file type during the copy/paste process so the image can’t be layered
• the image appears with remnants from the browser, like a black/grey/white background

Please do not copy/paste images from the site in to other programs unless you are 100% certain how copy/paste works for your set of variables in your situation.  In my case, copying from one browser works okay in one of my image editing programs, but gives me a totally unusable result if I paste in another program.

In the video below, see how copy/paste in to an image editing program (rather than saving the image first) creates unintended consequences.

We are sometimes asked why a png image (a transparent image) has what looks like a box behind the image or a colored background when viewed in your browser.  This is due to settings & how the computer/internet browser you’re using displays different image types.  When you open a transparent image on the site, you may see a white box, black, or grey areas behind the transparent image, this is okay.  Here is an example…

In the video below, we open the same file in two different sample browsers to demonstrate a difference in display.  Then we open those two different images in an image editing program to verify that although they display differently online, the downloaded images are identical and retain their transparent backgrounds.

Saving an image to your computer & using an image editing program is the preferred printing method.  To print a single image, click the thumbnail to bring up the full size image, right click to save it to your computer, and bring that image in to your editing program.  When compared to browser printing, image editing programs have much more flexibility with how you can modify size and print the images.

If you do print an image from your browser within the site and it prints on multiple pages, you must adjust your print settings in the browser.

Please note: there are so many possible configurations by device, version, browser, printer, and default settings. This video will not go over your exact configuration, but can give you key terms in your browser print menu to look for and adjust.

1. Image Edits in Folder.  If you normally download the image to your device or phone before printing, there is sometimes a set of options when you open the image where you can modify it or resize the image.   For example, my phone stores images I download in my Photos folder.  If I click on the image, I can apply filters, crop it, and change the aspect.  My phone does not let me resize to a specific measurement (inches or pixels), but some phones do have resizing options when you edit your photos.
2. Print Menu.  Look at the information mentioned above for browser printing.  When you go to print, does your device offer the ability to resize your images in your print menu?  Look for ways to modify the size of the image — Scale will likely be most helpful.  If yes, make adjustments in your printer menu.
3. Third Party Apps.  If you don’t immediately see options to resize to specific values either where you saved the image or as an option when you go to print to your device, you will need to download an image editing program or app for the device you’re using.  There are programs like Image Size, which let you edit an image to specific dimensions so you can print it at your desired size.  Here are some other options for Apple devices and android devices.

On the Membership Site, we have a few places you can access our training materials:

• To access crafting tutorials and art techniques, click on the purple Handcraft Tutorials icon at the top of the screen
• To access Photoshop Elements tutorials, click on the green Digital Tutorials icon at the top of the screen
• For a deep dive in to a particular topic, access tutorials grouped in to Mini Courses by clicking on the yellow Training Library icon at the top of the screen

The Training Library is where we have organized many of our hands-on crafting videos and Photoshop Elements digital design tutorials in to “mini courses” to help you learn new skills!  In the video below, we take a look at the Mini Courses currently available in the Training Library on the Premium Membership Site.

On The Graphics Fairy Members site, you will see the option to download your bundle images and printables in a zipped file (these are gold download buttons at the bottom of an individual bundle’s page).  A zip file is a package of files that have been grouped and compressed so they are easier to share and send.

To open the group of files, you must first download the zipped file and then you will unzip (or extract) those files.

On a PC, first click on the download link and save the zipped to your computer (note the location where you saved it).  Now navigate to the location where the zipped file is. Double click on the zipped file (it looks like a file folder with a zipper).  You can now see the zipped folder’s contents.  Click on the option at the top to “Extract all Files”.   Windows asks you where you want to save the extracted individual files.  Select a file folder and hit “Extract.”  You now have all of the individual files on your computer, ready to use in your graphics programs.

Mac Computers have a built in compression support called the Archive Utility.  The Archive Utility is located at /System/Library/CoreServices, navigate there to open it.  Click on File > Expand Archive.  Navigate to the zipped file you want to expand, select the file, and hit Expand.

On a Mac, many people have additional apps to help work with zipped files.  This article from About.com has more information for Mac users.  WinZip, The Unarchiver, and iZip are popular third party options to help unzip files.

Vector files will have the file type extension of .ai, .eps or .svg.  In order to use vector files, you must have advanced software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.  SVG files are often used in conjunction with paper cutting machine software.  Do not worry, the vectors are just another file format we add as a bonus format in some bundles.  The same image files are already included in your bundle as .png files, so you’re not missing out.

Vector files are used by design professionals to make large scale projects (think billboards). The program basically redraws the image as you make it bigger, so it does not get blurry when resized for really large projects.  Most people that are not professional designers will find the image files (.png, .jpg) are perfect for their needs and will never need to work with vectors.

Our printables are saved in the most common PDF format.  In order to open & view a PDF, you’ll need a PDF reader (this comes standard in many computers).  If you can’t “see” or open the PDF just by clicking on it, try downloading a PDF reader.

If this is your first time downloading a PDF reader, click the link above to download the free Adobe reader.  The prompts will have you download an .exe file to your computer.  Then navigate to that file and click on it to install the application.

If you are in a bundle page, click on printable you want to print.  This brings it up in a new browser.  Click the print icon (or download icon).

In order to use Photoshop brushes, you must have Adobe Photoshop software.  Photoshop brushes work like digital stamps that can be added to your images.  The brushes are images that, by using the Photoshop brush tool, can be stamped on your digital project.  Photoshop brushes are a convenient way to add images you use frequently, and they can still be manipulated (e.g., color, opacity, size).  Photoshop brushes are files with the .abr file extension.

In order to use Photoshop brushes, you must have Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements software.

Open your Photoshop program.  Make sure the brush tool is selected.  You’ll need to click on the brush tool type (at the top) you’re using.  A popup menu will appear (this is where you normally select the brush you want to use).  To load new brushes, click on the small triangular arrow on the menu, and scroll down and click “Load Brushes.”  Note the location that opens.  You will need to copy and paste your brush file (.abr file) to this location and click “Load.”

For more details on how to work with Photoshop brushes, visit this tutorial.

INDIVIDUAL IMAGES can be downloaded on each INDIVIDUAL BUNDLE PAGE. Browse the image list on the bundle page to preview the bundle images and note the number of the image you want. Look for a set of corresponding thumbnails at the bottom of the image section in the bundle page. Click on the image’s thumbnail to get the full size image, then right click to save the image (the same way you would on The Graphics Fairy site). Note: if you want all the bundle’s images at once, use the gold image download buttons instead to download groups of images in a zipped file format.

There are many image editing programs on the market & we get questions about all of them! Although we can’t give specific instructions on how to use all of these programs, we do have a few that we have used directly through the years, or that our users highly recommend, including Photoshop Elements, PicMonkey, Corel PaintShop Pro, and GIMP. We have put together a video {available here} what walks through many of the available options, and helps you determine which software would be best for you.  Carefully think about things like what you want to do with the images, how tech savvy you are, and how much time you want to invest in learning a new skill.  In the video, we also try to share some other types of software that we are asked about often, that are NOT ideal for those learning image editing.

We currently do not have a dedicated phone line to handle questions (we are too small). Answers to many questions (membership, how to download, etc.) can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page. If you still are unsure, please use the Contact Us form at the top of each page, and we will respond to you in 24 hours.