TLA defines a professional theatre as any producing organization that uses Equity actors (excluding AEA showcase/waiver productions) and/or compensates any actor at a rate equal to or greater than $350.00 (U.S.) per week and/or charges any ticket price equal to or greater than $35.00 (U.S.). If your producing organization meets any of these criteria, you must select Professional theatre status on the TLA logo application. Otherwise, select Amateur status.

TLA defines a digital use as a link to or the embedding of artwork in an email. For example, if your license allows for 2,000 digital uses, you may place the artwork on your web server or on a web page and send out 2,000 emails linking to the image. It is not necessary to count unique hits or page impressions generated by visitors to your site, neither of which factor into total digital uses. Only promotional emails soliciting audience members for your production count toward total digital uses.

Yes. Because most TLA logos are sized for window cards, the file size of the artwork can range anywhere from 200 KB to 50+ MB, depending on a variety of factors. For dial-up or slow Internet connections, downloading a 20+ MB file may be impractical. For these situations, TLA can provide your logo on CD for an additional charge of $15.00, including USPS Priority Mail delivery in the U.S. International shipments are $10.00 plus the cost of USPS Global Priority Mail to your country. After you complete the TLA licensing application process, send an email requesting a CD to orders@theatrelogos.com. The email will authorize us to make the additional charge to your card, and the CD will arrive in five to seven business days.

Zip files are single files, sometimes called "archives", that contain one or more compressed files. Windows users should install WinZip from the WinZip website. After you have installed WinZip, you can open a Zip file by double clicking it in Windows Explorer or by starting WinZip and choosing "Unzip or install from an existing Zip file" in the WinZip Wizard. The WinZip Wizard will guide you through the process of unzipping in order to extract your logo files.

Macintosh users should install StuffIt Expander from the StuffIt website. After you have installed StuffIt Expander, drag and drop the Zip file to be expanded onto the StuffIt Expander icon. When expansion is complete, a brand new file or folder will appear in the same folder where the original unexpanded Zip file is located. This new file or folder will contain the logo files.

TIF (also TIFF, Tagged Image Format) files are bitmap images (composed of tiny dots) recommended for all high-quality printing. TIF files have a resolution, a document size and a color model. 300 dpi (dots per inch) is the minimum recommeded resolution for printing. A TIF file's document size may be 8.5"x11" at 300 dpi, which means you will achieve an ideal print with the file at 8.5"x11" or smaller. Downsizing of image files is rarely a problem. Upsizing of TIF files, however, can result in pixelation or a "crunchy" image. See "How do I resize images?" question below for more information. The CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color model is usually preferred for digital and offset printing. RGB (red, green, blue) is usually acceptable for inkjet and color laser printing.

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) files are high-quality vector images. A vector file uses geometrical shapes to draw an image. Think of the difference between a bitmap file, such as a TIF, and a vector file, such as an EPS, as similar to the difference between a photograph of a bicycle (bitmap) and a detailed drawing or illustration of a bicycle (vector). In some cases, EPS files may contain bitmap images. For instance, an EPS file may contain both an imported photo of a bicycle (bitmap) and a native illustration of a bicycle (vector) side by side. EPS files that contain bitmap images are subject to the same upsize issues as TIF files above. However, EPS files that are purely vector have no upsize issues and are infinitely scalable with no loss of quality.

JPG (also JPEG, Joint Photographic Experts Group) files are bitmap images that have the ability to be highly compressed while allowing you to control loss of quality to an acceptable degree, which makes their use suitable for the web. JPG files are the web equivalent of a TIF file and are subject to the same upsize issues. Recommended resolution of JPG files for use on the web is 72 dpi.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files are bitmap images that have a limited color palette, with a maximum of 256 colors. GIF files allow you to limit the color palette to only those colors used in the image, thereby making the image smaller by removing extraneous information from the file. The GIF format is roughly the web equivalent of an EPS file and is best used for vector-type illustrations, not for photographic images. Recommended resolution of GIF files for use on the web is 72 dpi. Like all bitmap images, GIF files are subject to upsize issues.

Most TLA logos are sized at 300 dpi at a document width suitable for window cards. (Window-card dimensions are 14" by 22".) In some cases, logos are only available at a smaller size. If you require a larger print for such a logo, you will need to upsize the image. See the following question ("How do I resize images?") for more information on scaling. Under certain circumstances, TLA may be willing to upsize images for you. Contact us at support@theatrelogos.com to inquire about this service.

To downsize images, open your file in an image-editing program, such as Adobe Photoshop for bitmap TIF, JPG, GIF images or Adobe Illustrator for vector EPS images, and scale the image down to the final size you would like. You should not experience noticeable loss of quality when downsizing.

To upsize bitmap images, open your file in Adobe Photoshop (or other image editor) and scale the image up without resampling. This will enlarge the document size and reduce the dpi. For very large prints, fewer than 300 dpi is usually acceptable. However, it is usually not acceptable to go below 150 dpi when upsizing. Please consult with your printer to determine the optimal dpi for a given document size that is larger than the logo. If your printer requires enlarged images at 300 dpi, it is recommended that you use a Photoshop plugin such as Genuine Fractals or Blow Up to upsize. Genuine Fractals and Blow Up allow you to render very large images from smaller bitmap images, with minimal loss of quality.

To upsize vector images, open your file in Adobe Illustrator (or other vector-image editor) and scale the image up to the final size you would like. You should not experience any loss of quality.

For web and email use, note that 72 or 96 dpi at final document size is sufficient resolution to achieve a sharp image onscreen.

TLA recommends Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Although Photoshop and Illustrator are the preferred professional tools, there are many programs on the market that will allow you to create professional promotional materials, for example, Adobe InDesign, CorelDraw, Serif PagePlus, and Microsoft Publisher. If you are inexperienced with these programs, TLA recommends that you work closely with a professional graphic designer or your printer's art department to ensure that your files meet specifications. Easy-to-use word-processing programs, such as Microsoft Word or Corel's WordPerfect, will allow you to create files that should print acceptably on inkjet or laser printers but usually produce files that are unacceptable for a digital or offset printer.

For multi-page documents, such as playbills, TLA recommends Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Serif PagePlus, or Microsoft Publisher. If you are inexperienced with these programs, TLA recommends that you work closely with a professional graphic designer or your printer's art department to ensure that your files meet specifications. Easy-to-use word-processing programs, such as Microsoft Word or Corel's WordPerfect, will allow you to create files that should print acceptably on inkjet or laser printers but usually produce files that are unacceptable for a digital or offset printer.

For very short runs, desktop inkjet and laser printers are often able to produce high-quality materials at an economical price. If you only need 200 postcards, 100 flyers and 10 posters, for instance, you are better off doing them on an inkjet or laser printer, either your own or a local copy shop's. For longer runs, it is usually desirable to engage the services of a digital or offset printer. Digital printing, which is a form of high-speed color laser printing, is usually desirable for runs of 50 to 500 pieces. Offset printing is preferred for runs of 1,000 pieces and up.

The easiest solution is to find a printer that has in-house mailing capabilities. Your materials are printed and mailed from the same location, which cuts down on transportation costs, and you have the convenience of dealing with a single vendor. Regardless of whether you go with a combined printer/mailhouse or an independent mailhouse, be sure to discuss any required specifications during the design phase of your materials with your mailhouse account representative. This will allow you to ensure that your final piece conforms to USPS regulations; that you provide adequate space to address the piece; and that you are able to take advantage of any discounts offered to you by using the mailhouse's presorting capabilities and indicia, the preprinted marking located in the upper-right-hand corner of each piece that shows mail class and prepayment of postage.

There are three possible solutions, each of which depends on the quantity of emails you would like delivered.

1. To send a large quantity of emails (5,000+), it may be advisable to engage the services of an email marketing company, such as SubscriberMail or IntelliContact.
2. To send a medium-to-large quantity of emails yourself, it is advisable to purchase software for this purpose, such as eCampaign, GroupMail, or Atomic Bulk Mail Sender.
3. To send a small quantity of emails yourself, compose your message in your email client, such as Outlook, or your webmail client, such as GoogleMail. Address the message to yourself and place your recipients' email addresses in the BCC field.

It is not advisable to embed a logo image into your email. Many Internet Service Providers will strip embedded images out of emails or flag emails with embedded images as junk mail. Instead, host the image on a website and use the full URL in the code of your HTML email to point to the image, e.g., http://yoursite.com/logo.jpg.

For detailed advice on sending promo emails, see this page: 20 HTML Email Tips.

As stated in the terms and conditions of the TLA agreement, artwork may not be altered. This restriction applies to all elements of the artwork, including text, colors, and graphics. (In some cases, it may be permissible to alter the color or transparency of backgrounds or certain elements in artwork, but you must request permission in writing from TLA prior to making any changes: support@theatrelogos.com.) You may, of course, add text and graphics specific to your production, so long as such additions do not result in defacing the artwork. For example, you may wish to place a logo on top of or partially behind a photo or illustration from your production. This is entirely acceptable.

Another example may be that your licensing agreement for performance of the play includes author billing requirements. Perhaps the author's name must appear on its own line directly beneath the title at 50% of the size of the title or perhaps the author must be given above-the-title billing at 100% of the title. It is entirely acceptable to fulfill these requirements. Again, so long as you do not alter or deface the artwork itself, you will remain in conformity with our terms and conditions of use. If any questions arise with respect to this issue, feel encouraged to contact us at support@theatrelogos.com.

The most likely answer is that the image has been upsized improperly. See question above "How do I resize images?" Other possible causes could be that your design software or your printer has an issue.

It is not possible here to address the wide variety of issues that may create unexpected printing results. TLA logos are extensively tested with digitial and hard copy proofs prior to our making them available. In short, we know they work. But they may not work as expected if you are using nonstandard software or printing processes. Feel encouraged to contact us at support@theatrelogos.com with your issue, and we will try to identify the cause for you.

Yes. Please visit our Submissions page.