Questions answered

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The Look of the prints

My frame is a different colour, is something wrong?
Imprints has in the past had to change the company who supplies our picture framing materials. We obtained the closest colour match possible. The shape of the frame material has remained exactly the same. In addition, the frames are made out of wood. Being a natural product it is not possible to guarantee continuity over time and natural variations will occur.

My Frame is a different size to the Prints I had done before but I had my two children done at the same age, why is that?
Imprints is a genuinely bespoke service, every Imprint is treated individually. Each piece of clay is measured and has an appropriate frame made for it, the frames sizes are not determined by the age of the child. We can make a specific frame size for your Imprints if we are given the size we need to match but this is not automatic.

The colours on my print aren’t exactly the same as on the display board, has something gone wrong?
Imprints are hand crafted and there are a number of factors which will have an effect on the colour. These include; The texture of the child’s skin, The person colouring the piece of clay, which kiln the clay is fired in and which shelf the print is on in the kiln during the glaze firing. Whilst every effort is made to maintain consistency (The same colouring materials have been used since day one of Imprints, the same colouring methods and tools are used and the same firing system is used) the colour charts are for guidance and slight variations are an intrinsic quality of a Imprints.

Can I have a pine frame without any knots in it?
Pine is wood, which grows on trees, trees have branches and branches mean knots. Whilst we do reject a significant amount of wood with large or rough knots, if we made knot free frames, the price would have to rise considerably and we would throw away lots of wood.

What Imprints can & can’t do

Can I have my Imprints without a frame.
An Imprint is a framed, fired ceramic print, the frame is just as integral to the design of an Imprint as the clay. The frame also protects the clay. As a result we don’t supply the clay alone.

Can my Imprints be delivered any more quickly.
The piece of clay goes through a very specific process which includes controlled drying and two firings and mounting in a frame. The delivery time is determined by this process, not the quantity of Imprints we are working on. Unfortunately this means we cannot deliver them back into the store any quicker. We do however deliver Imprints back on more than one day of the week so the Prints may be available a little before the delivery date for this reason.

Can you visit my home?
Our Print Takers are based at specific stores and have specific working hours and so are not normally available to work outside their normal place & time of work. We have in extremely exceptional circumstances made arrangements to take prints away from the shops but this can’t be guaranteed and will possibly involve the additional expense for the Print Takers time and travel expenses.

Can I change the details?
Yes you can, as long as we haven’t already fired the clay. Once that is done it is too late. This stage generally happens about two weeks after the prints were taken. Email us & we will let you know if you are in time.

Can I change the colour
Same answer as above!

I had a family set two years ago and have had another child, can I add it to my Family Set?
Yes you can, we will probably need to make a new frame and will need to take the existing prints out of their current frame so there will need to be a small charge, but we will always do our best to keep prices down. Email us with the details and we will give you a price. The Print Takers in the stores probably won’t be able to give you a definite price for this service as they are not picture framers but they will do their best to help you.

Suitability

My baby is only a week old, is there an age limit?
There is no lower age limit for Imprints. We have the clay we use produced specifically to our specifications and it is very soft, about the consistency of room temperature butter. The most difficult thing about taking Imprints of very small babies is actually getting close enough to the clay when the babies arms are only little. We have taken Imprints of babies from a day old upwards. Of course when you have your prints done is purely a matter of personal preference and it is important that you are happy with it. If in doubt, watch another customer and talk to the Print Takers. They will be able to describe exactly what happens.

Can you take Imprints of adults?
We do this frequently. I think our oldest customer was 92! Prints of parents and children in family sets are a regular part of our work. Big hands do take some additional pressure, unlike small babies but we haven’t to my knowledge made any grown ups cry yet!

Alternatives

Do you do kits?
Imprints offers a professional print taking service and as such it is not appropriate to have a DIY version. Taking Prints is not as easy as it looks (ask one of our hard working Print Takers) and plenty of our customers have had a difficult experience with kits and come to us to get the results they are looking for. In addition to achieve the same quality you would need a kit which included a kiln and various bits of professional frame making equipment.

My friend is having a baby, how can I arrange to get prints done?
There are two alternatives. You can either buy regular gift vouchers from John Lewis (Gift Card in Brown Thomas in Ireland) and give these to the person you have in mind. Both John Lewis and Brown Thomas in Ireland have their own cards to accompany Gift Vouchers which are to be used in this way which explain to the person you are giving them to what the intended use of the vouchers is, just ask in store for these. Alternatively if you want to give something more tangible you can buy the person an Imprints Gift Box on line which contains a Gift Certificate which is then redeemed at the appointment for the Imprint type you have chosen. For full details, of the Gift Box, click here. Unfortunately Gift Boxes are at present only available in the UK for use in John Lewis but we hope to have them up & running in Ireland soon.

Can I have copies?
Imprints are all original ceramic impressions, they are not plaster casts like some of the alternatives available so there is no mold with which to make copies. You get the piece of clay that was touched & so if you need more, we will need to take more prints.

On the appointment day

Is it really necessary to book an appointment?
We would always recommend booking an appointment. The Imprints days can get very busy at certain times and whilst our Print Takers will do their best to accommodate the needs of customers who don’t have an appointment, they obviously have to give priority to customers with appointments. The service is designed with the fact that our customers have feeding and changing to plan around in mind.

Is there anything I can do to make taking the prints easier/is there a best time?
Yes!

Baby advice.
As a general rule, fed babies are happier than unfed ones (although we are well aware that the first rule where babies are concerned is that they are all different). Also, if at all possible, try to give yourself plenty of time. It is amazing to us how much of the tension of the parent is picked up by even very small babies so if you arrive hassled, your little one may well be hassled in sympathy and therefore be tense. Obviously things happen to the best laid plans and our Print Takers will do their best to make the experience as relaxed as possible.

Toddler advice.
If it is a toddler having prints done, our advice is not to make it a surprise, talk to them about what you are planning well in advance, maybe even have a dry run at home with some play-do. The more a toddler is used to the idea in advance, the better the chances of things going smoothly.

My toddler can be very strong willed, what happens if he doesn’t want to do it?
Toddlers can be a challenge but our Print Takers have a few tricks up their sleeves. Our principle advice here is, don’t ask them if they want to. They won’t really know what is being asked of them and may well give you the wrong answer which will only make the job of the Print Taker more difficult (See toddler advice above).

My babies hands are always in fists, will you be able to do the prints?
Whilst it is true that small babies hands are often closed, it is rare in our experience that they are making tense fists unless they are actually holding on to something. A little bit of patience and gentle handling is usually all that is required to achieve a relaxed open hand. (See baby advice above)

Delivery

Can you deliver my Prints directly to me.
Our arrangement is to deliver finished Imprints back into the store where they were taken.. However we do not deliver direct to customers and as far as we are aware, neither do John Lewis. Imprints are safer in a large box with other Prints than in a small box on their own.

I am visiting a relative where I want to have my Imprints done, can you deliver them back to a different store?
Yes, this is very straightforward, simply inform the Print Taker that you wish to have your Imprints delivered to a different branch & we will take care of the rest. Your Prints will arrive at the branch you specify. This is not a John Lewis or Brown Thomas branch transfer, we allocate your Imprints for delivery to your required branch ourselves so they don’t have any more of a journey than they normally would. However delivery to a different store may involve a longer delivery time as the Imprints will be delivered with the next available delivery into your specified store and the timing of this will be dependant on the timetable of visits to that store. Your Print Taker is unlikely to be able to tell you specifically when this will be, however if you contact us here at the workshop we will be able to give you a specific delivery time for any specific transfer.

It has been longer than the time specified on my order form but I haven’t had a phone call, where are they?
Try calling John Lewis/Brown Thomas, you will probably find they are in the store. Imprints follow a very specific timetable at the workshop and often reach the store slightly before the specified delivery time. Feel free to Email us and we will look into your delivery for you but bear in mind that we will be calling the store anyway so please try calling them first. We would always need a location the Prints were taken, the specific date they were taken and an order number from the form you were given (Or a gift Certificate number from the redemption receipt) in order to track your prints. If all we have to go on is a branch and “About six weeks ago”, it may take us some time to come back to you with a delivery date.