FAQs

Welcome to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. If you do not find your question here, do not hesitate to contact/email us. Thank You.

Pricing Information
General facts about making payment, drawing credits,
discounts, drawing scale, personal/commercial uses... etc.
 

General
About the Website, launching date, site features
webmaster himself, design, contact... etc


Drawings/Illustrations
Questions about my illustrations, software used,
allocated drawing time spent, research,
easiest to hardest drawing drawn... etc

Pricing information
All you need to know: Illustration Scales
All you need to know: Pricing Information
Usage of illustrations - Personal or Commercial?
Making Payment

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General
What is Skyscraper Central.com all about?
Who is the webmaster?
When was the site launched?
Any reason why this site was created?
Is there any personal information about the webmaster?

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Drawing/Illustrations
The illustration software?
Most difficult drawing ever drawn?
Which took the longest time to draw?

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:::+: The Answers Zone :+:::

Pricing information

All you need to know: Illustration Scales

Here it is, basically here I am going to explain how the scaling criteria works in Skyscraper Central.com (SSC.com)

You might have noticed such texts like 10:1, 12:1, 6:1 etc... What exactly are they? This is how it should be read as below:
In a scale of 10:1 = (10 pixels : 1 meter)

This denotes the drawing is drawn in a scale of 10 pixels to 1 meter. Meaning that If I draw 10 pixels, this denotes 1 meter. So if a skyscraper is 300m high, then it should be drawn 3000 pixels high. (300 x 10) The scale is adjustable, it can also be replaced with other digits other than a "10".

The "Small" Scaled Drawings:
They are basically the cheapest of illustration and the smallest in dimensions. They are drawn in a standard scale of 1:1, meaning (1 pixel : 1 meter) For example, if the structural height is 500m, then it shall be drawn 500 pixels vertically & accurately. Each costs US$15. The scale and cost are fixed and not adjustable.

The "Medium" Scaled Drawings:
The middle of all sizes. The scale and cost are flexible, in such a way its scale is divided by half from the "Large" scaled illustrations. For example, the large scale drawing is 12:1, the medium should be 6:1. The dimensions and the scale are usually larger, than the standard 1:1 scale. Both the scale and cost are adjustable.

The "Large" Scaled Drawings:
Largest of the largest and the most allocated cost. These are the largest dimensions that SSC.com offers. At this scale, it is applicable for poster usage. Also good for large print outs, (Large books or magazines) The cost is calculated by the scale size.

The scale is highly adjustable. A rule of thumb in quality printing, all large drawings must be 5000 pixels and above, for making prints applicable of 300dpi or more. (This is a rule set by us) Why is this so?

For example, if the height of a certain skyscraper is 500m, it should be drawn 5000 pixels high, (500 x 10 - In this case, drawn in a scale of 10:1)  but if for instance, another skyscraper is 400m, (4000 pixels high in a scale of 10:1) A scale of 10:1 is not acceptable. The scale can only be increased in even numbers (So that it can be divisible by 2.) Let's try the new scale of 14:1 (400 x 14 = 5600 pixels) This figure of 5600 is applicable for a 150 or 300dpi print.

Pricing is subjected to change with scale.

Please note that if you still noticed the old 4:1 or 6:1 scale in our largest drawings, those will be upgraded to a higher scale in future.

Please proceed with "All you need to know: Pricing Information" just below this question for more information with drawing crediting, commercial and personal uses.

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All you need to know: Pricing Information

Here I will explain, illustration crediting, and some of you may like, the discounts part.

Illustration Crediting
Some magazines prefer to give credit to the illustrator who did the illustration. One of the many reasons for crediting is cheaper costs of the illustration.

For example, if credit is given for a Taipei 101 drawing, (Whatever the size or drawing(s) is) it will be 40% off the original price tag. Also the same criteria for different illustrations of structures that you order.

Ordering multiple illustrations. Are there discounts?
Yes! Discounts are given if you ordered more than two illustrations.

If more than two illustrations ordered, a discount is offered 10% off the total price of all the illustrations ordered.

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Usage of illustrations - Personal or Commercial?

This is also another important rule of thumb on the usage of drawings of your needs.

Currently there are 2 usage categories:
Personal
Commercial

Personal Usage
The following are considered personal usage:
* Wall Posters
* Collection
* Research
* Personal Viewing
* Family, friends, relatives and etc.
* Education Purposes (Student(s) using drawings)
- And - any other personal or non public viewing merchandise.

Posters
The illustrations will be in print format, which is a full size poster and laminated. The original drawing file
(without the "Copyright Stefan" embedded on the illustration) will not be sent across the internet (Eg. Email) for security, prohibited reproduction and copyright reasons.

The posters sending to you will be in print format, laminated and US$35 for each ($30 for poster. $5 for shipping). Poster prints are  only applicable for "Large" scaled illustrations. Payment will be explained later in this FAQ. A 10% off discount will be given if you more than 2 posters (Either of different drawings) are ordered.

However, education purposes will also be sold at the price of US$10. Only Medium or small scaled drawings can be sent.

The Copyright Message ("Copyright Stefan") written on the face of the drawing(s) will be taken away once you have received the drawing(s).

Do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to order the drawings or if you still have any further enquires.

Commercial Usage
The following are considered commercial usage:
* Magazine
* Advertising
* Mass Media
* Government
* Education
* Banners
- And - any other public viewing and commercial or Printed Merchandise.

The examples shown above require payment of illustration.
Payment is to be made first before the drawing files are sent over.

The Copyright Message ("Copyright Stefan") watermarked on the face of the illustration(s) will be taken away once you have received the illustration(s).

Do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to order the drawings or if you still have any further enquires.

If credited, a 40% discount is given. Please click here for more information.
If ordered more than 2 illustrations, A 10% discount is given. Please click here for more information.
 

WARNING: In respect of the illustrator (myself), unauthorized reproduction and distribution of illustrations that infringe the copyright act is strictly prohibited.

I have drawn these illustrations with alot of care, effort, time and whole-hearted dedication. So do respect them.
I would also appreciate honest dealings from clients.

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Making Payment

Right! Now that every illustration(s) that you need has been finally settled. Please remember that payment is to be made first before I can send the drawing files to you. One of the many reasons is due to prohibited reproduction and copyright reasons.

There are currently 3 methods of payment:
* Paypal
* Bank Drafts
* T/T (Telegraphic Transfer) using the swift code

Indeed, you have the fullest authority to choose either of the three stated above.
I would recommend using T/T because no commission is required and high security and reliability is the pro-core feature.

Contact me if you have any other methods or enquires of payment.

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General

What is Skyscraper Central.com all about?

Skyscraper Central.com (Better off known as SSC.com) Is a website that has illustrations of tallest skyscrapers, ranging different sizes, from smallest to the largest.

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Who is the webmaster?

Oh that's... Me, myself and I... My name is Stefan Tan, the guy typing this FAQ and owner of Skyscraper Central.com. Check my profile for more details about myself.

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When was this site launched?

This site was first launched on 28 November 2004. It was a year later under-renovation and re-launched on 3/November/2005, with its very own domain name, Skyscraper Central.com

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Any reason why this site was created?

Before this site was launched, I was in awe for skyscrapers and architecture. It is wonderful to note that the birthplace of skyscrapers are originally born in Chicago and how it advanced to this very present day having Petronas Towers, Taipei 101 etc. Previously I am an illustrator of SkyscraperPage.com (Alot of wonderful illustrations there as well)

So I thought... Hey! Maybe I would like to give a try to sell illustrations, this time ranging different sizes. So that is how this site was created. Also with the help from the webmaster of SkyscraperPage.com, Dylan Leblanc.

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Is there any personal information about the webmaster?

Yes! There are! Check out my profile page of this site. Of course, I will mainly give the basic information about my descriptions. Not all the VERY personal stuff is revealed. (Privacy Protection)

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Drawings/Illustrations

The illustration software?

I used two of them. The first one being:

Microsoft Paint
Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint... There you have it... It is found in every Microsoft OS... This is to draw the main shape, colour and detail of the building, and yes, this is the part which will take weeks or even a month to complete.

Drawing out wrong detailing could lead into serious disaster, which may be very very, heart breaking and disheartening at the same time. I've had an experience of this before, I have tried drawing over 5 times to get the details right.

Corel PhotoPaint
All that is done, finally I use Corel PhotoPaint to do some touching up on the drawing like adding reflections, clouds, lighting, saturation, layering, object opacity, anti-aliasing and etc. All these take at least a day or two. Corel PhotoPaint just works exactly like Adobe PhotoShop. Both of them are equally as good, to be honest. It is how you use them, is the difference.

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Most difficult drawing ever drawn?

Well actually, that's too early to say now... To be honest, there are so many of them not done yet. So maybe one of the newest of them is the lucky hardest one...

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Which took the longest time to draw?

Again, I can't really say right now...

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**End of FAQ page. It may be updated anytime without prior notice.**
Last Reviewed and Updated: 26/February/2006