Online Proofing

[bcap]

Hello all,

I know that it has been discussed multiple times on here. But, I'd like to get a discussion going as to the pros and cons of each online proofing site.

Through my research, I have found the most popular sites to be:

- Photobiz.com
- Photoreflect.com
- Smugmug.com
- Pictage.com
- Printroom.com
- Labtricity.com
- Photoshelter.com

If the site you use is not in the above list, please state what site you use and how you like it. Let's see what the benefits are of each site for different type of businesses.

For example, if you want to fulfill your own orders, what are the pros and the cons of the sites? If you had high quantity orders, what are the pros and cons of the sites?

I'd also like to hear any comments on the customer service, the print quality (where applicable), the ease of use, prices, etc.

[tlc]

i have my own online proofing galleries within my site. each gallery is password protected for the client.

[tim]

Originally Posted by tlc

i have my own online proofing galleries within my site. each gallery is password protected for the client.

x2. www.eostemplate.com

[picturecrazy]

I used to be on Pictage but just switched to doing my own order fulfillment with my own lab. The ordering software I bought is called Photocart. I've heard Pickpic is the king but I didn't want it's extra features and it was 4 times more expensive.

I can see how Pictage can be wonderful. They have lots of products and options, free album design service, and they take care of everything so you don't lift a finger except uploading the pics. Having said that, I have found that Canadians just don't want to pay in American dollars. So we have to pay extra shipping and wait a lot longer to get stuff. That was a fail. I ordered one of their hardcover proof books and in 2 months, the covers dried out and curled so much it's totally unacceptable. I guess stuff made down in humid areas don't do so well in such dry climates like Edmonton.

So I don't think Pictage is bad, it just totally did not work for me.

[bcap]

Interesting, thanks for the comments there Lloyd. I'm also in Canada so they are very relevant to me.

Tim - how easy is eostemplate to set up? I've downloaded it a whole bunch of times but haven't gotten around to playing with it or setting up a gallery. Any words from the wise?

[AMeyer]

I use photobiz for my website and proofing. I like how the proofing is built into the site; you don't have to go to an external site to view them. They only do proofing and accept payments, so it's self-fulfillment. I think the way the proofing is layed out on the screen and the various features look more professional than some of the other companies I've seen. I used exposure manager but it was very basic and I wasn't crazy about the layout - very bland.

[Toogy]

Has anybody tried Digilabs? They are in Toronto now, so it's easier for us Canadians. I need something to better present my online proofs as well.

[*Mike*]

We use pictology. Its free to upload images with less than 2 events at a time. So if you are just starting out its nice to be free. It also has paid plans for more than 2 events up at a time. It had nice features and is easy for clients to use. You can use your own lab.

[sblais]

php? I like to give myself some trouble I guess... My wife tells me I'm masochist ! But I love to learn and php is something I haven't touched yet, programming-wise... So I'm learning! I'll be developing my own gallery making software (nothing too fancy, just for me ) in php using MySQL for the database part... I know what I want, so I'll concentrate my learning efforts towards that goal.

If I run out of time (or patience), I'll probably look for some OSS solution and customize it a bit...

[Francis Farmer]

I use photopreviews. One flat rate per quarter, no matter how many weddings you have online.

[Banbert]

Were using photobox in the uk at the moment, its free and weve built up quite a bit of hosting there because everytime we buy something from them we get another 50mb of storage space.

Its not as feature packed as their Third Light image service or other paid services and you cant really customize the pages BUT they do all the fullfillment and money taking and the first thing we know about orders is when we see credit go into our account from them. We also do our own fullfillment via email, phone etc for items that we dont sell through photobox as your limited to 5 products. Longer term I would like to go to thirdlight and have it properly integrated into our site or start doing our own fullfilment if we went full time but atm we need something that doesnt take any more ofour time up! Thirdlight does all their printing via Photobox and so thats a good endorsement for photobox.

Weve sold plenty of photos through photobox so far anyway, over 1,000 in the 3 weddings worth of photos posted so far, but then again we dont charge a lot for them because thats not part of our business plan to make lots of money on those....... its very nice to see people buying them though and very interesting to see what sells !

[bcap]

Originally Posted by Toogy

Has anybody tried Digilabs? They are in Toronto now, so it's easier for us Canadians. I need something to better present my online proofs as well.

I'd also be interested in hearing about this. I'm from the area so having a lab in toronto is perfect.

[islandphoto]

I'm using pictage right now, and so far it hasn't been worth the money for me, But it's a really busy summer so I will see if I come out ahead. I just love how they do ALL the work! It makes my job so much easier. They're free color correcting service is phenomenal. I think if you can tap into all of the features of networking and marketing etc. that pictage has to offer, it is an awesome company.

[tim]

Originally Posted by bcap

Tim - how easy is eostemplate to set up? I've downloaded it a whole bunch of times but haven't gotten around to playing with it or setting up a gallery. Any words from the wise?

It's not easy, but it's not too hard either. You have to edit configuration files to set up your pricing and details. If you're not pretty PC literate you shouldn't use EOS template.

[jessiper]

I don't use any of those, the guy who did my website and I created a site for my clients to log into and see their photos.