Q. Where is the site hosted?
A. Your site will be hosted on the More Photos server
system. Our servers are connected via three redundant T-1
lines, offering you continuous high-speed access and nearly
zero downtime.
Q. What is my site's URL/Web Address?
A. Each Order A Print customer has their own unique domain
name. For example: http://www.YourStudio.com. If
you do not have a domain name, we can register one for you, or we can setup a subdomain.
For Example: http://YourStudio.orderaprint.com.
Q. Will my site look like everyone else's?
A. No. Although your site is created using the More Photos
template, you have control over colours, and content. Your
Order A Print Internet storefront will be complete with your
company logo, contact information, sample portfolio, and
published events. The entire storefront is designed to
promote you, the photographer or image maker.
Q. Can I get a custom designed website?
A. Absolutely. Order A Print offers custom designed websites
that promote your photography style with class, and
creativity. Look at our contact
section on how to get in touch with us. We want your website to be as
personal as your photography.
E-mail us if you would like more information about this.
Q. How many images can I put in an event?
A. You can put as many images as you like in a given event.
Of course, at some point it doesn't make sense to continue
adding images to an event because it becomes too cumbersome
for your customers to navigate. As a rule of thumb, you
should not put more than 1000 images in any given event.
It's also possible to place an event to the web in sections
based on subject matter, and have the same password for each
section.
Q. How does it work?
A. It is literally as simple as 1,2,3,4.
Step 1: Digitize Your Photos If you shoot with
traditional film, simply take the pictures, scan them from
prints or negatives or take them to a lab to be digitized
and put on a CD. This, we have found, is the easiest way to
archive your photographs. If you use a digital camera,
simply shoot the photos and archive them.
Step 2: Publish Your Photos Publish the digitized
photos to your own Internet storefront at http://www.YourStudio.com,
using our Photo Manager software, which is included in the
subscription cost.
Step 3: Receive the Order After previewing their
photos, customers can order them instantly in a variety of
custom options, simply by logging on to your More Photos
site.
Step 4: Fulfill the Orders Simply go to a
photo
lab to fulfill the customer's order. Payment is sent
directly to the photographer, via accepted forms of payment.
That way, the photographer is in complete control of all
aspects. It is recommended that photographers receive
payment before sending photos to a lab.
Q. What if I already have my own web site?
A. Many of our Order A Print customers have their own web
site. Your Order A Print allows
you to link your existing web site, to your e-commerce site.
If you do not know how to do this,
just contact us, and we will help you. This
provides your customers with easy access to their photos
from your existing web site. In order for our program to
work, we need to either host your site, or host a domain
name that links to our server. Hosting is included FREE with
your Order A Print subscription.
Q. Does Order A Print on a Mac?
A. Your customers may browse, proof and order photos on More
Photos from either a PC or Macintosh computer. The
Order A Print Photo Manager software, which you receive to publish
photos and manage your storefront, is compatible with a PC
running Microsoft Windows 9x/ME/XP/NT Workstation.
Q. What Internet browsers are compatible with
Order A Print?
A. The following web browsers are compatible with Photo
Manager:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
- Netscape Navigator 6.0 or higher
- America Online (AOL) 5.0 or higher
Q. Can you collect Email addresses for future mailing?
You will be able to collect email addresses from customers
who purchase from you. However we do not require email
addresses to view pictures on the
Order A Print system because
we believe that sending out email to those who are just
looking at pictures would be considered SPAM (junk email
that people did not ask for) and might upset your potential
customers.
Q. Do I need special software to use
Order A Print?
A. Your subscription comes complete with our
Photo Manager software, which allows you to easily set-up
and maintain your Internet storefront, as well as publish
your photos online.
Q. How do I make money using Order
A Prints?
A. The advertising value of having people take notice of
your work is the main draw to Order A
Print. You make money by
selling your photos online 24-hours a day, seven days a week
to your customers. You are in complete control. You define
the photo packages and determine the pricing. More options
and greater service and convenience to your customer
translates into more business for your studio. The
Order A Print site
takes care of the business hassles and lets photographers do
what they like to do best, take pictures. Also, many of our
photographers are charging for this service.
Q. How much does Order A Print
cost?
A. Your Internet storefront can be created and maintained
instantly for a lot less than you think, and we give
incredible value for money. In fact you are going to be very
surprised on just how cost effective our services are.
Please do not hesitate to contact us,
and we will be more than happy to let you have some prices,
with no obligation, and no hard sell.
Q. How and when do I get paid?
A. The photographer is paid directly from the customers via
accepted forms of payment.
Q. What if I forgot my username or password?
A. Just contact us and be sure to include your Business name,
and the contact details you used for
Order A Print. We will get your password
out after verification.
Q. Does Order A Print ever sell customer email addresses?
A. OrderaPrint.com does not sell our customers email
addresses. In fact, we do not share any kind of information
about you in any manner.
Q. Why is the Order A Print e-commerce system so safe?
A. Safe Technology: Our Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Thawte
Server software enables us to provide the highest industry
standard of 128-bit-encryption. It is among the best and
strongest of the software available today for secure online
commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your customer's
personal information, including credit card number, name,
and address, so that it cannot be read.
Q. Don't want to accept credit card information on the
Internet?
A. No problem. When you set up your acceptable billing
information - choose the "check" option in the online order
form.
Q. What are the system requirements?
A. The Order A Print system does not require that you have any
special hardware or software to create, host and maintain a
site. The lab and/or photographer, however, does need to
have certain system requirements in place in order to
operate and manage the More Photos program:
To use the More Photos software you will need the
following if you are using a PC:
- Pentium 300 or higher, or 100%
compatible computer with a minimum of 64 MB RAM (Random
Access Memory). 128 MB of RAM is recommended.
- Hard drive with at least 100 MB of
free disk space.
- A standard VGA or SVGA video
card/monitor capable of displaying 65,000 colours (16-bit
high colour at 800 x 600 resolution.)
- Modem baud rate of at least 56,000 bps
(56K). A broadband connection such as Cable, or DSL is
preferred.
- Windows 9x or higher operating system.
Windows XP is preferred.
- Netscape Navigator 6x or higher, or
Internet Explorer 5x or higher.
- CD ROM drive.
- Mouse and Keyboard
- Internet Service Provider (ISP) for
Internet access.
- More Photos software.
Q. What materials do I need to setup a site?
A. Creating your site is easy- it just requires providing us
with information. about your company. You will need:
- About Us Information
This is the information about you or your business. This
is a great section for displaying your photographic
talents. Any credentials, awards, certificates, or
honours that you have received would be in this section.
- Ordering Information
This is a very important section. It displays all the
necessary information that your customers would need to
purchase from you. Do you accept credit cards? If so,
which ones. Check writing information, as well as any
special instructions they would need for placing an
order. This section will be used for customers who don't
feel comfortable ordering on-line and for your clients
who are paying for your service.
- State/Country Tax
The state/country tax information is essential for us to keep
everything in order.
- Shipping and Handling
This is a flat rate fee decided by the photographer. It
includes anyplace that you may find a customer, for all
sizes of pictures. Most commonly £7, but is set by you.
Q. How do I set up my Portfolio?
A. Setting up your Portfolio is just like setting up an
event to be moved to the web. On the Update screen, change
the Event Type to Sample and finish just like you would any
other event.
Q. How do I get my images digitized?
A. Today, there are a myriad of options: shoot digitally or
scan film/slides/prints.
Most labs offer scanning services.
Q. What type of digital photo files can I publish?
A. Photo Manager can publish the following digital photo
files:
We are currently working on including TIF files into the
software.
Q. What's the best file format for transferring images?
A. Any file format listed above can be imported into Photo
Manager. When images are being uploaded to the web, they are
converted into a .JPG file and compressed to about a 26K
file.
Q. At what resolution should I scan?
A. For web display, it is generally not necessary to scan
images at resolutions lower than 600 dpi. Scanning at lower
resolutions creates smaller file sizes but has a noticeably
poor display quality.
Q. How big can the file be?
A. Files imported to the Order A Print system may not exceed 5
MB in size. Transferring files greater than 5 MB wastes your
time and system resources. Most importantly, importing files
greater than 5 MB does not produce a higher quality final
output, that lies in the resolution of the image. It is
recommended that creating a file 1 to 3 MB in size will
suffice.
Q. What dimensions should the image be?
A. Imported images are used to create two files: a
thumbnail, and a full size. Ideally, uploaded files should
be no larger than 5,000 by 5,000 pixels. Pick the resolution
that yields the highest quality picture, and Photo Manager
will do the rest.
Q. Do I need to crop the image?
A. If the picture needs any cropping, this should be done
before importing into Photo Manager. What you upload should
resemble what you are selling.
Q. Can I use Order A Print if I shoot traditional film?
A. Certainly. Order A Print is designed for traditional
photographers, as well as digital photographers. However,
your photos must be digitized in order to be published to
your Internet storefront for sales.
Here is a lab that can help you, click this line
Q. What is FTP?
A. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP simply allows
Internet users to move files from one computer to another.
Using FTP is just like using the web; you need a software
program (called an FTP client program) that lets you connect
to FTP hosts (just as a web browser allows you to connect to
http hosts).
Q. Do I need to use an FTP Program?
A. Photo Manager utilizes an FTP type file transfer to send
your files to the web. We made it easy for the photographer
to handle the uploading and manipulation of photographs on
the Order A Print site so photographers can do what they like
doing best, taking pictures. No need for an FTP Program.
However, if you are doing your own site design, you would
need an FTP program. There are many FTP client programs and
any will work, but we recommend and support CuteFTP for
PC's.
CuteFTP is made by GlobalSCAPE.
Q. How long can I keep a photo event on my Internet
storefront?
A. There is no time limit for photo events that have been
published on your Internet storefront. However, we suggest
that you remove any photo events that are no longer being
requested by your customers. This will allow new customers
to find more recent events quicker and increase order
efficiency.
Q. What does Order A Print do to protect and secure my
photos?
A. The published photograph is approximately 26K in size and
specifically designed to maximize viewing quality for your
customers while protecting you against unauthorized copying.
Right-click ability has been removed, and all preview photos
viewed online are protected using a "digital" watermark,
thus further protecting your copyrighted photos from
unauthorized use.
Q. How long does it take to publish a photo event?
A. The time necessary to publish a photo event depends on
two things; the number of photos in the event and the speed
of your Internet connection. Below is a list of approximate
times to publish a single photo to your Internet storefront.
* Actual results may vary *
| Modem Connection |
Time Per Photo
(seconds) |
| 28.8K |
6-10 |
| 56K |
3-6 |
| V.90 |
3-6 |
| ISDN |
1-3 |
| DSL/ADSL |
1-3 |
| Cable Modem |
1 |
| T1 |
1 |
Q. Can different events have different prices/products?
A. Yes. Each event can automatically default with your
preferred pricing, but each event can have its own products
and prices. You can also have several default pricing
schedules saved.
Q. Can I delete images?
A. Yes. After the images for an event are uploaded to the
web, just go to the Online Manager. Choose "Event Manager"
and after entering in your username and password, choose the
event you want to modify, then click "Photos". Here is where
you can delete images out of an event.
Q. Must events be password protected?
A. No, The Image Gallery does not require a password,
however you have full control over whom you give the
password to. The Portfolio section does not have
password protection.
Q. How do I fulfill orders from my Internet storefront?
A. Simply go to the
photo lab of your choice to fulfill the
customer's order. Payment is sent directly to the
photographer, via accepted forms of payment. That way, the
photographer is in complete control of all aspects. It is
recommended that photographers receive payment before
sending photos to a lab.
Q. How do I let customers know about the site, event name
and password?
A. The most popular way of notifying your customers that
they have images available on your website is by making
business cards with your website address, their event name,
and the password that corresponds to their event. Another
method commonly used is collecting all the e-mail addresses
of the guests, and e-mailing the information to them.
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