I am currently using Photobiz as my online gallery, and up until recently I have been extremely happy with them. They recently added a new template however, and I've had nothing but trouble.
I have events that won't open properly. I can't link a slideshow to the online galleries, I have resolution issues with them...and getting support is slow and has proven inefficient recently.
So...I'm thinking of switching. I know that Pictage has a huge following here and was wondering what you all thought of it?
I would love your feedback.
Also, if any of you are using it, and can either explain to me how it works, or show me a link to your sites, so I can see it in action, I would really, really appreciate it.
Thanks so much
Jen
Full Version: Should I swtich?
no one loves them or hates them?
on the contrary... people either love or hate them. 
I don't use pictage for two reasons that are very important to me, but may not be to you...
1. They market their brand to your clients. ick.
2. They don't allow you to upload a web graphic to display and then only upload the corrected files for those that are ordered.
Overall I would say there are more pros than cons to using Pictage, they have a lot of products, a good client interface, 'free' credit card processing, a great community of users and local PUG meetings...
It's a big decision for sure.. I would check out a lot of options before pulling the trigger. Consider self host/fulfill options like RedCard and PickPic (I may go that way this year).
For the past 2 years I've been using ExposureManager.com and I'm very pleased, their customer service is top notch, support tickets are answered quickly 7 days a week. Their fees are lower than average and their pro lab printing is top notch. The main reason I'm thinking of switching is I'd like to offer other products besides prints in my gallery/cart system and I don't want to pay the 10% fee they charge. It makes sense when they're doing the printing and order fulfillment, but not so much when I am. They also use my logo and return address on prints sent, so my brand is the one being built with the client, not theirs...
You can check out my gallery here: Print Gallery
~Bill
I don't use pictage for two reasons that are very important to me, but may not be to you...
1. They market their brand to your clients. ick.
2. They don't allow you to upload a web graphic to display and then only upload the corrected files for those that are ordered.
Overall I would say there are more pros than cons to using Pictage, they have a lot of products, a good client interface, 'free' credit card processing, a great community of users and local PUG meetings...
It's a big decision for sure.. I would check out a lot of options before pulling the trigger. Consider self host/fulfill options like RedCard and PickPic (I may go that way this year).
For the past 2 years I've been using ExposureManager.com and I'm very pleased, their customer service is top notch, support tickets are answered quickly 7 days a week. Their fees are lower than average and their pro lab printing is top notch. The main reason I'm thinking of switching is I'd like to offer other products besides prints in my gallery/cart system and I don't want to pay the 10% fee they charge. It makes sense when they're doing the printing and order fulfillment, but not so much when I am. They also use my logo and return address on prints sent, so my brand is the one being built with the client, not theirs...
You can check out my gallery here: Print Gallery
~Bill
Thank you Bill. I appreciate all of the help you've sent my way.
Jen
Jen
I think the folks who are most satisfied with Pictage, as a service provider, are the ones, like us, that use more than one part of their service offering. If all you are looking for is online gallery services that may not be enough to justify the $99 monthly fee.
We take advantage of their free credit card processing service, reprints and often use their album design service to get to a good initial layout for our more modest album offerings. We can save a lot of time and still be able to tweak it. Pictage provides an easy way to collaborate with the couple on the final layout. Of course, those album designs must be fulfilled through Pictage as well.
A number of photographer I respect won't go near Pictage and a seemingly equal number of photographers that I respect use them extensively....
Frank
We take advantage of their free credit card processing service, reprints and often use their album design service to get to a good initial layout for our more modest album offerings. We can save a lot of time and still be able to tweak it. Pictage provides an easy way to collaborate with the couple on the final layout. Of course, those album designs must be fulfilled through Pictage as well.
A number of photographer I respect won't go near Pictage and a seemingly equal number of photographers that I respect use them extensively....
Frank
I'm actually leaving Pictage, slowly but surely. At least I think I am. The only thing that has been trustworthy so far is their online proofing. Their books are horrible. I'm sending back my 4th book today because after 2 days with the client, the pages simply started falling out. None of my clients like the proof albums because you can't have them without the numbers. I've actually started using a company called Image Capsule. I haven't started using their online proofing, though they have that, but I have some really customized albums from them that just happen to be amazing and for kicks, water proof. That's a big seller with the clients. It might be worth a phone call to them: www.imagecapsule.com Isn't it hard knowing who to use? Ugg, I hate all this. Why can't one of them just be perfect.
Pictage has many people who love them and many who hate them and some who are in between. There are a whole bunch of threads on here where people have given these opinions. Your best bet would be to read through the threads on this section of the forum and then make your decision based on how you want to run your business.
We were with Pictage, we left Pictage. Our major reasons were that they have horrible customer service (which really hasn't seemed to improve, from reading other people's posts, and we left three years ago.) they also had very inconsistent print quality.
We were with Pictage, we left Pictage. Our major reasons were that they have horrible customer service (which really hasn't seemed to improve, from reading other people's posts, and we left three years ago.) they also had very inconsistent print quality.
i have a love hate relationship with them.
Hmmm.....well, I think I will stay with photobiz for now. I've got some issues resolved and I really like the look of their galleries.
Thank you, to everyone who gave their reply.
Jen
Thank you, to everyone who gave their reply.
Jen
There's a ton of factors to consider to know if Pictage is right for you.
1. Do you make more than 100$ a month in print sales to cover the membership fee.
2. If you don't make that much from print sales now, do you have the potential to if Pictage's service can provide them to your clients.
There's also the other services that Pictage offers that you also need to weigh in. Will you use the free credit card processing? Off site file storage in case you lost your backups, you can download your jpegs back from them. There's also their community of PUG meetings, Partnercon, and forums (which aren't as nice as here) and like everything else.. they have some downfalls too. I could do without the spam, and ebay shipping costs but I still think the benefits to my business far outweigh me trying to do it all myself.
1. Do you make more than 100$ a month in print sales to cover the membership fee.
2. If you don't make that much from print sales now, do you have the potential to if Pictage's service can provide them to your clients.
There's also the other services that Pictage offers that you also need to weigh in. Will you use the free credit card processing? Off site file storage in case you lost your backups, you can download your jpegs back from them. There's also their community of PUG meetings, Partnercon, and forums (which aren't as nice as here) and like everything else.. they have some downfalls too. I could do without the spam, and ebay shipping costs but I still think the benefits to my business far outweigh me trying to do it all myself.
QUOTE(Lynn Squier @ March 3 2008, 02:31 PM) 
Pictage has many people who love them and many who hate them and some who are in between. There are a whole bunch of threads on here where people have given these opinions. Your best bet would be to read through the threads on this section of the forum and then make your decision based on how you want to run your business.
We were with Pictage, we left Pictage. Our major reasons were that they have horrible customer service (which really hasn't seemed to improve, from reading other people's posts, and we left three years ago.) they also had very inconsistent print quality.
We were with Pictage, we left Pictage. Our major reasons were that they have horrible customer service (which really hasn't seemed to improve, from reading other people's posts, and we left three years ago.) they also had very inconsistent print quality.
I understand people's frustrations with Pictage - we've had ours over the last 4 years - but it still bothers me when people who haven't used them for an extended period of time comment negatively on a company that is changing so fast and isn't even close to the same company as they were 3 or 4 or 5 years ago (depending on which photographer you're talking to). In fact, things have changed pretty dramatically in the last year or two.
It's also interesting to me that a small fraction of their users or past users posting negative comments puts Pictage in such a negative light, when they're just a small drop in the bucket of 6000 Pictage users. The negative always gets brought to the forefront while the consistency (less than 2% of client orders have redos, and that's with about a million clients from the 6000 photographers - that's amazing!!!!) gets overlooked.
Anyway, I think it's the outsourcing that is the most important. Let whatever company you think will do the best job of handling as much of your post-processing work as possible be your company!
For me, it's Pictage. And the cool thing is, they mean so much more to the industry and to my business than just post-processing. But that's for a whole 'nother post!
The good...
1. They process credit cards - that alone makes the fee worth it. It is cheaper than what it would cost me to process a year's worth of credit card orders.
2. They back up the images - whew. Even though I back my images up, I like having Pictage do it as well.
3. I like that my clients can choose "favorites" and I can have those images quickly sent to me by ftp.
4. I don't rely on print sales from weddings - so it's nice not to have to deal with the orders from friends and family.
5. If you want to be well-known to other photographers, Pictage can be a useful vehicle.
The bad...
1. As someone mentioned above, they are more concerned with branding themselves than allowing me to brand myself. That really sucks.
2. They tout themselves as high end - but they are not. They do get high end photographers on board with them, but they don't carry high end products. They don't offer printing on fine art paper, they don't offer canvas, if someone orders wallets - they get a page of wallets that have to be cut out by the customer, etc.
3. Customer service is bad.
4. Turn around time is slow.
5. They will not combine shipping. Even if you order several things at one time. They simply will not do it.
With that said, I am still with Pictage. I fulfill a lot of orders for high end products - but it's worth it to me. I don't know of another lab that can offer everything that I want/need. I just wish Pictage would get it together and listen to their clients.
1. They process credit cards - that alone makes the fee worth it. It is cheaper than what it would cost me to process a year's worth of credit card orders.
2. They back up the images - whew. Even though I back my images up, I like having Pictage do it as well.
3. I like that my clients can choose "favorites" and I can have those images quickly sent to me by ftp.
4. I don't rely on print sales from weddings - so it's nice not to have to deal with the orders from friends and family.
5. If you want to be well-known to other photographers, Pictage can be a useful vehicle.
The bad...
1. As someone mentioned above, they are more concerned with branding themselves than allowing me to brand myself. That really sucks.
2. They tout themselves as high end - but they are not. They do get high end photographers on board with them, but they don't carry high end products. They don't offer printing on fine art paper, they don't offer canvas, if someone orders wallets - they get a page of wallets that have to be cut out by the customer, etc.
3. Customer service is bad.
4. Turn around time is slow.
5. They will not combine shipping. Even if you order several things at one time. They simply will not do it.
With that said, I am still with Pictage. I fulfill a lot of orders for high end products - but it's worth it to me. I don't know of another lab that can offer everything that I want/need. I just wish Pictage would get it together and listen to their clients.
QUOTE(Nathan Holritz @ March 3 2008, 02:55 PM)
I understand people's frustrations with Pictage - we've had ours over the last 4 years - but it still bothers me when people who haven't used them for an extended period of time comment negatively on a company that is changing so fast and isn't even close to the same company as they were 3 or 4 or 5 years ago (depending on which photographer you're talking to). In fact, things have changed pretty dramatically in the last year or two.
It's also interesting to me that a small fraction of their users or past users posting negative comments puts Pictage in such a negative light, when they're just a small drop in the bucket of 6000 Pictage users. The negative always gets brought to the forefront while the consistency (less than 2% of client orders have redos, and that's with about a million clients from the 6000 photographers - that's amazing!!!!) gets overlooked.
Anyway, I think it's the outsourcing that is the most important. Let whatever company you think will do the best job of handling as much of your post-processing work as possible be your company!
For me, it's Pictage. And the cool thing is, they mean so much more to the industry and to my business than just post-processing. But that's for a whole 'nother post!
It's also interesting to me that a small fraction of their users or past users posting negative comments puts Pictage in such a negative light, when they're just a small drop in the bucket of 6000 Pictage users. The negative always gets brought to the forefront while the consistency (less than 2% of client orders have redos, and that's with about a million clients from the 6000 photographers - that's amazing!!!!) gets overlooked.
Anyway, I think it's the outsourcing that is the most important. Let whatever company you think will do the best job of handling as much of your post-processing work as possible be your company!
For me, it's Pictage. And the cool thing is, they mean so much more to the industry and to my business than just post-processing. But that's for a whole 'nother post!
I am sorry that you are offended that I shared our experience. She asked for people's experiences, I would assume that meant good and bad. My most recent actual experience with Pictage was about a year ago, when I continued to try to get them to cancel my service, after almost two years of trying. I did qualify my comments with the information that we have not used them in several years, but I have heard photographers consistently talk about problems with customer service at Pictage. Even many photographers who are happy with Pictage have commented on the continuing issues of customer service. I did not say anything about print quality now, because I know nothing about it. I also said that it is a good fit for some photographers. At the same time, you have to be pretty stupid to completely discount the experiences of numerous photographers, like you seem to want everyone to do in every thread about Pictage. I talk to photographers constantly who are either still using them or have recently quit using them who have had major, continuing problems with customer service. I think it is fair for those who are evaluating whether or not to use Pictage to hear the whole story, not just the story of those like you that have had a great experience. That is why I told her to read about it, evaluate whether or not it fits her needs and make her own decision, based on the whole picture.
Jen, if you are thinking about other options, I would highly recommend that you look at Collages.net. I do not use them anymore since we have our own cart now, but did for almost two years. They have excellent customer service and a very nice interface. I know nothing about their print quality since we have never used them for that.
QUOTE(Lynn Squier @ March 3 2008, 03:17 PM)
I am sorry that you are offended that I shared our experience. She asked for people's experiences, I would assume that meant good and bad. My most recent actual experience with Pictage was about a year ago, when I continued to try to get them to cancel my service, after almost two years of trying. I did qualify my comments with the information that we have not used them in several years, but I have heard photographers consistently talk about problems with customer service at Pictage. Even many photographers who are happy with Pictage have commented on the continuing issues of customer service. I did not say anything about print quality now, because I know nothing about it. I also said that it is a good fit for some photographers. At the same time, you have to be pretty stupid to completely discount the experiences of numerous photographers, like you seem to want everyone to do in every thread about Pictage. I talk to photographers constantly who are either still using them or have recently quit using them who have had major, continuing problems with customer service. I think it is fair for those who are evaluating whether or not to use Pictage to hear the whole story, not just the story of those like you that have had a great experience. That is why I told her to read about it, evaluate whether or not it fits her needs and make her own decision, based on the whole picture.
Jen, if you are thinking about other options, I would highly recommend that you look at Collages.net. I do not use them anymore since we have our own cart now, but did for almost two years. They have excellent customer service and a very nice interface. I know nothing about their print quality since we have never used them for that.
Jen, if you are thinking about other options, I would highly recommend that you look at Collages.net. I do not use them anymore since we have our own cart now, but did for almost two years. They have excellent customer service and a very nice interface. I know nothing about their print quality since we have never used them for that.
Stupid? Wow. No one including myself discounted anyone's user experience itself, and in fact I pointed out the difficulty that we've had. My main point was that if you haven't actively used their service in 3 years (give or take a year or two even), then it just doesn't seem that your experience would be legit information to base a decision on.
I love Jill's post because she actually has current experience to base her information on, she posted the bad and good, and did it in a really logical manner.
I'm not on every Pictage thread Lynn, if you'll look back at them. In fact, these days I don't normally post in them because they're generally a waste of time. I guess from time to time I just get fed up with the "Pictage sucks" posts that don't have a lot of meat to them, are misinformed, or whatever.
Anyway, not out to start a fight. Just wanted to make sure there was some perspective put on this thread.
Whether or not someone goes with Pictage doesn't really matter in the end. It's the idea that you're outsourcing as much as possible to streamline your business that matters.
Happy loving hugs to everyone, and Jen, I hope I didn't misdirect your thread too much....
QUOTE(Nathan Holritz @ March 3 2008, 01:47 PM)
Happy loving hugs to everyone, and Jen, I hope I didn't misdirect your thread too much....
No, no....I wanted EVERYONE's opinions.
Thank you.
Jen
QUOTE(Mark Christensen @ March 3 2008, 11:21 AM)
I'm actually leaving Pictage, slowly but surely. At least I think I am. The only thing that has been trustworthy so far is their online proofing. Their books are horrible. I'm sending back my 4th book today because after 2 days with the client, the pages simply started falling out. None of my clients like the proof albums because you can't have them without the numbers. I've actually started using a company called Image Capsule. I haven't started using their online proofing, though they have that, but I have some really customized albums from them that just happen to be amazing and for kicks, water proof. That's a big seller with the clients. It might be worth a phone call to them: www.imagecapsule.com Isn't it hard knowing who to use? Ugg, I hate all this. Why can't one of them just be perfect.
You can make the books without the numbers. You just have to make that choice in the advanced options.
QUOTE(jenc @ March 3 2008, 09:20 AM)
I am currently using Photobiz as my online gallery, and up until recently I have been extremely happy with them. They recently added a new template however, and I've had nothing but trouble.
I have events that won't open properly. I can't link a slideshow to the online galleries, I have resolution issues with them...and getting support is slow and has proven inefficient recently.
So...I'm thinking of switching. I know that Pictage has a huge following here and was wondering what you all thought of it?
I would love your feedback.
Also, if any of you are using it, and can either explain to me how it works, or show me a link to your sites, so I can see it in action, I would really, really appreciate it.
Thanks so much
Jen
I have events that won't open properly. I can't link a slideshow to the online galleries, I have resolution issues with them...and getting support is slow and has proven inefficient recently.
So...I'm thinking of switching. I know that Pictage has a huge following here and was wondering what you all thought of it?
I would love your feedback.
Also, if any of you are using it, and can either explain to me how it works, or show me a link to your sites, so I can see it in action, I would really, really appreciate it.
Thanks so much
Jen
if you enjoy migranes, giving your....wait no....having your money stolen from your bank account and horrible customer service then you should definitely sign up with pictage! however, if you're repulsed by any of those then you should consider every single other alternative to pictage that exist. i would highly recommend instaproofs.com. greats guys and very easy to use. the back end for photographers is AMAZING! their commission isn't too bad either.
-courtney
My favorite things about Pictage-
*Credit card processing - saves me a bundle
*Backing up - absolutely saved me when I accidentally deleted files and just the convenience of it thrills me - if I need an image from 2 years ago, I don't have to try to find it or match up image numbers, I just FTP it to myself. This is great too when I am traveling and want to work on an album design or something and I don't need to have all of the images on my laptop, so if I find a few free hours I can be working in minutes.
*Community - PUG is fabulous!
*Not having to fulfill orders - Call me happy happy happy! I know there are photographers who don't like to touch up every image before showing them to the client. My style doesn't involve a lot of photoshop work and if I had a different system which didn't require uploading print ready images, I wouldn't do anything differently than I do now.
*Album design service - I really love that it can get me started on a design because sometimes I am just stuck. And it's a great option for clients who haven't pre-purchased an album - I just order the design and don't need to spend the time designing something they might never purchase.
*My print sales - they've really increased a lot since I joined Pictage. And while I know there are people who don't like the promotional emails they send out, I always get a huge spike in orders right after.
Like Jill, I'd love some more high-end products and particularly on the wallets. I'm excited for some of the new products that are coming down the pipe.
And just to comment on a couple of things that were mentioned - you can order the proof books without numbers (I do it all the time and order them as keepsake books rather than proof books). Also, they've really improved the customer interface and reduced the profile of the Pictage branding.
Finally, I think Nathan hit on the best point -
Feel free to ask any specific questions - always happy to answer!
*Credit card processing - saves me a bundle
*Backing up - absolutely saved me when I accidentally deleted files and just the convenience of it thrills me - if I need an image from 2 years ago, I don't have to try to find it or match up image numbers, I just FTP it to myself. This is great too when I am traveling and want to work on an album design or something and I don't need to have all of the images on my laptop, so if I find a few free hours I can be working in minutes.
*Community - PUG is fabulous!
*Not having to fulfill orders - Call me happy happy happy! I know there are photographers who don't like to touch up every image before showing them to the client. My style doesn't involve a lot of photoshop work and if I had a different system which didn't require uploading print ready images, I wouldn't do anything differently than I do now.
*Album design service - I really love that it can get me started on a design because sometimes I am just stuck. And it's a great option for clients who haven't pre-purchased an album - I just order the design and don't need to spend the time designing something they might never purchase.
*My print sales - they've really increased a lot since I joined Pictage. And while I know there are people who don't like the promotional emails they send out, I always get a huge spike in orders right after.
Like Jill, I'd love some more high-end products and particularly on the wallets. I'm excited for some of the new products that are coming down the pipe.
And just to comment on a couple of things that were mentioned - you can order the proof books without numbers (I do it all the time and order them as keepsake books rather than proof books). Also, they've really improved the customer interface and reduced the profile of the Pictage branding.
Finally, I think Nathan hit on the best point -
QUOTE
Whether or not someone goes with Pictage doesn't really matter in the end. It's the idea that you're outsourcing as much as possible to streamline your business that matters.
Feel free to ask any specific questions - always happy to answer!
Hi, Jen,
I preface what I say with the fact that I am a Pictage User Group leader.
My business would not be where it is now without Pictage. The fact that they want their users to do well and bring in top wedding photographers to speak, mentor and do weekly live chats on the forum is part of the reason that I highly recommend them.
Pictage now versus Pictage even last year is night and day. Yes, the client does see their images on Pictages website, but now it has my logo and branding on it. You can even make a link on your website to all your client galleries. They are constantly improving and offering new products, including canvas prints soon.
I don't fulfill any orders. When a client places an order, I get an email and say "cool" and then do nothing.
I don't design albums or pay anyone an outrageous amount to design them. I spend on average 1 - 2 hours working on an album. I order Leather Craftsmen albums and am incredibly happy with them. I am billed once a month for up to thousands of dollars of products that have already been shipped to me, instead of having my credit card constantly charged.
I do sometimes get a box that was crushed in shipping. I even "met" Jill the first time when I received one of her orders by mistake (2 years ago). I have returned 1 print for a redo in over 2 years. I have not ever had an issue with accounting. I do not deny that others have had issues. As PUG leader, I hear about them. I'm not thrilled with the per image correction fee for each album image, but they look great.
Would I have more time if I didn't edit each image to print quality and only edited images to fulfill orders? - I don't have the answer to that. But as Jessica mentioned, I would not do anything different that I am now. I would never post an image on a gallery that I wasn't 100% happy with. That's just my personal preference.
Pictage has awesome introductory offers. You should give them a try. Leave your current system in place and just see if it works for you.
I preface what I say with the fact that I am a Pictage User Group leader.
My business would not be where it is now without Pictage. The fact that they want their users to do well and bring in top wedding photographers to speak, mentor and do weekly live chats on the forum is part of the reason that I highly recommend them.
Pictage now versus Pictage even last year is night and day. Yes, the client does see their images on Pictages website, but now it has my logo and branding on it. You can even make a link on your website to all your client galleries. They are constantly improving and offering new products, including canvas prints soon.
I don't fulfill any orders. When a client places an order, I get an email and say "cool" and then do nothing.
I don't design albums or pay anyone an outrageous amount to design them. I spend on average 1 - 2 hours working on an album. I order Leather Craftsmen albums and am incredibly happy with them. I am billed once a month for up to thousands of dollars of products that have already been shipped to me, instead of having my credit card constantly charged.
I do sometimes get a box that was crushed in shipping. I even "met" Jill the first time when I received one of her orders by mistake (2 years ago). I have returned 1 print for a redo in over 2 years. I have not ever had an issue with accounting. I do not deny that others have had issues. As PUG leader, I hear about them. I'm not thrilled with the per image correction fee for each album image, but they look great.
Would I have more time if I didn't edit each image to print quality and only edited images to fulfill orders? - I don't have the answer to that. But as Jessica mentioned, I would not do anything different that I am now. I would never post an image on a gallery that I wasn't 100% happy with. That's just my personal preference.
Pictage has awesome introductory offers. You should give them a try. Leave your current system in place and just see if it works for you.
QUOTE(regina @ March 9 2008, 12:50 AM)
Hi, Jen,
Pictage now versus Pictage even last year is night and day. Yes, the client does see their images on Pictages website, but now it has my logo and branding on it. You can even make a link on your website to all your client galleries. They are constantly improving and offering new products, including canvas prints soon.
Pictage now versus Pictage even last year is night and day. Yes, the client does see their images on Pictages website, but now it has my logo and branding on it. You can even make a link on your website to all your client galleries. They are constantly improving and offering new products, including canvas prints soon.
Regina,
How are incorporating your branding on the Pictage site? I don't know of anyway to do this.
I know I have asked on the forum as have countless others. I know there is a tiny place (less than one inch high) for our logo on the bottom left of the screen and you have to scroll down to see it. Clients can only see the top half of the logo without scrolling down. I know they put our name on the top, but it is small and hard to see The font looks it is sized at about 12 and there is no link to our site or information from our name. That is all I am aware of that we can do.
I'm sure I've missed something since there is no PUG where I live - but would love for you to help me out here if there is a way to incorporate our branding and I'm not aware of something.
How funny - that is when we "met" isn't it? I actually received your order. That is one of the first times I got really bad customer service from Pictage. I mean - BAD.
Anyway...Pictage is better in some ways. They have straightened out accounting. But it would be great if they would improve customer service. That has been the biggest complaint I have heard over the years (along with accounting) but they don't seem to think it is important I guess. Regina - you have to be one of the sweetest people on the planet - and the Holritzes - they need to put one of you in charge of hiring someone to make a customer service overhaul. Seriously.
QUOTE(Mark Christensen @ March 3 2008, 01:21 PM)
I'm actually leaving Pictage, slowly but surely. At least I think I am. The only thing that has been trustworthy so far is their online proofing. Their books are horrible. I'm sending back my 4th book today because after 2 days with the client, the pages simply started falling out. None of my clients like the proof albums because you can't have them without the numbers. I've actually started using a company called Image Capsule. I haven't started using their online proofing, though they have that, but I have some really customized albums from them that just happen to be amazing and for kicks, water proof. That's a big seller with the clients. It might be worth a phone call to them: www.imagecapsule.com Isn't it hard knowing who to use? Ugg, I hate all this. Why can't one of them just be perfect.
Which proof books did you have the pages falling out of? Just curious since I had 2 Willowbook Cedar(9x9) proof books where the pages were falling out. One book had pages falling out as soon as I opened it for the first time. I should note that Pictage has shipped me books to replace these but I still had page problems with one of the redos. I think the new "glued" books are not as well put together as the older "sewn" books which I'm now going back to since I do not trust the glued books anymore. I have a sample sewn proofbook since 2006 that has been shipped all over and looked through many times without 1 page problem and this book contains 1500 images!
I learned quick to get a hold of your Pro Rep since they seem quick to fix any problems you have.
My 2 cents anyway.
Hi Jill,
Hopefully today, folks are a little less salty. I'm pretty new to Pictage, so my opinions are based on what has gone down over there in the last 6 months. It has changed alot and so far so good. We will see. As far as the logo, you can send them a 600x600 pixel jpg and they will put it up for you. It appears on any page that your client and potential clients go to regarding anything about your studio. When you log in to Pictage, go to the Support tab, then find the getting started section. They will give you instructions on how to send them your logo. It normally takes 1 day for it to be updated. Hope that this helps.
Hopefully today, folks are a little less salty. I'm pretty new to Pictage, so my opinions are based on what has gone down over there in the last 6 months. It has changed alot and so far so good. We will see. As far as the logo, you can send them a 600x600 pixel jpg and they will put it up for you. It appears on any page that your client and potential clients go to regarding anything about your studio. When you log in to Pictage, go to the Support tab, then find the getting started section. They will give you instructions on how to send them your logo. It normally takes 1 day for it to be updated. Hope that this helps.
QUOTE(Jill Higgins @ March 9 2008, 09:37 AM)
Regina,
How are incorporating your branding on the Pictage site? I don't know of anyway to do this.
I know I have asked on the forum as have countless others. I know there is a tiny place (less than one inch high) for our logo on the bottom left of the screen and you have to scroll down to see it. Clients can only see the top half of the logo without scrolling down. I know they put our name on the top, but it is small and hard to see The font looks it is sized at about 12 and there is no link to our site or information from our name. That is all I am aware of that we can do.
I'm sure I've missed something since there is no PUG where I live - but would love for you to help me out here if there is a way to incorporate our branding and I'm not aware of something.
How funny - that is when we "met" isn't it? I actually received your order. That is one of the first times I got really bad customer service from Pictage. I mean - BAD.
Anyway...Pictage is better in some ways. They have straightened out accounting. But it would be great if they would improve customer service. That has been the biggest complaint I have heard over the years (along with accounting) but they don't seem to think it is important I guess. Regina - you have to be one of the sweetest people on the planet - and the Holritzes - they need to put one of you in charge of hiring someone to make a customer service overhaul. Seriously.
How are incorporating your branding on the Pictage site? I don't know of anyway to do this.
I know I have asked on the forum as have countless others. I know there is a tiny place (less than one inch high) for our logo on the bottom left of the screen and you have to scroll down to see it. Clients can only see the top half of the logo without scrolling down. I know they put our name on the top, but it is small and hard to see The font looks it is sized at about 12 and there is no link to our site or information from our name. That is all I am aware of that we can do.
I'm sure I've missed something since there is no PUG where I live - but would love for you to help me out here if there is a way to incorporate our branding and I'm not aware of something.
How funny - that is when we "met" isn't it? I actually received your order. That is one of the first times I got really bad customer service from Pictage. I mean - BAD.
Anyway...Pictage is better in some ways. They have straightened out accounting. But it would be great if they would improve customer service. That has been the biggest complaint I have heard over the years (along with accounting) but they don't seem to think it is important I guess. Regina - you have to be one of the sweetest people on the planet - and the Holritzes - they need to put one of you in charge of hiring someone to make a customer service overhaul. Seriously.
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