Where do I go?
Shark
Registered Users Posts: 282 Major grins
Where would one direct me to if I'm thinking about having my sales/printing/shipping done through SmugMug? I'm thinking I might want to open up a shopping cart, fill in my prices, and maybe have that as part of my site. Is it hard to set this all up?
Thanks.
Shark
Thanks.
Shark
0
Comments
Do you have a smugmug Pro account? You have to have a pro account to sell photos through smugmug.
Once you have a pro account you can set prices.
And make your pictures printable:
Tools -->This Gallery --> Customize
Scroll down to Printing
-Printable : YES
-Proof Days : how long you have to retouch/edit/proof photos before they print and ship
-Backprinting : Text that will print on the back of photos.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
Thanks Phyxius.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
http://www.smugmug.com/help/pro-start.mg
Holler with questions
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Hey Shark,
Have no fear, smugmug is user friendly! I know it may seem daunting at first, there are so many print options...two different print labs, tons of sizes, multiple types of paper, mounted vs unmounted, prints, merchandise, and digital images, oh my! <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/eek7.gif" border="0" alt="" > But, the first price you should set is your portolio pricing. Portfolio pricing applies to every single printable image you upload to your SmugMug site.</> You can override the portfolio prices by changing prices for individual galleries or images. I do equine event photography (basically horse shows), so my prices are pretty darn standard through every gallery so I save TONS of time by having my portfolio prices set. You can also copy prices from other galleries once you've set them. And, you can increase or decrease prices by percentages or dollar amounts.
I keep all of my galleries on a proof delay of 7 days (the max). The customer orders prints and I get an e-mail saying that I have an order. I go and check the order to verify the crop and my processing. If I need to fix anything I can by using the "replace photo" button. If all is good I hit "print and ship". The lab prints the photo(s) and mails them out to the customer. The customer gets an e-mail saying that their prints have shipped. No muss, no fuss.<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >
As long as the watermark you have on the photos is from the "watermarking" tool or from your customize menu and NOT something that you've put on the photos before uploading them to smugmug you'll be fine! Original files are not watermarked and watermarks do not print.
Besides the yearly cost of your pro account you pay nothing for prints and shipping. You mark up the base prices (you'll see them when you set your prices, leaving prices blank sells them at cost - no profit, filling in $0.00 means that you are not allowing that item to show in the shopping cart, any other price = mark up). When you mark up the prices you get 85% of the profit the other 15% goes to smugmug to cover credit card payment fees, customer service, etc.
Andy's fast start will get you on the right path.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
And thanks Phyxius, your description on how the process works was worded very descriptive and to the tee. I'm hoping that when I go to do this, it indeed is an easier thing to do than what it looks like. Time will tell. Still uncertain about what happens when I get an order. My photos from the events I shoot, go on my sight straight off my camera. When someone wants a print, I make a copy of it from my master, which is on a DVD, then I edit it, print it, and send it along to my customer. Can I still do it that way, or is there another procedure to follow for editing photos that are sold? I guess we'll soon see.
Thanks again.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
You're welcome, Shark!
I've very literal, so I'm going to go to the begining here, sorry if it's overkill! When a customer places an order for your photos you'll get an e-mail like this one from SmugMug -
I doctored the customer name/address/order number etc. But this gives you a pretty good idea of what your e-mail will look like. Clicking on the provided link will take you to the sales details for that order. This page will include the customer's name/e-mail and provided address(es) and phone number. Date the order was placed and the status of the order like, proof delay until xx/xx/2009 or processing & printing or shipped. Below that are thumbnails of the purchased images, description of item purchased, quantity purchased, cost of item, your mark up, your profit, and whether or not smugmug has send you the money yet. (Great info here -> Show Me The Money) You can also get to your sales details when you're logged in by going to your main smugmug page and clicking on Tools and then View Pro Sales.
If you've set a proof delay you have that many days to review, recrop, retouch and/or replace the image. You can always click "Ship It" if you're ready to go before the proof delay is over. Great info on this function is here - Proof Retouch Replace.
Remember though, if you offer digital downloads they'll get the image that you uploaded first. You will NOT get a chance to retouch it.
Basically, yes. If you upload the photos without editting and set a proof delay on the gallery you have the option to retouch/replace as mentioned above. However, if you use the Smugmug shopping cart you'll be choosing either Bay Photo or EZ Prints to do your prints for you and they will send them along to the customer. Again, remember that you can not retouch digital downloads.
I suggest doing a soft opening. Set up a gallery and set prices for $.01 more than the base price and set your proof delay. Logout. Buy some of your pictures for yourself. Log back in and check out your sales details.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
Don't worry about the overkill, I prefer that. I do it myself. Besides, when I'm trying to learn something, I really need it. Sorry for not absorbing this quickly, and asking stupid questions, but I need to know another answer or two.
If I'm reading this right, I can't edit the photos with my own photo editing program to get ready for printing. I would have to do the editing within the SmugMug site? Is this correct?
Also, I went into one of my galleries and set the prices that I wanted, eliminated the items I didn't want, and thought I was going along fairly well with the whole thing. I then got out and went back into the gallery. When I clicked on the shopping cart, the default prices were listed. Did I not finish finalizing my prices when I made them?
Thanks for your patience.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Shark,
No worries, haven't you heard the saying the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked? It's all good!
You can definately use your own editting program! Smugmug offers a few basic edits like cropping, rotating, and some color/tint changes, but I think a large majority of people on here use some version of photoshop as their primary editting program. You can use any program you want.
If you upload your JPGs straight out of the camera and someone orders a print and you need to go in and straighten it, fix the white balance, whatever, you can do that by going to the sales details and choosing "Replace photo" In the link I posted about retouch/replace (http://www.smugmug.com/help/proof-retouch-replace) it shows the two ways to correctly replace a purchased photo:
1.
or
2.
When you set the prices did you hit "Save Prices" at the bottom of the page? If you did then the prices should be saved, you can always click on "Set Prices" again and the boxes stay filled in. Did you log out of your account? If you're logged in you'll only see the base price, but in small print under the item description you'll see your customer's cost and wheter or not the item needs cropping. In the screen grab below the customer's cost is highlighted in yellow and the cost to you is highlighted in green. When the customer looks at this screen they'll see your full markup in the green highlighted area, not the cost from smugmug. To see what that looks like to a customer you need to either log out or use the "Visitor View" button.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
I'm glad that you can edit a sold photo with your own programs. I scanned your reply quickly and found that out. I wasn't understanding how to take it out of SmugMug, edit it, and get it back on the site to be printed, but I'll look at that a little more in depth in a little while. I want to know for sure how to get the photo out to edit, back on the site, and then replace the sold photo to my gallery.
You are very thorough with your explaining, which is the way I am too when I'm teaching somebody something, so I appreciate it.
I think I'm also going to go with your suggestion on making the pricelist one penny over SmugMug's price and then ordering some of my own photos just to see the process in action. That's a good idea.
I will let you know if everything goes smoothly.
Thanks alot for your help.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
One question, for now, I saw when I completed my order, that there was no option to print a receipt out. Was there something I missed. I'm assuming SmugMug will send me/the customer an e-mail confirming my order. Is that what the customer prints for their receipt?
Now the next thing that is still a little hazy for me is what my next step as the photographer is. I think SmugMug will send me an e-mail informing me of the sale?? And at this point, I'm not sure of the procedure on editing the sold photos for the sale, and then replacing them on my site. I will look back at the replies Phyxius sent to me and try to figure that out if I can.
I guess I also have to submit something to SmugMug for tax purposes?? I better see what that's about too huh?
Well, I guess I'll wait until I get home from work and see if SmugMug sent me an e-mail as the customer, confirming my order, and if an e-mail came to me as the photographer, informing me of the sale.
We'll see what happens.
Thanks.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
It sounds like you're doing pretty good! When you get home you should see the e-mail that you received as the customer and the e-mail that you receive as the pro. The pro e-mail will have a link directly to the order you placed.
You can access your sales details at any time that you can access your smugmug site. Go to your smugmug homepage, log in. You'll have a tool bar near the top of your screen with:
Add Photos - Tools - Buy - Themes - Visitor View - Homepage Layout
Click "Tools" and then choose "View Pro Sales". This will open your sales details. If you don't see the order you placed make sure you use the drop down tab to select "Not Paid".
Information on how to get paid is located here -> Show Me The Money!
To replace a purchased image with your shiny, new editted version I prefer using the "Replace" button in your sales detail page. It's display right next to the purchased image. Here is that link again - http://phyxius.smugmug.com/help/proof-retouch-replace
Basic jist is that you must REPLACE the old photo, not just add a new one to the gallery.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
I know I must really be sounding simple but, I see the area where the "Replace" button is. I'm guessing I need to have the same photo in a file on my computer, ready to be placed as the replacement photo?
Now if I can edit sold photos using my own programs, how do I do it from here? Do I remove it from SmugMug, do my editing, then put it back on?
This particular photo was edited before being put on SmugMug, so I don't have to do anything with it, but the photos I take at local sporting events will need to be edited when sold.
I need to try and find the area where that is explained. I know this is a much smoother way to take care of business here, but it can be a little challenging while trying to figure it out. The help that is given here on the Forum is a huge timesaver.
Thanks.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
If my photos are set to be viewed at medium on my site, are they still able to be printed large?
Also, if a customer orders a photo, and asks for a larger size, but the photo is not large enough for that big of a print, is the customer notified of that, or is the photo printed anyways?
These are just questions I'm thinking of as I go along.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Smugmug shopping cart will not allow a customer to order a print that the original photo can not support, so you are protected here.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/craigridleyoutdoorphotography
Want to save $5 on a smugmug account? Use this coupon code: WzG2eZLQPGrqI
That's great. Thanks Craig.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
That's exactly right. When you want to change the photo that a customer ordered to it's new editted version you just click "replace" and you can replace the old image with the newly editted one. Good job!
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
But what about editing the one that is sold? Do you take it off SmugMug, to the program you use for editing, do what you need to do, then put it back on SmugMug so it can be printed and shipped? The editing of the sold photo I'm not grasping the procedure of yet.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
No, don't delete it from SmugMug. Just edit your file locally and then go to the order and locate the photo that you want to replace. Click on the 'replace photo' button and use the browse button to locate the file on your computer that you just edited. Hit the replace button and be patient for the upload to finish. That's it.
More details on the proof delay feature are here.
Sebastian
SmugMug Support Hero
OK, I feel like I might be starting to see a little light at the end of this tunnel. I'm hoping what I'm about to say is the way it works. Here goes.
Once a photo is purchased, you go to your CD or DVD, where ever you store your originals, make a copy, and then edit that same photo for printing and shipping. Then, when you go back to SmugMug and hit "Replace Photo", is the photo that's being "replaced", the one that will actually be used for printing and shipping to the customer? Meanwhile, the photo that the customer saw on your site, and purchased, is never even touched?
Does that make sense?
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Sort of.
I work well with scenarios, so lets see how this works for you -
I photograph a horse show, come up and upload photos without doing any edits. My customer sees the photo I've posted below. I'll give it the name "Upload_1"
The customer purchases the photo. I have proof delay on the gallery. The customer tells me that they'd like the porta potty removed from the picture. I go to my local copy, the image that is on my harddrive, CD/DVD, where ever it's stored and I grab it and edit it. I go back to my pro sales details and click replace. Now, I'll choose c:\Edit_1. This replaces your old image with the new version -
This means that the photo the customer purchased - "Upload_1" was removed and replaced with the editted version - "Edit_1". When you replace the file the old one is gone from the site.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
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I thought I would jump in here and add some helpful hints regarding Smugmug's incredibly wonderful services, but you guys seem to be right on target helping "shark". I know you'll be thrilled with the process from start to finish, once you get going with regular client orders via SM.
Don't forget to go back and re-price the photos you changed to one cent higher than your cost, so clients can order at the prices you originally set.
(After you're finished printing your sample photos, etc.)
Welcome to the wonderful world of Smugmug ordering and processing. Everyone here is incredibly helpful and encouraging. You'll wonder why you ever processed photos any other way once you get rolling!
Justus Photography
www.lindasherrill.com
I think that's how I was thinking the process went. After I edit on my own, when I replace photo, the replaced photo is the one that is printed and shipped to the customer. So the photo that is on my site never is even touched right? It's just there for the customer to view and decide if they want it. It's on my site, kind of like it's in a catalog?
What about if they order three different sizes of the same photo, do they all have to be "Replaced", or can one editing be done, and the printing and shipping be done from one replacement? Does that make sense?
Happy Easter.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Correct! When you replace the old photo the new one is printed/shipped, you don't do anything to the one you originally uploaded.
Regarding sizes, if they order a 4x6, 8x10, and 11x16 (or whatever sizes) of the image and you replace one it replaces the source file so ALL will be the new image. Make sure that you leave room for cropping. You can verify all crops in your pro sales detail in the same place and at the same time you replace the file. So, make sure that the file you're using to replace the original still works for the different print ratios choosen.
Also, as a little aside smugmug recently added a rule of thirds grid on their crop tool in the shopping cart. I love it!
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
So is it safe to say that this lunkhead might kind of officially understand the process now??? I kinda like it too. The "Replace Photo" was really confusing me there for a while. Also, I like that you only have to replace the photo once, if someone is ordering different sizes of the same shot.
But now that one huge thing (as far as I'm concerned) has been cleared up, you tossed me a little curveball with the cropping statements. That's OK though, I like being tested. You said to leave room for cropping, and that you can verify crops in the pro sales detail. That's the area where you're looking at what has been sold right? So, you can put your photo in there, and there is an area that will tell you if the dimensions are right for the size print that your customer ordered?? If that's the case, that would be awesome!!!
If at any time, you all feel the need to kind of cut the strings with me and say "hey, why don't you read the directions", feel free. It's just that I'm getting so much good information in the feedbacks, my initial post has mushroomed into a kind of a tutorial for dummies that has REALLY been helpful to me. And alot of that tutoring and helping has come from the keyboard of Phyxius. There have been others who chimed in with answers too, but Phyxius has really helped me out alot in this string of posts. And I know there are has to be other newer SmugMuggers out there who are reading these posts, and probably using the information to move along with their sites too, so it's helping out more than just me,,,I think. I've said it many times before, this Forum is awesome for getting the help you need to tweak your site the way you want it, and that kind of assistance/camaraderie, in my opinion, is one of the things that makes this site great. OK, having said that, I'm going to try to get to that area and check out the cropping tool that tells if the photo is capable of being printed at certain sizes. I don't know if you need to have a sale in there before you use it or not, but I'll find out.
Thanks.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Does the program know if a photo should not be cropped portrait style? I took a photo of a pitcher, and it looked like he was tight enough in his pitch where I could try cropping it portrait style, but the site wouldn't allow me. Is there something I was missing, or will it not allow you to go portrait style if it thinks you should stay landscape?
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Thanks for the kind words Shark! Helping people is fun.
I don't have any sales pending to show you what it looks like from a the pro sales page, but it's pretty much the same, so here it is from the customer's view.
Select adjust crop. You'll see that I've choosen to print an 8x10 from a photo that is a crop ratio of 2:3 which is the same a 4x6 or 8x12, so obviously my 8x10 will need to be cropped. Since my photo was uploaded with landscape orientation that crop defaults that way...but...
Once you click "adjust crop" you can change the crop and the orientation -Just click "rotate crop" and now you have a crop in portrait orientation.
And, yes can edit your customer's choosen crop.
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
Thanks justus, it is great here. This site has so many plusses, I'm so glad I found it.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
I tried it and yes I see now how to change from landscape to portrait cropping. Thanks.
Shark
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com
Ansel Adams
www.pbs131.smugmug.com