Shipping Prints to me first

Ed911

I am having trouble finding where, if indeed it's possible, to set up SmugMug Pro printing to send the prints to me and not directly to the customer, once the order has been placed. Reason: the last prints that I received from SmugMug were really yellow and not acceptable. Customer service at EZ prints had them hand corrected and that fixed their error. However, I don't want my clients receiving anything but what they expect to see first time, every time.

Maybe, I should give up on EZ-prints and use Bay Photo instead? Any thoughts on this?

I just had a customer order prints, and seeing that they were being shipped directly to them am wondering if the prints will be right.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Andy

Hi Ed, what was the order# of that too-yellow order? I'd like to see it.

Color correction at EZ is by computer. Color correction at Bay is by hand - and it will be superior.

It's no possible to have customers order and have the prints ship to you, I'm sorry.

Ed911

Andy wrote:

Hi Ed, what was the order# of that too-yellow order? I'd like to see it.

Color correction at EZ is by computer. Color correction at Bay is by hand - and it will be superior.

It's no possible to have customers order and have the prints ship to you, I'm sorry.

I looked on my pro sales page and the order that you are requesting is not there. I had the images printed myself for presentation to my client. She actually liked them when the arrived...in spite of the obvious yellow caste. I just couldn't allow my work to be seen without the colors looking correct. I spoke to EZ prints about the issue. They gladly hand processed the images and sent them to me free of charge. The new images looked nice...and my client was very happy.

I think that I will migrate over to Bay Photo...where my images will be looked at by individuals before they are sent out. If I don't have to touch the images and can trust the they will be right, and the client will like them, then I have more time to devote to the business. (I haven't done much printing business with SmugMug...been using local providers, but I am looking for a more expeditious way to get good images to my clients. Less hands on.)

Otherwise, it makes me nervous to think that my pro images are zipped though a processor and packaged without inspection.

I have the highest regards for you and Smug Mug. Thanks for your response. If there is a way to find the order number, please let me know.

I am also the president of our local cameral club and encourage all of our membership to join Dgrin. To me, with it' personality, it's one of, if not the best, on the web. Thanks for what you do...an to all the rest at SmugMug, the same.

My new question is. Is there a way to block the use of EZ-Prints and show only Bay Photo in the buy option.

Andy

Ed911 wrote:

I looked on my pro sales page and the order that you are requesting is not there.

Who ordered it? The customer, or you? Send me exact details (and email address of who ordered it) to the help desk, ATTN: Andy in the subj line.

Thanks!

Ann McRae

Ed911 wrote:

My new question is. Is there a way to block the use of EZ-Prints and show only Bay Photo in the buy option.

Hi Ed

The print lab choice, for prints (not merchandise) is either/or for an individual gallery. When you set your prices, you also choose which lab to use for prints from that gallery. So if you click the Bay Photo logo, then prints come from Bay Photo.

All merchandise comes from EZPrints.

I hope that helps.

ann

Ed911

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi Ed

The print lab choice, for prints (not merchandise) is either/or for an individual gallery. When you set your prices, you also choose which lab to use for prints from that gallery. So if you click the Bay Photo logo, then prints come from Bay Photo.

All merchandise comes from EZPrints.

I hope that helps.

ann

Thanks Ann...I appreciate your response. I will take a look at that feature. And, I'm sure that it will find it's way into my customer galleries.

Ed911

Andy wrote:

Who ordered it? The customer, or you? Send me exact details (and email address of who ordered it) to the help desk, ATTN: Andy in the subj line.

Thanks!

Thanks Andy, will do.

WaterfallRich

Ed911 wrote:

the last prints that I received from SmugMug were really yellow and not acceptable.

I had the same problem recently with an EZPrints order. (I don't have a SmugMug account yet, but am currently checking into a pro account and am reading posts). I sell prints through my web site and used to have the prints shipped to me first for inspection, then I would send them on to the customer. I had never had a problem with print quality so I began drop shipping them directly to the customer to save me time and few bucks on reshipping.

I recently sent some new images (waterfalls with moss and greenery) to EZPrints for test prints and was horrified when I got them back. The greens were a puky shade of olive yellow and not acceptable. Maybe it was the way I prepared the files, so I reprocessed and reordered, but also included an older file where the greens were the correct shade and the previous print from them was excellent. Got back the prints and they were all terrible. Now I'm wondering how many of my customers got yellowish prints - although none have complained.

So between that and a couple of other incidents since EZPrints changed their web site a while back, they will be getting no more of my business. I sent the same files to Bay Photo after seeing kudos from SM and DG and the prints are on the way. I'm really liking what I'm seeing and reading about a pro account here - especially that I can request all orders be filled by Bay Photo??

Andy

WaterfallRich wrote:

I that I can request all orders be filled by Bay Photo??

Yes you can, you set this in pro pricing too.

At EZ, did you have auto color on?

WaterfallRich

Andy wrote:

At EZ, did you have auto color on?

Hi Andy, thanks for the quick response! I wasn't sure, so I went to EZ and started the process for ordering a print and did the same things I had been doing. I didn't see anywhere where I had that choice to check or uncheck auto color. In the old interface they had (which I liked a lot better than the new one), I remember a place to check auto enhance or something like that. I never did and the prints always came back very close to what I was seeing on my monitor. These last 2 orders shipped to me were the first time I have had any problems with the print quality.

I haven't posted here in a while and just looked at the tutorial for a refresher on how to post a photo, so I hope this works. I lined up my 2 prints and took a picture of them. Good on top and yellow on bottom. Hope you can see what I am talking about and not meaning to hijack this thread -

AdamNP

Hey Rich. I just recently joined the ranks here as well. I'm still getting things uploaded and set up, but I have ordered independently from Bay Photo before. I would recommend paying the small extra fee for their color correction, as its done by a real person on a per photo basis, not auto as with EZPrints. Bay costs a few dollars more, but its well worth it. Auto correction can fail badly with whitewater, as you've seen, because removing the bluish cast from the water can really warm up the rest of the scene too much.

WaterfallRich

AdamNP wrote:

Hey Rich. ...... but I have ordered independently from Bay Photo before.

Hey Adam - small world Thanks for the comments. Just a follow up - I received my Bay Photo order and was very pleased I sent Bay Photo the same files that I sent EZPrints and the prints came back with the correct color. I chose no color correction as I do my own in post. Still not sure what happened at EZPrints with the yellow, but I don't want to chance it any more. I'm now in the process of setting up a pro account here and will set everything to come from Bay Photo.

Andy

WaterfallRich wrote:

Hi Andy, thanks for the quick response! I wasn't sure, so I went to EZ and started the process for ordering a print and did the same things I had been doing. I didn't see anywhere where I had that choice to check or uncheck auto color. In the old interface they had (which I liked a lot better than the new one), I remember a place to check auto enhance or something like that. I never did and the prints always came back very close to what I was seeing on my monitor. These last 2 orders shipped to me were the first time I have had any problems with the print quality.

I haven't posted here in a while and just looked at the tutorial for a refresher on how to post a photo, so I hope this works. I lined up my 2 prints and took a picture of them. Good on top and yellow on bottom. Hope you can see what I am talking about and not meaning to hijack this thread -

Rich I'm sure it was what they call 'enhance on' - if you printed that with enhance off (what we call "TRUE COLOR" you'd be fine). Or print it at Bay Shoot me a note and I'll be happy to send you one on the house. http://smugmug.com/help/emailreal ATTN: Andy / ColorBums