Greeting Cards are way too difficult on Smugmug!

Kavika · August 31, 2012

This issue drives me nuts! For years I lobbied Smugmug to make greeting cards easy to make and sell.
Finally they added the option ... but it is way too difficult for both me and my customers! When I take a landscape shot, or a flower closeup, or a good portrait that would make a great card, I don't want to plow through a bunch of ugly templates ... all I want is a blank card with my image! The default mechanism for card making should be a blank card with the image full frame, with none of the other distracting design elements. Let those people who want the cutesy designs do all the extra work, and let the other 99% of us have the simplest blank card design be option #1.

The current setup forces users to scroll down through numerous card design options to hunt for the No Template option, which means little to the average user and is easy to overlook. Come on, how many customers want all that other stuff? Why is this so hard?

I think Smugmug and all the Pro users here are missing thousands of $ale$ due to this ridiculous situation.

Please please please change the card design options to make blank photo cards the default option!
The easier you make the process, the better for all users and customers.

photocat · August 31, 2012

Kavika wrote: »

This issue drives me nuts! For years I lobbied Smugmug to make greeting cards easy to make and sell.

I am SOOOO with you on this one. I have made cards and it drives me nuts that first of all we do have to point to a blank card... which I tried with a couple of my customers with me sitting next to them, and they have a hard time to find the blank template. It should be as this poster states that the basic card is a blank one, we are after all mainly photographers.
I had a look at Redbubbles for instance, and I am wondering if they would not be a better suited place then smugmug for cards...
After all the time you loose browsing templates and browsing images, you have to close the create window down every time, which is unbelievably annoying, since for the next card you have to open it again...

The next point is the fact that the flat cards 4x8 are in fact not cards, but photographs 8x4 with print on the back, which makes it totally useless to use as a card. If I want photographs, I will order photographs. Since the flat cards are in the cards section, I wrongly assumed that they were cards on card stock. Furthermore it's also a pain that you have to order at least 20... Which I did, as test, so now I have 20 unusable photographs that I can only use when I stick them down on cardstock myself.

I am now holding my breath till my folded cards arrive that I ordered, hoping that those will be on real card stock of some kind, and will hopefully not have the EZ print in the middle of the card.

It is not clear at all that the flat cards are not cards. Sure, it says so in the tutorial, but how many of us read the tutorial before making cards, as we (think we) know smugmug and how it works, so I had no idea... And yes I am peeved.

It's a wonderful idea with great possibilities, but very badly designed...
I had two of my big customers order folded cards and I am SOOO hoping that they will come out fine!

For now I have taken to make the cards myself instead of my customers...
http://photocatseyes.smugmug.com/My-SmugMug-Creations/Cards/25036690_9c6ZFp#!i=2059153151&k=dvP7Phd

is where my card live... Any feedback welcome and I hope that the card section can be adapted to our needs... It has GREAT potential... I love the card feature, but it needs work...

GRBlizz · September 2, 2012

They're also pretty expensive, so unless you are a serious Pro who needs this ability as part of your site's workflow, why do it?

When I do Christmas card sittings, my sitting fee includes the ability to download the images and print where they want. I usually have a sense of the best deals going, and I can direct them. For the last couple years, Shutterfly has been the one to beat - great sale prices, outstanding quality, and a huge variety of current templates and design options.

Also, of course, card styles change. The upscale style now is a matte-finished 5x5 or 5x7 flat card on thick stock. Not available on SmugMug. SM doesn't need to try to keep up with this, they just need to partner with someone who does and do a pass-through.

photocat · September 2, 2012

Actually, one of my customer got her 7x5 cards from smugmug, and she was very very pleased with them. I saw the folded card and it looks really really nice. Nice thick card stock, on the back my little blurb about where the photograph has been taken, I was very happy with how the folded cards come out. So I will for now keep using Smugmug... Let's hope that the workflow can become a little easier and a bit more streamlined!

smurfy · September 3, 2012

I just send people to EZ prints directly. More options for smaller sized folding cards, and I don't have to design it. The folding cards are so expensive that it's almost impossible to sell them at a profit anyway.

drsally · December 8, 2012

Making Cards

Kavika wrote: »

This issue drives me nuts! For years I lobbied Smugmug to make greeting cards easy to make and sell. ...I think Smugmug and all the Pro users here are missing thousands of $ale$ due to this ridiculous situation.

I joined the D-Grin forum today because of the greeting card issue. I've tried using smugmug help to sort through the options, thinking I must be missing something, but it really is too hard, with too few options. I agree, also, that pros are missing out on thousands in sales because cards lack options.

I personally don't mind if a 4x8 can't be written on the back because I like having a text option to create words along with an image. But I really want to create an assortment pack instead of customers having to purchase a set of all the same image. MOO does this, but only at retail, which is too expensive to resell. Does anyone know of a source like MOO that prints assorted cards on demand at a wholesale price?

Also, what really bugs me is when you do finally get some images up in a card gallery (I finally got one in today; I'm really behind the rest of you because this isn't how I make my living...yet), the customer has three buy choices, but two of the choices aren't appropriate. There should be a way to delete the other choices so as not to confuse the customer.

I'm glad to hear the 5x7 cards are of good quality. I just purchased 100 4x8 cards to give for the New Year. I hope it doesn't have EZ print splashed all over it, as was mentioned.

Thanks photocat for sharing how you approach card-selling on Smugmug. I'm going to try that.

Allen · December 8, 2012

photocat wrote: »

Kavika wrote: »

..
For now I have taken to make the cards myself instead of my customers...
http://photocatseyes.smugmug.com/My-SmugMug-Creations/Cards/25036690_9c6ZFp#!i=2059153151&k=dvP7Phd
...

The card images in your gallery are totally useless for selling cards. A visitor has no idea what the inside
and back looks like. Whoever made the decision at Smug to show a card like this ought to be slapped!

I would suggest on clicking to lightbox that the old flat 4 sided single image be shown.

rainforest1155 · December 9, 2012

drsally wrote: »

Also, what really bugs me is when you do finally get some images up in a card gallery (I finally got one in today; I'm really behind the rest of you because this isn't how I make my living...yet), the customer has three buy choices, but two of the choices aren't appropriate. There should be a way to delete the other choices so as not to confuse the customer.

What do you mean by that? In your pricelist, you decide what products are available to your customer and can price products the way you'd like.
For example, if you don't wish to offer 5x7 folded cards, you could just remove those card products from your pricelist. Then visitors wouldn't see those as a choice.

If you still have an issue with this, include a link to your gallery and add some more details on what issue you see.

drsally · December 9, 2012

rainforest1155 wrote: »

What do you mean by that? In your pricelist, you decide what products are available to your customer and can price products the way you'd like.
For example, if you don't wish to offer 5x7 folded cards, you could just remove those card products from your pricelist. Then visitors wouldn't see those as a choice.

If you still have an issue with this, include a link to your gallery and add some more details on what issue you see.

Sorry my post wasn't more clear. What I mean is that when the viewer/customer clicks "buy" they have three choices: This Photo, Photos in this Gallery, and Create a Card. The only option that works to purchase the card is "This Photo." The other options lead to different error messages. Although I placed purchase directions on the page, it's not ideal. Buying should be clear and easy, in my opinion.

http://sallystone.smugmug.com/My-SmugMug-Creations/Cards/26960939_Sbjf6S#!i=2260004991&k=6qcTLNt

rainforest1155 · December 10, 2012

drsally wrote: »

Sorry my post wasn't more clear. What I mean is that when the viewer/customer clicks "buy" they have three choices: This Photo, Photos in this Gallery, and Create a Card.

Ah, I see. The create card option can't be disabled, but both, this photo and photos in this gallery allows you to add card products to your cart.
For the latter it seems the customer has to click on change product and select one of the card products. It looks like this may be a bug. I'll report it to our QA team.

CEP · December 10, 2012

Smugmug 5x7 cards NOT matte - they are LUSTRE
I ordered a set of 150 folding cards - 5x7 for my client. I got them today, and they are NOT matte like described -

"5x7 cards come printed on luxuriously thick card stock, folded in the middle. They're matte with a UV coating that gives the outside just a hint of sheen. The inside is smooth enough to pen a personal message."

There is no "UV light sheen" - but rather the cards are shiny with a lustre finish on a card. There is NOTHING matte about the cards! I emailed customer support and am waiting to hear from them. I have always had great experiences with Smugmug, but this is not good! So - if you are thinking these cards are "matte" - they are not. Don't order them because you will be disappointed.....

drsally · December 10, 2012

It looks like this may be a bug. I'll report it to our QA team.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much! I emailed support and was told to post on digital grin to see if anyone else could figure it out. I appreciate your efforts, Sebastian.

Interlude · December 12, 2012

Want to see greeting cards done right, check out tinyprints. Beautiful designs, fair prices, very nice interface.

rainforest1155 · December 12, 2012

drsally wrote: »

Thank you so much! I emailed support and was told to post on digital grin to see if anyone else could figure it out. I appreciate your efforts, Sebastian.

The issue with the "buy many photos" option should be resolved. Can you give it another try?

drsally · December 12, 2012

rainforest1155 wrote: »

The issue with the "buy many photos" option should be resolved. Can you give it another try?

I still see the same choices in my card gallery: Buy: This Photo, Photos in the Gallery, Create A Card.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Buy many photos." Were we talking about the same thing?

I was saying that in the card gallery below when you click "Buy," you get three choices even though there's only one valid choice since these are already cards.

http://sallystone.smugmug.com/My-SmugMug-Creations/Cards/26960939_Sbjf6S#!i=2260004991&k=6qcTLNt

rainforest1155 · December 13, 2012

Try the buy > many photos option. It'll also let you properly add cards without having to change the products.

Due to the way the buy button currently works it's not possible to hide the 'create a card' option dynamically. Therefore it's to be expected for it to show along with the 2 other options.

What we fixed was the issue where the buy > many photos option didn't work properly in your gallery as it was showing the cards not for sale.

drsally · December 13, 2012

Sebastian- I don't know how to find that option so I didn't even know it didn't work. I received my first cards in the mail today and am not excited about them at all. I'm going to take this gallery down for now and make the cards myself. Thanks for all your help.

Montec · December 16, 2012

I am happy with the quality of the cards but not at all pleased with the designer. To sell truly professional quality cards we must have the ability to include our marketing info on the back.
I have spent over $1000 on 5x7 cards this holiday season...at another company. Until they fix this issue I will not be buying any more here.

Greeting Cards are way too difficult on Smugmug!

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