online proofing

chris5olson · January 6, 2011

I was wondering what sites you preferred for online proofing for you clients to view their photos.

mmmatt · January 6, 2011

You do realize that this forum is part of smugmug right? Smugmug rocks and is all I will ever use.

Matt

chris5olson · January 6, 2011

omg... how dumb do i feel, note to self dont post while baby is distracting you.

i didnt even think about smugmug.

ssimmonsphoto · January 6, 2011

mmmatt wrote: »

Smugmug rocks and is all I will ever use.

Matt

This.

ivar

Matthew Saville · January 6, 2011

I've used SmugMug for (almost) seven years and have loved it very much.

However, in the sake of FULLLY educating everyone here on their options, I will say:

SmugMug may be right for some, but not right for others. It mainly depends on how involved you want to be in the proofing / print sales process, and which products you'd like to offer.

For example, it is difficult to sell mounted / framed prints through SmugMug, or other products depending on your local market and industry. If I want to sell a client a 20x30" print mouted with a mat to 24x36" and then framed, it gets pretty complicated. Not to mention the fact that most portrait studios that sell fully framed products are going to charge thousands for those products, and SmugMug takes a hefty 15% of those profits, even if you're only paying SmugMug for a ~$20 print and then having it shipped to YOU for mounting / framing.

As one other quibble I still have with SmugMug - you still cannot allow clients to order a B&W print from a color proof, which a few other online proofing sites do offer which I think is cool. But I'm sure if enough people ask, SmugMug will implement such a feature...

So the bottom line is, if you're getting into high-end studio stuff, you may also want to consider one of the other professional options such as PickPic which takes 0% of your profits, allows you to sell ANY product you like, ...except it costs $99 per month.

Personally, my business is JUST RIGHT for SmugMug. I do thousands of dollars worth of print sales each year, however I do NOT want to deal with people's credit card numbers, shipping info, etc. I just want to receive orders, retouch images, click "send to lab", ...and get money in my bank account! :-)

For a sample of just how awesome SmugMug can be, here's one of my SmugMug galleries, as it would look to a client. (Minus the print ordering interface, since it's a "web inbox" for my recent wedding images...)

http://photos.matthewsaville.com/Weddings/blog-2010-weddings

Looks extremely professional, cutting edge web experience, unlimited storage, and all for $100-$150 per year!

heatherfeather · January 7, 2011

^ what both Matts said. SM all the way! I love not having to babysit orders... I love getting my print sales moolah direct deposited each month. It works and makes me look goooood.

online proofing

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