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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Printroom.com
Timothy Hale, Photographer
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Prince George | VA | USA | Posted: 4:52 PM on 05.31.04 |
->> Anyone have any dealings (good or bad) with Printroom.com?
I was thinking about selling some scenic/landscape pics there. |
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Ian Elliott, Photographer
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Junction City | OR | USA | Posted: 4:59 PM on 05.31.04 |
->> Tim,
Printroom has been covered quite a bit on the board. Check for listings. I think you will find the reviews quite favorable. Printroom now has free training sessions via phone conferencing. I don't think you even need to be a member to participate in these free workshops on Color Management and File Management etc.
Ian |
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Sue Jarrett, Photographer
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Beaufort | SC | USA | Posted: 8:39 PM on 05.31.04 |
| ->> They occassionally have server problems that slows down viewing the site and uploading to it. I have been using them for about a year now andreally like them. Most of my problems, I think, are on my end. I still use Win 98SE and Win XP would do better with their site. They have fast turnaround and I especially like the fact that you have the option of letting them do it all for you, or you can do some corrections yourself. I hate darkroom work wether it is in the dark or on a computer! |
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Ian L. Sitren, Photographer
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Santa Ana | CA | USA | Posted: 7:55 AM on 06.01.04 |
| ->> Good customer service, good people and a good product. |
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Robert McClory, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 8:10 AM on 06.01.04 |
->> I have been with Printroom for about a year now and I ditto the above but add that if you are going to them and expecting Mac software and support, both of which they advertise, don't get your hopes up.
I have been very disapointed with their progress in developing their Mac client. It ranges from barely getting the job done to being useless especially if you are trying to get very large events online.
I have spoken to the powers that be at Printroom and they assure me that much is being done to correct the problems on the Mac side but I will have to wait and see because the newest release of it is worse than the one before it.
Again, to echo the above, good people there but as with most of the world (understandably so) they are skewed toward the PC people.
RM |
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Gary Bridgman, Photographer
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Sturbridge | MA | USA | Posted: 9:01 AM on 06.01.04 |
| ->> I've uploaded as many as 2700 images at once via their software. Each file is 1.5 - 2.0 meg. It takes time and the software will time-out from time-to-time, but I've never had any problem that wasn't resolved by them within hours. There is a relatively new PSM version (for mac) that you should download to prevent excessive "time-out" issues. |
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Phil Wever, Photographer
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Aurora | IL | USA | Posted: 9:22 AM on 06.01.04 |
->> I agree with Robert if you are on mac don't expect too much support. We currently use them and did decide to purchase a PC just for this purpose.
We commonly upload between 3000 and 5000 images using the latest version of the PC software and % wise it goes pretty smoothly. There are usually several drops during the upload and the software comes back and looks for the image and "fills it in".
Printroom had a major server issue a week ago and it took them about 5 days to get it fixed. Which caused us to miss a deadline to post images. Which results in us looking bad to our clients and a lot of "where are the photos" calls and email messages.
Don't expect "turnkey" selling photos on-line isn't as easy as uploading images and waiting for sales checks to show up in the mail box. Like any other portion of your business it takes a lot of work. |
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Robert McClory, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 9:38 AM on 06.01.04 |
->> Gary,
Are you on a PC or Mac? Like Phil said, I run both and the PC version is great but the Mac PSM has many nagging, intermittent issues that make the prospect of uploading 2000-3000 images at a time prohibative.
On the PC side, the server timeouts are not a problem but on the Mac side, they often do not reconnect thus it takes days of constant attention to get a large event online. This is not in keeping with the expectations my customers have of their images being online almost immediatly after the event (or within 48 hours), something that with the PC PSM or with another service I have used, was not a problem at all.
The bad Mac PSM with slow connection speeds (4-6kbps is the norm for me which on a cable line is pathetic) is killing me right now when I try to post my bigger events (2000-4000 images).
I am a loyal Printroom customer and have no intentions of leaving, however that being said, I do want to voice my displeasure with the hopes that they make things better.
I will continue to work with them to improve and hopefully they will make good on their promise of a full-featured Mac PSM very soon but until then, I remain skeptical.
RM |
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Allen Lester, Photographer
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Norfolk | VA | USA | Posted: 11:52 AM on 06.01.04 |
->> Tim, Another ditto here. Excellent service and quality prints. Take advantage of the telcon training. In our case, we only upload thumbnails for review. The high-res image is sent after the customer places their order.
Allen |
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Gary Bridgman, Photographer
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Sturbridge | MA | USA | Posted: 12:58 PM on 06.01.04 |
->> I have a dedicated laptop (cheap) MAC to upload original thumbnails and satisfy orders. Over the past 5 months of daily sales, I've had 1 incorrect order. It was remedied with reasonable haste.
The new (BETA) mac PSM seems to reduce the timeout issue significantly. If you don't have it you should definitely download. You won't be able to move images from "old" PSM to "new" PSM but after some time you should be able to phase out "old" PSM completely.
The most I've uploaded is 2,700 images and it took 2 days using a 700mps DSL and a few timeouts. Someone mentioned (in this thread) that it isn't a turnkey operation, but I find it to be very turnkey, once the workflow is established. |
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Rick Rickman, Photographer
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Laguna Niguel | CA | USA | Posted: 9:18 AM on 06.02.04 |
->> I've been using Printroom now for over a year. Their customer service is terrific. Their prints are superior to anything else available right now and the ease of uploading is wonderful. I find this system to be about as maintenance free as possible. They fix any problems they have at their end quickly and are always looking for ways to imporve. They are the place to go!
Rick Rickman |
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Ed J. Szalajeski, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Yarmouth | ME | USA | Posted: 10:43 AM on 06.02.04 |
->> I too have been using Printroom.com since Feb 2003, I choose them after reading a few posts, and uploading sample prints to several online companies and seeing the results.
I have done events that have had over 3500 images, and have uploaded thumbnails without a problem.
The prints are elite, and the customer service is, for me great. Any problem I have had they have helped solve.
They even printed and shipped on Memorial Day.
That said, like any critique, they can be better, and are working on that.
You can use custom HTML for your galleries if you have the time, and you can link to your galleries from your site, if you wish to make it a better customer experience.
For the larger events, I wish Printroom.com had a way to present the end user (our customers) with a better preview of the groups. (For instance an all day event, better way to break it down beyond their groups which is clunky to the user). Some of the other online sites have nice interfaces for this.
The other stat I wish Printroom.com tracked was how many shoping carts were abandoned, as in a customer started to make an order and then drop out. That would help me see where I could improve my presentation.
Products, Printroom.com is starting to offer more event type products, and wedding type products. Flush mount albums, memory mates, and trading cards.
My advise to anyone would be to test out the Pro Online sites just like we used to test out the Pro Labs.
Bottom line you want consistant products sent to your customers.
My opinion of Printroom.com is they have very very good Quality control.
Plus they have started offering instructions for their users, such as workflow, software, and newbie training.
Best regards
Ed J Szalajeski |
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Ian Elliott, Photographer
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Junction City | OR | USA | Posted: 10:57 AM on 06.02.04 |
->> Ed,
I agree on the abandoned shopping cart theory. To combat that I removed all the merchandise stuff. I only sell pictures and not the toys. Sales picked up right away. I think sometimes less is better.
Ian |
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