Zenfolio vs Smugmug and other hosts

Working on a base overseas, I have to sign a contract stating that I cannot have

items shipped to me and sent to my clients. I am considering using a host that

will ship directly to the client. Zenfolio seems to be the best option between the

two to me. Am I missing something? It's $50 cheaper to go with Zenfolio and you

get ton more options. Are there other hosts where I can post unlimited pictures

and have clients order online to have prints shipped to them directly?<br>

TIA!

Unless you can customize Zenfolio more than what's shown on their demo account, I

think the user experience of SmugMug is superior as far as ordering is concerned.

SmugMug's seems a lot faster. Since neither use a "pro lab", I only use SmugMug for

events and fundraisers and some action sports. I definitely don't use them for portraits

or fine art work.

Zenfolio says that you can order using Kodak paper and can even pick what kind of photo paper you can use. Honestly, I wasn't the one looking at it, my husband was (he's much more computer saavy that I). He says you can customize it and even have it so it never leaves your personal webpage. I know smugmug can do that as well though. But I like the idea of getting to choose my own paper...especially pro-grade.

I have been using Zenfolio this past year for lacrosse images for a college team. To be honest I tried both Zenfolio and Smugmug and I liked zenfolio way better. The downside to Zenfolio is you cant customize as much, however I feel that the galleries look more professional and the company they print through have very nice print quality and their shipping is very quick (the print partner they are through right now is mpix).

After you posted, I went and looked at Zenfolio again and even checked out a trial

account. I found it slow. I couldn't see a feature where you could have the image

thumbnails on one side of the page and the larger view on the right side like you can on

SmugMug which is a very nice user experience. The fact that Zenfolio makes you

toggle back and forth is not a good user experience. I also found it was easier to put

images in your cart with SmugMug. True, Mpix is a great lab. I would like to see

SmugMug offer lab choices. But SmugMug's lustre prints are now printed on

professional Kodak paper as of about 1-2 months ago.

Cindy - I was torn between the two and 3 months ago went with exposure manager (exposuremanager.com) - I couldn't be happier, my customers all remark how easy ordering is, how well the interface works - worth checking out.

jay

I didn't go with exposuremanager because they only print on fuji crystal archive. mpix

(zenfolio) and smugmug print on kodak supra endura (for their lustre prints). they are

superior papers and have "professional do not copy" on the back. higher end product.

i don't think anyone can say that any interface is better than smugmug. I just haven't

found one yet.

While EM has:

 

1. Packages

2. Discount coupons

3. Self fulfillment - Yes they got google checkout but not clean IMHO

4. I have no idea who my clients are. SM won't give me that info.

5. I can not print custom text behind my prints.

6. Proof Delay thing is better with EM

 

I had SM Pro for a while but then swicthed to Zenfolio Pro. Both lag EM as far as features are concerned. Both have better interface compared to EM.

The reason why I choose to use Zenfolio is because Mpix does an amazing job with prints, my clients always rave about how nice they look. I couldn't be more pleased with the product that your recieve. You have to admit that yes a website like smugmug might look nicer online, and yes that might get people to purchase more photos, but what they end up with in the end (which is hopefully great prints) is the most important

I may be biased since i've only used Zenfolio though

www.capfoto.com

Dave<div></div>

<p>Just wanted to share an experience I had ... I went with Zenfolio in Dec 2008 because of the unlimited sto rage space. Pai d t he premium fee and then decided that I had a local lab I'd rather use - so I wanted to go the self-fulfillment rou te.<br />As of the time of this writing, Zenfolio will not accept payments on your behalf or 'escrow' paym ents fo r an y produ cts you want to self-fulfill. This is a HUGE problem for what I was wanting to do.<br />I just want to throw it out there as something else to consider if at some point you decide you want a lab with se rvices tha t th ey don 't offer. Zenfolio talks a lot about the self-fulfillment option but th ey leave out the paymen t iss ue.<br />If I had done more careful research , I would not h ave chosen Zenfolio. So in my case that was a big dose of "live and learn." In Zenfolio's forum, they say they'll add payment for self-fulfillment as a 'f uture enhancement' with paypal (there is currently no paypal interf ace for orderi ng directly from their partner labs; it's just a regular transaction), but don't offer any dates when it will be available.<br />In a perfect world, they would escrow p ayments to ensure that both photogs and buyers could "proceed with confidence." But of course having an easy way to p ay for self-fu lfillment is a disincentive  to use their partner labs. So we'll see. (as you can tell I 'm skeptical /bias ed)<br />Just my two cents. If you really want to know how these sites fit into oher photographers ' bus iness models, check their forums :)</p>

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