ezra_pollack1

<p>I'm looking all these programs as well. I see lots of people suggesting Fundy AlbumBuilder. I just looked up SmartAlbums which looks similar. I'm just surprised nobody mentions the lack of masks, included backgrounds/themes. SmartAlbums seems to have custom angle/rotation but I don't see that in Fundy. You'd probably only use that on a multi-image page probably with some nice border effect on the main picture so again, the lack of masks seems like a big hole. <br /><br />Do you just find that your clients don't really care for the more complex designs or they're just not worth the added effort? I understand these programs seem to be significantly quicker than LumaPix or InDesign. Maybe you do a mix - using Fundy/SA for overall layout and then just tossing a few more complex InDesign spreads in there after the fact? Also, usually such slideshow or photobook packages tend to offer a nice gallery of included themes and backgrounds. None of that seems to be in these packages, yet everybody is perfectly happy with just the clean lines and simple layouts?</p>

<p>I've been looking at the various photo hosting websites out there (smugmug, photoshelter, phanfare, zenfolio) and it seems none offer a good way for clients to collaborate and modify their folders. i want to post client photos primarily to allow them to share with family, buy prints/gifts and simply as a means of marketing (they share and the word gets out). <br>

the problem is they may want to delete a few pictures before sharing. and if they have to tell me about it, they probably won't bother and won't share. and even if they tell me about it, it'll be a pain to tend to each client's folders. <br>

smugmug doesn't offer the ability at all. i'm not sure about zenfolio. one rep said phanfare supposedly will allow viewers to modify a password protected folder (with the password of course), but that means anyone they share with will also be able to modify the folder. on the other hand another rep disputed this and apparently the trial is limited and i can't test this out. sharing a site link sends me to some table of contents bar with no albums. it seems there are several things i can't actually test out in their trial.<br>

photoshelter will allow clients to collaborate using their "lightbox" tool which could be useful for having them select and arrange photos for a slideshow or other product. but they cannot delete, modify and/or change organization in the gallery. so if they make some change in the lightbox, i need to manually go to the gallery and make those changes myself. and the lightbox itself seems more complicated than it should be. anything that takes more than a minute or a short template email to explain to my client i consider complicated. it's a shame cuz photoshelter seems to have lots of great features aside from this. on the other hand, their storage is limited despite costing more than other companies ($50/mo).<br>

ideally, i should be able to customize who can modify the folder and who cannot. if i share with someone, they should be able to view AND modify, while anybody my client shares the link with should only be able view. at the very least, my client should be able to modify with a password (and if necessary i can turn off the password when they're done and thereby disable further modifications. but that's not ideal).</p>

 

if your photos are already digital, you must be a real jerk to not give a copy. I assume each file is about 1MB so it'll take around 6 DVDs. Or you can put it on a portable hard drive. it's no big deal. And it's easier to just copy it all than to select specific pics. But seriously, why keep them from your ex? Do you have kids from the marriage? Does your ex have any less right to see those memories? And even if they're not digital, it's not such a big deal to hire a place to scan them. For 25,000 photos it would make more sense to just buy a fast scanner for $1000 or so. But for a few thousand, those places are a much better option then doing it yourself. And if you are keeping the photos yourself, you should split the cost. How do you know he wouldn't have taken pictures if you hadn't done so?

For flatbed scanning, I'd say stick with Epson. The good ones at least are fast and sharp. But for thousands of pictures, you just can't use a flatbed. Flatbeds are made for casual scanning, not massive jobs.

 

There are auto-feeding scanners that can do the job, but I can't recommend any in the $300 or less range. The bottom line is you want a scanner with the absolute straightest paper path. You don't want to buy an expensive scanner to find that it is scratching or curling the prints as they are fed through. Some have a U-shaped paper path. Further, ADF scanners are primarily made for paper and are not always so gentle. The good ones by Kodak like the Kodak i1210 start at about $600. If you need double-sided, the price gets pretty steep. eBay can work, but sellers could easily lie about the usage.

 

The truth is it might be easier to just send them out to a specialized service. At 17c/ea, a place like www.thedigitalconvert.com , will scan nearly 2,000 pics for $300. And they'll also upload everything to the web and store it free. They do albums pages also so you don't have to remove all the photos. That's the nice thing about them. But you can Google for places in your area of course.

 

(Just stay away from Ritz or Walgreens that charge a ton and will probably lose your pics due to the constant stream of customers asking questions. You want a place that can focus on your order and not get sidetracked every few minutes. That's what leads to problems at the retail shops)