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Rangefinder
Magazine First Exposure: by Betty Huth
To avoid customers copying proofs, we have been proofless since 1996. For the past few years, we have sent wedding previews home on VHS. The image quality was not very good, but it was our compromise in finding a way the client could have the images while we still retained control. A
Reasonably Priced Software Program to the Rescue FlipAlbum Professional 5.0 gives us many options, including (just to mention a few): •
Showing image numbers
After we have created the album with our client’s images—either wedding or portrait—we then burn a CD for the client to look at in the privacy of their home. The program gives us the option of encrypting the images so that the viewer cannot print or access the images from any printing program. It also allows us to set a date for the expiration of the CD. This date can be set for X number of days from the initial opening of the CD or for a specific date that we choose. This expiration becomes a call to action for the client. Our clients have been thrilled with this method of taking their previews home and we have not had any complaints from them about the image quality, which had been a frequent problem with the videos. In fact, one of our clients, Catherine Thompson of San Martin, Calif., wrote: “Wow, this is awesome! It has made showing our wedding so much fun and has made getting orders for you so easy.”
Overall we feel this program, priced at $149.95, is a reasonable option for providing all the images from a wedding or portrait session to our client for viewing and selection in a way that protects our images and results in sales for us. E-Book has also been receptive to suggestions from our industry to help them improve their product for our use. The
Process From Proofs to Images After a couple comes in and lays out their album, we import the slide show we show them in Proshots into FlipAlbum Professional 5.0, and make any final edits we need. We then add bookmarks to the various sections of the wedding—pre-ceremony, ceremony, reception, etc. We make any annotations on special images we feel would be useful as wall images and we add music in the form of Wav files. The program accepts .WAV, .MID, as well as MP3 formats. We then burn as many CDs, usually three, as our clients need for themselves and their family. We encrypt the images and set an expiration date of 45 days from the expected pickup date. We give this to the client in a spiral- bound book that includes a printout of the light table from the Proshots program, order forms for the couple as well as family and friends, parent album order forms, a copy of our copyright notice and, attached to the back page, the CD in a special cover. Once we receive the final orders we make this CD available for purchase with no expiration date. The whole process takes as little as a half hour to 45 minutes from import to CD burning. FlipAlbum Professional 5.0: Complete List of Features •
Animated 3D page flipping gives you a natural and intuitive viewing experience.
Enhanced shading effects on Intel® Pentium® 4 machines. FlipAlbum Professional 5.0 has a created a win-win situation—we retain control, and our clients are still happy with the result. For more information about the FlipAlbum and other E-Book Systems products, visit the web site: www.flipalbum.com. Betty Huth, PPA Certified, M.Photog.Cr. specializes in all types of people photography including traditional studio, glamour, outdoor, environmental, illustrative, and executive (business/professional) portraiture. Betty has presented programs throughout the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, North Carolina, Utah, Washington, and for several Western States Conventions, and for PPA at three National Conventions. She has taught for Golden Gate School of Professional Photography, Texas School and at West Coast School. |
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We operate a portrait/wedding studio in the heart of
Silicon Valley, where our typical client is very computer savvy. With
today’s technology—scanners, printers and computers in every
home—we have found it difficult to keep our customers happy and
still preserve our sales. Our dilemma—how to provide proofs to
our clients so they cannot copy or print them out on their home printers. 
