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Photogize Lab
General WebServices
Basic Print Order Channel
Greeting Card Channel
Q: What is Photogize?
A: Photogize is a distributed photo print
order management system that lets photo labs:
The basic system consists of:
Q: How
easy is it to install and operate Photogize?
A: To install and configure Photogize,
you need to know how to:
Daily use of Photogize requires that the operator know how to use Windows and a standard Windows application.
For more information on installing, configuring, and using Photogize, please see our Getting Started with Photogize guide.
Q:What are the
minimum system requirements for Photogize?
A: In general, you need:
You can run Photogize Lab and RasterPlus on one PC or on separate PCs. These PCs should meet the following minimum specifications:
For more information, please see our Getting Started with Photogize guide.
Q: How does Photogize
differ from its competitors?
A: Three things make Photogize unique -
the company, the architecture, and the business model.
The Company
Phtotogize was developed by Graphx, Inc., a market-leading
developer of distributed photo printing software and services. In short,
we are a software company with considerable expertise in the digital photo
space - we are NOT a dot com.
The Architecture
Photogize is standards-based and highly scalable. This
translates to rock-solid reliability, unmatched uptime, and superior QOS.
The architecture
is open - third party developers are busy creating extensions to Photogize
with our XConnect
API and Channel Developers Toolkit. This
means more and more commercial opportunities
for photo retailers. And Photogize is built on the award-winning RasterPlus
print engine which features the widest range of minilab and photo printer
compatiblity and the richest feature set in the industry.
The Business Model
We are a software company that sells software and services - that is how
we make money. There are no click fees or transactions fees with the core
Photogize system*
* Please note that third party developers may use other commercial models with their add-on products and Channels.
Q: What
is a Photogize Channel?
A: A Photogize Channel is the combination
of Web application or PC application and a Photogize WebServices account. A
Channel lets clients upload digital photos and place print orders which are
fulfilled by a photo retailer that subscribes to the Channel.
Q: Photogize
looks good for my consumer business, but how do I support my commercial customers?
A: You can provide a dedicated Basic Print
Order Channel to a single commercial customer, with unique
products and pricing
just for
that customer. Or you can provide a dedicated Basic Print
Order Channel to a group of customers.
Additional Basic Print
Order Channels are only $195 per year plus actual upload capacity used
by those customers.
Q: Can I use Photogize
without RasterPlus?
A: The minimum Photogize System configuration
includes Photogize Lab software, RasterPlus software, a Photogize WebServices
subscription, and a single Basic Print Order Channel account. However, you
can purchase and install an additional copy of Photogize Lab, which is unconnected
to RasterPlus, to improve your online print order workflow.
For example, you can run Photogize Lab and RasterPlus in your production
area to prejudge and print orders and a second copy of Photogize Lab in your
office area to print invoices, process credit card orders, and export customer
order information for archiving.
Q: Can I
create local orders in Lab?
A: Yes, photos that
stored on local or networked drives, digital media cards, or CDs can be dragged
and dropped into an order in Photogize Lab. You can then select Products
and quantities, prejudge the photos, print order forms, and print the order
to your digital minilab or photo printer. You can even upload the photos
to WebServices and have an email automatically sent to a client that allows
them to create a print order using these photos. Photogize Lab only uploads
sampled versions of the photos; the high resolution photos stay in your system.
Q: How fast can customers
send image data?
A: The time it takes to send photos is principally
dependent on the upload speed of the client's Internet connection and the
size of the files. Most cable and DSL
connections
have
high
download speeds but slower upload speeds. The typical cable/DSL customer
can upload at about 1MB per minute. This amounts to about one two megapixel
digital photo per minute.
Q: How do I get
paid for my orders?
A: Photogize does not process any order
transactions. It simply delivers the transaction information to you to process
as you see fit. You can define business rules governing credit card transactions
so that you either 1) never require credit cards, 2) always require credit
cards, or 3) only require credit cards for ship orders. If a credit card
is required for a transaction, the credit card information is downloaded
by Lab along with the rest of the order information. It is your responsibility
to process the credit card transaction.
Q: Are credit card
transactions secure?
A: All order information, including credit
card data, is transferred from any Photogize client to WebServices via a
highly-secure SLL connection. And all order data is harvested with Photogize
Lab over an SSL connection.
Q: What is the
Basic Print Order Channel?
A: A simple web site that allows your customers
to upload photos and place print orders. The web site is dynamically created
with content that you specify in Lab; you link your store's
web site
to the Basic Print Order Channel web site. You can try it here.
Q: Can customers
share order albums?
A:Yes, once a customer uploads his or her
photos, he or she can send up to five emails to friends and family. The
thumbnails of the uploaded photos are included in this email - if the recipient
clicks on them, he or she is sent to the page from
which they may place print orders.
Q: How does a customer
know if their images have adequate resolution?
A: If a photo is to be printed on a Product
smaller than an 8x10, Photogize checks to make sure that the photo will print
at at least 150dpi. If a photo is to be printed on a Product that is equal
to or larger than 8x10, Photogize checks to make sure that the photo will
print at at least 128dpi.
If a photo meets the minimum requirements, a happy
face 
is placed next
to the target Product on the print order page. If a photo does not meet
the minimum requirements, a sad face 
is placed next
to the target Product on the print order page.
Q: I don't have
a website yet, what do I do?
A:Contact us and we'll put you in contact
with web designers/hosting services that have experience with creating photo
retailer sites and connecting them to Photogize.
Q: How
long are photos stored on our servers?
A: Once you've harvested an order, the
order and photos stay on your local PC until you delete them. The order and
photos stay on our system for thirty days.
Q: If
I delete a customer order in Lab, can I retrieve it again or is it lost?
A: Order and
photos stay on our system for thirty days. You can reharvest orders and photos
anytime during this time period.
Q: What
is the Greeting Card Channel?
A: The Greeting Card Channel is an online
photo greeting card compositing system. The Channel features "Online
Compositing" that
delivers benefits to both you and your customer.
Your customer benefits from
the the enjoyment and satisfaction of creating a customized, and personalized
greeting card. The customer also assumes responsibility
for the the design and content of the card including responsibility for any
typos.
You benefit from the increased workflow in your store because your staff
is freed from the time required to capture customer greeting card information---
you simply
print the result.
Q: How
do I get started?
A: Make sure that you meet the minimum
system requirements. Then all you need to do is purchase the Photogize
Starter System.
Q: I already own RasterPlus, do I still
need to buy the Photogize Starter System or a separate copy of RasterPlus?
A:Photogize ONLY works with RasterPlus
v 5.0 and above. Furthermore, RasterPlus is licensed for specific devices
- you must own a RasterPlus license for the device to which you wish to
print in
order to use it with Photogize. For example, if you have RasterPlus for a
Polaroid color film recorder, and you wish to print to a Noritsu minilab,
you will need to purchase the Photogize Starter System or a separate copy
of RasterPlus for Noritus minilabs.
Q: What is a GBM?
A: The standard starter webservice plan includes 1GBM of upload capacity. This means that your customers can upload up to 1 Gigabyte of data per month of photos.
Graphx offers webservice plans starting at 1GB per month and ranging to 1000 GB per month.
Q: What happens when customers
send me more than 1GBM of photos in a month?
A: You will ALWAYS get your orders and photos. We will bill you for any overage at the end of each quarter.
Overage fees are prorated down to 1/10 of a Gigabyte. (For example: if you are in a 1 GB plan and January your customers upload 1.2 GB of data, the overage fee for January would be would be $8.00)
Q: Is there a
lease option?
A: Yes, click here for more information.