If you offer film developing with scan-to-digital, photo scans, slide scans, or restoration jobs, you CAN (and should!) upload the finished work to a customer's account.
As of TODAY, here are 2 options:
- GOOD - "Just viewing" Methods: A) Create an account on your regular PF site with a general email and upload the scans to albums on that, then share the album (go to Collection Settings > Privacy). or B) Use a PF Proofing site and upload into "Events" via myLab.
- Pro: No account lookup needed. If you needed to protect the images from download, you could turn on the watermark which would turn off the download button on a regular PF site.
- Pro: If you are using a PF Proofing site, there's no special linking needed, you just tell consumers to go to that site and find their image set (however you archive). Event album covers can be blurred for privacy.
- Either: If wanted user to be able to download, they could on a regular PF site by not watermarking. Users cannot currently download images from a Proofing site (although that feature will be coming soon).
- Con: The album isn’t in an account and they always need the link to access it so re-ordering or integrating with their other photos is not straightforward.
- BETTER - "Consumer owns the images" Method: Even better – upload the scans right into the user’s account on your regular PF site. If they don’t have one, you create it for them. If they do have one, you can Log In as Customer from myLab (go into the acct, click the button, or use the Generate One-Time Pass, that temp pass is good for a 1 hour window). Log in, then upload, just like consumers do.
- Pro: The scans are part of the person’s account, and it’s easy for them to use to order from. And, anything to get members into your site is good. They can also download the images if they want.
- Con: You have collect the email beforehand (and ensure it's right), then look up (or create) the account. There is no way to prevent them from downloading the full res, since that watermark setting is one they would have access to turn on/off. You have to communicate with them once it's done (there's not an email trigger for this).
- Tips:
- Standardize how you title the albums so they know what it is...their last name and the date...something to set it apart from personal uploads. They can always change it. Fill in the description too.
- Make sure to use Large upload so the biggest version is there for them to print with. You can even give them a special coupon code to encourage printing their new scans.
- Tell your customers how to download the images (single image download can be done by clicking the image, then clicking the Download button. Or, select multiple, then click the download button. To just download the whole collection, click Collection Settings, then Download Zip.
- When the upload is done, tell the customer. To email them from your store email, go to Collection Settings > Privacy & Sharing and grab the link, then email it from your store account. If you change the Sharing link to Public, you will also be able to copy the link to their account collections (good if you have created more than one folder).
- Or, from within the Collection, click the Share button, and email the customer from there. This email will use the Share Album triggered email template that you have set up in Lab 50 (so make sure you have that trigger set up, and the message makes sense–keep in mind that it's the same email that will get sent when a user shares a collection).
On the Road Map... This tool is not yet available, but if you'd like a notice when it is, or have an idea, please email!
- BEST - "Consumer owns the scans and it's EASIER for lab staff" Method / aka Pro Uploader Tool—This tool will basically allow you to do #2 above, but from a lab interface, not a consumer one…so a bit more privacy protection for the consumer, the account setup/lookup is less manual, upload will be done from a backend tool, not through consumer interface.
- Don't want to miss this release? Let me know, I will email you directly when we release it. rachel@photofinale.com.
Pro Uploader Tool Dealer Ideas (What to suggest a feature? What would make this tool work for your operations? Let us know. Email rachel@photofinale.com.)
- Ability to create an account (and communicate login info to the user) if one doesn't exist.
- Automatic notification email function in this software would be ideal--something that sends a generic email to the customer notifying them that we’ve updated their account or something.
- Ability to upload larger files (50MB or more). We have customers who request HD scans that are typically around 25-40 MB, so they miss out on some of their files.
- Show that the uploaded album is different than a user-uploaded set. (icon? different section?)
Ability to upload collated folders. For example, a customer has 5 rolls of film, but wants them each in a separate folder. Instead of having to upload each individual folder, we can select all her folders and upload them all at once.
- For business purposes the margin that lists their collections is default black text. Could we flip to an alternate color when the tool is used to push to a customer's account? When they select it to use leave it the default orange. Just for a visual to the customer that this is not their personal upload but a requested service indicator by color.
- Ability to attach a Retrieval Code to a photo or to a collection. Entering the code brings the user directly to that collection or to the photo. (proofing gallery)