SmugMug soft launches Bay Photo integration

[Baldy]

Hi pros,

You'll notice when you go to your pricing tool that it has been re-worked (yay!) to be much easier, and it has two important new features.

One is you now set your preference for color adjustment, which removes the choice from the customer's hands in the shopping cart. They no longer have to scratch their heads over what auto or true color means.

The other is we're now offering a choice of labs. We gathered preferences from thousands of existing and potential customers and tested the ones we heard the most raves about. We ended up settling on Bay Photo. Here's why.

A few notes:

- Bay Photo is only available to pro-level subscribers.

- We added the necessary things to make it work, like the pricing tool, help pages, catalogs, etc., but we haven't mentioned it on our marketing pages. That's what we mean by soft launch.

- We will be adding more Bay Photo products in the future.

- As I write this post at 1 a.m. we're still rolling it out and chasing a few loose ends.

EDIT, by Andy, 830am PT 1/28: We've a few minor bugs, working on them today - proof delay screen in your order admin may look a bit broken - we'll fix it. Old orders are also a bit broken in your history screens. We'll get it fixed.

Thanks for the great feedback that helped make this happen!

All the best,
Chris

[cabbey]

Originally Posted by Cindy

Oh WOW... I don't see the wallets yet but this is starting to look AWESOME

Look now. ;)

[cabbey]

Originally Posted by Glory2Jesus4Photography

I do wonder how Bay photo handles there color correction. If it is just some computer program or if it is a more personal touch similar to Millers.

It's all human beings. A very awesome team of them with some fabulous toys to do the work.

[renstar]

Originally Posted by Baldy

Hi pros,


A few notes:

- Bay Photo is only available to pro-level subscribers.

Power users strike out again. Can you throw us a bone?

[cmason]

Originally Posted by Baldy

- Bay Photo is only available to pro-level subscribers.

You gotta be effen kidding! All that discussion, agonizing wait? Sure I don't sell my photos online, but that doesn't mean I don't want better options, including my panoramics and large prints shipped flat.


Sorry had to vent

[DJ-S1]

Lots of work went into this obviously - great job Smugmug!

(Baldy, some of the links on the "test method" pages point to passworded galleries.)

[Kalrog]

Originally Posted by cabbey

It's all human beings. A very awesome team of them with some fabulous toys to do the work.

Hence the additional cost. But worth it if you don't do it yourself I am sure. Can we get a full "comparrison" of features from the old to the new?

[Pupator]

Originally Posted by cmason

You gotta be effen kidding! All that discussion, agonizing wait? Sure I don't sell my photos online, but that doesn't mean I don't want better options, including my panoramics and large prints shipped flat.


Sorry had to vent

Agreed. No love for the power users.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by renstar

Power users strike out again. Can you throw us a bone?

Sure, anything's possible, but right now, at this moment, the new professional lab is available to professional subscribers only.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by DJ-S1

Lots of work went into this obviously - great job Smugmug!

Thanks!

(Baldy, some of the links on the "test method" pages point to passworded galleries.)

Fixed

[Andy]

Originally Posted by cmason

You gotta be effen kidding! All that discussion, agonizing wait? Sure I don't sell my photos online, but that doesn't mean I don't want better options, including my panoramics and large prints shipped flat.


Sorry had to vent

We have tons of professional subscribers that don't sell their photos but utilize the features of the pro level account. I'm sorry that at this moment I don't have a better answer for you!

[mbellot]

Wow, $0.13 (per 4x6, larger sizes are even worse) added to my cost for auto color correction?

This was more important than coupons and packages? I don't think so...

[Andy]

Originally Posted by mbellot

This was more important than coupons and packages? I don't think so...

Still hugely important, and still very much on and near the front burner - and we've just invested a ton more $$$ in you, our customers, buy hiring even more sorcerers to help bring these critical features out faster.

Yeah, hand color correction is used and adored by a huge number of professional photographers who use Bay Photo every day.

[Kyle D]

Thank you SmugMug! This is awesome and will sure please my customers! Great job on the smooth roll out and speedy time in which this was implemented! It's now worth it even more to have a pro account!

[brjphoto]

As a pro user... THANK YOU. I pay lots of good money for my subscription, and I need to feel like I am getting a good value.

I'll be interested in trying out some of the watercolor glicee. I see no options for specifying mounting, so I can only assume for now, all prints come unmounted. (no foam core, gatorboard, etc).

As an FYI, when I go into review old sales, products purchased no longer show up. The sales summary page is fine, but when I try to look at the details of an individual sale, there is info missing. (but I'm sure you already knew that and are working on it)

I have some color correction questions. How is the color correction from Bay Photo different than the color correction from EZprints? Also, just as a curiosity... wouldn't color correction be done on a computer monitor, and require the same amount of effort regardless of print size? I wonder why it costs more to do color correction of larger prints.

I'm probably going to have a lot of questions about the Bay Photos color correction, seeing as using it full time will be a bit of an investment, and I want to be sure I know what I am paying for.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Baldy

Hi pros,

You'll notice when you go to your pricing tool that it has been re-worked (yay!) to be much easier, and it has two important new features.

One is you now set your preference for color adjustment, which removes the choice from the customer's hands in the shopping cart. They no longer have to scratch their heads over what auto or true color means.

The other is we're now offering a choice of labs. We gathered preferences from thousands of existing and potential customers and tested the ones we heard the most raves about. We ended up settling on Bay Photo. Here's why.

A few notes:

- Bay Photo is only available to pro-level subscribers.

- We added the necessary things to make it work, like the pricing tool, help pages, catalogs, etc., but we haven't mentioned it on our marketing pages. That's what we mean by soft launch.

- We will be adding more Bay Photo products in the future.

- As I write this post at 1 a.m. we're still rolling it out and chasing a few loose ends.

Thanks for the great feedback that helped make this happen!

All the best,
Chris

[Allen]

Noticed one thing missing, the "old" auto color correction is missing with the
new lab, only hand or none is available. This forces the higher prices with any
corrections using the new lab when in most cases the auto corrections
worked fine.

Could the auto color correction option be added?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Glory2Jesus4Photography

I do wonder how Bay photo handles there color correction. If it is just some computer program or if it is a more personal touch similar to Millers.

Bay Photo has extremely talented color technicians and the color correction is done individually, by hand

[sellis]

Thank you SM!
I've been anxiously waiting for this for a while (I think since the new shopping cart was launched) and glad to see it come to fruition. BayPhoto is a great choice, I use them for lower tier albums and they do a great job (Zookbinders for my upper tier albums). Hopefully, we'll be able to integrate all their products, including albums, into our SM workflow.

I certainly don't mind paying a little extra for higher quality prints and more precise color correction. The die-cut wallets will be a huge plus for senior packages.

Thanks for adding staff to make other changes happen quicker (packages, discounts, gift certificates...).

Sam

[David Evertsen]

Thanks SmugMug!! I really appreciate people adding value to what I pay for and not taking it away.. You guys are THE BEST!!

David Evertsen
www.phabulousphotos.com

[Andy]

Originally Posted by brjphoto

I have some color correction questions. How is the color correction from Bay Photo different than the color correction from EZprints?

At EZP, it's done with our proprietary software, by computer.
At Bay, it's done entirely by hand.

http://www.smugmug.com/help/too-red

Also, just as a curiosity... wouldn't color correction be done on a computer monitor, and require the same amount of effort regardless of print size? I wonder why it costs more to do color correction of larger prints.

Great question, and we struggled with this too, to be honest. We've set the pricing to be what is as competitive as possible out there.