Friday, December 21, 2007

Discounts and Shipping & Handling

Due to popular demand you can now enter your discounts in the Basic Suite as either a percentage or a dollar amount. Hopefully this saves some of you from time consuming calculations:)

By default the Basic Suite will charge sales tax on your shipping and handling. For those of you who do not require this you can now choose not to charge it by changing it in your Basic Suite settings.

We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday!!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

New Image Size for Online Gallery

The Online Gallery will now give you the option of optimizing for extra large images. When posting images to your Online Gallery these are new size options:

Optimize small = 300x300
Optimize medium = 400x400
Optimize large = 500x500
Optimize extra large = 800x800

There is also a new email button so you can resend an email to a customer without reposting their gallery.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Customized Welcome Page

You can now choose your own background for your Online Gallery welcome page. The default will still be the brushed metal but you have the option of uploading any background that you like. Just go into your Settings in the Basic Suite and upload an image. This is the background your customers will see when accessing their pictures online. Make sure you have also personalized your customers welcome message. This will help everyone to have a more customized feel to welcome their customers to their galleries.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Import Contacts Into StudioCloud

You can now import your contacts from Outlook and other programs. Or you can create a spreadsheet to easily import all of your clients information without having to add them in one by one. You can watch a tutorial at http://studiocloud.com/tutorials/ImportContactsOtherProgram.htm for importing from another program. Or watch this one http://studiocloud.com/tutorials/ImportContacts.htm if you would like to create a spreadsheet to import.

Let us know if you have any other questions while importing your clients. Stay tuned for many more exciting features coming soon!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Accept Credit Cards Online & In-Studio

Credit card acceptance is here! The development team took extra time in ensuring that StudioCloud would have the most secure system available. Feel safe in knowing all of your clients data is protected using SSL which is the industry standard security for banks and other financial institutions.

You can now accept credit card payments through your Online Gallery and process them with your own merchant account. In your Basic Suite under Point of Sale (accepted credit cards tab) you can enter what credit cards you accept. When your clients are placing orders online they will be prompted to enter their credit card information. When their invoice comes through to your Basic Suite account just click on the payment section (edit card) to get the number to process.

When creating an invoice in-studio you can choose one of the credit cards that customer has on file or enter a new one for them. Then when processing orders later you will not have to track down a payment from them.

Keep an eye on the support page for an upcoming tutorial.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Press Release: Cutting edge technology for photographers

StudioCloud International Inc. Press Release

StudioCloud is excited to announce the release of new cutting edge studio management software for photographers. This new solution has merged the benefits of online anytime, anywhere access with offline on-location capabilities. With its pre-release thousands of photographers have been impressed by its functionality and ease of use and many of them are eagerly awaiting the release of the remaining StudioCloud products.

StudioCloud is providing photographers with customized, user-friendly software that includes client management, scheduling, point-of-sale, reporting, workflow tracking, as well as in-studio previewing and online galleries. Their services automate and integrate all of these photography business processes. StudioCloud enables the photographer to manage his or her company online--anytime, anywhere for a reasonable monthly fee with no upfront investment or costly support packages.

Their online model alleviates common complaints regarding IT maintenance, software installation, computer networking, and the cost of expensive upgrades. This model allows compatibility with both Mac’s and PC’s. Plus, photographers no longer have to worry about data loss or performing data backups because StudioCloud automatically backs up their data for them. For the convenience of photographers, StudioCloud also provides two free products that allow customers to have access to and modify their data without an internet connection.

StudioCloud uses Adobe’s latest technologies including Flex and AIR to create Rich Internet Applications. These new technologies provide customers with a beautiful, dynamic, interface that provides real time updating. StudioCloud’s products only require an internet connection and a browser, which offers instant support and automatic upgrades. StudioCloud is currently showcased by Adobe at http://labs.adobe.com/showcase/air/studiocloud.html

StudioCloud’s streamlined solution gives photographers the ability to organize and streamline their processes which drastically reduces the time spent on management responsibilities and tasks, allowing photographers to stay perfectly focused and framed for success.

StudioCloud offers a 30 day free trial with no obligations. To learn more about StudioCloud products refer to http://www.studiocloud.com

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Workflow Manager Tutorial

Just a reminder to try out the new Workflow Manager! It is still in beta but it will automatically track what needs to be done for your in-studio and online orders. You can download it by going to http://studiocloud.com/WorkflowManager.html. There is also a new tutorial at http://studiocloud.com/tutorials/workflowManager.html to help you with the few steps needed to set it up and start tracking your workflow. Let us know if you have any questions or feedback!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Automatically Assign Categories & Accounts

Your bookkeeping has been simplified! You can now automatically assign your customers payments to a certain category and account. In the Bookkeeping section of the Basic Suite, when you add or edit a category or account you can now click on a box that says default payment. By having this clicked, all of your payments in the Basic Suite will automatically be assigned to that category or account.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Appointment Reminders

You can now customize the email that is sent to your customers to remind them of their appointment with your studio. If you go to your Basic Suite Calendar there will be a Calendar Settings tab. Here you will be able to choose the number of days before an appointment that you would like the reminder email to be sent. You can also customize the message that will be sent to your customers.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Watermark Your Online Images

When you post your images online, you now have the option of putting a customized watermark on them. When posting images from the In-Studio Gallery, there will be a window with four tabs at the top. Watermarking is under Image Options.

StudioCloud It's Just That Easy!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

New Invoice Logo/Image Size

To make sure you have a crisp, clear image on your invoice please make sure your image size is 400px by 134px. To change this image, go to Settings in the Basic Suite and click on customize invoices.

Thanks!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Enhanced Online Gallery Experience

For all of you who use StudioCloud's Online Gallery, you will be happy to know that your clients will now have a faster, smoother, and all around better experience while viewing your pictures. They will no longer have to wait for the images to download before previewing them. As soon as they login with their password they can begin the ordering process.

The speed and memory usage have also been radically improved because only the thumbnails get downloaded until they click on the image. This allows their computer to run much faster because it is not bogged down by so many images.

Because of these improvements a few things have had to change. The carousel and slideshow views are not currently compatible with this new system so they have been removed. It appears that the majority of clients use the thumbnail view while ordering so these changes should not affect most users. Both the slideshow and carousel views are still in the In-Studio Gallery. Please feel free to let us know your opinions regarding this.

Try out your new Online Gallery and let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing from you!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Online Gallery Welcome Page

We have received an overwhelming positive response to the proposed changes for the Online Gallery welcome page and this new page has been implemented. You will customize this page by going into the Basic Suite under Settings, Online Gallery Settings. Here you can type a custom message for your customers and choose a studio name/logo that will be seen above that message. This same name/logo will be seen on the far left hand side of the tool bar when they are viewing their Online Gallery. To choose a picture or logo/name to go in the box above the welcome message, click on the Online Gallery Background Image tab (tonight when the Basic Suite changes are pushed out this tab will say, Online Gallery Welcome Image). You will want to make sure when you create this image it is 362px by 210px. It will look a little pixelated in the Basic Suite screen but should look very crisp in the Online Gallery page if it is sized correctly. You will see all of your customers albums on the new page without having to change anything!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Price Lists

We want to update you on a few new features that a lot of you have been waiting for! First off, you now have the ability to create multiple price lists (and change the order of your products) and choose which one to attach to your Online Albums. In the Basic Suite under your Point of Sale, you will see a new tab that says Price Lists. This is where you will create your lists. You can make as many as you like by choosing a name and then dragging the products across (or double click). Once they are in the list you can drag them up and down to change the order of the products. Once you have your lists made you will have the option of which one to attach to your album when you publish your pictures online. Your customers will only be able to see and access the price list that you have attached to their album.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Friday, October 19, 2007

Updates For In-Studio Gallery

For all of you Gallery users we wanted to update you on the new version of the In-Studio Gallery. Some of the changes include a separate menu bar option for the In-Studio Album Manager and the Online Album Manager. These two features were previously under Album Manager which led to some confusion.

Now, if you want to create an album to show in-studio to a client, it will first appear under In-Studio Album Manager. Once you publish it online it will also appear under the Online Album Manger. You can erase your in-studio album once you are finished showing the album, this will not erase your online album. To delete your online album you will need to unpublish it.

Another great feature that has been added is the ability to directly publish an album online without having to import the photos into the In-Studio Gallery. This saves time for those who do not show their clients proofs in-studio but only post them online. To use this feature, from the Home page of the In-Studio Gallery, go to Online Album Manager. From here you will see a button that says upload images. This will give you the same options that you had before when posting an album online.

Stay tuned for many more features to come!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Workflow Manager Beta Released

StudioCloud’s Workflow Manager will help your studio manage your workflow progress to guarantee pickup dates for customer’s orders. Easily track the progress of each order on any given date. Workflow Manager is easily customizable for each studio so you can create your own processes based on your unique studio needs.

For those using the Basic Suite, you have the option of having your orders that are placed going immediately into the WorkFlow Manager. Under the dates section of the invoice (where you assign a pickup date) there is a box that you can click that says "add order to workflow". You can easily track each clients order through the steps your studio takes to get an order to completion.

Remember that this product is in Beta and is not expected to fully function or have all of its features yet. For example, each image ordered will have its image notes attached to it but doesn't at this time.

Feel free to try it out! Download it here http://studiocloud.com/WorkflowManager.html

We look forward to your feedback and ideas!

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!


Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Export to QuickBooks

StudioCloud now has the capability of exporting to QuickBooks. If you need help in exporting your information to QuickBooks, take a look at the tutorial at :
http://studiocloud.com/tutorials/QuickBooks.html

StudioCloud, It's Just that Easy!

Tara Bates

Monday, October 8, 2007

New In-Studio & Online Gallery Features

A few of the new features include a detailed pop up description of products on the Online Gallery which allows you to tell customers the details of products and packages. Because of this, a product name field has been added which will look like a duplicate of what you had entered in your product code field. In the Basic Suite you can now update your product descriptions to be more detailed and communicate more clearly to those ordering on your Online Gallery. Coming soon you will be able to change the order of your product lists, choose to add unique product lists to online albums, and accept credit card information from customers ordering online.

The Online Gallery now includes a returning studio client option and a friends and family option. This way if they are already a client at your studio it won't create another client entry, it will just add the order under their current one. If they are a friend or family member it will add them as a new client and put that invoice and balance under their name. As before you will still receive an email once an online order has occurred.

Stay tuned for more upcoming features! StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Make Sure to Upgrade Your In-Studio Gallery

Adobe's release of their next version of the Air platform has also allowed us to improve the speed of all of our products. We are currently in the process of optimizing our memory usage for upcoming releases that will improve your experience even more. Because of Adobe's new Air platform we are unable to automatically update your In-Studio Gallery. You will need to come to this link to install the latest of StudioCloud's In-Studio Gallery:

http://studiocloud.com/preview.html

Just click on the install now button.


Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Adobe Showcases Studiocloud

Check out what Adobe is saying about StudioCloud, http://labs.adobe.com/showcase/air/studiocloud.html

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Gallery Update for Mac Users

With the release of the new version of Adobe Air, we are happy to announce that the "issues" Mac users were experiencing have now been resolved. Make sure to try out the new versions of the In-Studio and Online Gallery.

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Friday, September 28, 2007

Export to Microsoft Money and Quicken

StudioCloud is excited to announce the Basic Suite now has the capability of exporting your financial information to Microsoft Money and Quicken by Intuit. We expected to have the capability of exporting to Microsoft Accounting and QuickBooks released at this same time but there have been a few complications that have slowed the development in these areas. Stay tuned for another announcement because these capabilities will be coming soon.

Check out the support tutorials at http://studiocloud.com/index-4.html. They will be updated next week with instructions on how to use all of the latest features that have been added.

StudioCloud, It's Just that Easy!

Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Where Did The Website Templates Go?

Thank you to everyone who has given feedback on the website templates. Usually when you purchase a website from online companies there will be multiple other photographers who have the same one unless you pay thousands of dollars to have a custom one built. Here at StudioCloud we realize that each photographer has their own unique style and we want you to display your work on your own unique website without the steep price.

Due to the feedback we have received from you we are revamping this portion of StudioCloud to give you the power of customizing the look and feel of your website without having a custom one built. There will be general layouts that will allow you to change the colors, fonts, menu bars, images, and layout features with an easy to use interface. These websites will be fully integrated with StudioCloud's Basic Suite and Online Gallery. At a price you can afford you will have your own unique website and not a cookie cutter template. Please be patient as we finish developing these components.

Please continue to give your feedback and suggestions. It is photographers like you that are helping StudioCloud to become the most dynamic, user friendly photography software on the market!

StudioCloud, It's Just that Easy!


Tara Bates
StudioCloud

Friday, September 14, 2007

Brand Your Online Gallery

It's no secret that branding your customer's experience is an important step in establishing a successful marketing presence. StudioCloud Online Gallery is here to help! Now your logo will upload to the Online Gallery and you can select the background color to give a consistent feel between your customer's website experience and your Online Gallery.

To incorporate these changes, simply go to StudioCloud Basic and click "Setup" in the black navigation bar, then click the "Online Gallery Settings" tab.

StudioCloud, It's Just that Easy!

Scott Astin
StudioCloud Development Team

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Manage Online Albums Your Way - At a Price You Can Afford

One of the largest frustrations professional photographers experience in selling or proofing their work online is the sheer cost and complexity of doing so. Countless photographers have bemoaned the fact companies charge them for every download, upload, sale or minute their galleries show on the web. With the advent of the Online Gallery, StudioCloud has integrated the process from start to finish and provided a simple solution - Here's your space, you organize and manage it as you like! Never again worry about extending the time a photo can be online or pay hundreds of dollars a month to upload a small portion of your work. StudioCloud Online Gallery gives our customers 5 gig of storage and an optimizer that allows photographers to upload over 60,000 photos. (Using the small optimize setting). If you need more, you can purchase additional space, but most photographers find no extra space necessary. All this for $34.95 a month!

Scott Astin
StudioCloud Development Team

Sale Gallery Name Change - Now "In-Studio Gallery"

A bedrock of StudioCloud development is to make the program as intuitive as possible. We have noticed some confusion over the name of "Sales Gallery" with people not entirely understanding the products in-studio proofing capability. In order to make things clearer, StudioCloud has decided to change it's name to In-Studio Gallery. All the functionality you've come to expect will remain - only the name has changed!

Scott Astin
StudioCloud Development Team

Product Codes - Will be great for UPC codes!

We had three people suggest a category for product codes. We have included product codes in anticipation to using these with UPC codes as well to further expand the point-of-sale capabilities of the program.

Scott Astin
StudioCloud Development Team

Thumbnails as Gallery Loads now Optional

We had a great suggestion from Kate in Australia. She suggested having an optional thumbnails flash as a gallery loads into the Online Gallery. This gives the photographer the option to further customize the client's experience. Great suggestion Kate.

Scott Astin
StudioCloud Development Team

Selling Your Work Beyond the Client

Your work is your best friend when it comes to referrals. I was recently talking with Peggy from Florida and she suggested something we should all be doing. As she photographs for weddings she photographs guests and tells them how to log into the gallery to see not only the bride and grooms photos but their own photos as well. She says she has great results in moving these people to paying customers.

To help, StudioCloud now provides three ways to publish an album online, allowing you to select the option that works best for the particular client and album you are publishing:

  1. You can list the album with no password, allowing anyone who visits your site to see the album
  2. You can list the album on your site, but require a password of your choosing to view the photos.
  3. You can publish the album online for your client, but it will not be listed on your website. An email is sent directly to the customer with a link to access the online gallery. No one will be able to view the gallery without the link contained in the email sent to the customer. This allows you to provide secure online proofing for photos that are more sensitive in nature.

A great marketing process outlined by Peggy, backed up by great tools to make it happen.

Scott Astin

StudioCloud Development Team