Nowadays both amateur and professional photographers, advertisers, designers and other people who are somehow related to photo processing hear the term called ‘photo proofing’ more often. The natural question arises: what it actually means.
For those who don’t know it yet,
‘photo proofing means a process through which photographer’s clients either private or corporate select their most favorite, quality and suitable photographs from a current photo session. Proofing is a part of any quality assessment in many spheres of human activity.’
How come that we need online photo processing and evaluation?
Well, if you need to quickly fix your photos, you can easily run any free download application you find on the I-net and quickly edit a picture in this or that online photo editor. But when you need a professional collaboration area and expert feedback, you cannot simply do it all in whatever the app you come across. That’s how photo proofing solutions were given a go in the history of photo editing, graphic design, and online photo proofing solution development, etc.
Photo proofing then
The truth is that photography was invented long before the web and obviously long before digital photography and cameras were introduced to the world.
Photo processing solutions the way we know them now have been derived and created from a substantially more dreary procedure that had been utilized before digital photography existed. In previous centuries people could hardly communicate on distance. Communication and collaboration between a customer and a photographer might be only in-person.
Generally speaking, the process of photo proofing was realized by assessing small printed photograph tests or by taking a look at the negatives of a camera film. After customers had settled on their decision of the photos, they were imprinted in labs or dark rooms and then provided back. Mind that there were fewer photographers and probably not so much demand and, thus, customers who needed such photography solutions in general.
Different procedures were connected to upgrade the shots. Essentially, this was a manual procedure which required time, aptitudes, and exceptional devices, for example, paper, chemicals, specifically equipped and lighted rooms, lab hardware and so on. This is the precise motivation behind why photograph proofs have been improved the way we know them now – to deprive of pointless work and unnecessary expenses. And to fasten the process under a condition of high demand, of course.
Photo Proofing now
With the quick development of both photography and printing innovations, we now have a more extensive scope of decisions with regards to photograph proofs. While there is no requirement for a physical darkroom any longer, there is a computerized adaptation of a dark room still’s being used.
Be it Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever other professional photo editing solution, either web-based or computer programmed, each photographer nowadays does similar work, yet without any physical presence at the office or dark room. A few picture takers have a standard never to show crude pictures to their customers, which implies that a photographer must work out each photo from the session, without knowing whether a customer will pick it or not.
‘A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’ – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Nowadays, there are two possible variants of photo proofs: in-personal (like in old times) proofing and online photo proofing. We should talk about the pitfalls of each.
Photo proof in person
Proofing on paper is another name. Photo proofing in person still has a place in the modern world, though is rather an old fashioned method. It suits certain industries, and the photographers who want to have the person to person collaboration, usually prefer this method.
It also alludes to meeting a customer and demonstrating him/her the pictures from the photo session. In the case that you don’t have a studio, you may meet your customers at their homes or at a neighborhood coffeehouse, etc.
You will demonstrate little-printed tests of every picture that you have taken to your customer, your value list, photographs from their photo session in a digital format and some other item cases you might want to offer, for example, postcards, albums, and so on.
Let’s be honest, meeting your customer in-private gives you colossal points of interest. When you put the photo tests in front of your customer, you can see his/her feelings and make new suggestions which may help you to enhance your deals.
‘A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.’ – Ansel Adams
Among the drawbacks of meeting clients is that it requires some time investment and cash to print the specimens and get prepared for a meeting, the way back home takes time and so on.
When printing costs were reduced and the decreased, this method of proofing has been advanced from being simply a sheet of contact to fully sized prints, or proof books that are usually shown to the customers in studios. This technique, while being extremely tedious, in any case, is still appreciated by the professional photographers for keeping the business entryways open. Seeing a client brings a higher possibility of enlargement and other printed offers sold out.
Online photo proofing
Online proofing solutions make photo processing extremely fast, easy and well organized. Nowadays online proofing software like Proofquick act as web collaboration areas and effective workbenches for more professional workflow management and receiving immediate feedback.
Traditionally, the users may do same things with the help of proofing solutions as with the professional photo editors like Photoshop: upload photos, change them as necessary, download the resulting masterpiece on a computer and fill up the social networks or any photo storage, such as Flickr or Picasa, etc. Usually, online software for photo proofing is entirely integrated with the existing systems and run on any mobile device.
Online photo proofing is a great alternative to meeting customers in living. You simply need to load your photos or your photo albums into the workbench online and send a connection to your customer. From that point, your clients (or approvers) can choose which pictures they might want to purchase or download them, under your price list and terms of use.
The simplicity of online proofs relies on the proofing instruments you utilize. There are either more complex and slow systems or fast and understandable ones. They must have boundless space to store your photographs, flawlessly sorted out exhibitions to flaunt your photos in an ideal way, and possibly support some popular payment methods so that the customers can pay on the web with no problem.
Online photo proofing is very effortless in contrast with I the proofs you do in private. It requires less investment and exertion. It suits freelancers who offer photography sessions, as they can transfer a practically a boundless number of pictures into one account free of charge. It’s an ideal approach to show crude pictures to your customers. Additionally, the Internet proofing solutions give your customers an extra opportunity to choose which pictures to pick, while in the case of an in-private proofing procedure, the time is restricted and it’s always not enough for an ideal workflow result and providing the most useful feedback.
In any case, giving a customer an excess of time to settle in which photographs to request, can likewise be a burden. It’s very hard to make a choice in ten cases when a customer has numerous extraordinary shots. Here and there it’s fairly difficult to make a decision. Along these troubles, it may take a too long time to get an answer from a customer. That’s why it’s essential to use the service that offers immediate e-mail notifications with each new action taken on the photo processing. Besides, you cannot impact the final customer’s decision or make an extra or offer without seeing him or her in the eye.
How to choose the best proofing service?
When it comes to picking the best online proofing system for advertising, photography or design business, the users should mind the following:
- fast, the easy and understandable system for both you and your customers,
- paying for initial registration only,
- privacy settings,
- extra editing features,
- customer support 24/7 all year round.
There are many proofing websites available nowadays, but not all of them can guarantee you the above-mentioned features which are essential for the ultimate use.
Any top online proofing tool for free?
Among the variety of photo proofing sites you can come across on the web, there are useful tools both prepaid and free. It’s up to you which one to choose. However, it’s always better to try those with the free trial versions to make sure they are perfect for your business and then pay on a regular basis. Since we live in society, where instant satisfaction rules, any professional photographer, designer or advertiser knows the significance of having web proofing for their customers at hand. Having things considered, here we go:
- ProofQuick
ProofQuick is a web-based collaboration platform for professional photographers, designers, and advertisers who are interested in the more professional management of their staff. It is different from traditional online galleries. It allows editing and proofing photos or any other graphics directly inside your poof-board, creating projects and keeping in touch with its participants using instant e-mail notifications. It’s free for 15 days and is fully functional. There are no limits. So, now you know what photo proof means and how to pick the best roofing solution for your own business.
- ShootProof
ShootProof is another solution that allows professional photographers to sell, share, deliver and print photographs from their professional sessions. It offers controlled shares and options downloaded and let the users have their pictures published with the help of any lab they want. Additionally, the website allows graphic design solutions and much more than just a photo processing.
The users will be able to brand their sites with colors, logos or watermarks. Here, clients get digital downloads right on the spot which saves their time and money dramatically. They can easily access their photos on all the electronic devices they like. The service doesn’t collect any commissions, so the users keep 100% of the profits.
- Pass
This is a free mobile app for online photo processing that a lot of photographers use nowadays on their phones. The motto is “shoot and share.” They put an overwhelming accentuation on booking more customers through informing using PASS. PASS is also intended for the way customers view and share their photos: on their cell phones and socially.
The application allows people to transfer, oversee and share photos from a session in minutes. The thought is that, once a customer gets a warning that the photographs are up, he or she will impart the photos to everybody they know both in individual and open online networking. This, thus, is free promotion for yourself. PASS is suggested as a supplementary proofing site — a reward for your customers and you too.
- PixieSet
Pixieset is an online photo processing solution that joins social astuteness with streamlined comfort. To start, this platform allows you to make devoted customer displays that are as wonderful to have a look at as they are easy to utilize. They likewise give the customers an alternative to sharing their photos from any gadget they like, which implies informal advertising for you. Also, Pixieset makes it possible for the customers to download excellent photos from sessions, or they can purchase prints and other items directly from the online gallery.
Checklist:
| Free trial/version | Editing/proofing/sharing | Instant notifications | Mobile apps | |
| ProofQuick | yes | Editing/proofing/sharing | yes | yes |
| ShootProof | yes | proofing/sharing | no | yes |
| Pass | yes | proofing/sharing | yes | yes |
| PixieSet | yes | sharing | no | yes |
Go ahead if you have anything to add!
