I’ve just been dealing with a frustrated user.  The abridged version…

He designed an album in PJ then exported PSDs.

He then flattened the PSDs and imported them into ALBUM_CO_X’s software for ALBUM_CO_X to make.

That is frustrating for me on all sorts of levels – mostly because I tried (and failed) to convince ALBUM_CO_X not to waste time and money developing their own album planning tool… but that’s a different story.

The album came back with a border around every page, about a quarter inch in from the edge.  Somewhere between this client and ALBUM_CO_X’s software the print files that ALBUM_CO_X received had extra white space inserted outside the trim line that Photojunction adds to each layout.

This client, a nice bloke, called ALBUM_CO_X and said, “What the heck?” and the company replied with, “It’s Photojunction’s fault”.

Truth is it’s probably the client’s fault (I did tell him that – and explained why) but the most interesting thing I heard was the album company’s reply to our (their) client’s question: “Didn’t you think to question a border around the edge of the page?”

ALBUM_CO_X replied, “No, do you know how many albums we do?”

Cheers, Danny

There are dozens of album design tools on the market, and almost none of them can be used to free-design matted albums.

The exceptions are PJ and two others. A few more have workarounds where you drag and drop images on to templates that match pre-designed mats … but that’s hardly creative.

Why do so few programs have this ability?

First, it’s quite hard. Hard to create a layout on the fly, and simultaneously capture all the data to create both the prints and the mat. And hard, when you’ve got the data, to ensure that the resulting layout meets all the album vendor’s requirements … and can actually be manufactured!

It gives most people a headache just thinking about it.

Second, matted albums no longer feature on most photographer’s radar. Not everybody agrees that’s a good thing, and that may be an opportunity for bespoke album makers and their clients. Provided their software can capitalise on it.

There is a lot to choosing an album design tool but the power to design pretty much any album out there is surely important.

Warm regards, Danny

Johannes posted on Queensberry Connects to encourage people to upgrade to the new beta, and got this comment:

So what about all the quirky bugs, even in the latest version? Also running latest version of OS X. Used to work in the software industry, and this program is buggy!

Fair comment, although we may need to agree to differ

Here’s our take on it (I also posted about reliability while Remix was still in beta).

Version 1.25 in PJ Support’s experience is very stable. The few bugs in it (no deal breakers) were fixed in v1.26 … which is a beta with heaps of new features … and inevitably, a few new bugs!

If you want stability, stick with the (latest) final version. It’ll be stable and pretty bug-free. But if you stick to finals there’s a bit of a dilemma: any bugs there are won’t be fixed for you until the next final comes out. Unless there are deal breakers of course.

If you want to play with the latest features go for the betas, expect a few bugs – and prompter bug fixes – and accept our heartfelt thanks for helping to make the program even better.

Here’s a real-world observation. There are a few good reasons why PJ may be buggier than some: small user base … very ambitious software … cross-platform … constant development … Which of these would you have us give up on?

I’m proud of what Team PJ have done, and we’re all very grateful to our users, who’ve helped them do it with their feedback and patience. Check out the release notes and look at what they’ve achieved.

Cheers, Ian

Danny and Stephen say this was a very regular dialogue at WPPI and FOCUS…

I love it. How much?

It’s free.

You mean I get a free trial?

No, it’s free.

Yeah, but that’s just the Lite version, right?

No – honestly – it’s free.

OK, but only to Queensberry clients?

We decided to make it free to everyone.

So… why? What’s the catch?

Well, we’re building a community around the software… and we want you on our mailing list. Plus there is a charge if you want one-on-one support. And one day we might offer you other stuff that’s not free.

But if I never spend a dollar with you it’s free?

That’s right. The reality is we’re doing it anyway. Queensberry needs free software for its own clients, and like it or not, many of them use multiple vendors. We’re helping them solve their real world problems.

Cheers, Ian

Have you noticed that almost all album planning software assumes that (a) all albums are flush-mount, and (b) templates are the only way to design them. Not PJ.

Coffee table books are cool, and so are templates – but there are other albums, and other ways to design them.

1. What’s the significance of an increasing rate of referrals and WOM? Healthy signs of a growing business, no more nor less, recession or not.

2. After so many years in this trade it’s hard not to notice that some of the most successful photographers don’t win awards.

3. And that some award-winning photographers don’t know how to translate their abilities into cash.

4. “The average client just wants good believable pics that are vibrant & clean & candid. The challenge is to give them that + more by way of making sure that we include some masterpieces that are beyond the ability of the semi pro masses.”

Right on! Like the poor, the weekend warrior is always with us, and you can’t beat ’em on price. The challenge is, what do YOU do to add another zero to what they charge.

5. Years ago, Ivan McLellan, who founded New Zealand’s premier pro lab (now part of Queensberry) used to tell his clients that you could market to the Carriage Trade or the Bottom End, but the market in the middle was disappearing. Good advice for decades.

Hi All

At the end of our fiscal year and a round of trade shows it’s a good time to reflect on progress.

This year with the release of Remix we’ve seen the most successful sales at trade shows for both clients and vendors, but we’re ambitious folk with big plans. So with another year’s data and maybe a little wiser for the experience we’ll reset the sights and carry on.

I encourage you to do the same. We’re big on stats at PJ HQ, we want to know our clients and what they’re like.

A few questions you might want to consider while pondering the business stuff:

Where did my clients come from (bridal fairs, print advertising, client referral, web, venue referral)?
What package is selling the best? Should I shift a price point?
Am I profitable (enough)? Have my operating costs changed?
What % of my turnover is from albums? Reprints? Other categories?

Developing a list of questions and answering them every quarter will help give you a sense of perspective…

Cheers
Danny