Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "That process has two distinct stages—before and after the shoot. The first sells the booking, the second is the up-sell…" High-end photographers have been selling albums profitably for as long as we’ve been in business, but for many today it seems a lost art. Why? Obviously the world has changed — "shoot-and-share" and "just the files" are seductive ideas, and so is selling online. And who needs the hassle of getting people into the studio, playing nice, offering them bubbles and selling To View More >>

We've introduced lots of new cover options this year, from Coastal Linens, and Haze, the beautiful new Micro Leather shade, to our new embossing options. It's great to see them all progressing through the Bindery. Here we'd like to explain a little more about our new Designable Canvas covers, the options available and how to order them in Workspace. And scroll down for 20% off your Q Book orders — for a limited time! For now the new canvas covers are available for Q Books and Portrait Albums. In Q Books they replace the old Designable To View More >>

Today we're announcing free album design and free standard colour correction on all our professional albums - Flushmount, Overlay Matted, Classic Matted and Duo. Here's why... When we're discussing how we can improve our products and services, we ask ourselves three questions: Can we make it fun? Will it save you time? Will it make you money? This time we're aiming for all three :) Many of our customers pay us to colour correct their images. Many pay us to design their albums as well. Many more wish they could afford to do the same. ALL OF YOU are going to enjoy one of two things. A fresh chance To View More >>

I got a few pats on the back for my "check your files" post. Chris Meiklejohn, our lab manager, liked it so much that she wanted a sequel. In fact she wrote one! The funny thing was my team mates had already got me one started on a follow-up, and the things on Chris' list were pretty much the same as ours. So, drum roll… (If you like this, I wrote it. Otherwise, it's Chris!) 8 ways to better print files Would you love to have your albums arrive on your doorstep faster, hassle-free, and beautifully printed? You put a lot of work into them, so they might as well be perfect. We definitely want To View More >>

And no, this is not a scam. For those not in the know, I'm based at the Queenberry lab. They put up with me here as long as I sit quietly in the corner. It's a bit crowded as Philip Laing is sitting in the same corner. Anyway, I'm not allowed to speak so I get to listen to what's going on regarding some of the issues that our printers face. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but the terms and conditions of most album companies are a bit like the signs you used to see in china shops around New Zealand – "if you break it, you buy it". In other words, if you send us a crappy file, don't blame us if we To View More >>

Queensberry's colour correctors are passionate about their work and achieving a result that pleases you, but even if you're not using their services the way they approach the job is worth thinking about. When they get an order, the first thing our colour correctors do is open up all the layouts to get a 'feel' for the overall colour of the album. Their goal is to optimise key elements like flesh tones or a bride's dress, and to achieve a consistent, natural look across page layouts and the entire album. Often we see albums where individual images have been tweaked without thought for how they To View More >>

Ok, the coach has said to pass it to the backs and they will chip and chase. For those who don't know what that means, stop a Kiwi in the street and ask. Or an Aussie. Maybe a Brit or the odd South African … although they do tend to get their forwards to drive it up the middle and kick the pill between the sticks. Sorry, I digress. Coach wants me back on the field, keep it short and get over the line. Come on, Ref, blow the whistle and let's get started! 6. Alignment tools OK, I'm cheating a bit here – this isn't a button but a complete tool kit. But get these working for you and life becomes To View More >>

We've now released v1.49 to fix a few minor issues in 1.48, but everything in this post is still current - Ed. In case you haven't noticed, we kiwis are very modest ;) Which is why I like announcing stuff that I didn't have much to do with, but I feel really good about, because I can sing its praises without feeling bad about myself! Anyway… The dev team have been busy busy today pushing out a new final release, and I think it's a really good one. They've put a lot of time and effort into refining features first released in v1.47, especially for Queensberry Press Books, but there's some juicy To View More >>

Version 1.47, builds on changes introduced in v1.46. Our main focus was on Queensberry's new press books, including fixes to the new workflow, many of them "behind the scenes" from the user point of view. We know we have a way to go with this and the developers are continuing to work on cover design issues in particular. Having said that we've introduced three new features to speed up your album design. They're still a bit "v1.0", but we wrote them in consultation with Queensberry's design team, who live and die by productivity, and we wanted to get them to you early so you could take a look and To View More >>

A discussion about album upload times (specifically the length of them) last week reminded me of a good post Danny wrote on the Junction a while back, about internet connection speeds, pricing and plans. While we do everything we can at our end to optimise the FTP process, ultimately (album) upload speed is determined by your internet provider, so it pays to understand exactly what you're getting for your money. Here's Danny's post – Nigel Warning: contains math and abbreviations From time to time I'm asked for advice about internet connection speeds and pricing plans, so here goes... Most To View More >>