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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> smugmug or shutterfly?
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Showing posts 1 - 25 of 36, (reverse)
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12/24/2005 06:49:21 PM · #1
I can't make up my mind which one to choose? Which one is the best to work with and makes the best prints? Either way, I am going to pay the $99 for the year for the pro version so it will look very professional and I can charge what I want for the prints, watermarks, etc. I am trying the trial version on smugmug right now. Any suggestions?
12/24/2005 06:50:31 PM · #2
I absolutely LOVE Smugmug! (I'm a basic user but everyone I've talked to has positive things to say about their prints)
12/24/2005 06:51:14 PM · #3
SMUGMUG rocks!!!

Wanted to add this link for you to check out as well Mandy:

//www.digitalgrin.com

it is a forum for smugmuggers.

Message edited by author 2005-12-24 18:53:21.
12/24/2005 06:53:37 PM · #4
SMUGMUG rocks!!! Iuv it
12/24/2005 06:53:47 PM · #5
Doesn't Shutterfly Pro also charge you a portion of the profits?

Dunno, heard may great things about Smugmug. Not much about Shutterfly.
12/24/2005 06:58:42 PM · #6
I think with both places it is about 15%....that sure beats having to fool with prints. I just want to take thier picture and move on. There are quite a few people that are members of the Curves I manage that use shutterfly and they really like it. But they are also just snapshot moms and grandmothers too. Was wondering how many of you use the pro version and if you like how things are run over there.
12/24/2005 07:02:28 PM · #7
Mandy,

I have to poweruser version of smugmug which is $49. Unlimited uploads. People can order prints but not a profit to me.

//www.jstantonjr.smugmug.com

Also check out Mick Newton's smugmug. He has a pro one and it looks great.

//micknewton.smugmug.com/

Message edited by author 2005-12-24 19:06:47.
12/24/2005 07:13:57 PM · #8
Oh wow! Both are very nice! I want to make a profit off of the prints though. I remember that self portrait from fotofight!
12/24/2005 07:16:09 PM · #9
I think you need to make it quick if you want to get grandfathered in on smugmug at $99 year. They are going up in January to $150 a year for pro users.
12/24/2005 07:18:42 PM · #10
Yep here is the e-mail I got from them:

Your subscription rate is not changing.

The good news is SmugMug's most popular features -- unlimited storage, unlimited bulk uploaders, and themes -- have made SmugMug enormously successful and kept us independent.

But the thrill of digital photography and the convenience of SmugMug is causing our customers to show off a lot more photos than they used to! After the first of the year, we'll be raising our subscription rates for new Standard and Power accounts by $10/year (83 cents/month), and new professional accounts by $50.

For the forseeable future (many years, we hope) your rates won't change. We thought you'd appreciate advanced notice in case you're thinking of upgrading or buying gift accounts and you'd like to lock in the current rates.

SmugMug is profitable and debt-free and this is a way to ensure that we can keep offering unlimited storage, great support and a stream of cool new features and themes.


Also you can just select a theme from a drop down menu and it gives you that kinda customization. Noty sure if smugmug does that. In the middle of my page you will see my friends. Click on those and check them out.

By the way what is your smugmug site?

Message edited by author 2005-12-24 19:19:20.
12/24/2005 07:26:49 PM · #11
another vote for smugmug! Can't say enough good things about them.
12/24/2005 09:10:39 PM · #12
I love Smugmug, and their customer support cannot be beat. I've been with them about a year, and have contacted them a number of times for different things, and they get back to you right away, are very kind and helpful. I would stay with them just for that. They are great people.

I've tied my smugmug galleries to my main website - (and have somewhat customized it to match my website) - I'm like you - I want to take the photos, edit, upload, and move on, and this is just the ticket. It's wonderful for me since I deal with a lot of people who have friends/family spread out all over the globe, and that way they can ALL buy directly from there. Oh yeah - the prints, from the lab they use, are excellent.

Linda
In The Light Smugmug Galleries
12/24/2005 09:14:29 PM · #13
I am a smugmug user and I have had only one experience with customer service and it was great.. this is my page
gaurawa

Message edited by author 2005-12-24 22:20:39.
12/24/2005 09:33:35 PM · #14
right now it is turnerphoto but I am thinking of changing that...not sure. I will definatly upgrade to the pro account before the end of the year...THANK YOU for telling me.
12/24/2005 09:37:55 PM · #15
I'm a pro user, halfway into my second year. It's terrific, the only thing I'd change about them is to have the option of backprinting, in order to put the image number and copyright statement on. I think they are going to do that in the new year. Nothing but great things to say about their customer service and companion forum dgrin, which is a great community of folks. I've done a little customization and it's aliased to my domain lynnesite.com
my smugmug site
12/29/2005 01:44:49 PM · #16
I ordered some prints from smugmug and I am not that happy with them. These two photos came out with a slight green tint to them.


The green tint isn't there at all on my home printer or on the prints I ordered from mpix.com. I emailed them about it. How can I make sure that this doesn't happen when I send customers there?
12/29/2005 02:16:19 PM · #17
Mandy,
I am also a pro user at smugmug. I have had great luck with them so far. I have almost 28,000 pictures uploaded on my site. I have the buy feature turned off on alot of my galleries due to the fact it would take me forever to upload the full size original for all of them. I have heard of a site(not sure which one) that will send you an email when you have had an order placed...and then you can upload the full size original. This would be a feature I would love to see added to the site.

When I got started with my site I wanted the face to face with my customers.....of course I live in a small town. Plus I wanted to try different places for printing to see which I like best. So far it is DPC prints and either Wal-mart 1hr or Costco 1hr.

Smugmug has an excellent utility that you can get to do batch commands on your photos before uploading. This allows you to put a custom watermark on your pics if you dont want to use the one they offer on the site. It is called IRfanview.

Here is something else I did that I would recommend....
Go to godaddy.com and get yourself a domain name. You can forward it to the smugmug site if thats what you choose to use. It will also allow you to keep the same site name if you switch to another hosting site later.

I actually bought two domain names in case I wanted to change to just my name down the road.
lawsonimages.com

Hope this helps...and if you are gonna do it...do it before monday...price is going up like what was said in the previous posts.

Barry
12/29/2005 02:25:52 PM · #18
Oh yeah I forgot one thing about smugmug....
Most of the prints I have had done through them came back darker than on my monitor or any other print done elsewhere.
They corrected the problem with my order(great customer service) but i am still hesitant to order any more from them.
FWIW
12/29/2005 02:44:02 PM · #19
Bigtime smugmugger here too, love the site. I use the pro account as well, mostly so I can have my smugmug site look like the rest of my website, and selling my prints is good too! I've found that I don't make very much from it though, based off of what I saw most people who turn a big profit from smugmug do event photography and the like. My smugmug is at store.ericschmittphoto.com
12/29/2005 03:14:02 PM · #20
Do either of these allow you to stop the advertising on the back? I got some shutterfly prints recently and the added their name on the back of the print.
12/29/2005 03:23:04 PM · #21
The smugmug did not have a name on the back...just the file number. If you ask...Costco will not put it on the back of theirs also.
12/29/2005 03:33:06 PM · #22
I'm glad to find this. This is just what I was looking for!
12/29/2005 03:36:35 PM · #23
smugmug print information

I am a pro user but disabled my prints from there. They were for the most part overly red. They offer an ICC profile but I don't want to add yet another profile into my workload (one for web, one for home prints, one for print shop).

12/29/2005 03:58:33 PM · #24
I've bought many prints from smugmug and I've never had any problems with color reproduction. My clients have bought lots of prints too, and none of them has ever reported any problems. Maybe you guys just need to adjust your monitors?

Just out of curiosity, how many of you that are having color problems are doing color management?

BTW, thanks for the plug rex! :)

12/29/2005 05:27:03 PM · #25
I am not Mick. I will when i get my 30 inch apple cinema...but not yet. I guess the thing that is weird is that the same print done at smugmug and a place like wal-mart come out looking different. The one from walmart looks just like my monitor...same for costco and dpc prints...but the smugmug is dark. I would love to be able to not have to worry about it and just allow people to order...but I dont want to have to refund money or make duplicates on my own to satisfy them.
By the way....absolutely love the 35-350..........now if they just made it in a 2.8!

Thanks Barry
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