Pictage Adds Slideshows for Premium and Pro Subscribers

April 23, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Pictage Announces General Availability of Slideshows Application for Professional Photographers to Quickly and Easily Showcase Images to Clients
Leading Online Platform for Professional Photographers Incorporates Powerful Service for Creating, Displaying and Distributing Engaging Slideshows in Just Minutes; Slideshows Enables Pictage Members to Effortlessly Share Images with Clients in Professional Online Presentations with Music and Effects

TORRANCE, Calif.–Pictage (http://www.pictage.com), the leading professional photographer community and online platform for marketing, selling, and fulfilling professional photo products, today announced the completion of beta and general availability of Slideshows, an exciting application that allows professional photographers to easily create multimedia presentations of professional photos in just minutes, and then effortlessly share them with clients and prospects by e-mail, via Web sites, blogs, and social media profiles, or in person. Available for free to Pictage Premium and Pro plan subscribers, the powerful tool simplifies a photographer’s marketing workflow, and complements the company’s many other services designed to save time and enable photographer success.

Slideshows enables professional photographers to design customized, eye-catching presentations from the ground up, without the need for complex downloaded software. Utilizing an intuitive Web interface, photographers select images they have uploaded to Pictage, and add custom text, slide transitions, special effects, background music, and other visual and artistic elements.

“Professional photographers are avid users of technology solutions that streamline their workflow and accelerate their business. Pictage Slideshows delivers a proven, effective professional photo marketing solution that is seamlessly integrated into our online proofing and e-commerce platform,” said Simon Anderson, chief marketing officer of Pictage. “We’ve designed the application with the busy photographer in mind, so setting up a slideshow is easy and fast. The moment a slideshow is online with Pictage, it’s shareable with clients or the world. And of course all slideshow images can be purchased in just a few clicks as photos, albums or books.”

The result of considerable beta testing by and feedback from Pictage’s community of nearly 10,000 professional photographers, Slideshows offers users the following features and capabilities:

• Create a Slideshow in Minutes Using an Event Folder or Category. With Slideshows, photographers can now showcase their best images by easily creating a multimedia presentation based on individually-selected images, or by using an entire event’s images, folder or category. Professionals can even design a slideshow based on their clients’ favorite images without bothering them by simply selecting the clients’ folder from the event folder dropdown list.
• Add Cool Slide Effects, Such As Pan/Zoom or Fade In/Out. In designing a slideshow, a photographer can add visual effects to one or more images, including pan/zoom, or a more traditional fade in and out. Pan/zoom is an effect where slides pan from four directions (i.e., top, bottom, right, and left), or zoom in or out of the frame. Fade in/out is an effect where a slide fades in to the next slide. All of these effects can be added with a simple click.
• Assign Custom Text to Any Slideshow, Including Phone Numbers and Web Site URLs. Photographers can promote their studios in their slideshows by displaying phone numbers, or providing links to their Web sites. The slideshow provides the designer with two lines of custom text to include.
• Set Slideshows to Music Using Any of Pictage’s Royalty-Free Songs at No Charge. A Pictage member can add another dimension to their slideshow by adding any songs from the company’s licensed, royalty-free catalog. All Pictage-offered songs are categorized for easy browsing and listening. In addition, the designer can control the pacing of the slides, from one to 10 seconds; fit the number of slides to the duration of a song (e.g., if the user has two slides, and the song is one minute long, each slide will last thirty seconds); display each song’s length within the slideshow itself; and add music fade out effects to coincide with a slide’s ending or a presentation’s conclusion.
• Easy, Real-Time Sharing Features. Once the slideshow is completed, a photographer can immediately share its URL in real time, or choose to embed the slideshow into their blog, Web site, or any social media profile. Pictage gives photographers the ability to embed a slideshow that expires with the event, or one that does not. With Slideshows, a member can even send the presentation to a client via a personalized e-mail with the studio’s logo, or embed a larger version of the presentation, up to 900 pixels wide, anywhere online.
• Powerful Presentation Tool. Slideshows simplifies a photographer’s workflow, and enables the professional to flexibly and efficiently present his best images of an event to clients in person, or by embedding the slideshow on their blog or Web site. Slideshows can also be used to easily e-mail presentations to clients and guests at the touch of a button. When presenting an image collection to a client, the photographer can use Slideshows to add his studio logo to the first slide, last side, or both.
• Increase Web Sales. Because Slideshows are directly linked to Pictage event Web sites and galleries, the product enables clients and guests to quickly and easily click through all images, and purchase prints, books, albums, and more if they wish.

For a description of Slideshows’ features, please visit http://pro.pictage.com/products_slideshows.htm.

Pictage and “Empowering Photographers. Enabling Success.” are trademarks of Pictage, Inc.

All other company names, product titles, publisher names, trademarks, artwork, and associated imagery are trademarks, registered trademarks, and/or copyright material of their respective owners.

About Pictage, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Pictage is dedicated to empowering professional photographers and enabling their success. Pictage offers the best online platform for marketing, selling and fulfilling professional photo products, and serves a passionate community of almost 10,000 photographers worldwide. Pictage honors and respects the courage and creativity of its customers, and strives to deliver intuitive products and services designed to simplify and grow their studio business. By streamlining workflow and taking on time-consuming tasks such as image enhancement, album design, fulfilling client orders and handling customer service, Pictage frees photographers to focus on shooting more events and making lasting, favorable impressions with their clients. For more information, please visit http://www.pictage.com.

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Trevor Current

Founder of Current Photographer, co-host of The Digital Photography Cafe Show, Designer, Photographer, and overall tech geek.

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