The PhotoDeck blog

Investing in the future, one line of code at a time

We're happy to announce the completion of a major behind-the-scenes project:

We've updated the code behind PhotoDeck to base it on a new version of the software framework we use, Ruby on Rails. (A software framework is the coding language and associated tools used by developers.)

That's over 10.000 lines of code that have been manually edited, rewritten or added, in hundreds of different files.

The upgrade was brought to the live PhotoDeck platform last week -- without any service interruption.

"Nice, but what's in it for me?"

In the short term, probably not much. Some performance improvements, although since our platform already enjoyed an average response time of less than 15ms, that's barely noticeable.

But PhotoDeck isn't about the short term, never has been (that's the benefit of not having external investors or bankers to please).

Keeping up with the evolution of software frameworks is tedious, and has to be done often, but it means that, down the line, we can leverage new features, new technologies, better security.

It's like like always shooting in a brand new shiny photo studio with the latest tools.

More generally, constantly keeping our code fresh, clean and consistent is what allows us to stay flexible, consider big changes and keep improving for years to come.

We want our software to be like a nice Lego house, where it's easy to move a window and some walls, and build a new room in the same way as if it had been there from day one.

The common alternative is to stick with old stuff and keep adding new stuff on top of it. Like for a sand castle, at some point one can't touch any part without risking huge damage, and the whole thing slowly crumbles, ultimately leading to restarting from scratch, or dying.

We love our Lego.

PhotoDeck websites are designed for Google: extreme speed, ease of use, and consistent use of the few "tags" that matter in the pages' code.

To complement this and offer better control to our members on how search engines and social networks present their site, for example on search result pages, we have now introduced new options.

In addition to the automated generation and optimization of the Title and Meta Description tags, which can itself still be controled via global SEO settings, it is now also possible for experts to individually customize these tags for thumbnail pages, frontpage and custom pages.

These new options can be found as part of each gallery and custom page settings. Enjoy!

Note : these tags can have an impact on the presentation of a website, but have very limited (none for the description) effect on Google ranking. Keep them short and don't turn these into keyword lists! The most important thing for SEO remains the actual popularity of a website, measured for instance as links from other websites or as time spent by visitors on the site.

Download our free Photographer's SEO Pyramid PDF guide!

New PhotoDeck subscriptions offer more simplicity and more value

In case you're wondering why we've been kind of quiet on the announcement front lately, it's because we've been doing some serious under-the-hood work over the past months on two separate projects. The first one is purely technical and we'll get back to it soon.

The second project consisted of taking a deep look at how our members use PhotoDeck, on the one hand, and on how our offers are structured, on the other hand. The result is a new set of plans, simpler and more in line with what our members expect.

New PhotoDeck plans

Beside simplifying the plans, we've taken special care of the needs of:

1- high-volume members who feel restricted in the PRO plan ;

2- low-volume members who only occasionally handle private images or deliver files digitally, and can't afford the PRO plan.

Still zero commission on our members' sales

This hasn't changed: unlike most competitors, we're still not taking a single cent of commission on our members' sales. This can mean dozens, hundreds or, for some members, thousands of Euro / Dollars / Pounds saved every month with PhotoDeck!

From PRO to STANDARD

"For individual pros and serious image makers"

The new STANDARD plan is based on the PRO plan, at about the same price (US$ 25 / € 21 / £ 19 per month when purchased annually), with the following differences:

• no more limits on the number of video clips. We can hear some people dancing their pants off. That's right: upload as many videos as your storage allows. We've been supporting native video since 2011, so it was time ;

• storage allowance bumped from 60 to 100 GB. Yup, 40 GB more at about the same price ;

• For simplicity, the only option available is multi-language. Storage isn't extensible (see the BUSINESS offer), and the White Label option isn't offered anymore (all designs now include the ability to remove the PhotoDeck credit for free and we're planning to remove the remaining mentions over time for free too).

New plan: BUSINESS

"For high-volume pros and businesses of all sizes"

We're proud to have a quite a few high-volume websites enjoying PhotoDeck's speed and reliability: event photographers, larger image banks, collectives, startups... The BUSINESS offer is designed for those members.

It includes 300 GB storage for a modest price increase over the STANDARD plan (the BUSINESS plan only costs US$ 45 / € 38 / £ 34 per month when purchased annually).

The storage can be extended, and we're still talking about premium Cloud storage and an international Content Delivery Network with a leading provider, not a cheap bunch of hard disks on our servers...

So members feeling too tight in the old PRO plan will find this upgrade right up their alley.

New plan: ESSENTIAL

"For superfast portfolios and occasional image delivery"

The new ESSENTIAL plan is the STANDARD plan's little brother, for those with limited needs or who just can't afford the STANDARD plan:

• same templates and extensive design customization capabilities

• same proofing features (protected galleries and digital delivery) but no eCommerce

• 10 GB storage

Best of all, the ESSENTIAL plan has roughly the same price as the old FOLIO plan (US$ 12 / € 10 / £ 9 per month when purchased annually), so for members on the FOLIO plan who have been missing private galleries, this should be a no-brainer.

What happened to the STUDIO and the FOLIO plans?

We were the first pro photography website provider to offer native video, 8 years ago -- how time flies. At that point, and given the extra cost we incur from video processing, it made sense to have an offer dedicated to photographers who actively shot video. That was the STUDIO plan's main raison-d'être.

Nowadays video is a given in much of the professional photography world: since video is now fully included in the STANDARD plan, the STUDIO plan isn't needed anymore.

As to the FOLIO plan, it was meant for simple online portfolios, without professional features. But we wanted our cheaper option to better reflect what PhotoDeck is, including to members who only occasionally need private galleries and digital delivery. Hence its removal to make space for the new, more useful ESSENTIAL plan.

I'm a member already, what do I need to do?

If you're happy with what you have, you don't need to do anything, we'll keep supporting your current subscriptions and without price change.

But if you want to move to one of these new plans, you can do so at any time via your account dashboard. What remains of your current subscription will be automatically credited towards the new one. Carefully check for any warning in your cart before validating the plan conversion!

Note: if you have storage addons, make sure when switching plan that the new storage allowance is enough. If you have over 100 GB worth of medias, the only new plan you should consider is the BUSINESS plan.

Catalog integration refresh allows members to sell many new products

Great news for members using our integration with One Vision Imaging (UK) to sell prints, a wider catalog is now available!

Both new options for existing products as well as new products have been added. Note that there also has been a few cases of reshuffling from a product to another for clarity, and a few discontinued options have been removed. One Vision prices shown in the product tables have been updated too.

Additions and changes to existing products

• Photographic prints:

  • more sizes
  • new support: Print With White Border
  • the "Print in a Luxury Slip-in Mount" support has been moved to the new "Finished Prints" product.

• Canvas Wraps:

  • new supports: Canvas Wrap Rounds, Chunky Canvas Wraps, Inkjet Canvas Wraps
  • 2" Canvas Wraps: now clearly states both finished product and print sizes.
  • Prices need re-setting !!!

• Acrylic 'Ice' Range:

  • new: Black Ice and Quartz Lite supports
  • Existing Quantum and Quartz supports need their new Glossy and Metallic options have their price defined (e.g. to 0)
  • Bevelled Ice Sandwich smallest sizes (up to 12x10") have been removed
  • Quantum now only comes in square sizes

• Beveled Edge Blocks product is now merged into Coloured Edge Blocks.

• Coloured Edge Blocks:

  • new: framed supports: Black Framed Coloured Edged Block, Brown Framed Coloured Edged Block, Light Wood Framed Coloured Edged Block.
  • Edge colours can be one of White, Black, Mohagany (Silver and Gold edge colours are discontinued).
  • 40x30" size is discontinued

• Metallica Framed Prints:

  • new 24x16" size.
  • new frames: Black and White. Gold Frame is discontinued.

• Box Frame:

  • new "Acrylic Box Frame" support, available in Black, White or Ivory

New products

• Finished prints: Print in Folder (ex Print in a Luxury Slip-in Mount), Prints in Black Strut Mounts, Prints in Ivory Strut Mounts.

• Framed Canvas Wraps: Framed 2" Canvas Wraps (Black and Gloss White frames) and Framed Canvas Wrap Rounds (Black, Brown, Light Wood frames)

• Aluminium Prints

• Dibond Prints

• Shadow box

• Illusion Range

• Trinity Range

• Signature Boards

• Personalised Photo Gifts: Glass tableware, Photo Jigsaw Puzzle, Photographic Mouse Mat

What do I need to do?

The changes are automatically applied to existing pricing profiles, and new options are immediately available for you to add. This might be a good opportunity to recheck your prices!

We've just made it easier for your customers to download files from your website!

In-place download option

When delivering files ordered by a customer, an email is sent as soon as the file(s) is/are packaged. For small orders, it can be very fast, so we now also give the customer the option to simply wait on your site for the delivery button to appear, instead of waiting for an email.

Play this video to see it in action:

To benefit from this new feature, you'll need to accept the website engine upgrade prompt in your admin space!

Easier delivery of large orders

The file delivery email includes download links.

Before

• a download link was included for every single image in the order.
• a zip archive for all files was included when the total order size was less than 3.8 GB.

Now

• no more individual image download link: for some customers images would open in their browser or email software, depending on their computer configuration, without prompting for a location to save the files. Now that even iPhones can handle zip files, individual links are not needed anymore.
• one or more zip archive download links, in all cases.

Larger orders, more easily

For large orders, the zip archive is now automatically split into several files. We've therefore been able to remove the 3.8 GB limit on total download size.

Similarly, the limit for the free Download All option in galleries has now been raised from 500 to 1000 files.

NEW!!! Quickly sending files to a customer

The best way to send files to someone is usually to create a protected gallery with download enabled. This way, the customer can see the images on your website, come back later on to the gallery, and for example comment on them or add a selection to his lightbox if you've enabled those features. Seeing a gallery in his own name makes the customer feel special and shows you care.

This interaction on your website is good for your own branding.

But sometimes the customer just needs some images, and fast. Perhaps it's just a single image or a couple of them. Perhaps the customer has lost the files or forgotten to download them, and you already deleted the initial order. Perhaps the order was misconfigured and downloads were not delivered.

For these cases we've built a brand new feature: select files in your admin space, hit the Send button, and email your customer a link to download the files, directly and without going through a gallery.

You can also send full galleries and lightboxes in this way. And as a bonus, you can also have the images/videos resized before sending!