06 November 2014
The photo calendar is the perfect gift for 2015
Weeks used to pass between the moment of taking a picture to being able to show that snap to friends; in the age of Facebook, Pinterest and Flickr, it only takes a few seconds. More and more pictures spread faster and faster. Critics fear that good shots will be lost in the flood of images and not be preserved for future generations.
Pictures, books and music in digital format can be distributed cheaply and quickly, but when it comes to presenting digital goods as a gift one is literally empty-handed. The printed image, as a canvas, gallery poster or photo book is therefore still very popular indeed. But during the run-up to Christmas and the New Year it is the printed photo calendar which tops the list of gift ideas.
The advantages of the printed image are clear to the eye Those who assemble an annual selection of the best pictures in a photo book will still be able to enjoy colourful memories of the most beautiful moments decades later. Calendars with space for pictures for each of the twelve months and a photograph for the cover page only require selecting the most interesting pictures of the year once. Thus photo books and photo calendars help to avoid loosing good pictures in the flood of digital images, giving them the special place they deserve.
The advantages of the printed image are clear to the eye Those who assemble an annual selection of the best pictures in a photo book will still be able to enjoy colourful memories of the most beautiful moments decades later. Calendars with space for pictures for each of the twelve months and a photograph for the cover page only require selecting the most interesting pictures of the year once. Thus photo books and photo calendars help to avoid loosing good pictures in the flood of digital images, giving them the special place they deserve.
Something unique to unwrap, touch and display
Creative and personal gifts, which show the recipient the effort spent in selecting or designing such a display of affection, are consistently receiving greater esteem than gifts bought off the shelf.
FotoInsight webshop offers photo calendars on silk-matt or glossy print paper or photographic paper, in various sizes up to A2, as desk top or wall calendars or personal organiser with weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual calendar templates. They make ideal gifts as individual family, birthday, kitchen or decorative calendars. At prices between £10 and £35 there is a photo calendar model for everyone and every use e at http://fotoinsight.co.uk/photo-calendars.html.
Labels: Christmas gifts, create, design, gift ideas, Photo calendar, photo calendars, photographic calendar, picture calendar, present, print, printing
01 August 2012
School and Office Supplies from a Photo Service
FotoInsight introduces photo products for the new school year
Cambridge. 2 August 2012. - When the start of a new school year approaches, the school bag needs filling with new stationery. The online photo printer FotoInsight from Cambridge offers a new service to customize such items. The idea is to personally engage the youngsters with their school supplies, to ensure that they will look after them. In addition, own pictures of a pet, a group of friends or recent holidays keep positive memories alive. An aluminium sports flask is less likely to be kicked in-lieu of a football if it bears a personal picture. The school bag will be treated with due care if the the own image has been printed onto it. FotoInsight now prints digital photographs onto practical items like spiral note pads, notebooks or pencil cases. 
In time for the new school year FotoInsight presents a new line of school supplies. Examples of products onto which the online photo service applies customer photographs through the free ordering software FotoInsight Designer include: - Spiral bound notepad A4 (£6.99 / €8.99)
- Spiral bound notepad A5 (£5.99 / €6.99)
- Note pads with photo hard cover (€8.95)
- School Diary (£16 / €19.99)
- Pencil case with photo lid (£12 / €14.95)
- Sandwich box (£8 / €9.95)
- Aluminium sports bottle (£12.99 / €14.99)
- Kids rucksack (£19.50 / €24.95)
- Messenger Bags (£19.99 / €29.99)
Product Personalisation through Mass Customization
The expression Mass Customization is an oxymoron, joining the opposites "Mass Production" and "Customization", which has lately become fashionable. Mass customisation aims at producing goods and services to individual customer specifications with efficiencies and costs similar to mass production. Some firms in the growing photo gifts market, for example FotoInsight Ltd, apply this strategy, using new technologies and innovative structures to submit mass produced items like sports bottles or time planners to an individualisation process, applying user photographs. To achieve costs and delivery times similar to those of mass produced standard items, the production architecture has to be structured in a way that the individualisation takes place at the rear end of the production chain. These firms acquire mass produced components, which were manufactured benefiting from large economies of scale. As the individualisation can only be applied after an order has been placed, the process is called an "X-to-order" production. The gift items market with its strong seasonal fluctuations towards Christmas and Mother's day requires a particularly flexible production process.
The expression Mass Customization is an oxymoron, joining the opposites "Mass Production" and "Customization", which has lately become fashionable. Mass customisation aims at producing goods and services to individual customer specifications with efficiencies and costs similar to mass production. Some firms in the growing photo gifts market, for example FotoInsight Ltd, apply this strategy, using new technologies and innovative structures to submit mass produced items like sports bottles or time planners to an individualisation process, applying user photographs. To achieve costs and delivery times similar to those of mass produced standard items, the production architecture has to be structured in a way that the individualisation takes place at the rear end of the production chain. These firms acquire mass produced components, which were manufactured benefiting from large economies of scale. As the individualisation can only be applied after an order has been placed, the process is called an "X-to-order" production. The gift items market with its strong seasonal fluctuations towards Christmas and Mother's day requires a particularly flexible production process.
Realising own ideas"Photo labs that want to survive the fast changing photographic printing market have to produce goods in a way that each customer will find exactly what he or she wants", states FotoInsight's Managing Director Klaas Brumann. A growing number of items ranging from the useful to the decorative undergo customisation by application of customer photographs. Users can turn their own ideas into reality, which are often artistic, aesthetic, funny or personal. Consumers' growing design orientation becomes useful on school supplies. Everyday items like notepads, which are often no longer really valued by many pupils, receive a new personal value when they are individual.
Labels: aluminium sports bottle with photo, back to school, customization, messenger bag, personalisation, photo gifts, photo notebook, photographic, printing, school bags, spiral bound note pad, with own photograph
22 March 2012
NEW: Photo Acrylic Prints on FotoInsight's new Service for Ireland
FotoInsight is launching today acrylic poster prints as an additional, high value decorative photo product on its new website for Ireland.
Acrylic Poster Prints are a trend swamping over from the world of advertising and art exhibitions to offices and living rooms. Acrylic Photo Glass Prints are often described as "behind glass print". To achieve the highest print resolution, FotoInsight produces the image on real photographic paper and secures it with a special, completely transparent adhesive to a sheet of acrylic glass. FotoInsight’s new acrylic posters do without metal knobs that are needed in less developed acrylic print processes to hold the acrylic glass and print together. As light passes through the side of the acrylic it illuminates the image, giving it additional depth and colour brilliance. This turns digital photographs into highly decorative posters in no time.
The standard of digital cameras has improved considerably. Many have good lenses, high resolution and accurate reproduction of the colours in photographs. Who shoots great pictures wants to print some of them to decorate a home or office. Bright colors, high resolution and depth effect are the ideal components for decorative, large poster prints from digital images. These characteristics are combined in the new acrylic picture prints from FotoInsight. The new acryl print enlargements feature brilliant colours and produce a certain plasticity. The thick acrylic plate adds a great quality impression. Users will welcome the fact that the acrylic photos are easy to clean and long lasting. FotoInsight describes the acrylic material used as "top spec Polymethylmethacrylate with a minimum thickness of 5 mm, which offers a higher scratch resistance than other acrylic products."
FotoInsight’s Managing Director Klaas Brumann talking about the new acrylic print: "Our new posters behind acrylic glass offer greater dimensional stability, UV resistance and durability. Our acrylic posters are not only stronger but also more resilient." The Premium version available from size 40x60 cm is 1 cm thick. This gives it more visual depth than other plexy-glass prints currently on the market.
According to the Marketing Director of FotoInsight the material is characterized by its rigidity and shatter-resistance, eliminating any fraying of the edges and distortion that could otherwise be caused by storage and temperature fluctuations. Sunlight and moist wipes leave the photo prints unaffected. Prints on acrylic glass are particularly suitable for collages and digital pictures with vibrant colours. The acrylic sheet helps to increase the effect of depth in pictures. The quality processing suits its use in photographic exhibitions and due to its excellent visual appeal, it is used in prestigious art galleries and exhibitions around the world.
Product information
Material: Photographic paper poster behind 5 mm or 10 mm thick acrylic glass.
The sizes 20x30 cm (11.8"x7.9") and 30x45 cm (15.7"x11.8") use 0.5 cm strong acryl. The premium formats 40x60 cm (23.6"x15.7") and 50x75 cm (29.5"x19.7") come with a 1 cm strong sheet of acrylyl.
Turn around time: about 7 working days.
Keywords: photo acrylic prints, plakattryk test, poster behind glass, enlargement, acryl photo, printing, photo acrylic, acrylic print, photo on acrylic
Labels: acryl photo, acrylic print, enlargement, photo acrylic, photo acrylic prints, photo on acrylic, poster behind glass, printing
09 December 2010
New Photo Calendar Models Arriving
Cambridge. 9/DEC/2010. - FotoInsight is launching a new website in ecember to improve the online in-browser design experience for photo calendars. In the new website, Fotoinsight’s customers will be able to create individual photo calendars without having to download additional software. With this development come also new photo calendars on photo paper.
Calendars on photographic paperPhotographic paper has come a long way over the past two hundred years. Quality photographic paper offers sharp details, brilliant, true colours and proven longevity.
The new range of calendars on photographic paper is comprehensive, ranging from a desktop calendar with CD case size display for £9.99 to the practical A4 wall calendar and a new 30×30cm (12"×12") square format to the known A3 photo calendar. The photo calendars in A3 are now available not just in portrait format, but as an A3 landscape photo calendar. For those who want their pictures to be big, there’s the new A2 photo calendar size 40.6×60.9cm (16"×24").
Large photo calendar A2 landscape So far FotoInsight’s photo calendar range has covered everything from desktop calendars, practical kitchen calendars, and compact A4 format to A3 wall calendars. Now FotoInsight goes one larger with the A2 wall appointment calendar. This new calendar is 59.4×42cm (23½"×16½") large and offers more space for pictures and notes. FotoInsight’s Managing Director says about the A2 landscape photo calendar: “With this large photo calendar everyone has the opportunity to make individual calendars which will exceed professionally mass produced calendars from a bookshop in quality, brilliance and durability.”
A new gift idea: Name calendars
Name calendars are a great gift idea for any opportunity like as a Christmas present, on birthdays or as a name-day gift idea. His or her name will come in a different picture every month.
The integrated name feature creates personalised name calendars within minutes. Simply add a name - a picture for each month with the name drawn in will be automatically personalised. Modern computer technology will seamlessly integrate the name into each of the twelve months’ pictures creating a unique, personalised calendar gift.
Dedicated to a name!
Thanks to the different materials and many sizes, shapes, formats and calendar templates available there should be a calendar suitable for each space or occasion. Photo calendars are a great gift idea all year around, as the user can set the starting month freely. Therefore calendars can run along the academic year or from Mother’s Day to Mother’s Day.
Labels: own photographs, Photo calendar, photo paper, photocalendars, photographic calendars, picture calendar, printed, printing, software
20 September 2010
FotoInsight announces new "Designer v.4.6" Photo Book Software at Photokina.
Cologne, 21/09/2010. - To provide space where the favourite photographs can shine, photo book services like FotoInsight are constantly improving their software and their range. The latest FotoInsight Designer software upgrade incorporates many suggestions from a SirValuse Usability study and features apart from an enhanced navigation many new tools.
Automatic photo book size conversion
Until recently, when designing a CEWE PHOTO BOOK, it could only be ordered in the same size. The new FotoInsight Designer can now convert CEWE PHOTO BOOK layouts from one size into another of the same shape. For example, from a square Photo Book XL in size 12" x 12" (30 x 30 cm), users can now get a smaller square size 8" x 8" (20 x 20 cm) or a larger square size 16" x 16" (40 x 40 cm), adjusted automatically based on the original layout. The same can be done to photo books in portrait or panorama format.
Editing Assistant now recognizes human faces
The software upgrade will be shown at Photokina and will be launched as a free download from October 2010. Its Layout Assistant has been improved and can now recognise faces. That way the automatic layout assistant can now avoid covering faces on photographs. Users will also be able to create custom CEWE PHOTO BOOK Layout-Styles, for the Assistant to use when creating automatic photo book layouts.
New photographic calendars, new features
For demanding photographers wanting to create large calendars FotoInsight is now adding the size A3 photo calendar also in panorama format. Photo calendars on real photographic paper can also be designed in FotoInsight Designer v.4.6. Real photographic paper developed in a professional photo lab guarantees brilliant colours and superior durability.
The colour schemes of the application's calendar templates received a make-over and the application can now also display bank holidays in photo calendars.
More photo gifts
The software upgrade also features the option to choose the pages in spiral-bound photo cover note pads (A5 and A4) with the option of lined or graph paper. In general FotoInsight is increasing the user's choice. For example it is now possible to give each greeting card in a set of greeting cards an individual design.
The Managing Director of FotoInsight Klaas Brumann comments: "The new photo calendars on photographic paper and the new CEWE PHOTO BOOK XXL Panorama provide an impressive environment to preserve the favourite pictures from holidays and events in shiny quality. Books can be accessed at any time. Unlike videos and images on digital media there will never be compatibility problems with future digital standards. With your FotoInsight Photo Book simply turn the pages and enjoy, now and in a hundred years."
Labels: album, books, business, CEWE, photo book, photobook, photobooks, photokina, printed, printing, small print run, software
19 January 2010
New Photo Gift Ideas for Valentine's Day 2010
Bishop Valentine of Terni is a martyred Saint of ancient Rome. Because of his believes he was executed on 14 February 269. Bishop Valentine married couples and aided Christians which Emperor Claudius II considered a crime. According to legend Valentine gave the newly wedded couples flowers from his own garden. A modern Valentine present for a friend or partner requires a personal touch, that purchased flowers can hardly provide.
Cambridge. 19 Jan 2010. -- Choosing or preparing a gift for Valentine's Day should be fun - not something rushed through at the last minute. FotoInsight, a leading independent digital photo service, is expanding its range of Valentine's photo gifts year after year. "Love is a special feeling and it must be expressed in an extraordinary way, Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion", states the Catalina Martinez, Head of Communication at FotoInsight Ltd and asks: "When have you given you partner a truly unique gift?"
Online digital photo services like FotoInsight can help transforming an individual photograph into a Valentine present that will be cherished and remembered for years to come:
• Snow dome with red hearts – a photograph is inserted in the centre.
• Love Crystallised: FotoInsight adds to its selection of photo gifts designed to display and preserve cherished photographs. Valentine’s Day photo gift ideas include crystal photo heart with a 3D laser engraved photograph, picture frames, photo key rings, pen holder glass block with a laser engraved photograph. Special about the crystal key ring is an LED light to illuminate the engraved image.
• Where Cupid’s arrow strikes there is a story to be told with a photo album or a printed hardcover Photo Book, now with passpartout layout options. With a variety of creative themes and page layouts, these one-of-a-kind photo gifts will help to remember a romantic get-away or the every-day moments shared. Photo Books in a full colour and fully editable cover start from £14.99 for 26 pages in colour (plus p&p).
• The picture of a loved one in large format print? Laminated and framed posters or photo canvas prints mounted onto a wooden frame look impressive and are ready to hang on the wall. Deco block posters and photo canvases are available in different sizes from12"x8" / 20 x 30 cm (about A4) and larger.
• Showing love 365 days this year. Daily reminders of love are easy with a photo calendar featuring own digital pictures. FotoInsight photographic calendars can start any month of the year. A hanging wall calendar offers room to jot down romantic dinner dates; photo calendars are easy to make and start from £7.79.
• FotoInsight brings a new meaning to staying at home on Valentine’s Day: to cuddle up with the loved one and a cuddly teddy bear. Adding special effects or text to a digital photograph printed on the teddy bear’s shirt makes it a very personal Valentine’s present.
• In lieu of store-bought sentiments featuring cartoon characters, own Valentine’s Day cards with FotoInsight photo Greeting Cards are another way to say “I love you!”. Photographic greeting cards can be personalised with a romantic poem or a few simple words straight from the heart.
• Cups full of cheers: In time for Valentines FotoInsight adds inside colour options to Panorama Photo Mugs: http://fotoinsight.co.uk/mug The FotoInsight Designer software provides templates (for example in heart shape) to print photos onto mugs.
Convenience and flexibility
FotoInsight offers an independent online photo service, fully flexible to be used with images from any digital camera or mobile phone and using PC, MacOS or Linux. According to FotoInsight’s management the online service offers superior quality at lower costs when compared to inkjet printing. FotoInsight offers a range of photo print products and gifts.
FotoInsight offers an independent online photo service, fully flexible to be used with images from any digital camera or mobile phone and using PC, MacOS or Linux. According to FotoInsight’s management the online service offers superior quality at lower costs when compared to inkjet printing. FotoInsight offers a range of photo print products and gifts.
Labels: canvas print, crystal heart, key ring, on mug, photo, photo gifts, photos, printing, Valentine's day
22 July 2009
Everything for School with own Photographs
Cambridge. 23 July 2009. - When the start of a new school year approaches, the school bag needs filling. The online photo printer FotoInsight from Cambridge offers a new service to individualise such items. The idea is to personally engage the youngsters with their school supplies, to ensure that they will look after them. In addition, own pictures of a pet, a group of friends or from the holidays keep positive memories alive. An aluminium water flask with a personal photograph is less likely to be kicked in-lieu of a football. The school bag will be treated with due care if the the own image has been printed onto it. FotoInsight now prints digital photographs onto practical items like spiral note pads, money boxes or fluffy key rings.
- Spiral bound notepad (A5, £5.99/€6.99) - introductory 3 for 2 offer *
- Animal key chain (£5.99/€7.99)
- Money box (£9.99/€13.99)
- Messenger Bags (£19.99/€29.99)
- Aluminium sports bottle with photo (£12.99/€14.99)
In time for the new school year FotoInsight introduces a new line of photo products today. Examples of products onto which the online photo service applies customer photographs through the free ordering software FotoInsight Designer include:
- Spiral bound notepad (A5, £5.99/€6.99) - introductory 3 for 2 offer *
- Animal key chain (£5.99/€7.99)
- Money box (£9.99/€13.99)
- Messenger Bags (£19.99/€29.99)
- Aluminium sports bottle with photo (£12.99/€14.99)
Product Personalisation through Mass Customisation
The expression Mass Customisation is oxymoron, joining the opposites "Mass Production" and "Customisation", which has lately become fashionable. Mass customisation aims at producing goods and services to individual customer specifications with efficiencies and costs similar to mass production. Some firms in the growing photo gifts market, for example FotoInsight Ltd, apply this strategy, using new technologies and innovative structures to submit mass produced items like key rings and water bottles to an individualisation process, applying user photographs. To achieve costs and delivery times similar to those of mass produced standard items, the production architecture has to be structured in a way that the individualisation takes place at the rear end of the production chain. These firms acquire mass produced components produced benefiting from large economies of scale. As the individualisation can only be applied after an order has been placed, the process is called an "X-to-order" production. The gift items market with its strong seasonal fluctuations towards Christmas and Mother's day requires a particularly flexible production.
Realising own ideas
* Notepads' introductory offer: 3 for 2
Contact
FotoInsight Ltd.Catalina Martinez, Head of International Communication
Cambridge, CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 (0)8700 114911
Fax +44 (0)8715 601675
Email: pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk
Labels: aluminium sports bottle, customization, money box, photo gifts, photo note pad, printing, school bag, school bags
16 March 2009
FotoInsight launches "FotoInsight Designer v.4.5" now also for Mac OS and Linux.
Photo sharing from Flickr, Facebook, Picasa and geotagging site "locr" come to personal printed photo albums. Today FotoInsight launches a new version of FotoInsight Designer with new photo book formats and new features like fading frames and festive templates.
Cambridge, 17 March 2009. - Against an ever increasing number of photo book services, FotoInsight is increasing its technological lead with the introduction of version 4.5 of FotoInsight Designer, which is now also available for Linux and Mac. The ease at which photos can freely be inserted into the book or into templates now also extends to clipart, maps, text and images from photo sharing sites like Flickr as well as the geotagging site "locr" and Wikipedia GeoNames. The photo sharing sites become an online interface for photo book building with family and friends, as users can now complement their printed photo albums with additional pictures (e.g. the Eiffel Tower form a different angle) from photo sharing sites, straight from within the FotoInsight Designer software.
Geotagging and Photosharing
In addition, with just a mouse click pictures used in a photo calendar or photo book project in FotoInsight Designer 4.5 can be uploaded to the geotagging photo community "locr". The other way around, aerial shots and maps from the geotagging community will come handy for comprehensive information of the locality in a personal travel book. "locr GmbH's" Managing Director Malte Schloen states: “The collaboration between the FotoInsight Photo Book service and locr as a geotagging and information sharing site combines two innovative leaders to the benefit of users. Geotagging communities like 'locr' free internet users from Ordnance Survey's outdated geographic information monopoly.” FotoInsight's Managing Director Klaas Brumann adds: “We are so excited that our software tool for photo book design now integrates a gateway into shared photos and geographic information and online photo sharing, that we are already working on extending the range of photo sharing sites to also include Facebook and Picasa in the following release later this year.”
Travel Diaries
For geotagged images the new software can load corresponding local information straight from "locr" or Wikipedia into the photo book. Creating area maps takes just a click. FotoInsight's Head of Communication Catalina Martínez states: “It has never been easier to write comprehensive travel diaries or even your own travel guide.” Using geotagging applications for photos or tagging the location information manually opens a new world of opportunity to relate images with locality information.
Image Layering and Blend-in Image Masks
According to Andrew White, Internet Sales Manager at FotoInsight print partner CEWE Color Ltd.: " layering images in any order or position has been one of the outstanding features of its Designer software for photo books". With the new software upgrade a range of different shapes or blend-in image masks can be used as image frames. There are also plenty of new frames and clipart to decorate photo gifts for Mothering Sunday, Easter, Father's Day etc.
New Panorama Format
After extending its range with the Photo Book XXL with editable hardcover in portrait format (H36 x 28 cm) and in faux leather with traditional screw bind in panoramic format (H30 x W42 cm) last year, FotoInsight now adds an A4 panorama size (H28 x W21 cm). FotoInsight's print resolution of 360 dpi produces crisp panorama images spreading across double pages up to 84 cm wide.
Mac OS and Linux, too
Compatible with Windows XP, Linux and Mac operating system 10.5 Leopard and above, version 4.5 of the FotoInsight Designer software is now available to download from the FotoInsight website. The software upgrade sees greater functionality for editing, sorting and arranging photos, as well as for creating personalised photo gifts that preserve photographic memories.
In Time for the Easter holidays
The Easter holiday photographs are a great opportunity to try the new FotoInsight Designer features, printing photographic memories. Therefore FotoInsight offers 10% off all photo canvas print (voucher CNV1) and a square photo book (21 x 21 cm) for £10 (saving £4.99; voucher code PBSS1C, expires 30 April 2009).
For journalists:
For questions or if you would like to test the FotoInsight photobook software "Designer" as a journalist please contact us at tel. +44 (0)8700 114911 or email pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk. FotoInsight also offer vouchers and software for reader offers. FotoInsight Photo Book Service: http://fotoinsight.co.uk/book
Information about FotoInsight
FotoInsight Ltd was founded in 2003 in Cambridge and runs an easy to use digital photo processing service, offering an extensive array of award-winning photographic print and photo gifts as well as the photo books, photo poster, photographic calendars and photos on canvas printing. Customers benefit from patented development processes and the experience of Europe’s largest independent photo lab with an installed capacity of 18 million prints per day. Photos ordered through http://fotoinsight.co.uk are developed in one of 19 strategically located, state of the art photo labs, employing 3000 staff, with an output of over 3 billion prints per year.
Information about locr
locr is a revolutionary geotagging photo community. According to the slogan "Geotag, Print & Share - Show your World in Photos"- locr offers users the possibility of visualizing photos with the aid of street maps, satellite images and location information. locr has specialized in travel-, geophotography and geophoto-software solutions for digital cameras and mobile phones. With a GPS-Mobile Phone, a digital camera with integrated GPS or a GPS-accessory device photos can be geotagged and uploaded to locr. Within the community people from all over the world share, rate and comment the most beautiful photos. With the "locr Geophoto Book" the first travel photo book that includes auto-created street maps, locr will extend its product range with print products in spring 2009. locr was founded in September 2006 in Brunswick, Germany.
Contact
FotoInsight Ltd.
Catalina Martínez, Head of International Communication
9 Moore Close
Cambridge
CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 (0)8700 114911
Fax +44 (0)8715 601675
Email: pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk
http://fotoinsight.co.uk/
locr GmbH
Malte Schloen
Technologiepark
Rebenring 33
38106 Braunschweig
Tel. +49 531-482 693 34
Fax. +49 531-482 693 21
Email: m.schloen (at) locr.com
Labels: Digital photography, Facebook, Flickr, Geotagging, locr, photo sharing, photobook, photographic album, printed, printing, software
16 July 2007
New photo calendar software combines creative freedom and professional print
A new free software tool combines flexible layout design and professional printing processes
A new, free software application makes it surprisingly easy to design photo calendars with own digital photographs benefiting from professional printing and binding processes. Currently there are “Calendar Maker” software applications for photo enthusiasts and consumers, which provide for little money relatively great freedom in the photo calendar design, but lack professional print and binding. On the other end of the spectrum available are photo processing labs which offer professional photo calendar printing, but usually limit the creative freedom to one image per page in a fixed position. According to the vendor, the new “FotoInsight Designer” software combines the advantages of both: Creative freedom in the photo calendar design and professionally printed output.
The new version of the photo service utility “FotoInsight Pro” is a Windows software suite, containing apart from a range of tools and applications one to create photo calendars from own digital images. As already known from the software for "cewe photobooks" at FotoInsight, the new photo calendar design tool allows complete freedom in positioning the photographs, which can also be layered on top of each other; text can be added or layered in colour or transparent using any TrueType font. This significantly broadens the scope for creativity when designing calendars from own photographs and there is now virtually no limit on the number of images per page.
"Quality is our priority. All materials we use are subject to extensive testing and are guaranteed by their manufacturers to last 100 years. This guarantee extends to photo printing on real photographic paper as well as to the photo book and photographic calendar products", emphasises Dr. Rolf Hollander, CEO of CeWe Color, FotoInsight's production partner and Europe's largest photo finisher.
FotoInsight photo calendars can start any months of the year, resolving the issue about personal presents at birthdays or wedding anniversaries. The new FotoInsight large wall planner (A3 Annual Calendar with own pictures) costs £4.99; 13 page spiral bound calendars start from £9.99 (inc. VAT, plus p&p £2.99/order for delivery in the UK, Ireland and 30 other European countries), the FotoInsight calendar range includes calendars up to A3 size.
With the digital revolution photo labs are increasingly becoming personalised gifts services. The new FotoInsight Pro order software reflects this trend, integrating digital photo management and editing with optimised, safe ordering for photo prints, poster, gift ideas, photo canvas, calendar and printed photo album design in one free of charge software suite.
The data volume for online orders of high resolution photo poster, photographic calendars or large photo books growths faster than the band width of internet connections. Using order software that can communicate with the server at the other end helps to overcome little gaps in the online transmission when uploading large numbers of images. FotoInsight’s Managing Director Klaas Brumann explains the reason for the software development: “The FotoInsight Pro software client helps making the ordering process safer, easier and faster. That is why we provide this valuable, creative software tool as a free download at: http://fotoinsight.co.uk/designer-software.html “
Contact information
FotoInsight Ltd.
9 Moore Close, Cambridge, CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Email pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk
Labels: books, calendar, CEWE, gift ideas, personalised gifts, photo calendars, photobooks, printing
24 May 2007
FotoInsight entices to the photo book experience printing a free booklet for first time users
Printing photo books from own pictures is arguably the fastest growing product in the photo processing industry. In view of the popularity of photo books in the USA and Europe it is surprising that they still live a niche existence in Britain. One of the self proclaimed European leaders in personal photo book printing, the Cambridge company FotoInsight Limited is offering a £5.99 photo booklet print for free to showcase its quality as a trial offer to new customers of the photobook service at FotoInsight (through an £8 voucher the remaining cost including delivery is £1.79).
In the year 2006 over 3 Million individual photo books and photo calendars have been printed by photo labs and printers world wide. Andrew White, Internet Sales Manager at FotoInsight production partner, explains: “We are a little bit behind Germany and France, where photobooks are huge. You only have to show somebody one, though and they immediately want to know how to do it. Therefore this trial will be UK exclusive.” FotoInsight hopes to provide the opportunity to trial its photo book editing software and experience the complete liberty in the positioning and layering of images, transparent texts, and choice of fonts offered by the "cewe photo book printing" software.
A trial with a free printed photo booklet
Managing Director Klaas Brumann explains why FotoInsight is giving away a free photo booklet print: “We detected that one of the greatest barriers to ordering a photo book is that people expect it to be complicated. A common statement in a photo book test is how surprisingly easy it actually is. With the £8 voucher we want to give everyone the opportunity to test the software and printing quality.” In comparison, a photo book is cheaper than photo prints. Conveniently, it is the time of the year, where such a trial print may serve as a very personal Father’s Day photo gift.
In time for Father’s Day
Photo gifts for Father’s Day are left late and less is being spent than on Mother’s Day. With Father’s spending a growing amount of time with their children this may change. To express appreciation for all Dad has to offer it is good to ask him what he was like growing up and what made him who he is today; asking him about his work — his expertise can be unexpectedly valuable; joining Dad in pursuit of his interests and hobbies. The FotoInsight Managing Director and father of two, Klaas Brumann states: “If photographs of great father-child-events like a ball game, building a tool shed, or an adventure holiday are available, those moments are worth to be immortalised in a printed photo album or booklet. And we are proud to printed photo booklets this within reach of ever digital camera user.”
Notes
After applying online through a pop-up window £8 voucher will. A FotoInsight photo booklet contains 26 pages (plus editable cover), each 14 cm wide and 13 cm high (5"x5.5") worth £5.99. P&p is £3.80, the final cost of a 26 page booklet to the consumer after applying the voucher is £1.79. The voucher is time limited has no alternative cash value. The software to edit "cewe photo books" is now available as a free download from http://fotoinsight.co.uk/cewe-photo-books.html.
Contact information
FotoInsight Ltd.
9 Moore Close, Cambridge, CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Email pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk
In the year 2006 over 3 Million individual photo books and photo calendars have been printed by photo labs and printers world wide. Andrew White, Internet Sales Manager at FotoInsight production partner, explains: “We are a little bit behind Germany and France, where photobooks are huge. You only have to show somebody one, though and they immediately want to know how to do it. Therefore this trial will be UK exclusive.” FotoInsight hopes to provide the opportunity to trial its photo book editing software and experience the complete liberty in the positioning and layering of images, transparent texts, and choice of fonts offered by the "cewe photo book printing" software.
A trial with a free printed photo booklet
Managing Director Klaas Brumann explains why FotoInsight is giving away a free photo booklet print: “We detected that one of the greatest barriers to ordering a photo book is that people expect it to be complicated. A common statement in a photo book test is how surprisingly easy it actually is. With the £8 voucher we want to give everyone the opportunity to test the software and printing quality.” In comparison, a photo book is cheaper than photo prints. Conveniently, it is the time of the year, where such a trial print may serve as a very personal Father’s Day photo gift.
In time for Father’s Day
Photo gifts for Father’s Day are left late and less is being spent than on Mother’s Day. With Father’s spending a growing amount of time with their children this may change. To express appreciation for all Dad has to offer it is good to ask him what he was like growing up and what made him who he is today; asking him about his work — his expertise can be unexpectedly valuable; joining Dad in pursuit of his interests and hobbies. The FotoInsight Managing Director and father of two, Klaas Brumann states: “If photographs of great father-child-events like a ball game, building a tool shed, or an adventure holiday are available, those moments are worth to be immortalised in a printed photo album or booklet. And we are proud to printed photo booklets this within reach of ever digital camera user.”
Notes
After applying online through a pop-up window £8 voucher will. A FotoInsight photo booklet contains 26 pages (plus editable cover), each 14 cm wide and 13 cm high (5"x5.5") worth £5.99. P&p is £3.80, the final cost of a 26 page booklet to the consumer after applying the voucher is £1.79. The voucher is time limited has no alternative cash value. The software to edit "cewe photo books" is now available as a free download from http://fotoinsight.co.uk/cewe-photo-books.html.
Contact information
FotoInsight Ltd.
9 Moore Close, Cambridge, CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Email pr (at) fotoinsight.co.uk
Labels: CEWE, comparison, Fathers day, photo book from own images, photo books, photo calendars, photo gifts, photo printing, photobook, printing, test
16 November 2006
New Gift Ideas from printing 1: Photo on Canvas
Printing on canvas has so far been dominated by small, specialist workshops, elaborating individual prints and who hand stretch them over a frame. An expensive process, but a new offering this Christmas gift season is about to bring change. printing-1, an online specialist that uses large, high-tech installations to improve quality and reduce costs on personalised photo gifts is launching a new photo on canvas print service this week.
London, UK. 16 November 2006. – Taking good photographs is easier and cheaper than ever before. Many digital images lingering on computer hard drives could stand out on an office wall, the reception or in the sitting room at home. Until recently photo canvas printing was done by small workshops at horrendous prices. Printing-1 claims to apply the latest technology and efficient production methods to offer what it calls big canvas prints at small prices.
printing 1, a specialist servicing amateur and professional photographers alike, print photos on canvas on frames starting at 30 cm per side and increasing in 10 cm steps to 80 cm per side, where any combination of size can be chosen in these 10 cm steps. The standardised formats, parts and processes allow for higher degree of automation and help to bring the price down. The print penetrates deep into the yarn and therefore does not crack on the edge of the frame. Images are delivered stretched and mounted onto a robust wooden frame which can be hung on the wall immediately and is expected to be extremely long lasting, due to optimised inks and fabrics.
Photo canvas prints help to refine holiday snaps into large format objects of art. The fine structure of the fabric and the image extending over the frame creates the impression of great depth. As the print is highly durable and already mounted onto the frame expensive glass frames become unnecessary. The mounted canvas can be put on the wall immediately and is becomes a very individual piece of art. It is an ideal present suitable for the home as well as stylish offices. Photos on canvas should appeal particularly to those enthusiasts who use Photoshop filters and image editing software like Fo2Pix Artmaster to create digital art. When digital image editing causes the wish to create a large, artistic canvas, the home inkjet printer does not suffice. Printing-1 claims to provide the right quality. A photo canvas print shows more detail, a finer structure and greater depth than images behind glass frames or a photographic poster print.
Printing a photo onto canvas has become as easy as ordering prints or photo books at www.printing-1.co.uk. Printing-1 delivers in the UK, Ireland, the USA and most European countries also under a separate delivery address. This appears convenient in the run up to the Christmas gift shopping rush, especially considering the package size of the mounted canvases. The modern production processes reduce the costs, which allows Printing-1 to offer their prints from £29.95 for a 30cm or 12” mounted canvas and the largest format at 120 cm x 120 cm at £159.95 (postage & packaging is £9.90). Prices which seem well below those that could be found online until recently.
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Printing-1 Background
Printing-1 started in October 2006 as a British-German joint-venture. The Internet-Service is specialising in high quality, modern photo print products like photo books and photo canvas.
Press Contact
IITM is a specialist agency and will be delighted to arrange interviews, images, NFR versions for review and discuss opportunities for software reviews, cover mounts, incentives, OEM versions.
International IT Marketing Limited
Head of Communication, printing-1
Email: pr (at) IITM.info
Tel. +44 (0)20 3286 7469
Labels: large format, mounted canvas, photo books, photo canvas print, photo canvas printing, photo canvas prints, photos on canvas, printing
26 October 2006
New: printing-1 photo books
The photo album is dead, long live the photo book. Free photo book software offered by online photographic services makes it easy and economical to create photo books in different formats, sizes and types of binding. Online services offer a range of options for individual lay-outs with own photographs. Professional print on hi-gloss paper provides coffee table style photo books. The latest offering comes from printing-1 and promises an even greater choice of photo book styles.
London, GB. 30. October 2006. – During the past year personal photo books have become one of the most popular photographic products and are about to replace the traditional photo album. Rarely has a product evolved as quickly as the photo book. The different suppliers compete with ever more flexible software for the top spot with the consumer. With the launch of its new Windows and MacOS photo book software printing-1 is claiming to take the concept a step further. According to printing-1 a durable, quality binding process is becoming more important, as increasingly big photo books are being ordered, containing often hundreds of images. The binding process used by printing-1 takes an extra day to prepare, but allows for large photo books with up to 144 pages and space for hundreds of images.
The new online photo service Printing-1 offers a range of photo books and scrapbooks, including small photo booklet, square photo books and A4 size books in different shapes and colours. Printing-1 photo books are offered in a range of three bindings methods (staple, spiral and book binding) with soft and hardcover. The smallest hardcover book bound is 36 pages, the largest contains up to 144 pages in hard or soft cover. Staple or spiral binding is available with 12 pages or more. Printing-1 photo book covers provide a range of colours and can be edited.
The Printing-1 Photo Book Software
According to Printing-1, during the software development special emphasis was put on ease of use and creative freedom. Images are not only fully scalable and can be positioned freely on any page, each frame can be defined individually. Also the page number feature can be switched on or off for individual pages in order not to spoil a beautiful full page image. Instead of limiting creativity through an automatic assistant the program provides templates to help positioning images after which they can still be adjust or moved. In general, the new photo book application entices creative experiments with the lay-out tools. Printing-1 is going down new paths: The program not only offers a choice of matt and glossy covers, it also allows to switch between binding types and book formats at any time.
Not only printed photo books, but also online photo book sharing
Individual photo books can be saved as separate projects. The photo books have to be uploaded to Printing-1's website first, before placing an order where they will be stored free of charge for up to two month. This allows users to invite friends to view their Printing-1 photo books online. So after for example a large party or wedding, friends and family can view and comment on the scrapbook project and ever order and pay for their own printed Memorbook, Printing-1 also provides savings when a photo book is ordered as a present and send directly to friends or family abroad (including the USA), using a separate delivery address.
Beyond the use of layout templates, each page can be edited freely. The editing tools include free scaling, rotating and positioning of photographs. A line around an image helps to set it against coloured backgrounds. Frames can be defined individually around each picture and images can also be printed frameless across a full page or even double page, providing the right format for landscapes and other photographs requiring a larger space. The printing-1 software also provides a tool to post-edit images individually. This allows giving images a degree of semi-transparency, an interesting effect on some overlapping images.
With digital photo books the many digital memories vanishing on ageing computer hard discs can finally see the light of day. The digital photo service Printing-1 delivers in the UK and most European countries and the USA within two weeks of ordering online. Ordering professionally printed photo books from own images is rapidly replacing the “stick-in” photo album.
Convenience and flexibility
Printing-1 offers a Windows and Mac OS compatible, online photo service for digital camera images, specialising in digital photo books and photo canvass printing. The hi-tech process used reduces the costs, allowing Printing-1 to offer photo booklets from £7.95.- (plus postage & packaging £4.90 (orders over £100 ship free). Different volume discounts are offered when ordering five or more of the same photo book.
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Information about Printing-1
Printing-1 Limited started in October 2006 in Cambridge as a British-German joint-venture. Der Internet-Service is specialising in high quality, modern photo print products like photo books and photo canvas printing.
Press Contact
IITM is a specialist agency and will be delighted to arrange interviews, images, NFR versions for review and discuss opportunities for software reviews, cover mounts, incentives, OEM versions.
IITM LLP
Email: pr (at) IITM.info
Tel. 0044 20 32867469
Labels: photo book, photo books, printing
25 July 2006
Digital Camera Images: How large can you go?
Digital Cameras Images can now be Really Big
The advances in the resolution of digital images allow most digital camera pics to be printed as super sized posters. With the majority of inkjet printers limited to A4, online digital photo labs cater for large format prints and photographic merchandise.
Cambridge, UK. 25 July 2006. – The price of ink for home printers may be the one price besides that of petrol that frequently infuriates consumers. It doesn't take long for the cost of ink-cartridge replacements to exceed the price of the printer. A large format, hi-resolution photographic print can drain entire refills, if the printer is capable to handle larger formats at all. Freeing digital camera users from the limits of their inkjet printer is a niche professional online labs like FotoInsight are catering for.
Exposure to light, heat, ozone and air pollution causes the ink used in home printers to fade. Recent research carried out by ‘Wilhelm Imaging Research’ found that “refilled cartridges often produce photos that begin to noticeably degrade in a number of months.” Using real photographic paper on large format lab equipment, firms like FotoInsight produce results, which tend to look 'richer', and are more durable with regard to handling by sweaty fingers, humid environments, and fading in daylight.
Unlike prints which produce a perceived colour through different coloured dots from a limited number of basic colours, lab processed images produce the exact colour for every pixel. According to FotoInsight, a 1 MB jpeg is sufficient for hi-res results in size 30”x20” (50x75 cm). FotoInsight Ltd Managing Director Klaas Brumann comments: “Digital camera users underestimate the technical possibilities we provide to produce large images on long lasting photographic paper to be displayed on walls, at exhibitions or simply to give to customers, friends or family as a great present.” FotoInsight’s mission is to prevent photographic memories from fading. Large format prints, like FotoInsight posters help to preserve memories in crisp colours shining off the wall.”
Apart from family pictures and holiday landscapes, online poster print services enable business users to produce mini print runs for advertisements, charts or logos for conferences, exhibitions or offices. This latest addition to FotoInsight’s photo print service is delivered in the UK and 20 European countries within one week of ordering online. Getting large format prints from digital camera photos is as easy as ordering any other photo print online. Once the user has arrived at FotoInsight’s website and has clicked on the poster, calendars, mugs and gifts icon, a window appears displaying a range of photographic merchandise options. When visiting the Poster category the system checks the browser for interactive plug-ins and then displays the familiar file tree with text and illustrations explaining the upload. The user selects pictures through drag & drop directly from the computer. The cost of large format prints starts at 99p for a picture in A4 format (plus p&p). A super sized 30”x20” (50x75 cm) costs £9.99 (plus p&p). All photo orders include the option to use online storage for photo sharing in FotoInsight’s online photo album facility one month free.
Any event in life that has a memory attached and photos to share is an excellent starting point for a decorative poster. A durable large format print makes the special view from holidays, a family photo or the memories of childhood unforgettable. FotoInsight Ltd. Managing Director Klaas Brumann comments: “FotoInsight’s posters are set to free digital camera users from the limits of their home printer.”
Convenience and flexibility
FotoInsight offers a PC and Mac compatible independent online photo service, fully flexible to be used with images from any digital camera. According to FotoInsight’s management the online service offers superior quality at lower costs when compared to inkjet printing. FotoInsight offers an extensive array of award-winning photo printing and photo gift ideas for the consumer, business, photography, and graphic arts markets. From Cambridge, Mr Brumann comments: “Photographic memories must never fade. Our technology is smarter, providing long lasting photos in superior quality.”
Contact information
FotoInsight
Cambridge, CB4 1ZP, UK
Skype fotoinside
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Labels: calendar, digital images, gift ideas, gifts, lab, mugs, photo, poster, printer, printing, prints, service
24 November 2005
The Photo Processing Industry is Changing Rapidly
With traditional film down a further 20% this year and photo processing from digital files up 80% the main season shift from the end of the summer holidays to the Christmas gift shopping season.
Agfa, Fuji and Kodak have become household names providing branded products to billions of consumers throughout the past century, but photo processing from conventional film rolls is down about 20% this year. The photo processing industry employs tens of thousand of people in the USA, Japan and Europe and blue chips like Kodak have been rapidly disinvesting from their central labs into other fields like medical imaging, shedding thousands of jobs in their photo labs. In Europe, some of the larger central photo processing companies keep their revenues stable in two ways: Catering for digital photography through POS and online channels, which is up by about 80% over last year (digital accounts for over 20% of all photo development) and with new products like photo calendar printing , photobooks (a new printed photo album), photo mugs, shirts, and other photo gift ideas. Demand for calendars from digital photos was up 1300% in Q4 2005 over the previous year.
The trend towards photo gifts increases the shift in seasonality for the industry. The main season for photo processing used to be the end of the summer school holidays, when people wanted to finally reveal what was on their film roll. With digital photography people have already seen the images several times before processing them and can wait to pick the ones to print, placing their orders between September and December together with a photo book for their partner and a photo calendar or other photo gift for granny. Unlike off the shelf gifts, individual gifts from own photos can only be processed on demand. Photo labs are increasingly seeing the need to install capacity largely underused for nine month of the year and to work 24/7 on the labour intensive photo gifts during the run up to Christmas. With European labour laws making this costly and difficult Europe’s largest independent central lab has put its eyes on Ukrainian. The next stage of the shift in photo printing might see personalized gifts from digital photos being produced in countries with low labour costs and the flexibility to employ a temporary work force during the Christmas season. Goods would need to be shipped back rapidly to where the first world digital consumer demands them.
But it could also happen that people start making more of the photo gifts at home again. For this gift shopping season 1-More is releasing a new version of its popular PhotoCalendar software for PC. Such applications make it easy to create complete, personalized, high quality photo calendar using the summer holiday pics and takes only minutes. Interested users might want to create an art calendar edited with their own digital pictures. PhotoCalendar can also be used to design and print anything from a single page to a thirteen months calendar. There is no better, individual and creative gift for beloved ones.
Many easy-to-use features make the photo calendar output original pieces of art. Applications like 1-More PhotoCalendar help the creative process with many pre-made layouts and the option to add clipart in frames. The registered version allows selecting different typefaces and colors for all parts of the calendar. The order of the objects can be freely defined and image titles and descriptions added. New in this latest release are special filters for professional effects.
1-More PhotoCalendar software can scale calendars to the format supported by the printer, lowering the hurdles to home printing.
Calendars edited in 1-More PhotoCalendar can start on any date of the year, making it a great tool to create gift calendars all year round. The very romantic let the calendar start or end on a special day of the month (this may extend the calendar to thirteen pages; e.g. from Sept. 20th, 2006 to Sept. 19th, 2007), making it the utmost personal present.
The great think about processing or printing photos is that all those digital treasures languishing on hard drives could finally see the light of day with the easy to use PhotoCalendar software. Getting nicely laid out, perfectly printed photo calendars to decorate a wall or desk is easy and set to become the latest must-have application for the creative computer user. Once the user has downloaded the PhotoCalendar applet from the 1-more.com website and installed it, the software guides the user through the calendar creation process. Digital images on a hard drive, CD, or camera are easily accessed. The layout, photo editing and framing tools are self explanatory with clearly laid out icons. A limited version of the application described can be downloaded and used free of charge, the full application for use with own photos costs only $19.- as a download from http://www.1-more-photocalendar.com, where the full version can be unlocked immediately to ensure that gift calendars can be edited and printed in time. Managing Director Michael Bartos and ads: “1-more.com specializes in easy to use creative photographic software. The new release of PhotoCalendar is set to resolve many people’s headaches over presents for friends and family.”
The judgment is open whether central photo labs can compete against domestic craft when it comes to getting personal presents ready for the season. For certain, today’s consumer has more choice than ever.
Press Contact:
International IT Marketing Limited;
Email: cm (at) IITM.info
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Tel. +1 202-470-3242
International IT Marketing Limited;
Email: cm (at) IITM.info
Tel. +44 8700 114911
Tel. +1 202-470-3242
Labels: calendar, calendars, design, Photo calendar, PhotoCalendar, print, printing
