Information
Instructions
Installation
- Download the software.
- Double click on the newly downloaded PictureBOSS.exe icon (most likely on the desktop).
- Click the install button and wait for it to install. When it is done, click the close button.
You will notice 2 new icons on your desktop, one is the PictureBoss upload and the other is the Order Retrieval.
PictureBoss Upload Wizard
The upload wizard will guide you through the process of uploading your images to the gallery. It will resize watermark and set up a password protected event in minutes. Most the steps are self explanatory but here are some instructions in case you get stuck.
- Double click the "PictureBoss Upload" icon on your desktop.
- Use the username and password we provided you on signup. Tick the remember me tickbox. Leave the website field alone and click 'next'. (screenshot).
- You can set your prices for your photos and the shipping and select a watermark by clicking on the appropriate buttons (ignore the photographer drop down box). Click 'next'. (screenshot).
- If you want to break up your events into different categories like Weddings or Portraits, you can do it at this step (screenshot).
- To create a new event, just click 'next' (screenshot).
- This step you enter in the name of the event (eg. the name of the bride and groom "Troy and Samantha") and choose what category it belongs (eg. weddings, portraits). If you want the event to be password protected, make sure you tick the password protect box and then fill in a unique username and password. Note that the in most cases the username will not be shown to the client however you must fill it in anyway (just make anything up). If two events have the same username and password combination, it won't work. Most photographers use the grooms last name as the password (screenshot).
- At this step you can create sub-categories for the event (optional) for example some photographers break up the wedding into Getting Ready, Ceremony, Reception. These categories will appear on the gallery so the customer can go directly to that group of photos (screenshot).
- Drag and drop the photos you want to upload into the white files box or alternatively click the 'Add Folder' button to select the photos. If you make a mistake, click the 'Clear' button to start again. If you have sub-categories then you will need to add photos into each group by choosing each category and then dragging the photos in (screenshot).
- If you want to change the size of the images, you can do it at this step. The two image sizes represent the thumbnail image and the larger sized image that has the watermark across it. Most photographers stick with the defaults because if the images are too large then there is more risk of someone stealing the image (the gallery is also protected by preventing the customer from right mouse clicking on the image). When you click 'Finish', the program will generate the smaller thumbnails for you to preview, rotate and delete, if you want to skip this step then tick the 'Skip Preview' box. When the preview window comes up, you can click the image to rotate it or right click to delete (it doesn't delete the original image from your computer). As soon as you close the preview window it will ask you if you are ready to upload. Click yes and the upload will begin (screenshot).
Your photos are now online ready for your customers to purchase.
Online Gallery
Send your customers to your website at http://www.orderyourprints.com/yourcompanyname Be sure to give them the password if you have made the gallery password protected. Here they can browse, select and pay for their photos online. There are several payment options available and you can customize them in your admin area (see below).
Payment methods
Credit card taken over the phone. If you have offline merchant facilities for processing credit cards then this can be the simplest option. The customer will be presented with a screen that tells them they will be contacted to gather the credit card details to finalize payment (or you can edit the wording to say that the customer must contact you).
To accept live credit card payments, we offer two simple solutions Paymate (paymate.com.au) and Paypal (paypal.com). Both of these companies work the same where once the customer fills in the customer form on your website and select one of these methods for payment, it will send them off to the Paypal or Paymate website to collect their credit card details. To use either of these services, you need to get an account with them and then enter the username you provide into the admin section (see below).
Cheque, Money order or direct deposit. The wording on these payment screens can be edited to reflect your postal address and bank details.
All these methods can be disabled and different methods can be added.
These screenshots come from the sample gallery located here. The password to the 'Barney & Betty Rubble' wedding is 'pictureboss'.
Order Retrieval
When an order comes in, an email will be sent to both you and your customer that confirms what images have been ordered and the customers details. To collect the orders, open the 'Order retrieval' program by double clicking the icon on your desktop.
Click the 'Set copy folder' button and choose a directory that you want to copy the files to. Most photographers create a folder on their desktop and select that folder. Once this is set, you don't need to set it again.
The software will collect all orders that have not been shipped yet and puts them in a tree view menu on the left, categorized by date. You can navigate that menu to find an order to see the customers details and its status. The status drop down list is used for you to manage the progress of the order. Once you change the status to 'shipped' then that order will not be retrieved the next time you open the retrieval software (it is still available in the admin). The 'Paid' field will say 'yes' if the order has been paid by paymate or paypal.
If you click on the 'Copy prints to folder' button, it will copy the order that is selected to the folder you choose. If you click 'Copy all prints to folder' it will copy all the orders. In the orders folder, you will see each order in a separate folder named the same as the order number. In each of those folders contains other folders named the same as the print size that has been ordered and the original full resolution image, ready to be sent to the customer in the desired format. A document with the customers details on it and a thumbnail of each image ordered is also in the folder.
Administration
This is where you can customize your shopping cart look and wording and view orders, events and statistics. It is broken up into 8 sections.
Photographer - Here you can update your information and password. If you want to change the url where the images are hosted, you can change the Url Name (eg. from orderyourprints.com/abcphotos to orderyourprints.com/abcphotography).
Setup - Most of these defaults are acceptable but if you need to change the number of columns and the amount of images per page then this is where you do it.
Edit Appearance - You can upload a banner and change any colour in the shopping cart.
Custom Pages - You can add extra pages to the website which appear as links at the top of the cart. We give you a standard set of polices to begin with, please be sure to view the polices and edit the wording if necessary.
Payment Methods - You can edit the wording on any of the payment method screens that appear when the user places an order. Be sure to check the wording on these pages (click the edit button beside each method) to make sure they adhere to your policies.
Notes - Paymate is set up in test mode to begin with. That means that you can test the process out before getting a Paymate account to see what the customer will see. Click the edit button to edit the message your customer receives when they get an approved or declined transaction. Also you will find here the fake credit card numbers you can use to test. When you are ready to go live go and sign up at paymate.com.au, then set the username (you will provide this to Paymate when you sign up with them) and change test mode to 'No'.
Statistics - This will show you how many clients have visited each event and also how many orders you have received. If you click on the individual event it will show you the daily statistics.
Events - You can view the username and passwords to each event and also suspend or delete them. Please note that if you press the delete button in the upload wizard, it will only suspend the event.
Orders - Here you can view all orders.
