Because he is an approachable kind of guy, I contacted Donovan Janus the owner of Exposure Manager after Mike Brice posted several false claims about differences in services between Exposure Manager and Photoreflect in the Photoreflect User Group. I pointed out a total of 14 places where the chart that ExpMan uses to compare services were flat out wrong. Donvan told me that he would look in to it and make any needed corrections. He didn't quite correct enough of the inaccurate statements, so here they are.
We'll look first at Basic Functionality:
1. Fully Web Based. This may be true on the face as ExpMan is controlled totally online, but this is very disingenuous. It leaves out entirely that ExpMan forces you to work online. They do not provide software that you can use on your computer to manage your jobs and orders offline. You have to do everything online. I think this is a major drawback for ExpMan. The true power behind ExpressDigital and Photoreflect is Darkroom. The ability to manage your jobs seamlessly from capture, to print, to posting online to archiving is huge. It doesn't surprise me that they totally ignore this. He also uses this as a negative against Printroom. As bad as it may be, Printroom also offers software that you can sort of use to manage your jobs from start to finish. Though it is full of holes and lacks many very basic features it is certainly a far cry better from having to manage your jobs totally with Windows Explorer and Photoshop.
2. Unlimited Storage. Ever had an event removed from Photoreflect because you were over your "limit" for space? Ever get an email telling you to remove images because your space was full? Didn't think so. Enough said.
3. Customizable Watermark. Yes, you can.
4. Customizable Image Size/Quality. Yes, you do have a choice here with Photoreflect.
Now for the Workflow section:
5. Web Based Uploading. This is a cop out. ExpMan doesn't offer workflow software to manage your work from capture to print and this is a feature of their service? There should at the very least be another line item here for [Provides Workflow Software].
6. FTP Uploading. The entire process with Photoreflect is FTP based. Darkroom creates the thumbnail image based on the quality level that you have chosen and then FTP's that image to Photoreflect.com. Darkroom is the FTP client. When you send an order to one of the Labtricity labs (like BB Color) it is a simple FTP transfer of the images and an Express Digital order file that details all of your crop, order and correction information. Every single one of the labs that accept Darkroom orders does so with a simple FTP server application. We have tried many since we began with the service and we settled on FileZilla server. Open source, simple, to the point and it just plain works. Once again though, Darkroom is literally the FTP client.
7. Upload Multiple Galleries At Once. Please. Create as many catalogs as you want and publish them all in one step. Here's how you do it. Create all of the new catalogs that you need. Import images and set up your online options for each. When you are finished, hit publish in the top left corner and hit publish. Check off the jobs that you want published and then hit go. They will all upload in a big old batch. This is totally false.
8 & 9 Upload Small Display Only Files & Upload Optimized Files for Printing. Upload small files for viewing and optimized for printing isn't a feature of Photoreflect? That is exactly how the system works. ExpMan's point about "optimized" is that if you have a 4×6 and an 8×10 ordered from a file you can upload one image sized to 4×6 AND a second copy of the SAME file for the 8×10. This is a feature? I would rather select a 4×6 print item, and 8×10 print item, apply separate crops for each and upload one image to the lab. Then again, ExpMan doesn't provide workflow software so this simply isn't possible with their service.
And Finally Sales:
10. Pro Lab Fulfillment. Huh? ExpMan offers fulfillment through EZ Prints. Photoreflect offers fulfillment through EZ Prints and what, 20 others? How is this not Pro Lab Fulfillment? Directly? I don't know what that means, (I think it means that you can upload your full resolution files instead of low resolution and let ExpMan handle the order without intervention from you but I don't know that for sure) but I can directly send orders from my computer to the lab of my choice after I have made the adjustments that I want.
11. Discounts. Got that too.
Forget about just the online aspect of ExpMan. How many of you only do online sales? What about if you have locally created orders that you need to have printed? Are you supposed to go through images from 10 teams, resize each image for every single print that is ordered and upload all of these files? How long will that take?
There is a lot more to comparing two services than percentages and disingenuous "features". If you are a serious photographer, or you desire to be a serious photographer you have to look at the entire picture and consider more than just the online sales aspect. The vast majority of your work in most cases won't come from online sales. If you are using ExpMan how will you deal with all of that?
I have talked to Donovan on a number of occasions via email. Even relating to this topic. My opinion is that he is an honest, trustworthy individual that is simply trying to do his best to point out what he and others think are advantages of his service. Indeed, being fully Mac compatible is huge advantage, as is offering digital downloads and some other things. Some of this is misleading at best, and other parts are just flat out wrong.
Powered by Zoundry
Filed under: Photoreflect.com
