Fundy SOS - Album Design Software, Online Album Proofing, Work Flow Software, Photography Pricing Software » Software & Gear

Album Builder v3.6 Final Beta Released to Current Users

"Fundy" — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:32:38 +0000

We are releasing the final beta of Album Builder v3.6 to current users working in CS4 and CS5 only. (CS3 coming soon) This is the final beta release, meaning that there will be no other enhancements to the functionality. If there are any bugs, then those will be fixed.

Step 1 Uninstall

You’ll need to uninstall your current version of Album Builder. Simply open up Adobe Extension Manager and choose the item called Album Builder and click “Remove”

Step 2 Download the New Version

Head over to our upgrade page, simply enter your Invoice # and you’ll be given the download file. Caution: you may only download the file 2 times in one month due to security measures, so keep your Invoice # in a safe place. If you don’t know your invoice ID, simply click “Forgot invoice ID” and enter the email address used to purchase Album Builder. (Attn: if you purchased Album Builder or a package containing Album Builder before October 28, 2009, you’ll need to have two invoice numbers to upgrade, first your v2.9-v3.x upgrade ID, then your original Album Builder or package ID. You may have purchase under two different email addresses, please check accordingly.)

Step 3 Install

We have a brand new installer for both Mac and PC. To learn how to install on a Mac go here. To learn how to install on a PC go here. Be sure to restart Photoshop.

Registering your Album Builder

We take your investment in Fundy SOS products very seriously an want you to be able to protect that investment. Learn how to register your product with your Invoice #.

New Features in Album Builder v3.6 in depth

"Fundy" — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:12:22 +0000

We are proud to have a video showing all of the features available in Album Builder v3.6. The major update in v3.6 is the ability to automate file handling. What does this do for you? It means Album Builder will automatically save out your current design, close it and open up a new spread for you with a click of a button. You’ll also be able to open up past albums and navigate them with just as much ease. Benefits of the free upgrade:

Automate file handling while designing.
Save your favorite album sizes as sets.
Instantly go to any page in your design.
Open and navigate old album designs as easily as new ones.
Easily insert spreads between two previously designed spreads.

This will be a free upgrade for all users of Fundy Album Builder v3.0 or above.

Hot One Award Entry

"Fundy" — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:38:08 +0000

Fundy SOS will be submitting the following products to the Hot One Awards by Professional Photographers of America.

Album Builder
Album Proofer
Work Flow
Action-o-matic
Batch-o-licious
Price Builder

We really feel that we have a fantastic chance of success with many of our products. One thing we really take pride in at Fundy SOS is not copying the pack. We don’t just duplicate what is already on the market. This wouldn’t benefit the end user or the industry. With each product we take a completely new approach based on better design, faster work flow and increasing profits. Hope to see some Hot One Awards on our WPPI and Imaging USA booth background…

Album Builder v3.6 On The Way

"Fundy" — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:12:09 +0000

We are working on a new v3.6 release of Album Builder. It is a super cool upgrade which will increase the speed of your album workflow significantly.

We’ve created an Automated Album File System.

Here is the start screen. You simply click “Start Album” and you make your choices and hit Start. As you can see, simply choose your cover size (in pixels, inches or mm), First/Last page and spread size. And that is it. Hit go and off you go.

Navigate your album

We’ve made it extremely easy to navigate the album you are currently designing or albums that you’ve already designed. There are 6 buttons dedicated to this.

Save and Previous – this button will save the current spread (as a PSD) and go to the previous spread.
Save and Next – this button will save the current spread and go to the next spread. If there isn’t a file already, it will auto-create a new one for you.
Save and Final – Will save the current spread and open the last page of the album, or create it if need be.
Save and Reset – This will save out your current spread and reset all navigation buttons so you can start a new album or open up an old one.
Go To Spread – simply type in the numbers and it will open that spread.
Add a New Spread – If you need to insert a spread between two currently designed spreads, just add one with a couple clicks.

We’ve tested it and there are significant savings. We’ve tested the system with our own album design and we’ve found significant time savings. They’ve been huge. We are looking forward to this next release and should have it to you in a couple of weeks at the latest. Fundy Join the forum discussion on this post

Can the EP-2 Be a Pro Camera?

"Fundy" — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:24:03 +0000

It’s official, I’ve sold off my last DSLR and 35mm lens. The only “high end” camera I own is the Olympus EP-2 along with the 20mm 1.7 and 45mm 2.8 (remember, Micro 4/3 cameras have a 2X lens factor). Today, I took that little baby out on the town to see what it could do. Just for fun, I set myself up with some constraints. I only shot in manual, only used the two lenses listed above. Additionally, just for something different I only shot in 1:1 and 9:16 panorama format. After shooting in 2:3 ratio for so long, I want something a bit different, a bit fun. For me square format means those old Hasselblads that I could never figure out how to use. The 9:16 ratio has something about it. With all of the wide screen TVs, widescreen cinemas, and panoramic cameras out, the format really interests me. Exposure Shooting in manual is sooo easy with this little thing. While the electronic viewfinder seems a bit odd at first, the bonus is that you have a live histogram all of the time. Just watch the histogram fall into place as you adjust the aperture or shutter speed. Getting proper exposure is pretty much a 100% guarantee. Manual Focus One of the bonuses of shooting with the EP-2, is that whenever you adjust the manual focus ring, the viewfinder auto 7x or 10x zooms in. So, you have a mega close up of where you are focusing. It works like a charm. I did have a few shots out of focus due to moving around after focusing. User error. But, when it is on, the focus is on. Quality Overall, the quality looks incredible. Is it on par with a high end DSLR? No, of course not, the sensor is half the size. But, as you can see, the clarity is far from in this 100% crop. This image was actually taken with the 1:1 ratio option, so I didn’t even use the full frame. As a test, I did a vertical crop at 5:4 and did some quick test prints at Costco. The 16×20 looks incredible. Absolutely no issues at all. It is sharp as a tack. The 20×30 print, lost a little resolution, but at arms length, in a frame, you would be hard pressed to find any fault with it. Some More Shots Here are the rest of the shots from the day. I hope you enjoy them. Fundy

Fundy SOS announces Price Builder

"Fundy" — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:52:06 +0000

Fundy SOS has just today announced the development of Price Builder. Seeing the need for help in both profitable pricing and package creation, Fundy SOS becomes the first software company to offer a fully automated and integrated way to both price individual products and create photo packages based on business standards. Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg has put extensive research into how large multinational companies price their products and packages. Researching everything from Apple Computer’s iMac pricing strategy to Honda’s car model pricing strategy, he’s been able to tap into the psychology of pricing. Using his MBA and personal research he’s discovered that proper pricing strategies can guide clients to certain price points, effectively enabling you to predict sales. “From what I’ve seen in the industry, pricing and packaging is one of the most difficult parts of a photographer’s business. The reason is simple. There is no industry standard, and, therefore, nothing for photographers to base their pricing off of. For the most part, we are just pulling pricing out of our hat. My feeling, is that by looking at how some of these multi-national companies price, we can use the same fundamentals to increase profits in our studios,” says Fundy. Price Builder begins by using standard retail pricing mark ups to help photographers price their individual products for maximum profit. Using mathematical formulas unique to each type of product in the studio, the photographer can be confident that each product they sell will be profitable in the studio. Once the products are entered into the program, the magic really starts. Photographers can then start a new package set, whether it be price list for weddings, portrait sessions, etc. They choose their target price, how much they want to average for each booking or sale. The program then automatically chooses the best price position for that target based on event or session photography and fills in the other suggested price points for the rest of the packages. The suggested price points and steps are strategically calculated to push clients toward your target price point. Then it is just a matter of adding the products to the packages. Price Builder even suggests package discount targets. Price Builder will include the following features:

Save all of your individual products and prices.
Include special design products, time-based and print credit products.
Create unlimited package sets.
Auto create price points based on one target price.
Export price lists as print-ready pdf and editable Word Documents.
A quick album pricer, for creating album pricing on the fly for clients.
A quick package builder for creating custom packages on the fly.
Export of order sheets and order folders.

Price Builder is set to release in early fall at the price of $199. Fundy SOS will guarantee that it will make your business more profitable or will refund 100% of your money. Here is an early mockup of the program.

WPPI Roadshow Road Trip – Learn About Finao

"Fundy" — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:02:19 +0000

Finao is my favorite album company for a few reasons. First of all, they make books. Their albums are made with traditional book binding techniques that will stand the test of time. That means the your sample or your client’s wedding album will not fall apart. They are sturdy. So sturdy, you could probably clock you significant other upside the head and knock him cold. Another reason is that they have a gagillion cover options, size options etc. But one of the problems is that many people feel overwhelmed. But fear not. It’s simple. Choose your album by the type of photography, choose your size and your cover options. Check out the fun Road Trip up to Seattle with a little education about Finao along the way.

August/September Design Contest

"Fundy" — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:13:24 +0000

One of the easiest design contests around. Just upload your favorite album design and you are entered. We’ll choose the top 5 designs, run a random number generator and the winner will get $100 cash. No coupons, no strings, just $100 cash. Rules

You can only submit ONE spread per month.
You must have taken the images yourself or the images must have been taken underneath your studio name.
Designs must have been done by you or an employee or contractor of your studio.
Images must have been taken within one year of the contest end date.
Name and website must be used in the title of the image so we can contact you.

Happy posting. On Sept 15 the winner will be chosen and the check will be in the mail. Enter this month’s contest here. Fundy

Nikon Finally Releases New Lenses

"Fundy" — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:39:13 +0000

Well, they didn’t just release new lenses. They also released the D3100. The only thing really exciting about it, is the constant AF while shooting video, and a dedicated video button. While, I’m not that excited about the camera itself, that means that video is going to play an increasing roll in Nikon’s cameras. We can expect the same technology to go into the D700 replacement, probably a D700s, with full HD and the new live AF. But the big news is the new 85 1.4 with crystal nano technology. This has been a lens that everyone has wanted for years. The old 85 1.4 was a fantastic lens, but it was getting long in the teeth. And without an AF-S motor on it, it was slow to focus. But this new 85, if it is anything like the 50mm 1.4, it should be a big hit. My new 50 1.4 is an amazing piece of engineering. For professional wedding photographers, the next lens in the lineup should be the most exciting. Well, at least if you shoot like I do. I spend most of my time on the wide end (14-24 2.8) or the long end (70-200 2.8VR). The only time I really spend any time in the mid-range is during the formals and towards the end of the night when everything is winding down. The new 24-120 f/4 VR should fill the shoes nicely. At about half the price of the 24-70 2.8, it makes much more sense to me as a workable midrange zoom. The last lens, is just a wave to the casual shooter. It is the FX version of the 18-200 DX, which isn’t a bad lens by any stretch of the word. Granted you don’t want to do anything professional with it, but it is a great weekend lens with the family at the park. Stick that with the 50 1.4 and you have a great travel combination. The new 28-300 VR looks to be the new family/travel lens. Since the 18-200 was such a great performer, I expect this one to be also. Fundy

70-200 VRII Review – Crystal Nano Coating!

"Fundy" — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:12:19 +0000

The running joke in the studio last week was, “well, it has crystal nano coating.” I love to make fun of lens manufacturer naming. It seems like they spend all day trying to come up with new letters and words to tack onto the end of lens names. Some of my favorite names are from Tamron. They really have the naming stuff down. “AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF)” . Now that is a name. Well, the new Nikon 70-200 2.8 has a pretty dang cool name, so it must be good. (AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II). And the bonus? I has crystal nano coating! It must be good. Many of the new lenses from Nikon have their new nano coating. What is it? Well it just adds extra color contrast. Is it good? Yep, this lens produces some pretty dang cool contrast.

This is a recent photo from a senior shoot. As you can see it has awesome contrast and great pop. I’m not going to get into semantics here. Is it better than the old one? Yes. And it should be it is about 10 years newer. It it sharper? Yes, I think it is? So, should you get it? Well, will it bring more profit to your business? Only you can decide that. Remember, spending money on display albums and prints should be first in a business, then gear. Fundy