• Instantly upload 100% studio branded, e-commerce enabled web galleries (online proofing)
  create custom proof magazines and automatically send to print with DigiLabs OR send to your studio printer or lab of your choice
• Create print and print package orders and automatically send to print with DigiLabs OR send to your studio printer or lab of your choice
• Manage, Organize, Edit and Archive an Entire Shoot At Once: feature set includes auto-rotations, batch sorting, renaming, categorizing, corrections (color, density and gamma), filters, cropping and much more
• Print In-Studio
• Present In-Studio
• Create, customize & order cards (greeting, postcard, wallet & composite)
• Order prints, print packages
• Create, customize and order Coffee Table Books
• Create, customize and order both photographic and press print Proof Magazines
  

• The option for DigiLabs to automatically print and fulfill print orders OR send print work to the lab of your choice. 
• The option to charge your customers' credit cards (using your merchant account if you have one or PayPal (we have two shopping cart choices) OR have DigiLabs do the charging
• The option to pay as a % of Sales (no hosting fees) OR to pay on a hosting fee basis (no transaction fees)

On a % of Sales Basis (zero hosting fees) 
14% transaction fee + 3% credit card charging fee = 17% total unlimited galleries and 2500 images.

On a Fee Hosting Basis (zero transaction fees)
$40 per month for unlimited galleries and up to 1,500 images and 1 penny per image in excess of 1,000 images OR
$65 per month for unlimited galleries and for up to 7,500 images and 1 penny per image in excess of 5,000 images
$125 per month for unlimited galleries and images (100,000 image cap.)

If you want DigiLabs to charge credit cards and/or fulfill print orders, we charge 7.5% of the sale in addition to the hosting fee.  

Click here for a complete price list

How many images can be stored per event?
Unlimited; your plan defines the cost

How long will my images stay online
It is up to you.  In your account administration area, you can set automatic expiration dates for your galleries (1 day to 10 years).

Can users purchase prints from the Web?
Yes.  We offer two shopping cart options (ours or PayPal).  You can decide who handles credit card charing (you or DigiLabs) and who handles print fulfillment (we can automatically print and fulfill orders or you can send orders to the lab of your choice).  

You set print sizes and pricing as well as shipping & handling and sales tax in your account administration. 

How do users order prints from the Web and how do I, the photographer, receive orders?
Once your pricing is created and the gallery is uploaded your clients can go online and place the order through the gallery. When the order has been placed you will receive an e-mail from DigiLabs (not applicable with Paypal Shopping Cart) notifying you that the order has been placed and what has been ordered.

You can also log in to our web based gallery/order management system to view your orders in real time organized by gallery and date.  You can see all of your order information including a thumbnail image of print orders as well as your billing/accounting history.(Not applicable with Paypal Shopping Cart)

Who prints orders from the Web? Can I have my own lab print Web orders?
You can have any lab you wish print and fulfill the order. Alternatively, we also provide a turnkey print fulfillment option in which we can automatically charge credit cards and print and fulfill orders to your customers and you simply just get paid.  So, in short, you can send print orders to any lab, print orders yourself (if you have the equipment) or have DigiLabs print and handle it for you.

Does DigiLabs offer finished print services?
Yes. Click here for our price list >

What size file should I use for the Web?
DigiLabs' software automatically resizes images for optimal web viewing (72 DPI) or for print and proof magazine work as well (300 DPI) so we recommend working with a full resolution JPEG file in sRGB color space.

Can people copy my images from the web?
We have the maximum security available to discourage users from copying images from the web including: blocking right-click save function for Windows users, making images invisible when trying to print from the browser so that printers will print a blank page and more.  You can also watermark images (you choose text, font, placement) quickly in one action with our software.  Additionally, images on the web are by nature low resolution (maximum is 72 DPI) which compares with 300 DPI for lab prints. 

How do I upload to the Web?
Our downloadable software will enable you to quickly and easily upload galleries from your computer (Mac and Windows).  

We also offer e-mail support and toll-free support (866-344-4522) and encourage users to call us so that we can walk you through the upload process. 

How can DigiLabs help me promote my web galleries to increase sales?
Our printed custom cards can include your studio contact info as well as a URL to your Web gallery. You can have clients log-in or link to web galleries directly from your site (if you have one) or to your portal page (custom branded) if you don't have your own site.  If you do have your own site, this is a great way to build your business as all viewers going to view galleries go through your site to get there.  It also makes it simple as the only address your viewers need to know is your website.  

In addition, our galleries have tools to market your galleries.  One tool is the optional feature to enable viewers to email images and the gallery log-in access to friends - which is great form of viral marketing.  Additionally, we have a registry in our galleries so that when viewers enter their contact info (optional) upon viewing galleries, you can choose to be automatically be notified with their contact info. 

Can I add watermarks to the images?
From the software you can choose to add watermarks to the images. If you choose to add a watermark, you can select where it will be displayed on the picture, as well as its text, font style, size and color. Watermarks can be added to any output you wish including web gallery images, proofbooks, and photographic prints.  

Why does DigiLabs cost significantly less than comparative offerings?  
Simply stated, we are more efficient and leverage stronger software expertise (it's not a mistake that we are located in Silicon Valley). DigiLabs leverages many years of expertise in software and Web application development, photographic print processing and digital press printing to bring empowering desktop solutions for professional photographers. DigiLabs desktop digital workflow/management software solutions not only streamlines the workflow but also leverages the work that is done once to enable the photographer to create a variety of photo output with hardly any extra steps.

See how our web gallery services compares with respect to features and price with leading competitors.  

See how our proof magazine prices compare with competitive offerings. 


About Digital Press Proof Magazines

How are your proof magazines different from other labs?
Our software enables you to customize every element of the proof magazine so that photographers can customize cover pages, order forms, the number of images per page, margins, font, etc.  Photographers can place text and images anywhere so that proof magazines do not have to look like contact sheets.  You can create collages and image overlays and import Photoshop designs and images so that the magazines can look like flush mount books (magazines).  Our software makes it simple and efficient and our technology makes it incredibly affordable.

We are also unique in that our proof magazines are double-sided like a real book or magazine.  We also offer traditional proof magazines printed on photographic paper (single-sided).  

What is the cost of DigiLabs' Press Print Proof Magazines (double-sided)?
Our prices start at 75 cents per page for an 8.5x11 proof magazine and we offer 5 sizes including 8.5x8.5, 8.5x11, 10x13, 10x15 and 11x14.  See complete pricing information >

What are your prices and sizes for Photographic Proof Magazines (single-sided)?
We offer 3 sizes including 8x10, 10x13 and 10x15 and prices start at $1.65 per page.  
See complete pricing information >

How do I send orders to DigiLabs for Digital Press Proof Books?
Use DigiLabs Software to create and send proof magazine orders to us. See complete pricing information >">Download the software now. If you wish to set up an account or send us images for a trial, please contact us at 866-344-4522 x126 or email us at photographer@digilabs.biz

How are Digital Press Proof Books printed? What kind of machine is used?
We print our press print proof magazines using a high quality digital press (similar to offset print output) which represents the highest quality print output available.  We print on 80# card stock which is both substantive but not too bulky.

Our photographic proof magazines are printed using Kodak equipment (Kodak LED printer) and Kodak professional paper. 


Why should I use a Digital Press Proof Book?

• You can create proof output that reflects that uniqueness of your clients and your work.  Our software makes it easy to customize every element.
• Starting at 75 cents per page, we can save you significant money.
• Because our press print proof magazines are double-sided, they are sleek and sophisticated looking
• Efficiency; no need to upload all your images to the lab. What eventually is sent to the lab are finished prints, which is significantly smaller and consequently saves time and money
• You can easily dress up proof magazines with leather covers (we supply), custom covers and design to show your high value work.

About Photographic Proofs & Prints

Do you offer photographic proof books (multiple images on a single page) as well as proof prints?
Yes.  We print photographic proof magazines (single sided) as well as any size prints up to 40x40.  We use a variety of papers and surfaces including metallic, true black & white and canvas.  

What sizes and prices do you offer?
For photographic proof magazines, we offer: 8x10, 10x13, 10x15.
Click here for our price list >

What machines do you use to print?
Kodak  RP30 and RP50 as well as a Kodak LED for photographic proof magazines.  

Do you offer color and density corrections?
We offer density and color corrections for prints but not for proof magazines.  

How do I do color profiling with DigiLabs?
We calibrate to SRGB and as stated above, we correct all print work except proof magazines.  For proof magazines, we have built-in calibration tools in our software so that way if you calibrate your monitor, you can attach your ICC profile.  If you don't calibrate your monitor, you can use our automated calibration tools in our software that will give us an idea of where your monitor's calibration to better match what you see on your screen with our proof magazine output.  

How do I order lab prints and photographic proof magazines?
From the software you can order orders prints under the 'Order/ prints' menu.  Our software automatically resizes images to 300 DPI to maximize upload speed while ensuring sufficient resolution for excellent print quality.  Our software has a built-in FTP process so that way you can upload print orders from your computer directly to our servers.  

You can order photographic proof magazines using our software under the Preferences/layout option to choose size and style of your photographic proof magazines.  

What is the turnaround time?
2-3 Business Days plus the shipping time.



About Lab Prints

How do I order finished prints from DigiLabs?
From the software you can order orders prints under the 'Order/ prints' menu.  Our software automatically resizes images to 300 DPI to maximize upload speed while ensuring sufficient resolution for excellent print quality.  Our software has a built-in FTP process so that way you can upload print orders from your computer directly to our servers.  

For alternative sending options please contact support at 866-344-4522

What kind of equipment do you print on? Tell me about the quality?
Kodak  RP30 and RP60.  We print using the finest professional equipment and papers.  We pride ourselves on quality control and providing custom corrections (density and color) on all prints we do whether it is proof prints or finished prints.  We guarantee the quality of our work and will reprint any job if requested, no questions asked.  We also offer free test prints so that you can see the quality of our work.  

What sizes and prices do you offer?
We print any size up to 40x40 and offer a variety of papers and surfaces including metallic, true black & white and canvas. 
View our price list.

What kind of turnaround time can I expect from the time I place an order on my desktop?
2-3 Business days plus the shipping time.

What kind of digital retouching services do you offer and at what prices?
We charge $35 per hour for digital retouching. Sloppy borders, custom cropping and corrections are provided at no extra charge. 



About Printing At Studio Functionality

What is the Print @ Studio option?
Our downloadable software will enable you to create custom proof magazines which you can then send to print to your studio printer(s) and/or to the lab of your choice.  You can also create, edit and send to print print and print package jobs to your studio printer and our software makes it simple and seamless process.  Our software automatically optimizes print space for a variety of packages with a wide variety of paper size options to guarantee that print packages are printed to maximize paper size constraints.  Use our editing tools (e.g., cropping, corrections, filters, etc.) or use the photo editing software of your choice (e.g., Photoshop).  


Can I add watermarks to the images?
From the software you can choose to add watermarks to the images. If you choose to add a watermark, you can select where it will be displayed on the picture, as well as its text, font style, size and color. Watermarks will be added to any desired image/print.

Information about Images

What is dpi, image size, and why is it important?
When sending a job to be printed, whether at home or at a professional printer, it is important to remember that the quality of the printed image will always be only as good as the quality of the images used in the creation process.

Generally, a computer monitor will present an image using a screen resolution of approximately 72-96 dots-per-inch (dpi). That is, any inch on the screen is divided into 72 dots vertically and 72 dots horizontally, and those dots, also known as Pixels, generate the presentation for this inch on the screen.

Printing on paper, however, requires a higher dots-per-inch resolution to achieve photo quality output. The quality will depend on the image resolution as well as an array of other factors, such as the color range that can be applied to a dot by the printer, the printer technology (Inkjet, Toner, Ink), and the paper quality. Typically the DPI of a printable image should be at least 150 (DPI), 200 DPI will be better, and a 300 DPI image will insure the high quality of the printed output.

How do I figure out what is the dpi of the image?
The Image size in measured in pixels. The quality of the printed output is measured in dots-per-inch. For simplicity, lets treat a pixel as a dot. In other words, the quality of the printed output will be measured by the number of pixels/dots we can print per inch. The more dots the printer can access the higher the quality of the picture can be. So if an image is 600 pixels per side, and it is printed at 600 dots-per-inch (DPI), it will print out as an image 1 inch wide and high. If we would like to enlarge that image to be 2 inches the DPI will drop to 300, and if the image will be enlarged to 6 inch the DPI will drop to 100.

If you divide the number of pixels of an image by the DPI you seek the printable image to be (typically 150-300) the result will be the appropriate size of that image.

Pixels / DPI= Size of image (in Inches)

For example: If image size is 1,280 x 1,024 pixels and you want to the printed output to be of 200 DPI quality, divide the pixels (1,280 x 1,024) by the DPI you seek (200). That will result in a 6.40 x 5.12 inch image with 200 DPI quality on the printed output, or 4.27 x 3.41 inch 300 DPI image (1,280:300=4.27 inch. 1,024:300=3.41 inch)

To calculate the image print DPI, you divide the image size in pixels with the image size in inch (as will appear on paper) .

DPI = Pixels / Size of image (in Inches)

For example, a 640 x 480 pixel image displayed as an 8 7/8 x 6 2/3 inch image has a 72 dpi resolution. When printed at this size, this image will suffer from low quality, as it has a 72 dots-per-inch resolution. If this image would be used to print a 2.1 x 1.6 inch image (representing a 300 dots-per-inch resolution), its quality will be excellent.

In our DigiLabs and MyPhoto Calendars Software you can easily view the actual used image dpi. Right click on the image, second item on the menu will be “picture setting”, click on it and a dialog box called “object setting” will open, Look under the top right hand side box (titled Location) it will read “image is XYZ dpi”.

What is the “right” dpi?
You can get photo quality results when using as few as 150-200 dots-per-inch (dpi) images. The basic rule to keep in mind is that in order to maintain image quality, the number of pixels in the image bitmap file must increase as the size of the printed picture increases. Otherwise, individual pixels will become larger in the print and the picture will get a jagged and grainy texture.

In our DigiLab and MyPhoto Calendars Software you can easily view the actual used image dpi. Right click on the image, second item on the menu will be “picture setting”, click on it and a dialog box called “object setting” will open, Look under the top right hand side box (titled Location) it will read “image is XYZ dpi”.

What are the suggested guidelines for image quality?
Below are a few rules of thumb to use when using images for print:

• Start with the largest images you can get out of your digital camera or scanner.
• The original image as viewed on screen in 72 dpi should be 2 to 4 times bigger than its size on paper.
• Try to maintain a resolution of not less than 150 dots-per-inch for the image. (In our program you can tell the dpi of your image by right-clicking a picture and going to ‘picture setting’).
• Don’t overshoot! Most people will not be able to see the difference without searching for it.
• The following table will sum the common image sizes and their recommended printed size:
  

What are the drawbacks of too much dpi?
For printing, more dpi is better. However, too much information will require more memory and time to print, as well as a larger output file that will take much longer to upload. On the other hand, in most cases, the difference in quality between a 200 dpi image and 400 dpi image will not be noticeable to the human eye.

What is image compression and why should I care about it?
Images tend to be quite large in size. For example, a 4”x6” image in a 300 DPI and 24 bit color will be more than 6 MB in size. This requires large storage space and is very slow to transmit on the network.

JPEG is a compression technique designed for compressing images of natural, real-world scenes. It works well on photographs, naturalistic artwork, and similar material. JPEG is "lossy," meaning that the decompressed image is not quite the same as the one with which you started. JPEG is designed to exploit known limitations of the human eye, notably the fact that small color changes are perceived less accurately than small changes in brightness. Most changes in the image are invisible to the eye.

JPEG can achieve a 20:1 compression ratio without any visible loss, and up to 50:1 ratio with small to moderate defects. That is, the above 6 MB image can be compressed to a 300 KB image with no visible change to the image.

Keep in mind that in most cases, you can achieve great compression ratio without any visible differences to the image.

In summation, if you are using reasonable quality images and reasonable compression, your images are expected to be of high quality when printed. If the images you start with are either of low quality or too compressed, the final printed results will be as good (or bad) as the images you used. However, keep in mind that too much is not always better. A 4”x6” 300 DPI non-compressed image and a 200 DPI JPEG compressed images will probably produce similar results. However, transferring it to print over the network using a 56KBps modem will take approximately 18 minutes with a high DPI image that is non-compressed on oppose to 25 seconds of a moderate DPI image that is slightly compressed.



Information about Digital printing

What printers are used to print my order?
We use the hp Indigo press to print our products. The HP Indigo uses digital offset press technology that delivers enhanced image quality.

What is the quality of the printed output?
The hp Indigo liquid ElectroInk technology produces deep, rich, offset-quality printing that is uniform and vibrant. By using breakthrough image tracking technology, it delivers uncompromising image quality. The hp indigo offers an 800 dpi output resolution.

What is monitor calibration and why would I want to do it?
Monitor calibration ensures that the printed results match what you see on the screen. In general, for our press print proof magazines, your monitor should be calibrated to SRGB with a Gamma setting of 2.2 (1.8 for Mac). 
Click here to learn more about monitor calibration >

What is so special about your printers?
Endless opportunities are now available to the patrons of Digi-Labs thanks to the groundbreaking technology offered by the digital printing equipment of the hp Indigo press. Through our services, customers are not only able to exercise innovative applications which were previously unavailable with conventional presses (such as professional customized printing in short runs), but can also do so relatively inexpensively.

The high-tech printing technology used by Digi-Labs offers our clientele affordable short-run printing while guaranteeing high quality performance and customize print. Through the usage of advanced digital solutions, Digi-Labs is able to meet the needs of its clients by allowing complete personalization of individual print jobs--making each piece unique and custom-made, yet professional and economical.

Since costs of traditional methods of printing hardly depended on job size, but rather on standard setup expenses (time, film/plate creation etc.) producing a low numbered short-run was previously very pricey and impracticable for an individual or a company. However, as a result of its flexible and efficient characteristics, this digital press now allows our customers to produce as few as one print, in a very high quality and for a reasonable price.

The technological advantages provided to our customers and us by the digital press could be explained by the usage of liquid ink, the manner in which the ink is applied to the paper, and by the high dpi (dots per inch--the usual measure of printed image quality on paper) capabilities of the presses. Using liquid ink for printed images is very helpful to the creation of images of high resolution and brilliant color. The unique electronic printing process used by Indigo is a combination of high performance digital imaging technology and liquid ink offset printing quality, promising to present beautiful and professional results every time. While the Indigo press first uses a “plate” to carry the image, it then employs an offset printing technique to get that representation from the plate and onto the paper. This method begins when ink is smeared on the plate and the image is transferred onto a rubber “blanket,” which will then carry the image onto the paper as the final product. In conventional presses, each individual plate is only able to hold a single image for the duration of an entire run. Therefore, in order to generate a new piece, an additional plate must also be created. However, in digital presses, such as the Indigo press, the plate can be changed during the actual run, so that custom and personalized printing become possible. The superior and premium printing choices that Digi-Labs is able to provide to its customers is related to the high dpi and press technology, which the Indigo press uses.

Why DigiLabs Produces Optimal Press Printing

When it comes to press printing e.g., cards (greeting, postcard, etc.), photo books and calendars, not all files are equal; depending on your workflow, the print outcome can be dramatic. Ordering press products via software that typically is used for photographic printing e.g., ROES or FTPing JPEGs, PSD files, etc. can produce undesirable print quality and the reason for this is because it is using a RASTER instead of VECTOR based file. Raster files (e.g., JPEGs) use pixels (dots) to represent text. While photographic images enjoy excellent quality when printed using 300 dots per inch resolution, graphic shapes, however, such as lines, borders, and especially text do not print well at 300 dots per inch. The nature of the text curve (or its line art) and its sharp contrast from the background will cause it to be jaggy. This is why text is eventually rasterized typically using 1200-2400 dots per inch resolution. Unfortunately, rasterizing the original image to a higher dpi will not help, since raster files cannot be scaled to a higher resolution without significant loss of print quality. This is the reason why fonts use Postscript and True-Type technology, so they can maintain their characteristics as vector graphic until the last minute before printing. This enables the device to optimize their usage for the best print quality for the specific printing device. Because the resolution on a monitor is much smaller than that of print output (typically between 72-96 dots per inch), it is difficult to discern the quality issue on a monitor but is quite apparent when printed.

In contrast, vector files describe objects according to their geometrics including points, lines, curves and polygons (mathematically precise and not dependent on dots) so that you can scale up to the maximal dpi available for text drawing on any specific printer without losing any quality.

DigiLabs software creates vector based files to create press products e.g., its cards, books and calendars and the bottom line is that text will come out clear, sharp and precise.