Cradoc fotoSoftware News
March 2010, Cradoc Donates 25% of Sales to ShelterBox
Cradoc Partnership with ShelterBox a Success
In February Cradoc made the commitment to donate 25% percent of our sales to ShelterBox for their relief efforts.
Since its inception in 2000, ShelterBox has firmly established itself at the forefront of international disaster relief, providing emergency shelter on every continent.
Thank you to those who made a purchase with us, from February 16th through the 28th, 2010. We're excited about the success of this endeavor and we appreciate our customers support. Several boxes will be sent out in Cradoc's name and we couldn't have done it without you!
February 2010, Cradoc Donates 25% of Sales to Haiti Relief Efforts
Cradoc Partners with ShelterBox and Donates 25% of All Sales from February 16th through the 28th, 2010.
ShelterBox is the only national aid organization that provides shelter and lifesaving equipment to disaster areas worldwide. Each box supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster. So the recipients in Haiti are sure to receive supplies best suited for their environment.
"I was recently made aware of this company and I am blown away by what they are doing." said Cradoc. "I am so excited about the positive impact they are making, and the immediacy of the relief they provide, that we have decided to partner with ShelterBox to help provide relief to Haiti in the aftermath of last month's devastating earthquake," he added.
For every Cradoc program sold or upgraded from February 16th through February 28th, a donation of 25% will be made to the ShelterBox organization. Customers don't have to do anything special when placing an order. All purchases made during this period will be accounted for and a check will be sent directly to ShelterBox.
To watch a short video about ShelterBox, click here.
April 2009, Cradoc fotoSoftware Releases New Version of fotoQuote Pro
The Industry Standard Price Guide for Stock and Assignment Photography
Cradoc fotoSoftware has released fotoQuote Pro 6. Since 1993, fotoQuote, the industry standard price guide for stock and assignment photography, has helped photographers get paid fairly for their work.
With over 300 categories in fotoQuote Pro 6 photographers can select a price from a range based on certain criteria; but pricing is not enough. The Coach and Usage Tips sections of fotoQuote are packed with the insider information needed to help photographers negotiate their asking price. During a slower economy this negotiation information can mean the difference between closing a sale, or not.
"I started writing fotoQuote in the early 90’s, in the middle of a recession. Articles in photo magazines said stock photography was dead,” said Cradoc Bagshaw, the creator of fotoQuote. “Photographers were undercutting each other, and prices were spiraling down. I decided to do something about it and wrote fotoQuote. I feel good that the release of fotoQuote helped shore up stock photography prices and got photographers talking to each other about good business practices.”
Once again there is pressure from clients to lower prices. “Don’t lower your prices to make a sale!” said Bagshaw. “Give discounts if you have to, but always make sure to stipulate that a discount is being given. Be creative; come up with a reason for the discount. Maintain a price that will keep you in business during the recession and after it is over. It will be much easier to eliminate a discount than it will be to “raise” your prices again once the economy opens up.”
The photo industry is constantly changing and fotoQuote helps photographers stay informed. FotoQuote Pro 6 has eighty-six new categories; that’s eighty-six new opportunities for photographers to sell their work.
One of the fastest growing needs right now is for video to use on websites, both shot specifically for a client, or for stock clips. “Corporate photographers are being asked for video, as are editorial photographers who shoot stills for magazine stories.” said Cradoc. “Often the need for web video is simple, and does not require the full production expense typical with higher end video.” FotoQuote Pro 6 has thirty-five new film and video stock footage categories.
"Producing the stock photographs has been the easy part; knowing what to charge for them has been the tough part,” said David Thurber, a California based photographer. “The first time I used fotoQuote I quoted a price that was double my 'good guy' fee, and the client thought he was getting a super deal. It doesn't get any better than that."
For a limited time fotoQuote Pro 6 can be bundled with Cradoc’s popular program, the fotoKeyword Harvester, for a special introductory price.
“The fotoKeyword Harvester and fotoQuote Pro are a perfect pair,” said Cradoc. “Whether you are marketing your images through an agency, or directly, the key to having them found is to have great keywords, then fotoQuote helps you know what to charge.”
Ralph Clevenger, a California based photographer said, "Keywords are so critical to marketing my images these days. Without keywords people can't find my photographs, so they're the most important element in the metadata package...Cradoc has once again simplified a very complicated part of my workflow."
June 2008, Cradoc Releases New Photo Keywording Program
The fotoKeyword Harvester, Accelerated Image Keywording
Cradoc fotoSoftware has released a new photo keywording program, the fotoKeyword Harvester. Like fotoQuote and fotoBiz, the fotoKeyword Harvester is designed to simplify the complicated tasks that people who work with images are confronted with every day.
The fotoKeyword Harvester is an entirely new approach to keywording photographs. Nothing like it has ever existed before! Using the right words to keyword your photos can bring in thousands of dollars in income over time. Use the wrong keywords, and your images may never be seen again.
The fotoKeyword Harvester works independently along side any image cataloging or editing program such as Aperture, Lightroom, or PhotoShop Bridge. The keywords created in the fotoKeyword Harvester are copied to and then saved as metadata in your editing program, so keywords can be embedded in any supported image format, including RAW. The fotoKeyword Harvester can even be used to create keywords while working in real-time on your agency’s web site.
“Whether you are marketing your images through an agency, or directly, the key to having them found is to have great keywords,” said Bagshaw.
Ralph Clevenger, a California photographer said, "Keywords are so critical to marketing my images these days. Without keywords people can't find my photographs, so they're the most important element in the metadata package.
Typically I work with Lightroom, and now with the fotoKeyword Harvester open on my desktop as I import or caption images I can locate and manage all the keywords I need. The fotoKeyword Harvester is really intuitive at coming up with keywords I didn't think of, and the built in Keyword Composer ensures that I have all the word variations that are needed in the world of 'searching'.
Cradoc has once again simplified a very complicated part of my workflow."
To learn more, visit the fotoKeyword Harvester section of our website.
September 2007, Cradoc on the Road with PhotoShelter
"Photography 2.0: The Business of Photography in the Web Era" is a series of town hall meeting across the country with experts from the industry.
Los Angeles, CA, September 28th, 2007 - Cradoc is scheduled as a panelist for PhotoShelter's first-ever series of photography town hall meetings, "Photography 2.0: The Business of Photography in the Web Era". This series of meetings is designed to bring together active image buyers and photographers from all sides of the business to discuss the impact of the Internet on the industry.
The event will be held during Samy's Camera Photo Expo at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 28th, at the Orange County Fair & Expo Center, (Bldg 16), 88 Fair Drive Costa Mesa CA 92626. There is no cost to register for Photography 2.0. Space is limited so interested attendees are encouraged to sign up now at www.photoshelter.com/citytour.
The event on the 28th is just one in the series of town hall meetings that PhotoShelter will be hosting across the country. The series will commence in New York City on September 14, 2007, with subsequent events to be held in Atlanta, September 17; Chicago, September 19; Portland, OR, September 24; San Francisco, September 26; and finishing in the Los Angeles-area, September 28. Photographers of any experience level who are interested in the future of commercial photography are encouraged to attend.
"Photography 2.0: The Business of Photography in the Web Era" will feature more than 30 working photographers and image buyers and is expected to be, to date, the most rigorous, challenging and productive debate concerning the issues of online marketing, image selling and distribution. Each half-day symposium will be held from 1:30 p.m. and will conclude at 6:15 p.m. with all participants invited to a cocktail reception.
November 2006, PhotoShelter and fotoQuote Announce Exclusive Licensing Agreement
Agreement and New Pricing Structure Gives Professional Photographers the Ability to Shorten Negotiation Time and Increase Margins.
PhotoPlus Expo, New York - November 2, 2006 - BitShelter LLC, the creator of PhotoShelter, a leading online archive and marketplace for professional photographers, today announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Cradoc Corporation the developer of fotoQuote, the industry standard price guide for stock and assignment photography. The agreement will grant PhotoShelter subscribers immediate access to fotoQuote's price information, enabling them to receive trustworthy pricing data within the PhotoShelter e-commerce function. The announcement was issued from the PhotoPlus Expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.
PhotoShelter offers professional photographers a truly affordable and robust archive system, along with the tools and resources they need to turn their storage into sales. PhotoShelter provides disaster-proof storage that is both locally and geographically redundant, with 24-hour online accessibility and simultaneously serves as a sales platform, allowing photographers to create galleries, determine the fair market value, sell images, add search capabilities to their own sites and create RSS syndication feeds.
"Photographers now have the ability to determine and select a competitive price for their work. Photo buyers can access the determined price and purchase the image without photographer intervention. The benefit of this agreement is a seamless transaction for both photographers and clients," said Allen Murabayashi, chief executive officer, BitShelter LLC. "This agreement with fotoQuote, long considered the industry standard price guide for stock and assignment photography, demonstrates PhotoShelter's commitment to providing the highest quality service to the photography community by continuing to partner with only the most-respected products and companies in the industry."
The goal of the PhotoShelter/fotoQuote agreement is to give photographers more direct control over the pricing of their works, as opposed to a company or agency setting such prices, while making the negotiation and purchase of images easier for photo buyers. Within the PhotoShelter marketplace, fotoQuote data will be used to populate a matrix of average pricing data. Users will be able to set up multiple pricing profiles and adjust the value of those profiles as a percentage of the matrix price. They will also be able to set regional and country-based variations. Photo buyers will then be able to use a series of select menus to generate a price and have the option to purchase an image directly using a credit card or negotiate that price with the photographer.
"With the integration of fotoQuote into PhotoShelter, photographers will have the ability to negotiate the fee with their client, or to create a simple pricing structure for their images," said Cradoc Bagshaw, the creator of fotoQuote and founder of Cradoc Corporation. "I've always believed that the pricing information in fotoQuote has allowed photographers to remain independent and to get paid fairly for the work that they do. I feel that the marketing tools available in PhotoShelter, combined with the pricing information in fotoQuote, give photographers a stronger position in a very competitive market."
PhotoShelter empowers the individual photographer to take control of the sale of their images by eliminating excessive commissions and providing seamless customization. The integration of fotoQuote pricing data enables photographers to eliminate delays in negotiation, allowing photographers, for the first time, to truly realize the benefits of an online marketplace.
"Freelance photography is a constantly evolving business - change is the norm. Since the introduction of fotoQuote, it has been my go-to reference for pricing. PhotoShelter is the 'back-end' of my aerialstock.com Web site. FotoQuote and PhotoShelter working together is the killer combination that will help freelance photographers manage and grow their stock libraries," said Cameron Davidson, award-winning location photographer. "Integrating fotoQuote into PhotoShelter will save me precious time with negotiations and encourage seamless stock license transactions. This natural alliance will allow photographers to concentrate on what is truly important - creating images."
About PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter will be available with fotoQuote pricing starting January 2007. PhotoShelter, created by BitShelter LLC, is the ultimate workflow solution for professional photographers. Combining industry-leading distribution and sales tools with a redundant, disaster-proof image archiving solution, PhotoShelter is the only system suitable for the world's most important images. PhotoShelter empowers individual photographers by providing a comprehensive online archive and marketplace. Vincent Laforet, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer with The New York Times; Bill Frakes, a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated Magazine; and 2004 Canon Female Photojournalist Award winner Kristen Ashburn are amongst PhotoShelter's subscribers. More top photographers choose PhotoShelter to handle their images than any other online system. For more information on PhotoShelter, go to http://www.PhotoShelter.com.
May 2006, Cradoc Announces the Release of fotoBiz 2.0!
FotoBiz 2.0 takes Digital Asset Management to a whole new level
FotoBiz, the most popular business management software for photographers, now supplies the missing link in digital asset management.
Cradoc Corporation, a major developer of computer software for photographers, announced the release of fotoBiz 2.0. This is a major upgrade to what has become the most popular business management program for the freelance photographer. FotoBiz 2.0 greatly enhances the tools available to the assignment and stock photographer and includes fotoQuote Pro 5, the industry standard photo pricing and negotiating guide for stock and assignment photography.
The biggest enhancement to fotoBiz 2.0 is in the area of digital asset management, and the way that photographers' images are connected to their clients. The new digital features in the imageLog, along with keywording and thumbnail submissions, make fotoBiz 2.0 a very powerful tool to help photographers manage their workflow and find their digital and film images.
FotoBiz is the missing link for all of the image storage issues photographers may have. FotoBiz is a program that thinks in terms of how photographers complete a job, from finding an image, to the delivery of that image to the client, and all of the necessary paperwork. FotoBiz completes these tasks for photographers in an easy and logical way.
"I spend a lot of time talking with the photographers who use my programs. Many of them are at the top of their profession and we carry on a fairly steady dialogue about how to solve the problems that they're facing," said developer and president of Cradoc Corporation, Cradoc Bagshaw. "Right now the biggest problem facing nearly all of the photographers I've spoken with is how to handle their digital images. Most are using some kind of a catalog program or image browser that has features they find useful. But in every case, these catalog programs leave the photographer hanging. There is no connection of the image to the client, to pricing and billing, to copyright filing issues, or to licensing or license tracking. The keywording help in these programs is elementary at best. These are critical issues to a working photographer, and to automate part of the solution and leave the rest of the process as manual labor isn't really a solution at all. I made sure that this fotoBiz update would fill in these gaps in the workflow for our customers."
Cradoc decided to stay out of the way of how photographers want to handle their images using other catalog programs. When they are ready to link their images to their clients via fotoBiz, photographers can import their image reference data into the fotoBiz imageLog. Upon import of the image data, a thumbnail is created that can be used for automated copyright or digital submissions. All of the embedded information in each image is transferred to the keyword field in fotoBiz. The photographer can then enhance the keywords using the new Keyword ComposerTM, the most sophisticated keywording tool available to the freelance photographer. "If you can't find an image, you can't license it", said Bagshaw.
Some New features in fotoBiz 2.0 include:
New Digital imageLog: The biggest changes to the fotoBiz 2.0 imageLog are the new digital features, the keywording section and thumbnail submissions. All very powerful tools to help photographers manage and find their digital and film images.
Image Keywording: FotoBiz automatically builds keywords for images using all existing data for the image: captions, descriptions, as well as any IPTC captions/descriptions and keywords that are already embedded in images. These keywords can be enhanced using the comprehensive Keyword ComposerTM.
Track License Expiration: Easily search for images with licenses set to expire within a certain time period. This can be a good source of revenue with little effort on the photographer's part.
Thumbnail Submission: Automatically create and log copyright submissions with pages of thumbnails. Quickly create thumbnail submissions and contact sheets to send to clients.
Paperwork: Delivery Memos, the new Job Description Builder and other greatly enhanced features for the assignment and stock photographer make this a very powerful update. Also, the photographer will find the new Calendar section useful for scheduling mass mailings and appointments.
"The fotoBiz imageLog literally tracks my entire workflow", said fotoBiz user, Dan Patitucci of PatitucciPhoto. "It reveals the truth of what I do and how efficient I am. The ability to monitor my stock productions is probably the most valuable tool for me in fotoBiz. At a glance I can see what shoots are making me money and which are not. I can also see what style of imagery is selling and to whom.
Tracking my image's license period is also helpful; as I can instantly view what has expired, or when in question, determine the sales history of a stock image. In short for the last 5 years fotoBiz has run my business, and now with 5 years of records and the new fotoBiz 2.0, I have a wealth of data to help me make educated decisions."
FotoBiz 2.0 has fotoQuote Pro 5 built-in and retails for $299.95. An upgrade price for registered users of either fotoBiz or fotoQuote is also available and Both fotoBiz and fotoQuote can now be ordered online, and downloaded instantly.
Founded in 1993, Cradoc Corporation has been working to solve problems photographers face in this continuously evolving industry. FotoBiz and fotoQuote are tools that help the small business photographer succeed in the big business world.
May 2006, Cradoc Implements New Online Order System.
With Cradoc's new online ordering system, you can now download both fotoBiz 2.0 and fotoQuote Pro 5! Whether you are an existing customer needing an upgrade or a new customer ordering for the first time, you'll receive your software download almost instantaneously! With our secure website and by partnering with Plimus, the online ordering and downloading of fotoBiz and fotoQuote is secure and simple; saving you time and money.