Proof delayed shipping lets you adjust the images your customers order before the orders process or ship. You can speedily add "proof" images to SmugMug and then fuss over and replace only those that are ordered.
Translation: You speed up your workflow and still provide the perfect prints your customers expect.
Alright, I'm hooked. Show me how
We make it easy. Just go to Customize Gallery for any gallery. Find the Proof days field and enter a number between 1 and 7. All orders placed for images in that gallery will wait that number of business days to begin processing.
When your customer places an order, we'll let them know that you have requested a few additional days to perfect the order before it is printed.
We've got your back
As soon as an order is placed, we'll fire off an email to you with "PROOF" in the subject. You'll get a link to all the details of the order, including which images have been ordered.
After that, it's up to you. Click View Pro Sales in your Tools menu. Click on any order and you'll be able to view and modify the customer's chosen crop for each image.
You can use the Replace Photo button on this page or the Replace tool in the Tools Menu on the gallery page. Do not simply add the replacement photo to the same gallery. Only Replace will allow us to update the order properly.
You can also turn off color correction on any images, for example black and white or sepia images going through EZ Prints. Their color correction is automated and optimized for color photos, but it's easy to turn off as needed before the order begins processing.
Finish with time to spare? When you view the order page in your Pro Sales Reports, click on the Ship It! button.
Gotchas on image preparation:
- Our minimum print resolution requirements still apply. Keep the image size high enough to sell the prints you want, but shrink the file size by saving proofing images at jpeg 7 and replacing them with jpeg 10 images as needed.
- After replacing a photo, be sure to check the crop in your sales details and make any necessary changes before shipping the order out!
Gotchas on Ship It! button:
- As soon as you click the Ship It! button, the order goes immediately to printing. Replacing images after that point will not change the order.
- Each order will process and ship after the specified number of days has passed, whether or not you've replaced any images in that order.
- On orders that involve more than one pro who has proof-delay in effect, the ship it button will not appear. The order will ship on the day noted.
- On orders that don't make a profit (orders placed when you are logged in or in galleries with no image pricing in place) the order does not appear in sales details and cannot be modified. Therefore, we send these orders straight to process and print, even if proof-delay is set for the gallery.
- Digital downloads are sold as-is, with no proof-delay before the customer can save the image.