GETTING STARTED!
EasyFrameOnline is designed for the trade only. It is, therefore, important that you register your studio at ExcelPictureFrames.com. This is a one time process only intended to protect our wholesale price list. Once you register at ExcelPictureFrames.com you may use both the Store at that site and also EasyFrameOnline.com.
You may either follow the EasyFrameOnline.com link from ExcelPictureFrames.com or you may enter the address in your browser. Enter the Username and Password that you created at the ExcelPictureFrames.com site when you registered there in the upper-right hand corner of the EasyFrameOnline site to then be able to use the application.
EasyFrameOnline gives you the option of marking up our products by whatever percentage you choose. You may choose to display Wholesale pricing, Retail pricing, both types of pricing, or neither. To update your pricing after logging in, simply roll your mouse over the 'Photographers' link, go down and click on the 'Update Your Settings' option, enter the desired percentage, choose which type of pricing to display, and then click on 'Update'. You may change this figure at any given time if you choose to do so.
CREATING PACKAGES
EasyFrameOnline organizes data in a Tree-Format Structure. Information is arranged and saved into the following categories: Your Customer, Projects for your customer, and finally Packages for those projects. The data is saved on our server for your subsequent use. The application gives you the option to label your Customers, Projects, and Packages however best works for your particular business operation.
To create a new customer you can roll your mouse over the 'Photographers' section, click on 'Manage Your Projects', and then click on 'New Customer'. The next window will prompt you to name the customer and then enter their email and their password. It is important to give this information to your customer if you are going to choose to let them review, rate, and approve packages created by you for them at a later date. This option is great for those photographers whose customers do not have the time to go through the framing process with them. Your customer can log in with this information by entering it in the 'Photography Customer' section on the left had side of the Home page. (Sharing the packages you create for them is covered below.)
EasyFrameOnline makes use of a free browser add-on named Image Uploader 5.0 by Aurigma, Inc. to upload your images to the site. You will be prompted to download the add-on the first time you attempt to add your photos to the application. Once you approve the add-on it only takes a few seconds to download on to your computer. Again, this is a one-time only process.
Image Uploader 5.0 then allows you to browse through your computer to wherever you have your customer's images stored. You may choose to select one or more images, depending on how many Packages you plan to create under that particular Project. Once you've selected the images you want to work with, simply click on the 'Send' button. Image Uploader 5.0 then copies, compresses, and uploads the images. It is important to note that your original image is duplicated and compressed, therefore not altered in any way by the program. Because your images are compressed the uploading process should only take a few seconds.
Once your images are uploaded you will be prompted to the screen you were working on initially. The next step is to simply click on 'New Package'. You will then be prompted to choose whether you want to frame your images using Ready-Made Frames, Custom Presentation Packages (CPP's), or Multi-Opening Mat Presentation Packages (EXMO's). From here on in this tutorial we will assume that we chose the 'Custom Presentation Package (CPP)' option. Once you select the type of package you will be creating you need to label it. At this point you will have labeled the Customer, Project, and the first Package. Again, all of this information is saved and accessible when using the application in the future. Once you have filled in the box with the appropriate label, click on the 'Create Package' button to get started!
The Main Package Building Screen
There are 4 different possible steps under this general first step you may take when working with an image. The first step is to choose the photo you want to frame from the drop-down menu. The second is to enter the dimensions or size of what the printed photo will be. The third step is an option to rotate the photo if you need to. And finally the fourth step is to select the Photo Type. All of our custom mouldings, mats, fillets and liners have 'Product-Tags' associated with them. These Product Tags allow the application to suggest those products we feel best complement and enhance the Photo Type you are trying to frame. Once you've completed these steps, simply click on the 'Update Photo Button'.
The next step is to choose the format you would like to use to frame your image. It can be pretty overwhelming starting a package from scratch, especially when you consider all of the different products that are available. We, therefore, give you the option of starting with any of 15 different Preset Formats. The first Preset Format is a simple Custom Moulding Frame, and as you scroll down in the drop-down menu, the formats contain more and more components. For the sake of this tutorial we will assume that we have chosen the 'Custom Moulding with Mat with Fillet with Mat' option. Once you click on the option you are interested in a Format Template with the image you had chosen in the previous step will be shown in the middle of the screen.
This section essentially deals with choosing the different components for your Custom Framing Package:
The following steps involve choosing the actual different components for the framing package you are creating for your image. The number of steps involved depends on the number of components the particular Preset Format you chose contains. In this case, there will be separate steps for choosing the Moulding, Mat, Fillet, and Mat components. An optional step, 'Add-On & Options', will always appear as the last step regardless of how many components your particular package contains.
You have a variety of options when selecting the products you are interested in for your particular package. Under each different step you can choose to view all of the available products at once; you can view them by their 'Product Section', you can view only those products which you've tagged as your 'Favorites', or you can view all of the 'Suggested' products. This last option is the one that takes advantage of our built in Product Tags to come up with products we feel will work best for the particular Photo Type you are working with. The application also allows you to 'Search' for a particular product. Once you've found the products you are interested in, simply click on them to add them to the package you are creating. Of course, this is done through different steps as outlined above and not all at once.
When working with Mats you will be able to choose their width and, depending on the Preset Format, their Bottom Mat Reveal. It is important to choose these widths as this will directly affect the pricing of the package. It will also affect the appearance of the package because of the different components' proportionality.
It is important to note that all of the products are proportional in their appearance. For example, if you choose a custom moulding that is 3" wide, it will appear to be wider for an image you've selected as being an 8x10 than it will for an image you've selected as being a 30x40. When working with multiple components, such as a moulding combined with mats, this feature will give the overall appearance of the package as accurate a presentation as possible.
Pricing is shown on the bottom of the screen with your predetermined margin calculated, if you have chosen to display it. Pricing is also shown on the right-hand side of the screen with the individual components as you add them to the package. Setting your pricing is covered above.
The last step when creating a framing package will always be 'Add-Ons & Options'. Here you will be able to choose whether you want Regular Glass, Non-Glare Glass, Regular Styrene, or Non-Glare Styrene for your framing package. You will also be able to choose other options such as Regular V-Grooves, 3/16" V-Grooves, Mat Spacers, and Floater Options. These options can make a big difference in the presentation of your images and give you a definite competitive edge. Once you've selected the Add-Ons & Options you are interested in, you have completed creating your frame package.
ADDITIONAL TASKS
EasyFrameOnline gives you the option to share your framing packages with your customers. This option is ideal for those photographers who do not have the opportunity to go through the framing process with their customers at the time of sale. To share your framing packages, you click on the 'Share With Your Customer' link on the bottom of the screen. Once you click on the link the 'Share Framing Package' window appears. This window displays the Customer's Name, Email, and Password. These were entered initially when creating the customer's account on EasyFrameOnline. The Package Price also appears with the pre-determined margin you've chosen. Here you have the option to unclick the 'Share Price' box and not show the price when sharing the package or you also have the option of changing the price altogether. You may also send an email to your customer notifying them that they have a package created by you for them on EasyFrameOnline. You can change the email's heading and even customize a message for them if you choose to do so. Once you are done filling in the required information you simply click on the 'Share' button. The package will be available for them on EasyFrameOnline immediately for them to review, rate, and approve!
Your customer will receive the email with the login information, your personal message for them, and a link to EasyFrameOnline. Once at the site, they need to login using this information on the left-hand side of the screen under 'Photography Customers'. After logging in they need to view, rate, and fill in the comment boxes regarding their frame package. They then submit their comments for your review. All of your customer's Reviews can be found on your 'Photographer Dashboard' screen. By making use of this reviewing system, you can guarantee your studio much higher framing sales whether you customer is present during the framing process or not!
Once your customer approves a particular framing package, whether with you at the time of sale or through the online reviewing system, you may add the framing package to the 'EFO Order' section of the site. This is done on the bottom of the framing screen by clicking on the 'Add Items to EFO Order' link. At the end of the business day or whenever you are ready to submit your order to us here at Excel Picture Frames, Inc., you need to click on the 'View & Checkout' link under the EFO Order Summary section on the bottom of the screen.
***DO NOT VIEW THE CONTENTS OF YOUR EFO ORDER WITH YOUR CUSTOMER PRESENT BECAUSE WHOLESALE PRICING IS DISPLAYED.***
This section of the site is intended for your use only. Once you are ready to submit your orders to us, simply click on the 'Transfer These Items to Your Shopping Cart' button. Your order will then be transferred to your cart at ExcelPictureFrames.com where you may still modify it if need be. If not, simply follow the required 'Check Out' steps to place your order with us here at Excel Picture Frames, Inc. We will receive your order and process it as we would any of your other orders whether they were phoned, faxed, or emailed in.
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