Frequently Asked Questions for Picture Packages
If you do not see your question answered here please call: 1-800-239-5343 or you may download the complete PicturePackages.com manual here.

Orders typically require 1-3 working days. Orders with novelty items and sublimation may require an additional 1 – 2 days.

A straight print order uploaded after 5pm CST on Monday would be counted as uploaded on Tuesday, and would thus be due out on Wednesday. We do our best to maintain this schedule however, during busier seasons there may be delays.

1. What's new in PicturePackages.com version 9?

   New PicturePackages.com Clients

   After installing PicturePackages.com please complete the studio and billing information screen, complete your contact information, and request your customer code and password.

   Existing PicturePackages.com Clients

   If you are upgrading to version 9.0.0 of PicturePackages.com and are currently using a version of PicturePackages.com older than version 8.0.0, you will need to rebuild your package definitions. Users with software versions below version 8 will also need to complete any current orders that you are working on before upgrading as you will not be able to open those orders after the upgrade. Package Definitions and orders created in Version 8.0.0 can be opened with Version 9.0

   After upgrading please take the time to review your studio and billing information. If any changes are made to your contact information please contact customer service at 800-239-5343 as we WILL NOT OPEN this encrypted file unless a change is noted by customer service.

   Installation Notes
   • Windows Vista and Windows 7 users must disable UAC (User Access Control) before installing the software.

   If you have a technical issue with PicturePackages.com please feel free to contact us at comments.picturepackages@totalimage.com or 1-800-239-5343
   NEW IN VERSION 9.0.0

   Updates
   1. This version allows you to see the template design from the “Additional Products” drop down menu in the light table. Before the only place, that you were able to see the template designs was in the “Define Packages” screen. Now you may view the Template designs by selecting the template you wish to view in the “Additional Products” dropdown menu, then right-click the item. Your selected template will appear showing you what the background will look like.
   2. Updated Dry-Erase Memo Calendars and Designer Calendars to reflect current year.
   3. Added 9×12 Rectangular Plaques for Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Softball and One School Plaque.
   4. Added Home Plate Plaques for Baseball and Softball. (Softball can also be used for T-Ball)
   5. Added Personalized Sports Bottle. (Hand-wash only please.)
   6. Added School Memory Mate.
   7. Added Five new Dry-Erase Boards for Schools.
   8. Added NEW PRODUCT – 2.25” Photo Button
   9. Added NEW PRODUCT – DESIGNER BAG TAGS for Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Softball, Cheerleading, Dance. Custom and Martial Arts
   10. Added NEW PRODUCT – DESIGNER WALL CLINGS for Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Softball, Cheerleading, Dance and Martial Arts. Also includes a Wall Cling shaped as a football (BTN003SHPCLN), Template Guide for Custom Wall Cling.
   11. Added NEW PRODUCT – MAGNETIC SPORTS TICKETS for Baseball, Soccer, Football, Softball.
   12. Added NEW PRODUCT – Martial Arts Licencse Plate, Carflag, Designer Button, Designer Button Magnet, Dry-Erase Memo Calendar.
   13. Added NEW PRODUCT – 2 4×5s and 1 5×7 (P245157) This whole unit will allow you to order 2 4×5’s and 1 5×7 with the 4×5 crop being the main crop and the 5×7 deriving its crop from the center of the 4×5 crop. – You can still order the P57245, the only difference is that the 5×7 crop is the main crop.
   14. Added 2 Specialty Products that will allow you to flag for Volume Retouching within the software. VOLRET – Volume Yearbook/Underclass Retouching: This product is selected to flag for retouching at our lab. STDRET is more geared towards the lower volume retouch images that may require more than the VOLRET covers. Please Contact the lab for qualifications and pricing for the two new services.
   15. Removed Designer Eyeglass Strap – This product is no longer available.
   16. The procedure for clearing all products ordered has been change to leave cropping information attached to the image and only remove the ordered product.
   17. PhotoMerge Data Manipulation – You now have the ability to right click on an image and modify the information for the selected subject. If the subject has more than one image, record information will be updated for all images associated with the record concurrently. Image information can also be stored here as well, without the order originating from PhotoMerge.
   18. The Ability to copy and paste crops to a group of images in order to speed up your workflow.
   19. Template wizard now has drop down boxes that contains data from your Photomerge data in order to assist in populating data.

   Technical Repairs
   1. Fixed Basketball Memory Mate (MEM004V). The memory mate had the incorrect design thumbnail displayed when you would right click the file in the Define Packages Screen.
   2. In some instances when ordering a memory mate the team image would not be included in the uploaded order. This has been corrected.
   3. When submitting your order via “Upload Current Order” the program would hang when finished uploading. The program now correctly disconnects from the ftp server when your upload completes.

2. What is PicturePackages.com?

   It’s a free program for professional photographers designed to make the ordering of packages from digital camera files quick, easy and inexpensive. The program is a creation of Capitol Filmworks Inc. a national, family owned professional lab started in 1973.

3. What type of work is PicturePackages.com designed for?

   Proms, sports shoots, underclass pictures, dance studios and any other events that are generally shot under similar lighting and exposure conditions. Weddings and Seniors are not suitable subjects for this program because they require additional color and density corrections and retouch services outside the scope of this service.

4. Can I order alacarte items with units?

   Alacarte items are available at standard pricing.

5. What do I need to know to use PicturePackages.com?

   Well first of all you need have basic computer skills and be familiar with the Windows operating system. You need to understand files, directories, and how to download your images from your digital camera. The program itself is designed to be, as the logo states, “As Easy as ABC”. The best way to learn the program is to load it and follow the step-by-step prompts.

6. Can I put overlays or logos on my orders?

   You can definitely put logos and overlays in PicturePackages.com. We have a detailed help file and a template you can download to help you setup your initial logo in the resources section under Template Files.

7. What Windows versions are supported?

   Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional are supported. Windows ME and Windows 98 is NOT supported.

8. Why do I have to register my software if it’s free?

   We need you to register so we can assign you a unique customer code and password. This information is used to allow you to log onto our FTP site and to handle your orders internally if you submit the order by CD.

9. Is there a minimum order charge?

   Yes, $25.

10. How can I name my files?

    You can name your files using any combination of alphanumeric characters as long as you do not use any illegal windows characters in the file name. (~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) -} { [ ]+ = / \ |)

    It is usually best to keep names short. The default order screen will display 12 characters plus the 3-character extension under the images. If the above characters are used in your file names the illegal characters will be removed from your file names. Longer names will appear, when the image is selected, under the menu bar regardless of length, but this is a bit of a pain. Setting your camera to continuous number files is smart because you will avoid the problem of two files ever having the same name. Each file must obviously have a unique name or number.

11. Can I order individual pictures?

    Yes and no. PicturePackages.com is designed for ordering packages. A package can consist of a single unit (i.e. 1- 8x10), a half unit (i.e. 2 4x5’s) or a combination of any number of half and whole units. A whole unit is a single 8x10 or 7x10 sheet regardless of the number of pictures on the sheet. Likewise a half unit is ½ of a whole unit regardless of the number of pictures on a sheet. 2 5x7’s is a whole unit while a single 5x7 is a half unit. You cannot order a single 4x5 because a full unit of 4x5 would be 4 and a half unit would be 2 4x5’s. All products in the program, which are available for selection, are large, whole, half units or specialty products.

12. Do I need to color correct my images?

    That is your choice. With our standard $1.10 unit we color correct your images. However, if you would like to color correct your own orders unit prices are reduced to $.90. The most important thing you must do is send us a file that has been exposed correctly. All your exposures within an order need to be relatively consistent in color and density. Our staff has great experience in fine-tuning customer files to make a high quality print.

13. What if my exposures are a mess, will you still print my order?

    Our goal is to help you provide us with acceptable images, which we can turn into a quality product. If we have a problem with your order we will do our best to contact you via email and ask for print regardless permission. Part of our service is to tweak your images but we cannot custom correct files that are out of reasonable tolerances.

14. What color profile should I apply to my files?

    We need an SRGB file which can be produced my most of the current models of digital cameras.

15. How big a file do we need?

    Our experience tells us for 8x10 units a file of approximately 5 Mb when open is fine. If you compress a 5 Mb file to a level 10 .jpg file of approximately 500kb your fine. Anything bigger is overkill. Bigger files don’t translate into better images after the printer output resolution of 300DPI is exceeded.

16. Can I save my package definitions so I won’t have to redefine them for the next job?

    You bet. First define your packages. On the define packages screen under the Package Definitions Functions window click on the “Save” button and give them a name. The next time you need these definitions go to this section and click on the “Recall” button then click on the name you saved your definitions under and you have recalled your package definitions.

17. How is payment handled?

    PicturePackages.com is a credit card only service.

18. Can I send my orders in on CD?

    You can send them to:
    PicturePackages.com
    909 Forest Ave.
    Montgomery AL 36106

19. Is there a Mac version of PicturePackages.com?

    PicturePackages.com is written for PC. However, we have several photographers running on PC emulation and dual boot systems.

20. Can I cancel an order after it has been sent via FTP?

    You can if you communicate with us before we have begun processing the order. In most cases orders are placed in the Queue in a very short time frame so it’s important you make sure that your order is correct before sending it.

21. How many images can I place in one order?

    Our suggestion is that you break up large events into manageable divisions of say no more than 200 images. You can divide them by class, or group or team or whatever makes logical sense and submit them as separate orders.

22. Are my files renamed when they are imported?

    No.

23. Can you die cut my Wallet units?

    Yes. Simply select “8-Die Cut Wallets” from the product list instead of “8-Wallets” You cannot order ½ wallet units for die cutting.

24. Do you have templates available?

    Yes you'll find a vast assortment of templates based on different themes such as: Baseball, Karate, Dance, Volleyball.

25. Can you crop in PicturePackages.com?

    Yes.

26. Are window envelopes available?

    Yes

27. What type of files can be imported into PicturePackages.com?

    You can import 8 bits per pixel .tif or .jpg files. LWZ compression is not supported. When saving files using Photoshop 6.0 or greater and you wish to save your files as .jpg images please choose a level 9 jpg standard baseline ( Not Progressive).