Change is coming!

Posted on July 25, 2008
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Change is indeed coming August 1. It won’t look like much at first, but on August 1, we will be the new owners of First Edition Custom Printing at 641 Liberty Street.

George and Kaye Jones have grown First Edition over the last four years into a great business. They’ve decided to retire “again” and approached us about buying the company. We look forward to continuing to provide First Edition customers with the same high-quality service and personal attention to which they are accustomed.

We are excited about adding the printing business. We will be moving the studio down to 641 Liberty Street after we carve out a camera room. We plan to move production over next week with the studio equipment to follow.

We’ve got a number of press-printed items at the studio, and this move will open up lots of options for your portraits. This move also brings us back to our roots. It was while working as a technical illustrator in the graphics department of a manufacturing company that I began my love of photography, design and publishing.

Lori and I both have printing and publishing backgrounds, and most people don’t know that we’ve produced several print jobs over the past few years. Prior to opening Graphicsmith Studios, we produced football programs, chamber directories and school handbooks with Montee Media in Twin City.

We’ll post more about the move and how things are going as soon as we can.

It was supposed to be just a coat of paint….

Posted on May 31, 2008
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It was supposed to be just a coat of paint to spruce up the place. We were planning to replace some furniture items and do a little rearranging.

We’ve got additional plans for the camera room, but the lobby and sales area was supposed to be a snap. Then I started looking behind wall panels and removing lattice and before we knew it, we were pulling all the paneling off the wall and reattaching it before we could paint.

Thursday we were to paint; Friday we were to finish up. We opened the first can of paint about 4 p.m. on Friday. Finally settled on a second color late Friday night.

This has turned into a much larger project than it should have been. Why? All because I couldn’t leave well enough alone.

I shouldn’t be surprised. This happens at the office quite often. We get a good image, and then we want to make it better. Whether it is removing a blemish or a bit more skin softening, the result is taking something good and making it better. Sometimes it takes a bit more time than planned, but the results are worth it.

We’ll be getting the front office in shape during the first part of the week. Production work continues during the sprucing up and the doors are open.

New Home Page, Online Proofing System

Posted on May 22, 2008
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I’m excited to show off new changes to the website. We’ve got a new online proofing and ordering system. I’m hoping it will allow us to put everything from portraits to weddings to special promotional events in one easy place.

We’ve still got a few kinks to iron out, but the new link on the new home page will get you there. If you go to the home page at www.graphicsmithstudios.com and do not see a new black home page, refresh your browser to see the new animation. We’ll be adding more content to the site soon, but at least we’ve replaced the home page and have the new online proofing system up and running.

Events on the proofing system will be available for a limited time. When you access a session, you will be notified when it will expire.

Email Addresses
We are requiring a valid email address to access the proofing system. We’ve been having a problem with comment spam in the blog, so we want to limit our problems by requiring a valid email.

Once on the proofing system, you can see the images in color, black and white and sepia. You will be able to place your order and we have several available options for making payment. We plan to eventually tie the site directly to our lab so that when you order, the files are sent from the site to the lab. The prints will then be sent to you. Right now, the order comes to us and we handle all the fulfillment issues.

Feedback, Feedback, Feedback
Let us know what you think about the new proofing system, the new animated banners or any other aspect of the website. We’d love to open the discussion on any additional tweaks to the system.

Photo Gallery Changes

Posted on March 23, 2008
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We’re working on changes to the photo gallery and I hope we can get the changes made with a minimal amount of fuss. We’re making changes to the shopping cart and tying the uploaded images to one of our labs. What does all of this mean? It means that albums and images currently online can not be ordered until they’ve been uploaded again. I’ve turned off the cart for stuff that’s already online. New stuff being uploaded will be available for order through the site.

When we are done, we will have a number of items available online, including T-shirts and Sweatshirts, playing cards, ornaments, mouse pads, mugs, aprons, puzzles and prints. We will be rolling the same changes into our other site at The Graphicsmith.

We’re making these changes to provide better customer service and a quicker turnaround on prints and merchandise ordered through the website.

We will not restore ordering capabilities to all albums currently on the site. All new albums will be available for order. Fairly recent albums will be reposted to enable ordering. Older items may remain on the site but you will not be able to order from them. If you need something from one of those albums, just call and we’ll make it happen.

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