Posted by Jamie Botdorf on December 16, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Well, this was my first year focused on trying to turn the corner from "hobby" to "business"...looking back, I've learned a lot - specifically that I need more help getting the business info organized.
Is there a good (but not too expensive) software package out there geared toward managing a photo biz? I'm looking for something to help track orders, generate receipts, keep a customer database, proivde reports on what images sold, etc. I can probably do some of this in an Access db, but I'm not that great at programming this stuff. Some sort of a VB app written over an out-of-the-box database is kind of what I'm looking for.
Thanks for your suggestions!
Posted by Jamie Botdorf on December 16, 2008 at 2:27 PM
The only two packages I've come across so far are fotoBiz (which I think is the most popular option...and it is on-sale right now...) and InView by Hindsight.
Does anyone have experience with either of these and can provide some pros/cons?
Posted by Phillip Noll on December 16, 2008 at 3:35 PM
You could try Agave:
http://www.prenticephoto.com/agaveweb.htm
I bought this a while back but never used it. Unless you plan to get into photography full time and submit hundreds of images to hundreds of clients and need to keep track of the whole thing, I doubt very much that you will need any photo business software of any kind. If you only submit images to a handful of places a year, then just set up a filing system or an access database and save yourself some money.
We're using Quickbooks (Pro, I think) for the general accounting side of the business. It and its predecessors have worked well for us over the last 20 years, and our accountant loves the results. If we were doing more stock and I was tracking more submissions I'd be updating my InView in a heartbeat.
I've been using fotoBiz. Has everything you want plus forms for invoicing, providing a stock list, delivery memo, and more. Also has built in pricing help called fotoQuote. Keeps track of everything, can generate lists (sales, clients, photo shoots, equipment, etc.) Only downside for me is that the UI is not very efficient. Once used to it, it's okay. It is not an accounting program; specifically for cataloging images and managing a photography business.
I think the software you will need will depend upon what type of photography business you decide to develop. I have a gallery and do art shows. For my needs I use QuickBooks like Hank. It does a good job of handling sales and expenses as well as tracking physical inventory. What it doesn't do is track individual image sales and so I had a photographer friend develop a separate database to track the sale of individual images in their various formats and sizes. These two pieces of software in combination work fairly well. If you are planning on selling stock and doing submissions to publications then a program like PhotoBiz might be well worth trying.
Discussion
5 repliesIs there a good (but not too expensive) software package out there geared toward managing a photo biz? I'm looking for something to help track orders, generate receipts, keep a customer database, proivde reports on what images sold, etc. I can probably do some of this in an Access db, but I'm not that great at programming this stuff. Some sort of a VB app written over an out-of-the-box database is kind of what I'm looking for.
Thanks for your suggestions!
Does anyone have experience with either of these and can provide some pros/cons?
http://www.prenticephoto.com/agaveweb.htm
I bought this a while back but never used it. Unless you plan to get into photography full time and submit hundreds of images to hundreds of clients and need to keep track of the whole thing, I doubt very much that you will need any photo business software of any kind. If you only submit images to a handful of places a year, then just set up a filing system or an access database and save yourself some money.