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How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! - part 5 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/02/2014

Preparation for Print

Again, speed is of the essence. 'Time is money'!!! Reprocessing the chosen Raw files to 16 bit TIFFs and fully retouching and correcting them in Photoshop, using a variety of actions, should take no more than 5-10 minutes per image, depending on its complexity.

Printing and Finishing the Client's Order

Completed TIFFs are then reduced to 8-bit JPGs for printing before sharpening. Yes, they do look better than images just produced from JPEG originals, but that is for another discussion! We have deliberately brought everything in-house to contain costs. So we print, seal, mount, and frame all portraits up to a 24" short side, which covers most of what we do. The only stuff that goes out are specialist acrylics and the very large canvases or prints. As a result, we have a 9% cost of materials overall, quite apart from an enhanced level of quality control.

A Note Re Back-ups

Clearly, you need multiple back-ups of your images on different drives to protect against corruption or loss. We have procedures in place that guarantee a minimum of two, and usually three or four, copies of any key images. These are held at different locations in the building.

Summary

So, you are producing your images to sell, not for fun. This means that you:

• Set your studio to be manipulated quickly and with minimal fuss so you can concentrate on the clients
• Know before you go in to the shoot pretty much what you are going to take
• Think sales all the time and treat (that does not mean manipulate!) your clients accordingly
• Set up systems to process your images as quickly as possible, minutes count!
• Back-up everything!!
   

The content of these articles is drawn from My Portrait Business, probably the most complete programme available to enable photographers to start or take their portrait businesses to the next level - all based on over 20 years' experience, including some dire mistakes. Only what works is included!

Everything, and much more than discussed here - it's a great deal, including templates of all the material needed, from marketing to price lists, which you can swipe and deploy in your own business.

There is even a private online discussion forum where challenges can be discussed and solved rapidly.

If you would like to know more then check it out at www.tlbs-mpb.com, leave you name and email, then over the next few days, I'll then send you Four Completely Free Strategic Summaries along with an option to take a detailed look at My Portrait Business.

Please Note:
There is more than one page for this Article.
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• By Jonathan Coleman
  
  How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! page 1
  
• How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! page 2
  
• How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! page 3
  
• How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! page 4
  
• How to Set Up and Run a Busy Portrait Studio From Someone Who Already Has! page 5
  

1st Published 01/02/2014
last update 09/12/2022 14:55:04

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