Visual SKUs - Solutions for Product Images

FAQs

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Visual SKUs Frequently Asked Questions

1. What types of businesses are Visual SKUs imaging solutions designed for?
2. What software does Visual SKUs use?
3. How does the Visual SKUs photography studio software work?
4. How does the Image Management System work?
5. What kind of photography studios does Visual SKUs use?
6. Which kind of Visual SKUs photography studio is most suitable for my project?
7. What specialized expertise do Visual SKUs’ photographers have?
8. How does the Visual SKUs image quality assurance process work?
9. How does the customer image review process work?
10. When are approved images delivered?

What types of businesses are Visual SKUs imaging solutions designed for?

Visual SKUs imaging solutions are designed specifically for businesses that require high-volume, high-quality product images for use in electronic catalogs and with ecommerce systems and websites. Visual SKUs solutions are designed to accommodate the varied imaging needs of most product-centric businesses.

For instance, Visual SKUs solutions meet the needs of companies with varying levels of product imaging expertise. There are solutions for companies that want to leverage, existing in-house imaging resources, as well as for those that need a complete end-to-end product imaging solution.

What software does Visual SKUs use?

Visual SKUS has developed proprietary software to automate and streamline many of the workflows associated with high-volume product imaging, including:

• Image capture, management and synchronization
  Visual SKUs imaging studios run software designed to optimize the efficiency of key product photography and cataloging processes
• Project and image management
  The Web-based Image Management System which makes it easy to manage all aspects of a product imaging project, including quality assurance

How does the Visual SKUs photography studio software work?

All of Visual SKUs’ photography studios come equipped with computers running proprietary image capture, management and synchronization software. This software is specifically designed to efficiently manage all aspects of a product photographer’s workflow, including:

• Product information management
  Prior to shooting a product, the photographer can scan that product’s barcode to access information on the product’s category, how many images are required, which views are required and whether any images have already been captured.
• Product image cataloging
  When the photographer captures images of a product, Visual SKUs’ software copies these images from the camera, transfers them to the computer and permanently associates the images with the product information.
• Image upload
  At any point during a project, the photographer can upload newly captured images to the Visual SKUs Image Management System. As soon as these images have been uploaded, they become available for image processing and quality review.
• Project update
  Photographers can also update projects to ensure they are operating with the latest product information. When a project is updated, the software synchronizes with all relevant product, project and image data in the Image Management System.
• Project reporting
  Reports can be generated detailing the number of images taken and remaining to be taken, overall and for each product category. Reports can also be created detailing which images have been uploaded to the Image Management System.

How does the Image Management System work?

The Image Management System is a 100% Web-based software application that acts as the control center for all Visual SKUs product-imaging projects. The Image Management System facilitates efficient and effective management of all the key aspects of any product imaging project, including:

• Product lists
• Product categories
• Image views
• Users assigned to the project
• Image processing
• Image quality assurance (QA)
• Image data editing
• Project reporting

What kind of photography studios does Visual SKUs use?

Visual SKUs has two distinct types of photography studios – on-site studios and Visual SKUs Imaging Centers.

• On-site photography studios
  Visual SKUs’ self-contained, portable product-imaging studios can be shipped to and assembled wherever products are located. They come equipped with everything needed for high-volume, high quality product imaging, including:

  • Product imaging table
  • Lights, camera and camera stand
  • Laptop computer with photography management software
  • Barcode scanner

• Visual SKUs Imaging Centers
  Visual SKUs also has several permanent imaging studios, designed to efficiently receive, photograph and return clients’ products. These centers are fully equipped photography studios, complete with Visual SKUs proprietary imaging software.

Which kind of Visual SKUs photography studio is most suitable for my project?

When a high volume of product images is required (over 2,000), it is most efficient to have an on-site studio shipped to wherever the products are located – rather than shipping all the products to a Visual SKUs Imaging Center. When a smaller volume of images is required, it is generally more efficient to have the products shipped to an Imaging Center.

What specialized expertise do Visual SKUs’ photographers have?

All visual SKUs photographers have extensive experience in high-volume, high-quality product imaging. They are experts in lighting products to minimize shadows and reflections while emphasizing important product features. They can also provide expert advice on the image views that will best represent any given product.

How does the Visual SKUs image quality assurance process work?

Visual SKUs’ process for quality assurance (QA) takes place entirely through the Web-based Image Management System. Once images have been captured and uploaded to the Image Management System, they are processed according to project and industry specifications by experienced product imaging technicians.

Once these images have been processed, Visual SKUs’ trained QA personnel review each image for adherence to project and industry specifications. If the images meet all the relevant requirements they are made available for customer review via the Image Management System.

How does the customer image review process work?

After passing through Visual SKUs’ quality assurance process, images are made available to a product manager at the client company. The product manager reviews each image via the Image Management System. Images that are approved are formatted and readied for delivery. Rejected images are either reprocessed or re-photographed.

When are approved images delivered?

Images that pass customer review will be delivered according to a schedule that has been defined at the start of the imaging project. For a large project, it is common to schedule a series of deliveries throughout the project. On smaller projects there may be just one image delivery, at the end of the project.