Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

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Pro Studio Software
Professional photographers might use software from most of the categories in this book,
even the quick-fix software, but there are also specialist applications that are businessoriented
as well as photo-oriented.
Business and aesthetic functions can be kept entirely separate, as they are in fashion photography.
Here the objective is to create a few great shots of publication quality, so the
software used for processing and enhancing them can be entirely different from another
program that keeps track of the billing.
For other photographers, particularly those engaged in wedding, sports, schools, and
events, the business and production elements go hand-in-hand. For example, a school’s
photographer needs to produce printed output in a range of different packages, any one
of which might be ordered by each of the hundreds of individuals who have their picture
taken on a given day. Image data, identity data, and order data all have to travel
together to the printer, while other information needs to be extracted for invoicing.
Bearing in mind that a large studio will have a team of photographers, most of them
out on location, it is easy to see that the logistical problems will begin to run wild unless
they can be tamed by the appropriate software.
Several developers have addressed the needs of busy studios, coming up with a variety
of solutions. There are some that are more suited to portrait studios, being databasedriven
with strong contacting features. Both PI/E from RLW Concepts and The
Photographic Organiser (TPO) from Productive IT are built on FileMaker Pro and do
a fine job of tracking costs, contacts, sales, and billing, with great reporting features.
Like the more marketing-oriented SuccessWare they could be described as “studio-management
software,” although TPO also has production capability.