Color Inc

US · colorincprolab.com

2019 Year in Review ✨

All the Ups👆 and Downs 👇of 2019

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January 16, 2020 12:03pm EST

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COLOR INC PRO LAB

2019 Year in Review

Dad joke at bottom of newsletter

Hi Everyone,

Wow, 2019 was a fun, exciting, challenging and overall pretty dang good year. The fun as always is working with great people around the country and beyond the borders in a few instances, to create awesome print products with awesome images. The exciting part is hearing how much your clients and families loved those images you worked so hard to produce. The challenging part was when something would throw a wrench in the gears. The pretty dang good year part was getting it fixed so we could keep printing your awesome images. Let's take a look back at the year that was!

There is no denying it, this past summer our uploader for Unitprints decided it was taking a few days off without telling us. Never one to rest on our laurels (which sounds uncomfortable by the way), we immediately started researching and implementing a better uploader. The fun part was the issue was intermittent and seemed to only affect a core group of people at any one time. Like some home repair issues, what appears to be a small item actually goes deeper so follow us down the rabbit hole of getting this resolved.

Step one; since it was the file uploader that seemed to be timing out, we updated, improved and added multiple ways to upload files. This did help some but there was still the same issue occurring.

Step two; UnitPrints has continued to grow in popularity amongst the prosumer along with professional photographers sharing pictures of the kids with the grandparents as well as UnitPrints Pro becoming a popular visual dropbox and print sales site for Professional photographers to help generate additional income. So now we are thinking ‘we need more power Scotty!’ (yes, got in a Star Trek reference!). Bam, quadruple power! We went from two servers to eight! Again this helped the issue but did not fully resolve it.

Step three; find the big brains with the detailed eye. Now was the time for a treasure hunt, so we brought on a new developer that could dive deep into the code and track down the errant bug that we have been playing whack-a-mole with. There seemed to be a timer that kept timing out, especially when uploading large files. After some digging into the code our developer found that little bit of code which was created by Amazon Apache that hosts our servers. Since this was not our code, we could not change it but here is where the big developer brains come into play. He wrote into our code an override line that would tell the server to stop timing out when it wasn’t supposed to. Whala!, issue has been resolved. Sometimes you just need to find the one with the brains!

So the bonus is we now have multiple methods to upload, we now have a much larger server with room to grow with you and we found a great developer that will help keep us up to date and keep improvements coming.

Speaking of improvements for Unit Prints; here are a couple of things coming soon.

Updated Secure Mobile checkout for iPhone, iPad and Android devices with PayPal mobile. Now it is even easier to complete your print purchases on your mobile device securely. Live now!
For UP Pro clients, there will be new and improved methods for sharing galleries via Social Media by updating Facebook API and we are adding an Instagram share button. Because if you take a picture of a tree falling in the forest and no one sees it, did it really happen? (Wow, deep man!) These new social share updates will help drive traffic to your UP Pro site thereby making it more profitable for you (can you say healthy, comfortable wallet with good taste)

NEW PRODUCTS INTRODUCED

So many new products and options so you can find just the right look for your space. Some people have a modern design, some have classic look and somebody out there just wants something a little funky and eclectic (me!). We are always looking for products to offer that will fit your needs. With that in mind we introduced new products to our lineup this year for just that purpose.

For the modern aesthetic we introduced our new Matte Metal prints and smaller options for Acrylic prints in 5x7 and 8x10 sizes. These products look great in a modern design or can add that little eclectic pop to mid-century modern or post-apocalyptic (okay, not that extreme) showcase.

For a new look on the traditional front, we added the option for black tyvek as a backer on the Gallery Wrap Canvas. This gives your classy canvas wraps a little more class because everything looks good in black, heck even I look a lot better in black and don’t deny Johnny Cash wasn’t an iconic figure in black.

Speaking of wraps, have you checked out our Infinity wraps? Holy cow, the first thing I thought was this is awesome! My wife took pictures of our vegetable garden last summer that will be perfect with these mounts and will look great in the kitchen. Printed on our Fuji Pro Luster paper and then wrapped around a wood frame, these look awesome. They are versatile as well and can go with almost any home design. Caves may be the exception to this but how many bears do you know stop to smell the prints?

Mounting options? We got ‘em! For our acrylic prints and metal prints you can now choose a black standout frame with wire hardware. The standout frame is mounted recessed behind the print to make it look like it is floating off the wall. Ooooh, magic!

For School and Sports, there were so many things. Recyclable paper envelopes, Sports theme templates for magnets and buttons, Marketing card inserts for package prints, Press Printed Sports Trading Cards, Select sizes of Gallery Wrap Canvas, Metal prints and acrylic blocks as well as the always awesome Hexagon Mendoza Wood mounted prints. Whew!, so much new stuff to offer.

Congratulations on reading through our newsletter, use promo code NEWSLETTER for 20% off your next order

Speaking of School and Sports, how about our partner Got Photo. Even with a couple of bumps in the road like the wallets cropping funny it was a successful year with Got Photo. We are looking forward to continuing to partner with Got Photo in 2020 and beyond.

NEW SHIPPING OPTION

This year we hooked up with FedEx (not in that way, sheesh) to see if we could improve your shipping options. We know that despite their rain/sleet/snow motto there are still some places the post office has trouble getting to efficiently. So for you folks we introduced the FedEx option. So now, when it absolutely, positively has to be there, well then select FedEx on checkout for your shipping option.

PRINT FULFILLMENT

Color Inc is now offering you the option to ship directly to your client with no minimum order amount via our Print Fulfillment catalog in ROES! Through this catalog you can select limited sizes to print on Fuji Crystal Archive Professional Paper to send alone or mounted to styrene. Drop ship the order to your client without invoice for $5.00 and NO MINIMUM ORDER amount is required! You can also dress up the order with boutique packaging before you complete and send your order!

PRESS PRINT ALBUMS AND CALENDARS

Double sided press prints in an album, sure, put em in a spiral bound book for a quick flip or in our black or taupe linen books for something a little classier. Either way it really steps up that album options for your clients and makes for nice family gifts to share with each other on those special occasions. Speaking of which, what better way to track those special occasions than with our Press Print Calendars. Spiral bound and printed on our Tru Matte paper, you can customize them with your photos and see your smiling family or even those beautiful landscapes with a new picture every month!

STATUS REWARDS - TIME TO SIGN UP AND RENEW!

Yes, there are bonuses to being successful, but you got to sign up for them. It is the beginning of the year which means time to renew your Status Rewards. Don’t know what that is? Well hot-diggity dog (channeling Flanders there!) let me tell you. Status Rewards members get their own personal discount code for regular purchases, a discount on Unit Prints Pro and if you qualify for the Pro+ level, Unit Prints Pro annual fee and VIP Rush is free. Not yet a Status Rewards member or Already a Status Rewards member? Need to signup/renew to receive those bonuses.

LOVELY LITTLE CARDS

We are very excited with our new card and calendar site called Lovely Little Cards. Here you can add your photos to our templates and adding new elements such as background effects, holiday templates and even customize with your own art or you can use ours. Easy to use and web based so you can use it across multiple devices. Start your project on your phone and then finish up on your computer for the final touches or you can even share your project with other people in your family and everyone can contribute to the final awesome card or calendar!

Finally, I want to give a big, huge, giant and awesome shout out to you, our clients, our partners and our friends. Without you none of this would be possible and we will continue to strive to exceed your expectations and make sure you and your clients are getting the best print products out there. We are looking forward to working with you for the next year, decade and if you are young enough (not me) even the next century!

Love and hugs from your friends at Color Inc Pro Lab! Tim, Dee, Ashley, Michelle, Shelly, Robert, Brenda & Jenae!

P.s. keep an eye out for us during the upcoming convention season. Stop by our booth and say hi and give a hearty handshake and/or fist bump! We will be at the following trade shows so looking forward to seeing you there.

Imaging USA - January 18th to January 21st.

SYNC Portrait - February 21 to February 24th

RESET Conference - March 27th to March 30th

SYNC Sports - June 14th to June 17th

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, does this taste funny to you?

Got a question for us or a great dad joke? Contact us at 800-475-8340 or [email protected].

Color Inc

3280 Chicago Dr SW

Grandville, MI 49418

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