Status of Visualization Systems

Paul N

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
Joined
Jun 10, 2005
Posts
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CT, not far from the LI Sound
I would love to know (I am sure many other framers too) the status of Integrated Framer as well as Picture it First.

Would it be possible for LifeSaver as well as Wizard staff to update us on their products??

Last thing I read / heard (3-4 months ago) was that neither could handle Closed Corner frames. Has this been resolved?

How about multiple openings? Any other new practical features??

Anything else either company would like to tell us??

Other companies with similar products are also welcome to provide info if they have something similar (finished, working, shipping products please, no future plans).

Thanks in advance.
 
I think you'll find that most are probably releasing their new features at the upcoming Atlanta trade show. It's usually kept under wraps until the opening of the show.

The various companies are constantly playing "leap frog", with new features and old features, and we (their customers) benefit.

Mike
 
I'm with Paul,

I would like to know except I would like to know what the business owners who have it in their stores have to say about it after using it for a while.

Is is worth the dollars or do you use it that often?

Jennifer
 
Originally posted by Mike Labbe @ GTP:
I think you'll find that most are probably releasing their new features at the upcoming Atlanta trade show. It's usually kept under wraps until the opening of the show.

The various companies are constantly playing "leap frog", with new features and old features, and we (their customers) benefit.

Mike
I guess then many of us will not buy till the show!

Assuming of course that EVERY Grumbler goes to the show.
 
Paul,

software development cycles are usually measured in MANY months.

Then, a good company goes through a number of QA cycles where a group of people find problems and the developers keep creating more. This goes on for a few months.

Then, eventually they get tired of it. The management decides they want some money, so they tell everybody what's coming. Hopefully not making up anything that hasn't actually been discussed, although that's not a guarantee.

Then, a month or so later, you actually get a demonstration at a trade show. Then, they fix a few more things and let you use it.

It's WAY TOO early to hear of new things yet!

P.S. The above may sound humorous, but it is essentially correct!
 
When is "the show" I have heard many people talk about it being in Atlanta.. but no dates or times have been mentioned... I have been framing for 7 years... but have only owned my own business since October 2005... so I am trying to learn all about the fun stuff...
 
While I would love to tell you what's coming with Integrated Framer (and there's some pretty cool stuff coming, I assure you), Mike is totally correct.. most software companies keep things under wraps until a show or some kind of event where they can make a big splash about it, and keep their competitors in the dark as long as possible. In our case, it's usually the Atlanta or Vegas shows.

Cliff's version is a bit cynical but mostly true.. I like to think we developers actually solve problems once in a while instead of creating more..
and we usually go into a beta test cycle (where we send out pre-release test software to a small group to get feedback and bug reports) a month or two before the release to iron out the kinks.

And Kelli, check out: Decor Expo .. the date of this years show is Sep 08, 2006 - Sep 10, 2006 at the Georgia World Congress Center..
 
Steve,

I was a software devloper in my previous life. I was VP of Engineering in my two previous companies.

Cynical?

Although (usually) the higher priority problems (bugs) are replaced with lower priority ones, the numbers usually multiply before they shrink. (now, you could take the position that the smaller ones were masked by the bigger ones and were "uncovered" because the bigger ones get fixed ... hmmm, maybe ;) )

As for feature annoucements ... there was a reason (as engineering manager) I spent a LOT of time in the field with my marketign reps.

Cynical? well, I did leave to start a frame shop. ;)
 
thumbsup.gif
we need to have a club for developers and ex-developers in the picture framing industry.. there's so few of us..


Where did you work? Any software we might have used or heard of?
 
Cliff and Steve:

I know exactly what you're talking about.

In my previous life and on a planet far away I used to develop and maintain software systems.

And then I became IT Manager and let other poor slobs do that for me... ;)

Some work I did? McGraw-Hill has a system that tracks their books all over the US. Not sure if they still use it. Also, a famous luxury cruise company, Cunard, had tons of stuff that I programmed; brings back good memories (writing code in the Caribbean...).
 
Originally posted by Paul N:
I would love to know (I am sure many other framers too) the status of Integrated Framer as well as Picture it First.

How about multiple openings? Any other new practical features??

Paul the version of IF that I bought at the Vegas show can do Mutiple openings, it also can show any mat design that Wizard can cut. Those were the two big reasons that I choose IF ove PIF.
 
Originally posted by J Phipps TN:
I'm with Paul,

I would like to know except I would like to know what the business owners who have it in their stores have to say about it after using it for a while.

Is is worth the dollars or do you use it that often?

Jennifer
Jennifer, I would say it is definetly worth the money. Customers are impressed and it sets you apart. Easy to upgrade sales. Had a young man custom framing his first project a couple of days ago. When he was comparing prices only he was leaning toward (as they all do) a 2" mat, when he saw them side by side on the monitor, he said he could tell why I was recommending the 3" mat, and that is what he bought. Upselling from double to triple mat much easier. They can see all the fancy corner cuts you can do and V-grooves.

Do we use it all the time? No, not on the easy jobs but 99% of the time.
 
You ask a software engineer where they worked and expect short answer!!

Overview ----

started at Data General - built office systems including word preocessors and email.
Prme Computer -- User Interface Reasearch and Human Factors Engineer
Zymacom -- startup built voice and text message systems for integration with PBXs
Eastman Kodak (10 yrs) -- Pre-press systems, layout, fonts, image processing, more -- then, director of Color Management Development
Imagraph - VP - Image capture baords and associated software primarily sold to medical industry
Data Translation - Vp - Data Acquisition, Image Capture, Automated Inspection Systems.

Obviously a whole bunch of stuff left out of that summary, but while at Kodak some of the major players were my customers Adobe, Aldus, Sun, Microsoft ... spent a fair amount of time in the Seattle area


The software from my department at Kodak (Kodak Precision Color Management System) found it's way into Photoshop, PageMaker, Windows 95, Sun OS, and quite a few other places.

It's a small world, I'm sure we bumped into the same people. It's hard not to.
 
WIZSTEVE,

(warning frankenthread coming...)

I think a while back you posted about putting silicone at the notch in your chopper to help avoid messy chops.

Well I tried it and it works great, if that was you, thanks! (If it wasn't you then it was someone else with wizard)

I also was a programmer for a little while with Accenture. Just was not for me!


Carry on.
 
Hello
I was wondering how critical it was to have 2 monitiors, is it a pain to turn the monitor around?

I was thinking about purchasing the software, I also have to buy a computer (current one to old). I would be running Frameready and also IF on one. I was hoping to just start with the basics, without buying another monitor.
Thanks for any ideas/thoughts!!
 
Hey jp, yeah, just turning around the monitor is not a big deal if you're using an LCD.. I wouldn't suggest it though if your monitor is a big CRT (even 17" models are about 50 lbs), but then again I wouldn't suggest a CRT period as they take up way too much room.

You can always upgrade your monitors later..

Jb, yeah that was me..
I have to give credit to my old boss Jack Hessler at TGFU-Marietta.. silicone on the chopper was standard operating procedure.
 
OK some of you good folk here have been keeping my secret, but since Paul has asked, perhaps its time to share it with everybody.

As a full time framer and part time dabbler in computers, I have been working for a couple of years developing Pre-view. I would love for some of you guys to take it for a test run, and let me know what you think. Just click on the link to go to the site and download.

www.pre-view.biz

You can configure the program to the brand of English that you prefer, however the help file is in UK English, but I'm sure most people will understand.

Some of the features already in place: -
</font>
  • Full Camera control</font>
  • Instant visualisation of favourite framing styles</font>
  • Stores captured profiles and mats</font>
  • Straightens skewed needlework</font>
  • Not fully multi-opening, but can visualise top and bottom caption windows</font>
  • V-grooves</font>
  • Color manipulation brightness/contrast/gamma etc</font>
  • Rotate image</font>
  • Works with single or dual monitor without the need for third party software.</font>
  • Outputs data which could easily read by POS, for instant pricing.</font>
  • Etc.</font>
 
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