What are Digital Downloads - from Andrew Miller Photography
What are Digital Downloads - These are the more modern and up to date version of 'disc' or 'memory stick' wedding collections.
Instead of sending out your wedding photographs on a CD / DVD or USB memory stick Digital Downloads are stored online in a secure password protected website.
You can access your wedding photographs (and pre-wedding photographs if your wedding collection includes a pre-wedding session) from this one site. You just need the link (URL) and the password to login. You will have to give your contact details when you do login - this is a security measure so that I know who is accessing your wedding photographs and can ensure only authorised people get access.
From this site you can send me your favourite photographs for your wedding album and also download one, several or all of your wedding photographs. You can also take advantage of the low cost printing that if on offer as well.
Why do I use Digital Downloads?
They are more secure and a safer long term way of keeping your wedding photographs safe. You can loose a CD / DVD / USB easily enough. It can become corrupted, it can go out of date. Online storage is here to stay. Once those wedding photographs are online you can access them anywhere in the world. No need to take a CD / DVD / USB stick with you. All you need is internet access.
The online photographs are full size - meaning that each photograph may be around 10Mb in size and that a typical wedding may have around 16Gb of wedding photographs. That's a lot of memory to keep on a hard drive on a computer or laptop at home. And those hard drives can break down and become corrupted or even worse you can get a virus that deletes everything. Online storage does away with all of that. Backed-up and secure.
The cost for this is built into your wedding collection and spread over the number of weddings etc I do it's pretty minimal; only about £3 a year.
I will send you your link and password when your wedding photographs are uploaded and ready. Along with that I will also send you a link to a short video that shows you how to download the photographs if that's what you want to do; and another one that shows you how to choose your favourites and send them over to me.
Sending me your favourites
Using the online tool means YOU choose the photographs and I get them automatically. It's quicker and easier and means that no mistakes; and hence time is wasted; when designing your wedding album.
Can I have a CD / DVD / USB if I really want one?
Yes you can. For the next 6 months Up to June 2016) I won't charge any extra if you want your wedding photographs like this. From July 2016 I will ask you for a contribution to pay for the postal costs (I will send the USB stick via recorded delivery) and to cover the cost of the USB stick itself.
I will NOT send USB sticks (or CD's / DVD's for that matter) via the Royal Mail without sending them recorded delivery.
IMPORTANT
You will also not be able to access the online storage area so if you loose the USB stick you will have to ask for another one...
How much will a replacement USB cost?
A replacement USB will only be around £5. However you will also have to pay for the time it will take for me to get your wedding photographs from an archive hard drive - I don't keep them on one computer nor in one place. That's the biggest extra cost really. There is also further postage to pay on top of that plus the time taken to go to to the postage etc.
The total cost for a replacement USB stick will be around £150.
Yes - I can see your jaws dropping at that. As I mentioned earlier - it's the time it takes for me to get the photographs, copy them over to a USB and post them that adds to the cost.
That's why I'm using Digital Downloads. It's cheaper for you and cheaper for me. And cheaper for me means I don't have to think about increasing my pricing when USB's increase in price or the Royal Mail increase their prices.
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