MediaFocus Stock Photography: Lightbox Pro

Chapters

I.Introduction

Lightbox Pro is a new user service feature provided by MediaFocus.com and is Free to all Members. For designers and graphic professionals who often work on multiple projects, sorting out the image choices, keeping track of favored images and alternates, and communicating with clients and third party members can be a challenge without a way to organize your ideas. Lightbox Pro was designed to fit this need. With Lightbox Pro, MediaFocus has provided to all its Members a means to track image selections, arrange them in a custom order, assign a star ranking to each, flag images, and enter memos. An unlimited number of lightboxes may be created with each containing an unlimited number of images, CDs and external images (images from other sources than MediaFocus). In turn, multiple lightboxes may then be grouped into Projects. Lightboxes may be set as Private, Public or shared with clients and other third parties with a Password with view invitations sent directly from the MediaFocus site. Invited viewers may then in turn comment on images and set ranking or flags. Lightbox Pro is a complete image selection and communication tool.

II.Free Membership Accounts

A Membership Account is requried to use Lightbox Pro and is Free to create. Lightboxes are associated to your Membership Account which will allow you to access selections from any browser at any location. To create your Free Membership Account, please go to our Create Account page. Please be sure to provide all information required and provide a valid email. An email address may only be used to create one Membership Account. All information that you provide will be kept confidential and MediaFocus will never sell or otherwise share your data with any third parties. Please see our Privacy Policy for details.

To get started please log into your Membership Account, then click on "Lightbox Pro" in the horizontal navigation bar near the top of the screen.

III.Creating Projects

Creating projects allow you to organize various projects you may be working on for one particular client. For instance, you may be working with ABC Company, producing a website and a brochure. Click on "Create Project" and enter a project name and description.

Image 1: Dialog for creating a new Design Project

After setting up a project, you can create lightboxes associated with that project. It is not required to set up projects, you may also just create separate lightboxes, but it may help you organize things more clearly, if you are working with various clients, on multiple projects.

IV.Creating Lightboxes

For each Member Account that is created, a default lightbox is automactically created called, you guessed it, "Default". This is a system generated lightbox box that cannot be deleted, renamed, or shared. If no additional lightboxes are created, this will be the lightbox where all items will be placed whenever you choose to add an item to a lightbox.
To create additional lightboxes, click on the "Create Lightbox" icon just right of the Lightbox Selection dropdown. Provide all data requested for the new Lightbox and then click on "Create". If the new lightbox is created successfully, you will automactiaclly be returned to Lightbox view mode with the newly created Lightbox selected.
When creating lightboxes you have the option of selecting which type of lightbox you wish to create:
Image 2: Lightbox Types
- Private - Private lightboxes are viewable and editable only by the lightbox owner (i.e. Accout Member) and is not accessable by anyone else.
- Public - Public lightboxes are maintained by the lightbox owner but may also be viewed by anyone who visits the MediaFocus website. The lightbox owner may also email invitations to view the lightbox by using the "Email Lightbox" feature. Viewers of Public Lightboxes may also comment on unlocked images. Furthermore, MediaFocus may also choose to publish public lightboxes on the main page or other pages within. External Items (images from other sources than MediaFocus) are not viewable in Public Lightboxes. While the owner may choose to add Extrernal Image items into the lightboxes, no third party viewer will be able to view and access them.
- Password Viewable - Password viewable lightboxes are viewable and editable (unless certain items have been locked) by the owner (Account Member) and anyone that the Member invites to view the lightbox and provides the password to. Password viewable lightboxes can be emailed to a client, customer, or orther third party that needs to review the images, directly from within Lightbox Pro by clicking on "Email Lightbox".
Image 3: Create new Lightbox

V.Adding Images & CDs to a Lightbox

Adding Images To A Lightbox
Enter a search term into the search field and a page with thumbnail images of photographs matching the search term comes up. Click on the lightbox icon below the thumbnail image, to add the image to a lightbox.

Image 4: Lightbox Icon Image 5: Add Image to Lightbox

To view your lightbox contents, click on Lightbox Pro in the top navigation, then select the lightbox you wish to view.

Image 6: Lightbox selection
Deleting Images from Lightbox
To delete an image from any lightbox, click on the small red circle with the white cross in the top right corner of the thumbnail preview frame.

Image 7: Remove image item from Lightbox
Adding External Images to a Lightbox
Lightbox Pro allows you to add images from other online sources making it a complete image selection and management tool for any project. Please be sure to adhere to the restrictions of the Membership Agreement (Section 3b: ... Adding Lightbox links to external image sources depicting Content that is pornographic, sexual, negative, cruel, violent, abusive, libelous, obscene, immoral, illegal or defamatory in nature is strictly prohibited...).

To add an external image to a lightbox, click on the "Externals" tab in Lightbox Pro, and then on the button "Add".

Image 8: Add new External Items to Lightbox

On the following screen you can enter a name for the image you like to link to, the optional thumbnail image URL, and the Page URL.

Image 9: Form for adding new External Item to Lightbox

To locate the Page URL and Thumbnail Image URL open the page that contains a preview of the image you have selected. Copy and paste the page url from the top of the screen into the field "Page URL." To obtain the image url right-click your mouse on the preview image, select "Properties" from the drop-down list that appears, and copy and paste the complete image URL into the field "Thumbnail Image URL."

Image 10: Getting External URL and thumbnail

Now, click on "Save" and the external image link will be added to your lightbox.

Image 11: External image added to Lightbox

Reminder: External Items are restricted to Private and Password Viewable lightboxes only. Public lightboxes, when viewed by 3rd parties, will not display External Items.
Adding CDs to a Lightbox
Click on the Photo CDs icon in the navigation bar to preview our selection of professional CD collections. When you find a CD you are interested in, you can add it to your lightbox for future reference. Simply click on "Manage CD in Lightboxes" and add the CD to the appropriate lightbox.

Image 12: Click on link "Manage CD In Lightboxes" Image 13: Select lighboxes to add CD into

To view the contents of a CD in your lightbox, go to Lightbox Pro, select the lightbox you added the CD to, click on the "CDs" tab, then click on the CD preview image to view all the photographs contained in this collection.

VI.Working with Images in Your Lightbox

Drag & Drop to Reposition Images
Lightbox Pro allows you to arrange images in your lightbox with drag and drop. Click on the frame of any image you like to move up or down in your lightbox window. Hold the mouse button down and drag the image to the desired postion, release the mouse button to drop the image into a new position. This allows you to arrange your lightbox selection in any order you wish.

Image 14: Drag & Drop to custom arrange Lightbox item positions
Using Star Rating and Flagging
You can use the convenient star rating and flagging features to rate images contained in your lightboxes. If you are collaborating with others on selecting images for a project, you can use the stars to indicate which images you like best and flag images you've already chosen. When sending a lightbox to a third party for review, you can either allow them to change your star rating and flagging, or not. You can set those preferences in the "Edit Properties" tab. If you do not allow a third party to change your rating and flagging, they will still be able to add comments to an image, unless you locked the image.

Image 15: Lighbox item star ratings
Locking an Image
You can lock an image from any changes (star rating, flagging, comments) by clicking on the lock symbol below the thumbnail preview.

Image 16: Locking Lightbox items
Adding Comments
To add notes to an image, simply click on the "Add Memo" icon below it. When emailing the lightbox to another party, they can add their own comments to each image, unless the image was locked. You will be able to see all comments made by you or others for each individual image.

Image 17: Adding Memo to Lightbox item

Image 18: Viewing client memo response

VII.Sending A Lightbox to a Third Party

Setting the Lightbox Property to "Password Viewable"
Password viewable lightboxes can be emailed to a client, customer, or orther third party that needs to review the images. Click on the "Edit Properties" tab to set the lightbox you want to email to "Password Viewable." As you can see in the screenshot below, you will be asked to create a password and select whether you like your third party to be able to set "Flags" or use "Star Rating." If you do not allow your third party to set flags or rate the images with stars, the user will still be able to add comments to each individual image, unless an image has been locked.

Image 19: Setting Lightbox properties
Emailing Your Lightbox
After you've set your lightbox to be password viewable, please click on the "Email Lightbox" tab. Enter your email address, the recepient's email address, subject, and a message, then click on "Send Invitation." The system will automatically insert a link to the lightbox into the email.

Image 20: Email Lightbox Form
Third Party Accessing Your Lightbox
For Password Protected lightboxes, your client will receive your email and after clicking on the link provided, is directed to the "View Lightboxes" login screen. Please don't forget to provide your client with the password you have set for the lightbox!

Image 21: View Password Protected Lightbox Login

Your client logs in and can view the lightbox you created.

Image 22: Lightbox as viewed by client or other 3rd parties

Depending on which attributes you set, your client can star rate, flag images, and make comments. When clicking on a thumbnail image, the client will see the larger image preview, filename, keywords, any flags or star rating that has been set, and any comments that have been made pertaining to that particular image. The client will not see the file sizes, file formats, pricing, and add to shopping cart information you see when viewing your lightbox images.

Image 23: Client view lightbox image in preview mode
Communicating with Your Client
Any comment or rating performed by your client is immediately viewable by you after logging into your account and reviewing your lightbox. Lightbox Pro allows seemless communication with your client and makes it easy to discuss and select images for any of your projects, especially as Lightbox Pro enables you to add external images to your lightbox and does not limit you to images provided by MediaFocus.com (see section V. c. Adding External Images).

VIII.Deleting a Lightbox

Once you have completed a project, select the lightbox name from the drop-down menu next to "My Lightboxes", then click on the tab "Delete Lightbox." The following screen will let you confirm that you want to delete this lightbox from your account. This extra step protects you from accidentally deleting a lightbox.

Image 24: Delete Lightbox form

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