Phanfare Photo for Mac

5.0 stars

"Huge Fan of Phanfare"

October 6, 2010  |   By OtterpondBleu

Version: Phanfare Photo 2.8.3

Pros

Affordable, store-front, simple editing tools for stills, easy to use with context guide, disclosure of release notes showing continuous improvement, good email message blank, contacts and group manager, good security, good data protection,

Cons

I would like an option to prohibit on sharing on social sites but don't even know if that is possible anymore.

Summary

Very slick looking site. Two affordable basic plans plus a free 14-day trial. I like the built-in help that uses simple prompts to guide the first time user.

Attracted by Phanfare Pro service has a simple store front for your product and requires online submission of a W-9 form. Images can also be watermarked and users control whether or not file can be downloaded.

Impressed by the access to Release Notes that show the continuous progress of the product. The feedback form for support is easily accessible and the online documentation is very complete.

Provides simple editing tools for still photos. There is a 20 minute video limitation that users need to keep in mind during their editing. Videos are converted to flash which takes about the same amount of time that it takes to upload the file. They have a ton of upload options one which I was particularly happy with was the integration with Google Picassa. They have a small download that puts a button right into the Picassa client to upload those albums directly.

In my test I uploaded the same video in two formats: .mp4 54.94mb and .wmv 289.51mb Both streamed well and had very good sound. These videos are rough, taken in the field on probably a CanonPower shot digital camera using the video option. No fancy mics and such. Streaming was consistently smooth.

You can control the ability to download the files but the ability to actually download the video is a big plus for my company. The customization options are terrific, as simple or complicated as you like. There are visitor reports for even the free trial and the ability to add comments to the post. Another nice feature is "Drop Box" where you can allow others to add content to your album.

Phanfare allows you to setup sub-sites to your main site and each can be be optionally passworded. Each subsite can have its own dropbox and notifications are sent to the site owner. This is a terrific feature for collaboration.

Phanfare uses Amazon cloud storage to protect the data being stored there. This gives me a strong feeling of security. I like that they will produce DVDs to archive off the work product.

Phanphare makes it easy to import pictures and video from other online sharing sites like Googles Picassa. They also have a client software which does a good job for managing the site offline.

With so many features at a very affordable price, secured in Amazon's storage cloud, and continuous product improvement I'm sold.

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