Start Here! Online Ordering Basics

The home page of the SOS will show the different categories of prints that are available - like Luster Headshots or Glossy Prints with Borders.

On each category section you may have 2 different ordering options - Batch Order or Order Now. Some categories do not allow one or the other workflow.

Order Now Workflow: This is the normal way to order and will allow you to crop your images. Each image gets loaded into a crop area that shows how the image will crop for the size selected. You can zoom in (scroll wheel on mouse) or move the image around (click and drag) as needed. Only allows jpg and png files.

Batch Order Workflow: Batch ordering is designed for large orders and will add the images directly to the cart, skipping the cropping screen. If your images are already cropped to the size you want or will be ok center cropped you can checkout. If you need to check the crop you can also do that efficiently from the cart by clicking the pencil/edit icon on the top image, that will load it into the crop screen and you can then crop the image as needed and go to the next image by clicking the right arrow key on your keyboard.

Batch ordering allows more file types but we prefer that you use jpgs.

When to use Batch Order Workflow vs Cropping Workflow

If both the batch and crop workflow options are available, which one should you use?

• If you are only ordering a few images, use the cropping workflow. If you have multiple monitors we like to drag and drop images from Bridge or the File Explorer directly into the crop box.
• If you are ordering a large number of images that you have already cropped to the size you are ordering, use the batch order workflow. This will allow you to skip the cropping step - just add the images to the cart all at once and checkout.
• If you are ordering a large number of images that you have not cropped, it is faster to do the batch order workflow and then go to the cart and click the edit icon on the first image and that will load it into the crop box where you can crop it as needed, then click the right arrow key on your keyboard to go to the next image and repeat the process until you get to the end. This is faster than dropping them into the cropper workflow one at a time.
• If you are ordering a small amount of units or package sheets like wallets, 5x7 + 4 wallets etc, we like the crop workflow. In the Luster Package Prints catalog when you load an image into the crop box and then add it to the cart, the image will stay there and you can then choose a different product and the image will already be there. So if they need an 8x10, 8 wallets and a sheet with 2 5x7s, you can do all 3 in a row without having to load the image in each time. Then you can just drop in a new image and repeat the process. Also if you load the images into the gallery on the right side of the cropper they will show a little icon to tell you which one has been added to the cart.
• If you need a large number of package prints you can use the batch order workflow and then create packages that match what you offer. For example you could have a package A that is an 8x10, 2-5x7s and 8 wallets, and a Package B that is 2 8x10s, 3 sheets of wallets and 4 5x7s. You can then add images to each package and the whole package will be added to the cart for each image. Once you are done ordering you then would click the edit icon on the top image in the cart and check the cropping for each image, using the right arrow key to go to the next image.