New Agfa photo service: AGFAnet Web Album

September 25, 2002 -- At photokina in Cologne, Germany, Agfa today launched its new AGFAnet Web Album, its second online service for partner labs and retailers.

This effective reorder tool for labs is another module in the customized, integrated system solution that Agfa is offering its partners for the digital business of tomorrow. It is ideally adapted to a lab environment with Agfa minilabs. In terms of its styling and technology, the AGFAnet Web Album was developed together with AGFAnet Print Service 2.0 to form an e-commerce package that enables Agfa partners to easily offer both services.

The only thing the end consumer has to do is mark the “Upload to Web Album” option when handing in his film. Together with his prints, he gets the Internet address and a personal access code, which enables him to view and reorder the photos in his personal Web Album on the Internet. Friends and relatives can do the same when invited to do so via the built-in e-mail function.

In order to make it easy for inexperienced Internet users to take advantage of the Web Album, an animated Quick Tour can be found on the start page, along with FAQs and integrated graphic help functions and explanations on the individual pages.

The system has three components. The AGFAnet Web Album is accessible to end consumers from any Internet-ready computer. In addition, every participating dealer receives a lab-specific Internet address (URL) at which his Web Album can be found. The second component is the server, which stores image data and provides a mailbox to enable labs to receive new orders – just like with the AGFAnet Print Service. The third component is the d-port lab software for uploading scanned images onto the Internet and for receiving and processing the data.

The AGFAnet Web Album is available in 10 languages for the market launch at photokina (English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish). Additional languages are planned.

Agfa also offers its partner labs and retailers extensive marketing support for the AGFAnet Web Album. The e-commerce package, comprising the AGFAnet Web Album and AGFAnet Print Service 2.0, also includes an extensive POS package of ready materials and digital templates. Additional orders are generated by the attractive agfanet.com photo-printing portal, where Agfa integrates a personal Web Album for end consumers, who can upload their digital pictures for a limited time.

All Agfa partner labs that offer the AGFAnet Web Album as a service can be selected for ordering real photo prints. As a result, end consumers can give friends and family all over the world the opportunity to have print orders produced by a national photo dealer.

Product and company information can be found on Agfa's home page on the World Wide Web at www.agfa.com.