No, you do not have to enroll.  We do not have contracts that you agree to.  Enrolling just helps us prepare your online account with your border template that you choose. It also helps us have more information that we can use if we need to reach you in case, we see anything that would make your photo better or improve your photo for next week.

See the Galleries tab on the home page and pick one from the 8x10 or the 8x10 with bookmark.  Click here to go to the galleries:

Stock Borders Click Here

No.  You can send a photo with no added information at all to the front of the photo.   Or you can create your own border template and send it ahead to us and we will embed it into your product online.  Or you can choose one of our stock borders.  Or you can ask us to modify one of our stock borders for you.

Yes.  We can send you the file specifications in a jpg that you can place in Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator as a background layer that is the correct dimension and you just delete that layer before saving the file and sending to us.  The specifications are: RGB file, 300dpi, 10.25”x8.25”, with a print area of 10x8” and a safe area for design elements and text is 9.75”x7.75”

50meg

Yes, we would be happy to.  We need 2 weeks before your camp starts to get this process started.  We will need a fast response time when we send you proofs of the design so you can quickly respond with changes and we can work on the next iteration of your border design.  It is a big help if we have a cell phone to notify you to check your email for the next proof so we can move the design process forward and not have any issues being ready for your first photo date.

If I like one of your Stock Borders, but want to modify it, can you do that?

Yes, that is a great way to create new border templates.

How long does it take to design a custom template?

Allow two weeks.  See: Can you design a custom design for me?

Yes.  The specifications are: RGB file, 300dpi, 10.25”x8.25”, with a print area of 10x8” and a safe area for design elements and text is 9.75”x7.75”   We have a Downloads page with templates available on our home page.

Great, Better late than never.  We won’t be able to design a custom template , but we can apply one of our stock borders and have you ready to order photos in about two hours.  Please call us right now at 480-750-9920 so we can act quickly on setting you up.  Please go immediately to our enrollment page and fill it out and submit the form. If it is early in the day (before noon Pacific time zone) we can get a stock border set up based on your enrollment form.   If your situation requires that photos be in your hands tomorrow and it is already late in the day, you may want to forego a template for this order today and use our Generic Border templates that are available even without creating an account under the Designer Demo tab on the home page.   If we are on a very tight schedule for you and we do not have your enrollment form, you may just send us your photos by email to: printing@groupimaging.com  You will want to add to the file name a good identification word like Cabin 3, Jr Hi I, and include in the filename Qty_##.  An example of a good file name would be:  Cabin_3_Qty12_July2-6.jpg

We ship 2 day air back to the camp at no charge.  If you require your photos to leave our office the day you order them and arrive the next day, we have a $30.00 fee for that. 

Once in a while a customer orders photos on a Friday and needs them delivered on Saturday (can’t guarantee the time of delivery) That would have both the overnight fee of $30.00 and a Saturday delivery fee of another $30.00 (Our costs for these services are higher than the fees)

Note, not all zip codes will have Saturday delivery as an option, and a few zip codes do not have overnight delivery for weekdays. 

You can check with this link:  UPS Calculate Time and Date 

Use these details on UPS Calculate site:

• Input Ship From Zipcode: 85201 
• Input Ship To Zipcode:  Your Zipcode
• Input Shpping Date: Choose a Friday as Shipping Date
• Look at Results and if you do not see under Time a reference to Saturday, then you do not have Saturday delivery available in your zip code

or call us and we will check for you.  480-750-9920

Note: if your entire order is below 40 photos, and you are using our back to camp options above there is a minimum order fee of $30 to have your order shipped UPS Air (both 1 day and 2 day air options above)

You would normally check the right box on the enrollment form for 100% purchase.  We use the honor system, if you tell us you are ordering a photo for every camper, we set your price to the discount for 100% orders.  To get the discount you do not have to order photos for the staff that are in the photo, just all of the campers.

We will design one template for free, additional templates will cost $75.00 each.

Normal free delivery is 2 day UPS Air.  Order before 5 pm Eastern Time, 4 pm Central Time, 3 pm Mountain Time and 2pm Pacific time zone and your order will arrive the day after tomorrow.  Order Monday, arrive at camp Wednesday

Order Tuesday, arrive at camp Thursday

Order Wednesday, arrive at camp Friday

Order today and deliver tomorrow 1 day UPS Air has a $30.00 fee added.  Order before 5 pm Eastern Time, 4 pm Central Time, 3 pm Mountain Time and 2pm Pacific time zone and your order will arrive tomorrow. 

Order Monday, arrive at camp Tuesday

Order Tuesday, arrive at camp Wednesday

Order Wednesday, arrive at camp Thursday

Order Thursday, arrive at camp Friday

Order Friday, arrive at camp on Monday  (unless you request Saturday delivery, if available in your zip code, not time of day promised, this adds an additional $30.00 fee)

Note, not all zip codes will have Saturday delivery as an option, and a few zip codes do not have overnight delivery for weekdays.  You can check with UPS.com or call us and we will check for you.

Note: if your entire order is below 40 photos, and you are using our back to camp options above there is a minimum order fee of $30 to have your order shipped UPS Air (both 1 day and 2 day air options above)

Home shipping is $2.25 per photo and has no minimum per order.  You can order as few as just one photo online and if you choose home delivery, it will be the cost of the photo plus $2.25 for shipping.   We will print and ship to the addresses you provide in our spreadsheet (see the downloads tab for our spreadsheet to download). Please use our spreadsheet because it is formatted to work with our shipping software.

Order before 5 pm Eastern Time, 4 pm Central Time, 3 pm Mountain Time and 2pm Pacific time zone and your order will ship today. Please see FAQ: What are my choices for delivering photos? For details.

Order before 5 pm Eastern Time, 4 pm Central Time, 3 pm Mountain Time and 2pm Pacific time zone and your order will ship today.  See FAQ: What are my choices for delivering photos? For details.

You should get an email notification when your order ships.  You can call anytime if you have questions.  480-750-9920.  We prioritize orders based on when campers go home and how fast we need to get them to UPS.  Most orders ship the same day they arrive, and we always set the delivery date at least one day before your campers depart. If your campers leave on Saturday, we will delivery on Friday or earlier, if they depart on Friday, we will delivery on Thursday or earlier, etc.  

If your order is a Home order, we may not print that until later in the week, but we will print them that week and prepare them to be mailed at Post office.

Log into your online account at www.groupimagingphotos.com and you will see to the left of the Sign In / Sign Out in the top right a word you can clicke on: My Account.  Once you are on My Account you can scroll down to see Recent Orders (or click View All to see all orders).  Find the order and date that you want to reorder groups from and click Reorder on the right.  Be sure to delete (see trashcan by each line item) the photos you do not want to reorder and you can change the qty  of the ones you want to whatever you want to reorder.  When you have made your changes, scroll down and click on Update Shopping Cart and after it updates, verify that your orders is what you want  it to be and then click on Proceed to Checkout as normal.

We have several options since we lose a shipping and delivery day on July 4^th.

In 2023 the 4^th is on a Tuesday.  UPS will not be picking up or delivering packages on Tuesday July 4^th.  We have several options.  If you order on Monday July 3^rd ,  (by 2pm Pacific Time Zone) we can ship that same day for delivery on Wednesday (if you kids are departing on Thursday).  If you order on Tuesday July 4^th, we can’t ship the same day and your order can’t be delivered on Wednesday because UPS is closed on Tuesday July 4^th.  If you order on Tuesday July 4^th, we will ship your order on Wednesday July 5^th  for delivery on Thursday July 6^th (if your kids are departing on Friday).

Depending on your needs, you might consider changing this weeks photos to a home order and then the July 4^th Holiday will have no effect on when you need to get your photo uploaded.  We will mail all of July 4^th weeks photos to your campers homes  (additional $2.25 per photo)

We use that information to prioritize your order and to make sure we get your order delivered the day before your campers depart camp.

Once in a while we use the time of day in case, on a rare occasion, we needed to break our own rule and see if we can ship your order for delivery the day your campers depart knowing that UPS can promise delivery several hours before they depart.  We only resort to this option if a camp was not able to take the photos and upload them with any time to spare.  Note: if your photos arrived after your campers have departed, not to fear,  do not accept the photos from UPS and they will return to Groupimaging Photos and we will mail them for you to their homes for you.  If this was an attempt to make a last stitch effort to reach campers before they depart, you would not be charged for the UPS shipping that did not arrive in time, but you would have the normal home delivery shipping cost of $2.25 per photo.

You can ignore the Order Attachment if you are having photos shipped back to camp.  It is to be used when you are having your order shipped to homes and it is here that you choose a spreadsheet file with camper addresses to be uploaded and hit submit.  If you are doing a home ship order you can checkout online without your spreadsheet prepared and can upload it later from the My Account link (top right next to Sign In/Out button) and scroll down to Recent Orders and click on the order that the spreadsheet needs to be uploaded .  Scroll to bottom of order and you will see the same Choose and Submit options to upload the address spreadsheet that goes with that order.

We have been doing this since 1993 and have had very few delivery failures and we always have a solution.  Weather and some other rare causes can cause UPS to miss a deadline (which is why we always deliver the day before campers depart.  When the rare exception occurs and an order does not arrive as expected, we simply ask you to not accept the UPS package and they will return to sender (refusing the package, will make our shipping costs less) and we will ask for you to send us a camper mailing list in our spreadsheet template and we will, at our expense, mail them to homes for you.   This is a rare event, but we are prepared for it.

If not sure of your skills in photoshop, let us do the exposure corrections for you.

We inspect every group photo and make exposure adjustments when needed before we print them.  We suggest that you take your photos in even lighting keeping all of your group either in full sunlight or full shade, it is harder to adjust exposure when part of your group is in full sun and part is in full shade as well as when one side of every face is in shadow and the other is in the sun.  We are experienced at making exposure corrections.   We also suggest that, if you have the best photo you could get this week and it still needs some help with exposure, you let us make the adjustments in Photoshop for you, unless your fully prepared to make exposure corrections yourself. 

Do not panic.  We will get you through it.

Once in a while a customer has problems with placing an order for one reason or another and instead of panicking, just call us and we can help you get through it.  If for any reason you can’t make the site work right when you need it to, just email your order to us.  Include file names that have qty and group name as identifiers.  We will place your order for you. 

Call us and we can help you through it. Email your photos to us. 480-750-9920

Download our Spreadsheet from the Downloads Tab on the home page.

Review the sample data in the speadsheet and then delete it and fill in your Photo Group Names, Camper Name, Address, qty needed for that camper.  Save your file and upload at checkout with your order. 

If you do not have your spreadsheet ready at the time you place your order, you can upload it later from your My Account link on the website under Recent orders and choose the order that the spreadsheet goes with and click View Order and scroll to bottom and see you can add a spreadsheet to the Choose button and then click Submit.

When placing your order, you choose Home Ship as your delivery Option.

If you do not have your spreadsheet ready at the time you place your order, you can upload it later from your My Account link on the website under Recent orders and choose the order that the spreadsheet goes with and click View Order and scroll to bottom and see you can add a spreadsheet to the Choose button and then click Submit.

Almost all of our orders have to be printed and shipped the same day they arrive and if not, then the next day.  If we find an issue with your photo we might need to call you and get your input before we print the photo. Things can happen that you would need to be contacted (we may have found an issue with one of the campers in the photo, or we noticed that you would want to make a change and take a new photo, maybe we found that your exposure was too far off for a fix to happen.  In any of these type of cases occur then we would need to get ahold of you right away.  When it is our 5pm in Arizona it might be your 8pm on the East Coast,  your office might be closed and we need to get your input and still have time to print and ship your order at 5pm our time.

A few zip codes do not have overnight delivery available but do have two day delivery because they are very remote.  You can call us and we can check with our shipping software to find out if you have Overnight as well as Saturday delivery available.    You can call UPS but that will be a long wait.  Call us and we can look it up.

You can also  check with UPS Calculate Time and Date 

• Input Ship From Zip Code: 85201 
• Input Ship To Zip Code:  Your Zip Code
• Input Shipping Date: Choose a Weekday as Shipping Date (Friday if checking for Saturday Delivery)
• Look at Results and if you do not see under Time a reference to Saturday, then you do not have Saturday delivery available in your zip code

or call us and we will check for you.  480-750-9920

The only real difference is where we ship your order. 

A Ship to Camp order will ship to your camp via UPS and arrive before your campers go home.  A Home Ship Order needs you to send Groupimaging Photos a spreadsheet with the addresses of your campers on it so we can mail them to the campers home for you.  Home Ship Orders have no minimum quantity so you can order as few as just 1 photo and we can ship it to your camper’s home (if you actually needed to order just one photo, we don’t need a spreadsheet, just choose home ship and put in the shipping address you want at checkout).

One of the benefits of choosing to do your group photo as a Home Ship order is that you do not have take your photos with any urgency early in the week.  You have a larger window to plan and take your group photos.  Another is that you now have a planned mailing to send to your campers the week after they return home and deliver to them a memory of their week at camp.

We have a home order spreadsheet that you can download from our website on the home page from the Downloads tab.  Please use our spreadsheet because it is formatted to import your addresses into our postage program.

From our home page, click on the Downloads tab and download our home orders spreadsheet.

Review the sample data in the spreadsheet and then delete it and fill in your Photo Group Names, Camper Name, Address, qty needed for that camper.  Save your file and upload at checkout with your order. 

If you do not have your spreadsheet ready at the time you place your order, you can upload it later from your My Account link on the website under Recent orders and choose the order that the spreadsheet goes with and click View Order and scroll to bottom and see you can add a spreadsheet to the Choose button and then click Submit.

When placing your order, you choose Home Ship as your delivery Option.

Now you can upload all of this week’s camp photo groups all at once (LIMIT IS SET TO UPLOADING 40 OR LESS DIFFERENT PHOTOS AT A TIME) into the Design Tool (they show as thumbnails on the left) and then grab them one at a time to place into your next group photo border.  As you apply them to a group photo border and Add to Cart, the image you just added will disappear from the thumbnails left on the left side of the screen so you do not mistakenly add the same image a second time.

Adding the images all up front puts all the upload time for your images done all at once.  That way if you have a slow internet connection or lots of images and the upload time is slowing you down, you can use the UMI upload to put all of the time lag at the front end so you can step away until all are uploaded and now you can make efficient use of your ordering time.

Here is a link to short Youtube about UMI :  https://youtu.be/Wy-SNjA9Tw0 

When you look at the multiple images you have uploaded into the left side of the page.  You now have two new features 1. You can click on the Magnifying glass icon on the thumbnail and you will pop out a larger version for preview. 2. When you hover over an image you will see the filename of that photo

We recomend that you always  import into the template on the right the top left image as that will help you remember which image you have imported.  You can hover over that image and see the file name and we hope that you rename your photo file names before you import them and create your own pattern of file name that gives you the important information that you need when adding text and setting the quantity to order.

Example:  if your photo is for a cabin group called Redwood and you have 12 campers in that group that you want to order photos for, you would pick the pose that you are most happy with and rename that file to: Redwood Qty 12.jpg    This will help you stay organized as you upload multiple images with different group names and different quantities.

We added a field at checkout that allow you to add a cell phone number (or any after hours phone number) that we can use if needed to reach you if we see any issues with your order.  Example, you are in Florida and placed a group photo order and we are working on it to ship that day and it is 4pm our time in Arizona.  We notice that something might be a problem on your order and need to reach you for clarification but it is 7pm your time.  Your office will be closed by that time and yet we still have 3 hours to ship your job that day and might be on hold till we speak with you.  So reaching out to a cell phone when needed can really be a big help.

We have moved the location of where you choose how you want your photos shipped to you to the Check Out section.  Your choices are:  1. Two Day Air Delivery to Camp.  2. One Day Air Delivery to Camp  3. Home Ship to Campers Homes.

Note: you have order at least 40 photos total in order to have the Two Day Air shipping be free.

If you have a message on your order, you can leave a message in the Delivery Date Information Yellow Box where it says, “Add any order comments below….”  These will print on your order in RED letters as well as on our Sales Order in a prominent place for us to clearly see.

When you go to My Account (top left when logged in ) you can go to your Recent Orders and click the reorder link and make a new order from the old order.  You will want to delete items on that order that you do not want to reorder and update from the original quantities  all the quantities of line items that you want to reorder.  If you found that you need two more photos of a previous order and you access the previous order to make a new order, make sure you change the quantities that you want and delete any line items that you do not need to reorder.

Now you can send us your Home Order Spreadsheet if it was not ready when you placed your photo order by going to My Account (top left when logged in ) and go to View Order on the order the spreadsheet needs to be attached to, and  scroll down and you will see the Choose Files button and you can add your spreadsheet and Submit it and we will get it and it will be attached to your order.

Many customers have expressed concern that when they are placing their photo into the border that it does not look as high resolution as the original (the image placed is a low res screen view only that allows the site to work faster over the internet).  Now we have on the left side of the window on the Design Tool a toggle button that allows you to switch the existing photo in the template to high resolution original (it also resets the original position of the image placed into the template).  The best use of this feature is for verification and switch back to the low resolution image to finish designing your layout and ordering.

Adding a name to your line item for reference allows you to look back on your orders and identify a group photo by a reference in addition to recognizing the photo.

Now you can add a Job name to each order you place so you can reference each order later by that Job Name.

Soon we will have a tab on the home page called Downloads that allows you to download videos and other files like Home Order Spreadsheet Template.

Here is a link to our How To Videos Playlist on Youtube, it should match the links below (just another way to see the same thing). https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1pg3r0sUytWah7CxAjVG0hADVNg53tBA 

How to Navigate our FAQ page   https://youtu.be/LIthJJapdAA

Abbreviated Order Process 3min  https://youtu.be/wQxDMyU1tTY 

How to make cropping of your images in Design Tool    https://youtu.be/op9jHhPFGHY 

The High Resolution toggle switch for viewing  full resolution of your photo   https://youtu.be/OpDYw9arSzw 

Uploading Multiple Images for multiple groups  https://youtu.be/Wy-SNjA9Tw0

How to use  New Reference Fields to keep track of your orders  https://youtu.be/YOJ54zQRLng 

Shipping Choices are moved to the Check Out screen    https://youtu.be/vjqqT5zLxMA

How to Upload Spreadsheets with addresses for Home Shipping orders   https://youtu.be/F7My7BYviYA 

How to make a Reorder for Additional photos after initial order   https://youtu.be/8GdxdHnQQgk 

Group Photo Composition https://youtu.be/co_NIT6PoOk 

Composition and Aspect Ratio to Fit photos to Template   https://youtu.be/YnJ8Go49LrE

Tips to save typing when ordering Cabin Photos https://youtu.be/RxW5r9l5V2c

1. Get Closer

2. Get Closer

3. Get Closer

Your goal is to get the largest head size of the people in the group.

This is your main composition goal when taking group photos.  When you learn to maximize the whole photo frame you will automatically be making the head sizes larger.

Most cabin group photos are small enough that it is not necessary to maximize the subjects, but larger groups need your planning to make the subjects all viewable. 

If you have a large group you will want to make more rows of subjects and that will allow you to get closer to them , then you get larger head sizes.  One long row of subjects means you have a lot of wasted image area for foreground and sky.  One row of 30 people should be made into 3 rows of 10 people and now you are much  closer.

With three rows of 10 it is better to make front row 8, second row 10 and third row 12 people.  This is still 30 people, but making your rows slightly wider as you go to row 2 and 3, the rows in the camera will likely  image as the same width.  Larger groups into the 100's will need many more rows each getting slightly wider than the one closer.  Bleachers work well for very large groups.

Some cameras allow you to change the Aspect Ratio in your camera/smart phone to match the Aspect Ratio of the online window opening before taking your group photos.  Your manual should have a section on Image Format or Aspect Ratio  or email Jeffb@groupimaging.com with the brand and model of your camera and I will send you the instructions.  Put Aspect Ratio in the subject line please.

NOTE: Be careful, if you camera allows you to change the Aspect ratio it should mask off the LCD display with black to show you what is going to be in the photo, but some cameras do not update the viewfinder where you look with your eye above the LCD monitor on the back of the camera.  So if you change your Aspect Ratio verify that your viewfinder does or does not also update.  Some Canon cameras put vertical lines that you can see in the view inder some do not.

To understand Aspect Ratios the first number is the width and the second number is the height.  They are expressed as a ratio with the lowest common denominator.  So, a 3:2 ratio is exactly a 12:8 ratio or simply an image that is 12" wide and 8" tall.  When we have a bordered 8x10 photo the opening is approx. a 3:2 ratio.  When we have an 8x10 with no border the closest camera ratio is 4:3, which is 10:7.5 so you have to enlarge your image online to about 10 5/8" to get the height to 8" which means you crop off at total of 5/8" on the width in a non bordered 8x10.

When you place your group photo into our templates you may experience that you need to expand your image to make it fill that area where your photo goes.  This is because of several factors that result in a mismatch in height x width (Aspect Ratio of the Photo) of the image you took with your camera and the height and width of the online window .

See this Video that is in our How To videos: https://youtu.be/YnJ8Go49LrE 

The result can be that you have to enlarge your image past the width of the window online in order for your group photo to fill the opening from top to bottom.  

This can result in the possibility that some of the people on the left and right would be cut off if you continue to expand the image so that the image fills the opening from top to bottom.

Solution:

The most common camera Aspect Ratio is 3:2 (not an option on Iphone, only 4:3 and 16:9) which is exactly 12:8 (12" x 8") which is what you want to have your camera set to for our bordered 8x10 photos.  A 3:2 Aspect Ratio is best for our bordered prints.  It appears that many digital cameras default to 3:2 Aspect Ratio.  

The 4:3 Aspect Ratio is what you want when you are printing a 8x10 group photo that does not have a border on it.

Here is a comparison of common Aspect Ratios in cameras.  in each width below the height is still 8".   

3:2 (12x8")     4:3 (10x8")   16:9 (14x8"):

The Aspect Ratio for our prints can vary from:

1. 10x8 photos with no border:

Use 4:3 Aspect Ratio in your camera for Full Frame for No Border layouts that have an Aspect Ratio of 10:8 ( very close to 4:3.2) so the best camera setting is an Aspect Ratio of 4:3 (4:3.2 is not a camera option).  If your camera is not able to change from 3:2 Aspect Ratio then just make sure you leave some empty space on the left and the right.

This is the Aspect Ratio of an 10x8" photo (4:3 is best setting to use in camera or smart phone.

1. 10x8 photos with border:

Use 3:2 Aspect Ratio

Our Bordered Templates have an Aspect Ratio of the opening for your photo very close to 3:2 Aspect Ratio

The border is 8x10 Aspect Ratio to the outside, but the area for your photo is approx. 3:2 so using that setting in your camera/smart phone is the one to use.

3. 12x8 photos with no border:

Use 3:2  Aspect Ratio in your camera/smart phone if available.

Secondary Optons:

Use 16:9 and make sure you leave some empty room on the left and right sides.  You can fill the frame almost all the way to the top and bottom.

Use 4:3 and make sure you leave some empty room on top and bottom.  You can fill the frame if using 4:3 almost all the way to the left and right.

4. 14x8 photos with no border:

Use 16:9  Aspect Ratio in your camera/smart phone or us 3:2 Aspect Ratio and leave some empty room on the left and right.

For Camp Group photos we have 4 ways to ship your photos. 

Here is a Youtube that goes into detail about the Shipping options  Shipping Options

Two Day Air UPS. Arrives back to Camp before campers go home (choose if you order early enough in the week). Delivery will be two days after your order (if ordered by 2pm). Example: Order Monday-Delivery Wednesday, Order Tuesday-Delivery on Thursday, Order Wednesday-Delivery on Friday. Never set delivery to be the day campers go home. UPS could delivery late on the delivery date and might be after campers have gone home.

One Day Air UPS - Arrives back to Camp before campers go home (choose if your week is short or you have ordered later in the week) Delivery will be one day after your order (if ordered by 2pm). Example: Order Monday-Delivery Tuesday, Order Tuesday-Delivery Wednesday, Order Wednesday-Delivery Thursday, Order Thursday-Delivery Friday. Never set delivery to be the day campers go home. UPS could delivery late on the delivery date and might be after campers have gone home.

Home Delivery via US Mail means you will send us a spreadsheet ( please use our downloadable spreadsheet Download Spreadsheet ) and we will mail for you each photo to the campers home.  This service adds $2.25 per p photo for postage and a 9x12" mailer.

Ship order to one address by US Mail will mail the entire order to the shipping address put on the order.  THIS SHIPPING OPTION WILL NOT ARRIVE IN TIME FOR CAMPERS TO TAKE HOME WITH THEM FROM CAMP.  THEY WILL ARRIVE AT THE SHIPPING ADDRESS IN 7 TO 10 DAY.  This option has a cost per order of $5.00