Hollywood's A&I Photographic and Digital Services has chosen the TAOPIX end-to-end photobook workflow solution to help it leverage decades of experience in fine art printing and build a presence in the huge American photobook market.

The 45-strong A&I has specialised in fine art photographic printing and processing for over 30 years, with services ranging from traditional photographic printing and film processing to full digital photo services and fine art books.

Since TAOPIX went live at A&I in July this year, the company has been producing various sizes of soft cover and hard cover photo books, a variety of speciality papers for inside pages, postcard books, folded greeting cards and calendars. A&I co-owner, Baret Lepejian, has seen demand for the new photobook service come from across its broad client base of renowned celebrity, fashion, stock, editorial, advertising, nature, portrait, wedding and fine art photographers, as well as students and photographic artists.

Says Mr Lepejian: "Photobooks are an incredibly well-rounded product for all levels of photographer because they can serve as anything from a personal memento to a professional fine art portfolio. In fact, I believe everyone with a camera has a reason to print a photobook and the potential size of the market makes this a very exciting move for A&I. We have decades of experience in fine art printing and with a tool like TAOPIX we know we have a competitive edge in offering a quality product that others simply can't. Our clientele tends to be high-end professional photographers as well as consumers, so our needs are quite diverse. However, TAOPIX was very responsive throughout the sales process and I'm confident we have the right solution with which to develop this exciting new side to our business."
 
One of the key factors behind A&I's decision to adopt the TAOPIX  solution was that it supports the development and integration of users' own products, templates and backgrounds. A&I was also impressed with the fact that license keys for customers can be created quickly and easily in-house. And for A&I's clients who are creating products with TAOPIX, the interface is clean, professional and robust yet still easy to use.

Said James Gray, CEO, TAOPIX: "That a company as successful as A&I Photographic and Digital Services - with its broad range of professional, celebrity and amateur clients - has chosen Taopix is testament to the software's functionality and flexibility. It is a dynamic, user-friendly and fully customisable end-to-end solution and the ideal platform from which to build a strong position in the digital photobook market. The photobook market in America, and indeed globally, remains largely untapped and represents a massive opportunity for entrepreneurial printers and photographic service providers such as A&I. As such, TAOPIX is looking forward to working closely with A&I in the coming months and years as they develop their new market."

A&I's Taopix solution will be supported in the production department by two HP Indigo 5000 digital presses, a Bourg perfect binder and Unibind hard covers with either Indigo offset or Lambda photographic dust jackets. Further finishing equipment includes a Dorn UV screen coating machine and a Duplo Slitter/Cutter/Creaser.

Concludes Mr Lepejian: "Because we have an established reputation in the fine art photographic market, word has already begun to spread about the growth and quality of our book department. But we are always coming up with new ideas for TAOPIX beyond the established and have started offering free seminars for our clients to learn how to use the software's less-obvious design features. To reach a national and global market, we have also begun improving our website optimisation for popular search engines. If TAOPIX continues to give us the same great customer service and support and remains willing to implement additional software features that are important to our market, it will continue to be a vital and invaluable partner moving forward."