Which volume ordering software should you use?

If we’re being honest, when it comes to our volume ordering software solutions, the names can be misleading.

Here at H&H, we commonly get the question “Should I use hhsports or hhschools”? The simple answer is “it depends”. We work with many studios photographing more than just underclass who find hhschools is the best solution for them. But that’s not always the case.

Instead of getting stuck on the name, think more about what we have to put into our project. Both programs have similar product offerings, with some key differences (which we’ll dive into below). Both programs allow you to group individuals to teams or groups. And both programs allow you to associate information about the subject with images. Both programs also allow for one of the fastest and most reliable cropping tools in the industry, eliminating the need for pre-cropping your images.

Are you photographing a small league, intramural sports, or even a preschool? You probably don’t get subject data before you photograph everyone. Are you looking for a straight-forward ordering process, with a minimal learning curve? Are you selling with prepay order forms? Do you not need knockouts or ID Cards? Well, then, hhsports is the solution you’ve been looking for.

• Provides straight forward step-by-step volume ordering
• Easy, drag-and-drop team association
• No need for data - simply type individual info

Are you photographing school pictures, a dance school, or even a large league that can give you data? Would you like to have the ability to utilize one of our 6+ data match capabilities (.csv data leading into a Post-Shoot Scan or Time Sync Scan data match)? Do you plan to proof your images before parents make a purchase? Are you planning to utilize one of our knockout services? Do you need the ability to order service items such as composites, admin / yearbook exports, or ID Cards for the school office? If you find yourself in these situations, hhschools is going to be your solution.

• Allows many data match capabilities (find the right workflow for you)
• Prepay and proof order selling options, such as proof strips or proof plan envelopes
• Order service items that your schools need for their office
• Integration with hhimagehost
• Total project management, from data entry, to package ordering, to order history reporting
• Multiple Knockout options - order background replacement with green screen, blue screen, masters extraction, environmental extraction knockout sports, etc)

If you don’t have data:

There are two useful methods you can use to combine data with images in a project. Both of these methods require that data be collected at photo day. The minimum recommended information to be collected is first name and last name. For students that have a student ID, it is important to collect that as well. Packages (if they are being ordered at this point), teacher / homeroom, grade, team name, etc are also good pieces of information to collect here. Keep a run sheet of subject data collected, in the order photographed (or prepay flyers if you sell that way).

In order to match the collected data to the images, either:

1. Import images, then manually input information by typing into the project under each image. (This will be the only way to input subject info if you are using hhsports)
2. Create a .csv data file including image name. Match the collected data and the EXACT .jpg filename in Excel. Import this .csv data when creating a project. Upon importing the images, HHSchools will use the image filenames to match the data and images.

If you do have data:

hhschools offers several methods for a streamlined way to match the data you get before picture day to the images you take. All of these methods let you import the student and player data into hhschools when creating the project. Then it will format and generate reports so you can print either camera cards, shoot lists or ID labels—each one with a unique barcode for each person. You can either disregard these barcodes and use the report to match the data to each imported image in our Match Data Wizard. Or you can use these barcodes with a scanner using one of the following methods:

Which should I choose?

Still not sure which workflow is best for you? Take the quiz to find out now.