Also see our other upload tools.

We launched Viewbook PhotoStory 2009, an exciting new global photography contest. All documentary and conceptual photographers around the world are encouranged to submit photographic narratives in the form of self created online galleries, that are judged by the public and an international panel of industry professionals. The first price winners receive international publications & lifelong subscriptions with a value exceeding $12.000).

The competition is all about the art of shooting a strong series, making a critical selection, determining the right order, writing a description and an appealing title. And most of all it’s about the impact that a photo story has on the audience. Viewbook PhotoStory is open for pro’s and emerging talents alike at no cost.

We encourage you to submit your work as soon as possible to get the most out of the public voting and get your photo story seen by as many people as possible. Submissions close at 1 October 2009. Check out the great prices that we and our friends at GUP magazine, Blurb and Workbook have for grabs at www.viewbookphotostory.com

PictureSync for Viewbook is a desktop application that simplifies batch uploading to Viewbook directly from your desktop. It connects with applications like iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom. And best of all it converts almost any file automatically (photoshop, pdf, illustrator, etc.). Just drag your files to PictureSync and it converts, re-sizes, and uploads your images directly into your Viewbook account. So, there’s no need anymore to make re-sized versions of your images for the web.

Viewbook’s Export plugin for for Adobe Lightroom2 makes it easy for professional photographers to publish their images to Viewbook. Directly within Lightoom2 choose the images you want to add to an existing album or create a new album. This is a great benefit for the workflow of the professional photographer.

So what are you waiting for? Get the applications at www.viewbook.com/tools.
Instructions can be found here for PictureSync and here for the Lightroom export plugin.

“Let me say that I continue to be overjoyed with viewbook - it is simply incredible and ultimately made it so amazingly easy to post my work in such a professional and classy way that I am indebted to you guys!” - Andrea zeluck

“Thanks for a beautiful, elegant solution. I’ll definitely keep recommending viewbook to my network.” - rdmoreno

“Thanks for the first-class site you provide.” - Gary Ortman

“I definitely love your site and the functionality. Keep up the great work. And thanks, for such great customer service. ” - wordgal

“When it comes down to it its all about the art, and viewbook enables me to share more art with more people. Its fast clean and simple, Now i can focus on the pixles and let viewbook take care of the presentation.” - Andrew Jones

First the results of our extensive usability test, with around 200 people done mid last year, showed that there was a need for optimization. Specially for first-time users. You can see some of the points of discussion in the image below. We’ve changed colors, icons, gave some things a better place and added new functionalities. One of the new features is the option to close the side-panels to gain a full-screen area for editing and sorting your images.

Secondly we’ve changed the design to be ready for future additions. Within this re-design we aimed to maintain the simplicity, clear and uncluttered design you’re used to see at Viewbook.

Discussion points for improvement (click image to enlarge):

So here it is a preview of the new Viewbook Image Manager (click images to enlarge):

The new Image Manager includes:
- A completely new design; less clutter, clearer views.
- A new color scheme; focus on the images.
- More pronounced top toolbar buttons; sharper and more refined. This also makes it easier to use for first time users.
- New namings; albums instead of presentations.
- Theatre mode; minimize the side bars.
- The trash went to the trash. There is now one overall ‘Delete’ function; select, and delete; with images, pages and presentations.

You can expect this update to be available in April 2009. We’ll launch the new Image Manager parallel to the existing one for a few weeks to make sure you get a chance to try and test it before leaving the old Image Manager.

We’re very curious what you think about the new design. Tell us by adding your comment(s) to this post.

The API also makes integration with other platforms possible. For example it’s possible to integrate Viewbook with Wordpress or any other blogging platform. If you have any ideas that could be created with our API? Let us know.

We’re looking for developers who are interested in creating tools and plugins. Take a look at the API documentation, and let us know if you know anyone who could be interested.

“Viewbook gives me both a new portfolio site and a great tool. It makes me spent less time organizing which means more time to work.” Jonathan’s work mainly sets up in portrait and landscape photography. He grew up in an art collectors family, surrounded by contemporary photography hanging on each and every wall.

Read more about how Jonathan uses Viewbook.

“Our mission is to provide innovative, dynamic, educational and life changing experiences for youth, using the tools of photojournalism. Our goals are to give young people a voice, challenging them to see themselves and their communities in a new light; to encourage them to explore their world through the lens of a camera; and to share their perspectives with others through the publication and exhibition of their work.

VisionWorkshops provides programs free of charge to our students, through generous donations from the community and from corporate sponsors. Our workshops inspire youth with positive role models and with opportunities to display their photographs and writings at galleries such as New York’s International Center of Photography, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, and National Geographic Headquarters in Washington D.C. The end result of each workshop is a group of enthusiastic kids and adults, each gaining new insights through the mentoring experience and the power of photography.

www.visionworkshops.org