This article contains information on how to setup and use Darkroom’s ability to email packages. Photo Email is a new feature in all versions of Darkroom 9.1.
Videos:
You may want to watch these videos first
Setup
The setup procedure consists of a. setting up you your email account(s) and b. creating one or more packages to email images.
Setting Up Your Email Account
1. Start Darkroom, go to the Setup tab and select Photographer Info, then Email Accounts.
2. Click Add Account and then enter your setup information as follows:
Sender Name – this is the name that your emails will appear to come from.
Email address – your email account address in the form USER@DOMAIN, e.g. [email protected]
Password – the password for your email account, which will be blanked out for security.
Description – this is used within Darkroom to identify your settings if you setup more than one email account.
Outgoing mail – if you check Auton Configure, Darkroom will attempt to fill in your outgoing mail settings based on the domain name of your email address. This capability is available for several of the most common email providers. If you have non-standard settings or use a provider that is not listed, you will need to complete these settings manually. Consult your email provider for the necessary technical details.
Test – Once you have entererd your Outgoing mail settings, press the Test button to see if the settings work correctly. You should see the message “Outgoing mail connection OK” which verifies your settings are correct. Click OK.
Photo Email Defaults – these become the default message subject and body text of the emails you send from Darkroom.
Click OK.
Setting Up an Email Package
1. Go to the Setup tab, select Products and Serivces, then Package Groups.
2. Either select an existing package group, or choose New Group. If creating a new group, enter a name such as “Email Package” in the New Group Name field. Click OK.
3. Nested under the Email Package will be Package 1. Doouble click on Package 1 and rename it to an appropriate name, e.g. Email 1280×720. It is recommended that you also check Quick Print if you want the email to be sent automatically.
4. Click add local print item, then click Photo Email (Photo Email). The count changes to 1. Click OK.
5. Double click on the Photo Email package that has just been added to open the PhotoEmail Properties. Edit the properties of the package:
Email Account – choose which email account to use if you have more than one. Message – You can edit the Subject and/or Body Message for this package.
Delivery – Generally you should leave the To: field to its (DEFAULT: automatic from order) setting. Advanced users can change this to use specific fields from within Darkroom’s database for the user’s email address.
If you could like a copy of each message to be sent to a specific address (e,g. in addition to sending an email to guests at an event you want the host to receive a copy of every message), you can add additional static email addresses, separated by a comma e.g. [email protected]
Image Size – This is where you specify the size of your image. In our example we will choose Custom Size and enter 1280 for the width and 720 for the height. Watermark – You can add watermark text over the image by selecting an entry from the drop down menu next to Size. If you wish to use an image (e.g. your logo) as a watermark, select Custom Watermark from the drop down menu, then click the … button and select the image to use as your watermark.
Click OK.
6. Click on Email Package then set default.
Usage
Using PhotoEmail is similar to printing any other item from Darkroom.
1. From the Photo Workshop choose an image, make any edits, apply borders, etc. as you would with any other image.
2. Place your order, using a package that contains a Photo Email item. If you are using the Email Package example setup in the above instructions, you can press 1 to choose Email 1280×720 then choose 1 for the number of copies. If your item is not setup for quickprint, press place order; you may also need to go into the Orders tab and click Print Order. At the time the order is placed, Darkroom searches for an email field. If you have not already entered an email address for the image, the Photo Email Address dialog pops up and prompts you to enter the recipient’s email address. Press ok after you have entered the email address and the messaeg will be sent, provided you have a useable email connection. Note: If you want to check or edit the email address associated with an image, in the Photo Workshop right click on an image, select Properties, then click on the Photo Data tab. If an email address is associated with the image, you will see an email entry under properties and the email address under value.