Practical Pictures

Help

Please contact us immediately if these help pages do not answer your question or query

Frequently Asked Questions

Help Sections:

• How the Site Works

• Setting up an Account

• Updating Your Account

• Searching for Images

• How to Buy

• How will my Images be Delivered

How the Site Works

A full description is in the How to Buy help section, however a summary of the stages are as follows:

Search for Images
Check Large Previews
Add Any Images you are interested in to the Basket
Once you have finished making your selection remove any unwanted images from the Basket
Hit the Proceed to Summary button on the Basket window
Enter your image use, delivery, format, colour and rescan information
Hit the 'Send Email Enquiry Button'
Receive an Email with a ProForma invoice if no prices have changed
If prices have changed reconfirm you want all the images following the link provided - a new email with link to proforma invoice is then sent
Send the payment by cheque in either US$, UK pound or EURO with a copy of the proforma invoice please
Or phone us to make payment by credit or debit card
Only corporate customers may receive an immediate download
Once we have received payment you will be issued with an email link to allow you download your images or a CD will be despatched

Searching for Images
This website allows you to search for images by keying in words that describe the image you are looking for into a search box.

You can restrict the number of images that get returned by only searching in a particular category. For example, if you search using 'leaf' you will find nearly a thousand images. However, if you search using 'leaf' and the category 'Food Drink' the number is reduced to several hundred.

My default every keyword you enter must be associated with that image. For example, searching on 'oak leaf' will find less than 50 images. This is controlled by having the 'Match All Keywords' clicked on. If you select 'Match Any' keywords then you will find images that have either the word 'oak' or the word 'leaf' or both words associated with them. This searching method can be slower than the 'Match All' approach.

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If you want to search on a very large number of keywords at once then you should select 'Match Any' for your search method. Although this means a very large number of images is likely to be found the software will put the images which match the most words on the first screen so these should be the most relevant to you. If you used a large number of keywords and selected 'Match All' then you would be more likely to get only a few, or zero images returned as if even only one word was missing from the images description it would not be found.

Once you have found a small image that interests you can click on the image or the 'i' icon and a larger preview of that image will be displayed in a new window along with some information about that image including the price, size, the book it was shot for and the descriptive words we have given it. You should close this window when you have finished checking the image.

If you are interested in purchasing the image (even vaguely!) you can add the image to your basket so you do not have to find it again if you decide you would like to see it again later. It is easy to remove images you do not want later on and as you will see there is no obligation to buy even when you move on to the next stage.

When you add the first image to your basket it will pop up and you will see the small thumbnail image in there. If you intend to search for more images you may find it easier to close this window rather than have to find it again amongst all your other windows later on.

Setting up an Account

Please go to our registration screen and fill in your details. These will not be passed to any organisation outside Anness Publishing Group that incorporates Practical Pictures Ltd.

Updating Your Account
Currently you need to email us at info@practicalpictures.com to update your account information, we will send an email confirmation back to you.

How to Buy
Once you have all the images in your basket that you are interested in you click on the 'Proceed to Summary' button at the top of the basket window. This will take you to a new window that gives you a clear summary of the images you have chosen with their pricing for any standard single use. This new Image Summary window also allows you to give us more information about how you would use the images and how you want them delivered to you if you decide to purchase them later on.

In the Image Summary window you should select your Delivery preference. By default this is set to Download but if you want us to send you a CD you should select it from the list. Please note there is an additional fee for this service.

There is also an option to change the currency you would like to be billed in if you decide to proceed with the purchase later. It automatically uses the selection made when you register but it is possible to change it here if you wish.

You can then enter some information about the publication or other media that you are interested in using the images in. Please do so if you think it is important information what will help us check the rights and price for your selection.

Finally in the top panel you can enter your own reference or Purchase Order Number if you choose

You can then enter specific information about each image. If you only want a simple use of our images inside your publication then you can select 'Standard Single Use' and we do not expect any further information to be entered in the 'Specific Use' box. If you want a different type of use then select from the list and give any further information you think is relevant in the 'Specific Use' box.

You must make a 'type of use' selection however to be able to generate an automatic email request that will be sent to us.

Our images by default are delivered as CMYK TIFFs that we recommend and are suitable for all types of professional 4 colour printing. However you can select the colourspace to be RGB and we will deliver an Adobe (1998) RGB image instead. You can then handle the colour conversion, if necessary, yourself.

If you prefer the file format of the image to be JPEG rather than TIFF please select that option.

Finally we are able in almost all instances to rescan the images for you. The size of the images is shown next to the thumbnail images on the left. Our main photographs are mostly above 300mm, 12 inches, in size. However, our step by step pictures that show the practical elements in our cookery and other projects are usually scanned to 120mm as it is very unlikely they will be used larger. If you decide you would like any of our images scanned larger we are happy to do this for you but there is a £10 additional charge per images and you should allow a week for this to be done.

Once you have entered your information at the bottom of the screen there is a 'Send Email Enquiry' button. This will take your images selection and entered information and include it in an email that is automatically sent to us. This does not oblige you to any purchase and does not oblige us to supply you with images at the prices shown - as we must check the image rights and pricing for your 'type of use' first.

Before hitting this button you must check the box that confirms you have read and agreed to our Terms and Conditions.

Once you hit the button we will come back to you as quickly as possible to confirm that the rights are available and the final price for the images. If you have selected 'Standard Single Use' it is unlikely, but not impossible, that these will have changed.

If the pricing is unchanged and rights are available you will sent an email confirming this which includes a link that will allow you to download a Proforma Invoice as a PDF from our site. This does not oblige you in any way to make the purchase of the images but is a clear document that may make it easier for you to send the payment.

If you cannot receive this PDF or open it for any window please reply back to the email requesting us to email you a different type of document or to fax you a document (please include your fax number)

If you have closed your browser completely since making your selection you will need to sign in using your username and password.

If we need to change the price we have to charge you will receive an email explaining this and a link that allows you back into the site to confirm that you still want your image, or images, at the higher price. If you want to proceed it is important that you confirm all images you have selected and not just the ones with the higher price.

If you have closed your browser completely since making your selection you will need to sign in using your username and password.

Once you have confirmed the new pricing you can hit the 'Send Email' button and you will almost immediately receive an email back with confirmation of the rights and new pricing and a link to allow you to download a Proforma Invoice as a PDF

If you cannot receive this PDF or open it for any window please reply back to the email requesting us to email you a different type of document or to fax you a document (please include your fax number)

Once you decide that you definitely want the images you should send us your payment by cheque in either UK pound sterling, US Dollar or Euro. Or alternatively phone us during our business hours as shown on the contact us screen with your credit or debit card details.

If you wish to set up a corporate account please contact Joanna Heygate. This will allow you to send us a signed copy of the proforma invoice so that we can immediately release the images to you and you will be billed at the end of the month. This service is only available to customers wishing to purchase images regularly in volume deals.

Once we receive your payment we will send you a final email that will either confirm we have despatched your CD to you or with a link that will allow you to download the images from the site.

How will by Images be Delivered

If you are downloading the images you may need to sing into the site using your username and password.

Each image has its own download link. Once you click on the image there is a short delay while the file is put in a zipped (or stuffed file for apple macs) and then the download is ready to proceed. Your browser may ask you to verify you want the download to begin and where the file should go.

Sometimes the downloaded file has a different filename to the image code that we have previously used.

After you have received your CD or downloaded your images you should contact us immediately if you have any problems using them.

In addition:
Check our Pricing