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- September 4, 2001 -- Advanced Photographic Solutions is proud to
announce that Stan White has joined their management team as a Digital Technical
Specialist. In his new role, Stan will be responsible for the conception and
implementation of overall digital strategy for the lab and for the lab's customers. Before
joining APS, Stan spent 13 years with Kodak Professional as a TSR. Stan has lectured and
taught nationally on marketing, digital imaging and Photoshop and is a recognized expert
in his field. Stan holds a BFA in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
- August 28, 2001 -- This is database publishing software designed to
make the job of composing a yearbook so easy that you wont be able to do without it.
Schools can layout a yearbook in a few hours as opposed to the days or even weeks it takes
now. Instead of "cut and paste", Yearbooks! database publishing allows
AUTOFLOWING of photos and graphics into yearbook pages. Clip-art, Backgounds and borders
are included. No need for Pagemaker or Quark Express, Yearbooks! has custom and built-in
templates, PSPA compatibility as well as "preflight” accuracy checks.
We will be happy to send you a demo and information package or visit us at www.pelsoft.com
Contact Bob Winkler at 1-800-988-4880 or bwinkler@pelsoft.com.
- August 15, 2001 -- Walters announces the release of REVOLUTIONARY
SOFTWARE that will
automatically flow photos and text to yearbook pages. Works on BOTH PC AND MAC computers
Does not require Quark or Pagemaker Works for both color and black and white No graphic
design experience needed Software included free when you publish with Walters. Use
Yearbook Xpress and purchase our publishing at lowest possible pricing......
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- Free details and demo disc available immediately. Use contact Kathy Magnuson or Mary
Dankert
yearbook@hickorytech.net or phone
800-447-3274.
- August 15, 2001 -- Although Lifetouch has been testing their
MyLifetouch.com services for most of the past year. They have decided to open up the
service to all of their non-participating school customers during the fall 2001 school
portrait season. If students did not receive information about purchasing access to their
school portraits online their parents will be given the opportunity join MyLifetouch.com
free for one year. They will be able to upload, scrapbook, share and store their personal
photos on the site.
-
- You can visit www.mylifetouch.com
and click on HOW IT WORKS to learn more about the services Lifetouch offers. Lifetouch
hopes when the program is fully implemented that it will allow all Lifetouch customers to
access their portraits online.
- August 15, 2001 -- Royal Photographics of Bethlehem, PA will be
offering in selected schools a new CD-ROM product designed to create excitement about the
uniquely American tradition of school pictures. Each "School Album" displays all
of the school's classroom group photographs in a unique album view. The CD-ROM comes
complete with sound, a custom designed album cover and flipping pages.
-
- The product also give parents a great way to see and share their child's classroom group
photo with family and friends. Each photo can be enlarged for better viewing on screen and
they can even be printed or emailed to others around the world.
- July 30, 2001 -- Liftouch continues to successfully grow their company
in 2000. For the first time the company's sales including all divisions has surpassed the
$800 million mark. The school portrait division alone has successfully captured
approximately 60 percent of the market in 2000. Company sources tell us that Lifetouch is
pushing for 15% planned annual growth in sales.
-
- The companies growth in the school portrait market still seems to be coming from
acquisitions of school photography companies (See article) and
from increasing spring sales.
- July 27, 2001 -- Walter's Publishing has entered the school service
item market by offering school photographers school ID card and CD-ROM services. In one of
there most exciting product offering Walter's is offering student ID cards on 30ML stock
the id cards are similar weight to the credit cards you carry in your wallet for only 35
cents each. The cards can be bar coded and customized with school logo/art and promise to
ship in 5 working days or less. The is a setup fee of $75 per school but, it
includes a CD-ROM for the school that enables them to do replacement cards. Mary
Dankert of Walter's Publishing says your schools will LOVE your delivery and outstanding
value!
- July 10, 2001 -- Superior School Services Inc of Tennessee sold out to
Liftouch recently. Superior worked primarily in Tennessee serving over 150 client
schools. This acquisition adds to Lifetouch's growing roster of school portrait
accounts in the region. It is expected that Superior's clients will be merged with
other Lifetouch accounts in the area.
- July 10, 2001 -- Walter's Cookbooks of Waseca, Minnesota has developed
a cookbook program that will HELP ANY SCHOOL FUND THEIR YEARBOOKS. Walters offers free
brochures (imprinted with your studio information if you want to present the program and
make some additional profits for your studio at the same time).... to explain and market
the program. Your studio can show the school how they can cover their yearbook costs
without asking parents to pay for them, or requesting money from a tight school budget.
Quick and Easy Program. No Loss Guarantee! Free Details. Be sure to furnish your complete
mailing address. Email: dankert1@mnic.net or phone
800-447-3274 ext 161 and request Cookbook to Yearbook details.
- July 1, 2001 -- Liftouch has redesigned their company web site at www.lifetouch.com. The new design seems easier
and faster to navigate and it offers a great deal more insight into the company and it
various divisions. Probably the most important upgrade is their new Service Center which
gives their clients significant help information on the products and services they are
purchasing.
- June 30, 2001 -- The nations school systems will find fewer qualified
applicants for school principals when they need to hire according to a survey commissioned
by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National
Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Too much stress, long hours and too little pay for the weighty responsibilities required
for running a school are the main reasons that are sited. Many school districts surveyed
report a shortage in the labor pool for K-12 principal positions they were trying to fill.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 10-20 percent increase in the need for school
administrators through 2005 making matters more taxing. Most job openings, particularly
for principals and assistant principals, are likely to result from the need to replace
administrators who retire.
- April 18, 2001 -- Eastman Kodak announced a lower first-quarter profit
Tuesday that edged past estimates, but it cut its second-quarter earnings forecast and
announced a reduction of as many as 3,500 jobs. The company earned $150 million, or 52
cents a diluted share, although it said it earned 54 cents a share from operations. That's
down from the 95 cents a share the company earned in the year-earlier period.
-
- Sales fell 4 percent to $2.98 billion in the period, but the company said most of that
decline was due to the company shaving units and changes in currency exchange rates. It
said excluding those effects sales fell 1 percent in the period. Kodak said it now expects
to earn between $1 and $1.30 a share in the second quarter, which will likely put it below
First Call's forecast of $1.27 a share for the period. It also withdrew its previous
guidance for full-year results.
-
- Daniel Carp, the company's CEO, said that the company's market share and even pricing
for film are not bad, but given recent reports about the U.S. economy, it no longer
expects the rebound in the second half that it had been counting on to lift profits. He
told CNNfn's Before Hours that the company is concerned that the Asian and European
economies are also going to slow before they improve. "I would really be here quite
happy, but we see troubled waters ahead," he said. "It's primarily driven by so
many layoffs occurring and some weakness in the Asian markets. We are just saying, hey
look, this is going to be a tough ride this year. When this thing comes back, we should be
in a good position."
-
- The company said its own job cuts, which will eliminate about 3 to 4 percent of the
worldwide work force of 78,400, will save the company $50 million this year and produce
annualized savings of between $200 million and $250 million by the end of next year. The
company expects to take a restructuring charge that will come to $375 million to $450
million on a pretax basis later this year.
- April 18, 2001 -- Gretag Imaging has sold the worldwide support and
service of its optical printer business to ISA Inc of Bloomington, Minnesota. While ISA
will be servicing the traditional (optical) lines Gretag will maintain product support for
the Repri, Ellegro and ProLink lines.
APRIL 6, 2001 -- The average salary for elementary school principals
in 2000-2001 was $72,587, up 4.6 percent from last year's $69,407. The figures were
released today by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) as
5,000 principals gather for their national convention.
The principals' salary increase continues to be slightly less than the percentage
increase in salaries paid school district officials, but slightly more than the percentage
increase in teachers' salaries. Principals are paid, on average, 66 percent more than
teachers on the basis of average annual salary, but a principal's work year is typically
20 percent longer than a teacher's. As a result, principals actually make approximately 33
percent more per day ($323.94 as compared to $233.35) than teachers.
The typical principal has a master's degree, works nine-hour days and 54-hour weeks, is
responsible for 425 students, manages 30 professional and 14 support staff, and is
increasingly accountable for student performance on standardized tests. The growing amount
of time and stress involved in running a school has added to the growing shortage of
applicants for the principal's position. NAESP predicts a 40 percent turnover rate in the
principalship over the coming decade.
"The good news is salaries are up," said Vincent L. Ferrandino, NAESP's
executive director. "The bad news is they're not high enough to stem the critical
shortage of principals this nation is facing."
According to the survey, compensation varies considerably by geographic region. Mideast
principals earn the most, averaging $83,047, with principals in the Far West (including
California) next at $82,456--13.6 percent above the national average. Rocky Mountain
region principals average the least at $60,311.
The 2000-2001 average salary for middle school principals was $77,382, up 4.7 percent
from last year's $73,877. The annual national principals' salary survey, conducted by the
Educational Research Service, will be published in full in the May issue of NAESP's
Principal magazine.
| Region |
Amount |
Comparison to
national average |
| New England |
$79,246 |
+9.2 |
| Mideast |
83,047 |
+14.4 |
| Southeast |
66,881 |
-7.9 |
| Great Lakes |
70,439 |
-3.0 |
| Plains |
66,622 |
-8.2 |
| Southwest |
63,706 |
-12.2 |
| Rocky Mountains |
60,311 |
-16.9 |
| Far West |
82,456 |
+13.6 |
| Average, all regions |
$72,587 |
+4.6 |
Established in 1921, the National Association of Elementary School
Principals serves 28,500 elementary and middle school principals in the United States,
Canada, and overseas.
- April 2, 2001 -- Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in digital
publishing for the Web, print, and dynamic media, today announced immediate availability
of Adobe Photoshop Elements. Based on Adobe Photoshop software, the world-standard image
editing solution, Photoshop Elements is a new addition to the Adobe family of digital
imaging products which gives amateur photographers, hobbyists, and business users a
powerful yet easy to use digital imaging solution at an affordable price.
-
- Adobe Photoshop Elements software has been eagerly anticipated by customers and industry
observers since its introduction in February. Prior to shipping, Photoshop Elements was
selected by imaging editors and writers from among hundreds of other products on display
at PMA 2001 to receive one of the prestigious "Innovative Digital Product
Awards" from the Digital Imaging Marketing Association, a section of PMA. Digital
hobbyists and enthusiasts from all fields have also offered early praise for the
software's powerful blend of functionality and usability.
-
- "Digital cameras are all the rage, but a digital camera alone can only get you so
far. The next step is optimizing or adding effects to images, and for that purpose,
Photoshop Elements is the ideal software," said Mikkel Aaland, photographer, writer,
Web producer, and the author of six books. "It is so accessible and unintimidating.
It meets the needs of digital photographers at an unbelievably reasonable price."
-
- "New help features like Recipes, the Quick Start Screen, context-sensitive Hints,
visual Filters and Effects Palettes, online Help and Tutorials all help 'coach' users to
complete their tasks. Yet, you can still tell that Photoshop Elements is built on the
software that set the standard for digital image editing. The combination of
world-standard digital image-editing tools complemented with tons of innovative and useful
new features make Photoshop Elements the all-in-one tool for getting the most from digital
photographs," said Gregory Georges, photographer, digital artist, and author.
-
- "With Photoshop Elements, the learning curve isn't steep," said Walt
Bobrowski, scientific imaging professional for a major pharmaceutical company. "It's
great for anyone who is just being introduced to digital imaging."
-
- "I'm no computer genius, but Photoshop Elements makes me look like one," said
Steve Wojnarski, a UPS driver whose favorite hobby is digital imaging. "The average
user, equipped with a digital camera, some PhotoCDs, and Photoshop Elements, can achieve
amazing results."
-
- For more product information and customer quotes, please visit our Web site at http://www.adobe.com/elements.
-
- Pricing and Availability Adobe Photoshop Elements software for Windows 98, 98 Release 2,
ME, 2000, Windows NT 4.0, and Macintosh OS 8.6, 9.0, 9.0.4 and 9.1 is now available in the
United States, Canada, and Europe for an estimated street price of $99 (U.S.) for all
platforms. In the United States and Canada, registered users of any version of Adobe
Photoshop LE, PhotoDeluxe, or selected competitive digital imaging software products are
eligible to receive Photoshop Elements for $69 (U.S.) if purchased through Adobe Direct or
a $30 (U.S.) mail-in rebate if purchased in the United States or Canada. Photoshop
Elements is also widely available at major retail stores, catalogs, and online vendors.
-
- French, German, and Japanese versions of Photoshop Elements software also will be
available in the second quarter. Information about the other language versions, as well as
pricing, upgrade, and support policies for other countries is available on adobe.com. For
more information, customers can call 800-492-3623.
- April 2, 2001 -- Express Digital announced that it has signed a long-term agreement
with Lifetouch Inc to provide
custom software development and support for its digital portrait studios.
-
- The contract comes after a year long relationship where Express Digital
has been providing Lifetouch with software and Internet solutions for a variety of digital
applications within both their events and portrait divisions. Most recently Express
Digital has provided Lifetouch with a digital capture and lab connectivity software
solution.
-
- "We are excited about assisting Lifetouch long-term in developing
and implementing profitable digital solutions into mainstream photography," said
Graham McFarland, CEO and founder of Express Digital. "Our software solutions are
quickly becoming the industry standard as giants such as Lifetouch adopt and embrace them
as innovative, customizable and proven."
- March 29, 2001 -- A long tradition at Richardson
High School in Richardson, Texas collapsed in a pile of lumber and injured students
today. Nine tiers of risers had been erected for the annual senior class panoramic
photo and five minutes after 400 students had climbed into place the whole thing came
tumbling down.
-
- Students fell on top of one another. In all 42 were injured with twisted
ankles, scratches and bruises. Nineteen were taken to the hospital by ambulance and
another 23 were transported by bus or their parents.
-
- The bleachers were owned and set up by the Goldbeck Company of San
Antonio, Texas which has been taking senior class photos since 1965. According to a
company spokesperson Sarah Wright the company takes over 1,100 schools each year and this
was the first time this has happened.
-
- Goldbeck is cooperating with authorities in the investigation of what
caused the collapse while school officials report a broken finger, ankle and leg. No
students will spend the night in the hospital.
-
- The Richardson High School principal says officials will reassess exactly
what form the senior class photo will take.
 VIDEO ON DEMAND: Watch live coverage
(From TV - WFAA)
- March 15, 2001 -- PCA International based in Matthews, North Carolina has decided to
pursue the school portrait market. This move brings another major player on to the
field and opens up a somewhat more competitive environment with which the entire market
must compete. PCA International should be seen as a possible major competitor to
Lifetouch, the current industry leader.
-
- PCA International is a successful portrait company that operates over
1,500 photographic studios inside Wal-Mart stores, which specializes in portraits of
children and families. PCA also offers it's services through contracts with
additional stores. The company also generates income from contracts with churches
and other institutions. In fact they are one of the largest church directory
companies in the US. Internationally, PCA operates studios in Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico
and South America. The company employs over 5,000 people and fiscal year 2000 sales
exceeded $200 million. Senior management and investment firm Jupiter Partners own
almost 95% of the company.
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