December 8, 1997

Photos To Go Unveils Re-engineered Web Site

On-Line Gallery Makes Images Available For Business and Personal Use

Calling it more intuitive as well as a better showcase for their photographers artwork, Photos To Go, (a division of Index Stock Photography, Inc.), today unveiled its re-engineered Web site at <http://www.photostogo.com> The site uses allows users to specify key words from a powerful relational database to bring up images matching their needs. For example, a user looking for Christmas images would type out Christmas and be presented with a menu of appropriate images. Licensing fees for photographers are handled through a proprietary rights management system designed in-house, according to Bahar Gidwani, President and CEO of Index Stock Photography.

Traditional uses for stock photography include marketing and advertising for large corporations, publications and advertising agencies. The Photos To Go brand is for small and home based businesses that could not ordinarily afford the license fees charged by traditional stock agencies."We are committed to making more money for our photographers work through the Web and other new media. In the old days we would have opened a gallery in Soho. Today that doesn't make sense. Instead we distribute and exhibit the art our photographers create through our Web store", said Gidwani. "This a significantly improved design and an improvement in user-friendliness. It is the anchor for this new brand identity, as an on-line supplier of stock photography for business and personal use. The response to our original site has been tremendous since we introduced it in June weve seen grow more than 50 percent a month and we are averaging close to 10,000 visits a day. Based on the feedback we received weve overhauled and redesigned it, making it easier to find images and make purchases."

"Our new site uses powerful natural language search tools which make navigation easier and speeds up the purchasing process", said Michael Uffer, Index Stocks Vice President for Technology. According to Uffer, significant changes from the original site include the addition of visual tabs to clarify the users location within the site.

"As a company dealing with visual media, it was important that the Web site be visually pleasing as well as inviting", said Matt Owens of methodfive, LLC., designers of the new site. "We wanted to create a distinct look and feel for the site that reflected positively on Photos To Go. Most importantly, as an electronic commerce site, it had to be clear and concise, and it had to facilitate the buying process."

"When we set out to redesign our Web site, I gave the design team the task of making the site an application to facilitate commerce in a way that was clear and simple for the user and reflected Index Stocks high standards of visual excellence and not just another electronic commerce Web site", said Kathy Mullins, Vice President for Electronic Services. I believe we have achieved those goals.

Index Stock has been storing and distributing images through electronic means since Gidwani acquired the company in 1991. Photos To Go a source of images for small and home-based businesses was introduced on CompuServe in November, 1994, and on Index Stocks own Web site in July, 1995. The original Photos To Go Web site debuted in June of 1997.

Index Stock is a leading stock photography agency representing more than 375 professional photographers. Index has offices in New York and Los Angeles and agents in 40 countries. With more than one million photos in its library, it is a respected source of high quality images for advertisers, graphic designers publishers, and multimedia products.

Photos To Go will be exhibiting Fall Internet World 97 on December 10, Booth #3967.