Suggestion - Festool Photo Archive

[Forrest Anderson]

When I am thinking about purchasing a tool or gadget, I go on the hunt for information about that product. Being able to find good clear photos, parts diagrams, instruction manuals, and reviews are important factors in my purchasing decision.

A good photograph or diagram also helps to illustrate a point when replying to a query here on FOG, but finding them can be difficult. In trying to answer recent queries here, I have visited various Festool international websites, the websites of dealers and reviewers, and when all else has failed, I have gone and taken photos of my own saw. Sometimes the relevant illustration can be near-impossible to track down. For example, the only photo I can find of the new friction pads on the bottom of the TS-55 seem to be in a Festool brochure, and they are not clear at all.

I visit several woodworking forums, and it doesn't take long for someone to reply to a Festool query with "You should visithttp://festoolownersgroup.com". FOG is becoming the go-to place for Festool enquiries. My idea is to make it the go-to place for Festool photos!

Woodworkers like to create jigs and improvise, and often try to make new things out of available bits. That's fine if you have the pieces in front of you, or can go to a shop and browse the shelves to find a suitable piece, but it's much more difficult when you only have a small photo in a catalogue to work with. You are left wondering "If I go and order that part, will I be able to use it to create my jig? I wish the photo was bigger and clearer, so that I have a better idea of what I'd be ordering".

With that in mind, my idea wouldn't just cover photos of the main items - there would also be photos of accessories, which are more difficult to find on the Internet. Cross-sections of rails and close-ups of clamps would all be welcome.

Matthew has recently introduced the Gallery feature, where members can easily upload photos and multimedia. Perhaps part of this Gallery could be devoted to the Festool Photo Archive, which might be structured along the following lines for easy navigation:

Festool Photo Archive
Saws
TS-55
Main item
Accessories
TS-75
Main item
Accessories
KS-120 Kapex
Main item
Accessories

Routers
OF-1010
Main item
Accessories
OF-1400
Main item
Accessories

There are many things that would need to be sorted out before the archive was created - issues such as image size and copyright have to be addressed for example - but I believe that the Festool Photo Archive could grow into something unique amongst tool manufacturers, and would be of great benefit to Festool too.

OK, that's the idea. Now I guess it's time for people to shoot me down! Is it a worthwhile venture, or something that's pie in the sky?  ???

Forrest

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Forrest,
Now that's thinking!

A "Festool Photo Archive" is just the sort of thing I was hoping members would think of when I said the new gallery should be a "full multimedia zone for the Festool Owners Group that is an impressive partner to the main forum area."

The new gallery allows us to do sub-directories, which is perfect for the structure you're envisioning.  Plus, the photo archive could be a great model for future ideas.

How about this:
I'll create a "Photo Archive" section in the gallery, with the sub-categories you mentioned.  Then you and others can begin plugging items into it.  We can evaluate it as we go along and the idea can evolve.

What do you think?

Matthew

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Forrest,
One thing: I'm wondering if "Photo Archive" is the best term to use here?  Maybe something that tells a visitor that this is a zone to help you pinpoint difficult-to-find details about the tools and accessories?
Discuss...
Matthew

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Forrest,
Now that's thinking!

It's something which I've been mulling over for a week or so. I even wrote a message yesterday suggesting the idea, but deleted it after having second thoughts. The idea refused to die though...

The new gallery allows us to do sub-directories, which is perfect for the structure you're envisioning.  Plus, the photo archive could be a great model for future ideas.

That's what I was thinking.

How about this:
I'll create a "Photo Archive" section in the gallery, with the sub-categories you mentioned.  Then you and others can begin plugging items into it.  We can evaluate it as we go along and the idea can evolve.

What do you think?

Sounds good to me! What do other people reckon? Input from Dan the Photo Man would be good 

I can start it off with photos of the TS55, FS1400/2 guide rail, Systainer and FSZ120 clamp. Hardly earth-shattering subjects, but they will include a scaled photo of the guide rail cross-section, which I haven't seen anywhere else. Hopefully they will give people the idea of what I have in mind for the Festool Photo Archive (or whatever we call it). More than one person can submit photos of something, and put them in the same folder. What I am aiming for is large, clear, detailed photos of Festool kit, ideally with some idea as regards scale.

As regards copyright, I'm a bit worried that photos from reviews end up in the archive without permission, leading to complaints from the original photographer. I suggest some guidelines are needed relating to this - perhaps along the lines of "don't submit other people's photos". For example, there are some brilliant photos of the Domino in Rick Christopherson's manual, but I'd imagine he would be upset if people snaffled them and submitted them to the archive!

We don't want the photos to be too small (difficult to see details) or too large (problems with storage space, bandwidth, and time taken for dial-up users to download) so maybe we could have a guide as to size. Perhaps not exceeding 200KB, and dimensions of about 800x600 to 1200x800 pixels?

As to name, I'm not fussed, so feel free to come up with another title. Photo Zone, Photographic Archive, Festool Foto Forum, Festool Product Gallery are just some suggestions.

Forrest

 

[Michael Kellough]

An archive like you propose is a great way to correct the weak part of Festool's web site, small grainy pictures and sparse descriptions of accessories. As people use the tools and take and post pictures the archive will be filled out with usefull info. I think it would be helpful to go ahead and implement the structure and when people see the sparse areas they will be more motivated to contribute the missing info.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Forrest,
I like "Festool Product Gallery" as the name.  We can always revise it later if we want, but this will get us started.  The goal here, if we understand each other correctly, is to help members understand what something is and what it's for.

Regarding copyrights: People should generally post their own photos.  If you're using something that's posted elsewhere on the Web, usually we're fine if yo just give credit.  If you're scanning something from a book or magazine, we should check on it first.

Regarding photo sizes, here are the current gallery settings:
Pixels = up to 2000x2000
Size = up to 125 KB

These settings are enough for very impressive material.

Keep in mind that the gallery also allows video and sound clips.

Also, keep in mind that your photo titles and descriptions get added to a searchable database.  So choose effective keywords!

Keep the ideas flowing.

Stay in touch,
Matthew

 

[Dan Clark]

"Dan-The-Photo-Man" is here!  (Drum roll, please.)  ;D

I think a general purpose, Festool tools gallery is an excellent idea.  While uploading an image is a good idea, many times it's much better to upload an image to the gallery and reuse it.  For example, in this thread -http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1042.0 - there are some great images (who took those?) of the TS55 and base plate.  But a month from now, they will be lost in the midst of hundreds of other threads.  If these images where in the Gallery, they could be used over and over, or just viewed for information. 

A suggestion - Limit the number of sub-galleries to something like what Festool and the Dealers have.  E.g., "Drilling and Screwing", "Sawing", "Routing", "Domino", etc.    If it get's too detailed, we'll spend too much time navigating gallery folders just trying to find a pic of a "using a TS55 to cross-cut on an MFT using a Guide Rail and ensure that dust collection adequate with a CT22".  So which gallery would you use?

It might be good to have galleries with a similar structure to the forum - gallery for specific tools, a "General" gallery, a "Jigs" gallery, a "User Projects", etc.

Metadata (key words, descriptions, etc.) are very important for searching.

I have a few other thoughts, but I have to head off to the day job.

Dan.

 

[Dan Clark]

Forrest,
I like "Festool Product Gallery" as the name.  We can always revise it later if we want, but this will get us started.  The goal here, if we understand each other correctly, is to help members understand what something is and what it's for.

Regarding copyrights: People should generally post their own photos.  If you're using something that's posted elsewhere on the Web, usually we're fine if yo just give credit.  If you're scanning something from a book or magazine, we should check on it first.

Regarding photo sizes, here are the current gallery settings:
Pixels = up to 2000x2000
Size = up to 125 KB

These settings are enough for very impressive material.

Keep in mind that the gallery also allows video and sound clips.

Also, keep in mind that your photo titles and descriptions get added to a searchable database.  So choose effective keywords!

Keep the ideas flowing.

Stay in touch,
Matthew

Matthew,

Good points.  With careful post-processing, you can get large image (say 1500X1500) under 125Kb.    However, video is another story.  Even a small, short video can get very large.  That would be tough to keep under 125Kb.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Dan,
I just created a couple of albums in the gallery for the "Festool Product Gallery."  I think you're definitely correct about limiting the number of sub-galleries.  The key here is organizing the information, while not making visitors have to drill down too many levels to find what they need.

So far, I've created these albums:
Saws
Routers
Sanders

Members can now upload photos to these albums.  Here's what I'm thinking: use photo titles and descriptions to provide more detailed information.  Let's say you want to post a descriptive photo of the Guide Stop for the OF1400 router (Item # 492601).  You would give your photo a title like "OF1400 Guide Stop" and in the description say something like "This allows you to run the OF 1400 on a Festool guide rail.  It is item #492601 in the Festool catalog."

This would keep the structure simple, and allow visitors to find what they need quickly.

As I said, this is an evolving concept, so keep the ideas moving.

Matthew

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Good points.  With careful post-processing, you can get large image (say 1500X1500) under 125Kb.    However, video is another story.  Even a small, short video can get very large.  That would be tough to keep under 125Kb.

Regards,

Dan.

I'm working on being able to set different limits for various kinds of files.  I would like to increase the space for videos, while keeping photos at 125 KB.  Stay tuned on this.

Matthew

 

[John Langevin]

An excellent group of ideas gentlemen. I think such a repository of good clearly labeled photos would be a great resource to all of us. I think the area of accessories is especially important. Festool doesn't do a very detailed job of stating their capabilities or even how to use them, so if we the users did this it would be very worthwhile. I agree about trying to limit the levels of the database, an overly detailed one can be so cumbersome to use that it doesn't get used. The titles should be carefully chosen to best describe what is important about the photo. The fact that it is in the Sawing category frames it generally. The title "Angle Cutting Sheet Goods" gives further detail and a specific photo caption "Angle Unit 491 588, Guide Rail FS 1400/2, and FS Rapid Clamp 491 594" tells you every thing you need to know about the Festool items in use. One question, do we want to use the Product Name/Number or Product Name and Catalog number to specifically identify what we are talking about. In some past posts it is sometimes confusing what people are referring to, especially concerning spare parts and fasteners.

 

[Brice Burrell]

John, I think the part number is very important to include in the title, that way I can search the gallery by part #, no title or description needed to find the tool, accessory.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

John and Brice,
Including part numbers would definitely be important for searching.  In the description, members could add whatever they thought was illustrative.

Keep in mind, you can always go in and edit your titles and descriptions if you forget something.

Matthew

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Firstly, one for Matthew.

I went to the Gallery Upload section to upload some files. After I completed the first stage, which asked for the location of the files, it took me to the page which asked which album I wanted to submit it to...

[attachimg=1]

Although I know that you have created three albums for the Festool Product Gallery (Routers, Sanders, Saws), these are not listed in the drop-down menu, so I wasn't able to upload my files.

Could you sort that one out, and perhaps create an "Other" album, which can be used to hold photos of miscellaneous kit until you create a suitable album? Once a special album is created, you (or perhaps the original uploader) can then move the photos to the correct album.

I suggest doing it this way, because if someone has photos of a planer (for example) that they want to submit, they will often want to do it now, not wait whilst their request to create an album specially for planers is being processed by you. You have to sleep sometime, and by the time you get round to processing these sort of requests, their urge to submit their planer photos may have passed!

I'll reply to some of the other comments/suggestions shortly.

Forrest

 

[DaveM]

Although I know that you have created three albums for the Festool Product Gallery (Routers, Sanders, Saws), these are not listed in the drop-down menu, so I wasn't able to upload my files.

Could you sort that one out, and perhaps create an "Other" album, which can be used to hold photos of miscellaneous kit until you create a suitable album? Once a special album is created, you (or perhaps the original uploader) can then move the photos to the correct album.

I second the idea of the uploader having ability to move photos to the correct album.  I just uploaded a couple pics of my new Rotex 150 and discovered I can't place them in the new Sanders gallery, so I dumped them in the Common album for the moment.

Dave

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I'm so glad that people seem to like the idea of a product gallery  ;D

"Dan-The-Photo-Man" is here!  (Drum roll, please.)  ;D

I thought you'd be along soon!

I think a general purpose, Festool tools gallery is an excellent idea.   While uploading an image is a good idea, many times it's much better to upload an image to the gallery and reuse it.  For example, in this thread -http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1042.0 - there are some great images (who took those?) of the TS55 and base plate.   But a month from now, they will be lost in the midst of hundreds of other threads.   If these images where in the Gallery, they could be used over and over, or just viewed for information.   

Agreed. I'm going to go back to that post and upload the photos I used to the new Festool Product Gallery for posterity. At the moment the images are hosted on my own website, and I linked to these images in my post.  I may therefore go back and edit the link so that it points to the image gallery, rather than my website, and this will allow me to remove the photos from my website without the image disappearing.

A suggestion - Limit the number of sub-galleries to something like what Festool and the Dealers have.  E.g., "Drilling and Screwing", "Sawing", "Routing", "Domino", etc.    If it get's too detailed, we'll spend too much time navigating gallery folders just trying to find a pic of a "using a TS55 to cross-cut on an MFT using a Guide Rail and ensure that dust collection adequate with a CT22".   So which gallery would you use?

Fair enough.

Members can now upload photos to these albums.  Here's what I'm thinking: use photo titles and descriptions to provide more detailed information.  Let's say you want to post a descriptive photo of the Guide Stop for the OF1400 router (Item # 492601).  You would give your photo a title like "OF1400 Guide Stop" and in the description say something like "This allows you to run the OF 1400 on a Festool guide rail.  It is item #492601 in the Festool catalog."

and

The titles should be carefully chosen to best describe what is important about the photo. The fact that it is in the Sawing category frames it generally. The title "Angle Cutting Sheet Goods" gives further detail and a specific photo caption "Angle Unit 491 588, Guide Rail FS 1400/2, and FS Rapid Clamp 491 594" tells you every thing you need to know about the Festool items in use. One question, do we want to use the Product Name/Number or Product Name and Catalog number to specifically identify what we are talking about. In some past posts it is sometimes confusing what people are referring to, especially concerning spare parts and fasteners.

I reckon we should give the catalogue number where possible, but the above posts from Matthew and John raise a potential problem.

Matthew's example was # 492601 and #492601 whilst John's was 491 588. Search engines can be rather fussy things, and the inclusion of a hash (#) at the beginning, or a space in the middle, may mess things up and result in no hits. I therefore suggest that catalogue numbers are given as straight 6-digit numbers, like 492601

Forrest

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Although I know that you have created three albums for the Festool Product Gallery (Routers, Sanders, Saws), these are not listed in the drop-down menu, so I wasn't able to upload my files.

Could you sort that one out, and perhaps create an "Other" album, which can be used to hold photos of miscellaneous kit until you create a suitable album? Once a special album is created, you (or perhaps the original uploader) can then move the photos to the correct album.

Forrest,
I fixed it.  Just forgot to set the permissions when I created the new album.
So, go back in and move your images into the folder where you want them to be.
I've also created a "Temporary" folder, where members can drop their images that don't yet have a designated folder.
Matthew

 

[Jesse Cloud]

One kind of photo that would be hugely helpful is a picture of each tool as it came in the Systainer.  I never seem to be able to get my tools back in comfortably. :

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I fixed it.  Just forgot to set the permissions when I created the new album.
So, go back in and move your images into the folder where you want them to be.
I've also created a "Temporary" folder, where members can drop their images that don't yet have a designated folder.

Many thanks! I've just uploaded the three photos I took for the recent thread about the modified TS55 baseplate, and all worked well. I just have to go and take some new photos now...

Forrest

 

[Brice Burrell]

One kind of photo that would be hugely helpful is a picture of each tool as it came in the Systainer .  I never seem to be able to get my tools back in comfortably. :

Good idea, I don't really have this problem, but I know others do. I  don't know what to do with the accessories I buy for the tool, there is just no extra room in the Systainer.