Zenfolio Review

Company name: Zenfolio

Website: http://www.zenfolio.com

Zenfolio is a well-know company providing web space for photographers to organize, display and sell their photos online. With Zenfolio you can create an HTML photo gallery with integrated proofing system and individual Flash elements. It was launched in 2004 and has gained many fans since then. Let’s see what Zenfolio can bring to photographers.

To check the application, I’ve registered and create a trail account which will expire in 14 days. The website management system is versatile enough, nice feature is that it displays a step-by-step guide so you could feel cozy and not get lost. When creating a page you can choose from 10 page layouts and 20 themes. You can switch among themes and layouts whenever you want. This is surely a nice touch. In general, design themes look a bit outdated, there are few really nice though. Zenfolio template galleries are rather flexible and quick to update. However, if you want some powerful customization mechanism, Zenfolio is not what you are looking for. What I didn’t like is the layout schemes, most of them are vertical and you have to heavily scroll the page in order to browse photography collections and website sections. This method has been often discusses lately and many experts consider it to be unusable. I’ve browsed photo website built with Zenfolio and I can agree with this point – galleries look a bit cluttered and navigation is inconvenient.

Despite some limits in design, Zenfolio has an obvious advantage – you can store full-size photos with no need to restore, plus you can easily organize images into different groups, galleries and collections. For all this the system provides rapid image loading and navigation. By means of right-click protection and watermark, Zenfolio also works well in terms of protecting your images. Built-in shopping cart allows photographers to sell their photos online, the e-commerce feature is implemented very well here. Fullscreen slideshow function is good for showcasing photos.

Taking into account the price, which varies from $25 to $100 per year, Zenfolio pays off well. “At Zenfolio we believe that a beautiful photograph requires an equally impressive viewing experience.” You are absolutely right guys, but “impressive viewing experience” is not your strong point. Zenfolio shows an excellent quality/price ratio, nothing more, nothing less.