Qimage vs Qimage Ultimate: a mini FAQ

Q: Why has Qimage been "split"?

A: Actually, it hasn't been split. Qimage Ultimate is a brand new product that, while designed to look familiar and take advantage of a decade of Qimage evolution, is largely rewritten underneath. The majority of the code in Qimage Ultimate is new or has been significantly modified. After a review of our business plan, we came to the realization that "Qimage" has become a catch-all term for anything and everything we do. Qimage and it's original free-lifetime-upgrade policy were introduced in 1998 and have been actively developed and supported for 12 years. Due to our level of support and commitment, customers have come to expect that anything we do related to photo printing software must be included in Qimage and provided for free. Fast forward to 2010. It is a more competitive marketplace and we realize that we can't continue to work for free, lumping everything we do under the umbrella of "Qimage". To adapt and survive in the marketplace of 2010+, we must offer a new product with new goals and new upgrade policies more reasonable for the current and future marketplace. Qimage Ultimate is our platform for fast paced development of a new product that is well underway and will, over the coming months, quickly evolve into something much more than the Qimage of the past. Such development comes at a cost, both for us and for customers who want to embark with us on this bold new journey. We know that our users enjoy being part of an evolving project as they've always been given a unique opportunity to influence the course of development. We hope you'll join us on this journey, now well underway with the introduction of Qimage Ultimate.

Q: How do the futures of Qimage and Qimage Ultimate compare?

A: While many companies would have simply revoked the free-lifetime-upgrade policy years ago by dropping the product entirely and calling the new one by a different name, we will continue to support the old Qimage Lite, Pro, and Studio editions for the foreseeable future even though they have been retired and will not receive new features. The old Qimage will continue to receive upgrades to existing features such as raw support for new camera models and updates to make Qimage compatible with current technology such as those needed to support new drivers and new OS's. Qimage will also continue to receive occasional performance improvements related to existing features as well such as those that might improve print speed or quality. We want to keep the feature set of Qimage "stable" while bolstering performance. We think some of our existing users will appreciate that and actually desire it, as they feel Qimage does what they need already. In contrast, we believe many users will benefit from the new innovations found in Qimage Ultimate along with its refined user interface. It should also be noted that we do not have unlimited resources so we are working on a fast track with Qimage Ultimate to add some great new features and performance improvements. It is inevitable that Qimage Ultimate will be updated more frequently than Qimage so for those of you who always want the latest and greatest, Qimage Ultimate is the way to go.

Q: What's the bottom line? Do I need Qimage Ultimate?

A: Honestly, it depends on how you use Qimage. If you are someone who uses Qimage infrequently or you just use Qimage to print photos and you don't use the large repertoire of other Qimage functions, the only benefit of owning Qimage Ultimate right now is the refined user interface. If you are someone who uses Qimage for some of its other innovative features like automated handling/printing of raw photos, batch image conversion, prepping photos for online printing, flash card photo downloading, etc. then you will likely benefit from Qimage Ultimate and its future development.

Q: Could you better explain the Qimage Ultimate upgrade policy?

A: We want Qimage Ultimate to have a sustainable future and fast paced development. We can't do that with free lifetime upgrades but we can do it cost effectively. With Qimage Ultimate, you get a full year of upgrades, and there will be many of them as we are on a fast track to many new innovations. After the first year (from the date of purchase), getting another full year of upgrades is just $19.99. Bottom line: you get a free year of upgrades and then you can obtain any and all upgrades for the nominal fee of $19.99/yr. That fee is considered a "membership" to download upgrades for a full year: it is not additive so you can come back after 3 years and just pay $19.99 to get a full year of upgrades starting from that date. The fact that Qimage Ultimate is truly new software in addition to the nominal upgrade fee is what will allow us to move forward with new innovations in Qimage Ultimate much faster than ever before! Of course, we need your support for that, and we thank you for considering Qimage Ultimate!

Q: Are there any other incentives for people who previously bought Qimage Studio?

A: Yes. Due to the resource requirements of the new Ultimate project, we cannot "mix and match" resources from the old Lite, Pro, Studio with the new Qimage Ultimate. Qimage Ultimate is truly a new product with new development and support resources, so we are not able to offer monetary discounts to existing Qimage users, some of whom have gone more than a decade without ever paying for any of the literally hundreds of new versions released during that time. We would, however, like to reward our existing Qimage Studio users with an attractive offer. If you previously bought Qimage Studio and you move on to the new Ultimate project by purchasing Qimage Ultimate, we'll send you our entire archive of 53 camera (raw) profiles at no cost: normally sold at $17.95 each! After you purchase Qimage Ultimate, just send us a request and we'll confirm your prior Studio purchase and your new Ultimate purchase and reply with a link to download the ZIP file and instructions. Please note that we cannot refund previous (profile) purchases, but even if you've previously purchased camera profiles, having our entire archive of camera profiles will ensure that you always get the most accurate color when working with raw photos, even if those raw photos came from another source/photographer.

Q: Can I install Qimage Ultimate to try it without it affecting my existing Qimage?

A: Yes! We've designed the install such that Qimage Ultimate installs as what it really is: a new program. If you are running Qimage, Qimage Ultimate will pick up all your existing Qimage settings but it will appear as a new icon called "Qimage Ultimate" on your desktop and in your Windows program group. Even if you decide to uninstall Qimage Ultimate (either the demo or full version), you can do so without affecting Qimage Lite, Pro, or Studio.