Latest News
We publish a regular newsletter to keep you informed of the latest product developments. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please click here. Our latest newsletter edition is: February 2010.
We also have a page of hints and tips for existing Third IMS customers, which may be accessed here.
Third Light Appliance Manager Launches
March 2010
Third Light has launched the Third Light Appliance Manager, a graphical toolkit for managing more than one IMS web site on the same hardware. The Appliance Manager allows any new or existing IMS server to support additional IMS sites, using spare storage and CPU capacity.
Installing multiple sites on one IMS server offers economies of scale through a substantial saving in equipment, power budgets and server management time. This makes the Appliance Manager ideally suited to agencies or web developers who wish to extend their services portfolio with a digital media library product for individual clients.
All Third Light IMS Appliances now have the option to activate the IMS Appliance Manager. Whether simply to add flexibility or to benefit partner organisations and clients, the Appliance Manager offers an instantaneous solution for deploying additional Third Light IMS sites on your hardware.
"Third Light IMS has universal appeal as a ready-made implementation of a cutting edge Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. In-house development of a DAM system is slow and expensive, while our IMS software is rich in functionality, uses recognised standards and is fully supported, documented and mature - and ready to install immediately."
"With the state of the art servers available today and the widespread appeal of Third Light IMS, it makes sense to install more than one Third Light instance on existing equipment to take full advantage of a lower cost base, and enjoy competitive pricing for extra site licences."
"The Third Light Appliance Manager means we can reach out to agencies, developers and other IT Services companies who are routinely asked to supply and support media management software. This latest addition gives them the management tools and commercial advantage they need to deliver outstanding software on time and on budget."
Michael Wells
Managing Director, Third Light Ltd.
Adobe Bridge Plugin for Third Light IMS 
December 2009
Working with important media in IMS is now even more convenient, with the addition this month of a Third Light plugin for Adobe Creative Suite.
After installing the plugin, Adobe Bridge can connect to an IMS server and browse through your IMS library. The Bridge plugin allows files to be quickly located using the standard Bridge user interface, and downloaded to your graphics workstation with a simple click.
For further details and instructions on how to install the plugin, please click here.
Quota Upgrades
December 2009
Effective immediately, the quota for all IMS sites hosted by Third Light has been increased by 5GB, and by 10GB for customers with a Virtual Appliance. The additional storage has been added to all existing sites, and the standard quotas for IMS are now as follows:
- IMS Standard: 15GB
- IMS Premium: 20GB
- IMS Virtual Appliance: 60GB
We back up all of your data twice each day - once to a backup system in our main data center, and once to our secondary data center located in a different city. With even greater capacity as standard, IMS subscription packages continue to offer great value for the most discerning users who demand the highest quality of equipment and reliability.
Third Light obtains maximum security approval
October 2009
PCI DSS (Data Security Standard) is a stringent security standard designed to protect information stored in computer systems. It stipulates a range of technical and organisational measures for storing and handling credit card and login details securely.
Third Light has now been approved as a PCI-compliant provider, meaning the IMS application and all of the data processes involved in our software development and the maintenance of our clients' sites are secured to the highest standards. Meticulous attention to the way that data is stored and encrypted dramatically reduces the chances of sensitive information being used inappropriately, and gives us a strong commercial foundation for handling the large volume of payments we process each month.
As Third Light is a PCI-compliant supplier with a global client base, customers who require PCI compliance for their own business can avoid the great majority of expenses involved in developing in-house solutions (and the associated risks of data handling in custom made software).
To read more about PCI DSS, please see https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/.
Third Light donates to Compassionate Eye Foundation (CEF) |
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August 2009
Compassionate Eye Foundation is an innovative non-profit organization founded on the principle that creative people as a community could and want to make a positive difference in the world. Each year, photographers and their crews around the world produce a one day stock photo shoot. The royalty revenues generated through image licensing are donated to CEF.
OJO Images spear heads the European efforts for CEF and to date has raised over $50,000 with its shoots in London. Chris Ryan, Chairman of OJO Images, comments on the importance of the Third Light system in delivering this project:
"We needed a great web delivery system to get the images to the models that had taken part in these amazing shoots. I have worked with Third Light for years and so they were my obvious choice to ask to get involved. They have helped us from the very beginning and have been a critical part of our fundraising scheme by donating our site and hosting. Enormous thanks to the excellent team at Third Light for the IMS software."
Chris Ryan, Chairman, OJO Images
For more information on Compassionate Eye go to: www.compassionateeye.org or to see a video of the CEF trip to Guatemala go to: ojoimages.com/index.cfm?id=277.
Measuring the benefits of Digital Asset Management (DAM)
June 2009
Digital assets continue to take up more time and more storage, and the need to use electronic media now arises across all departments, in businesses small and large. Since we first launched our services in 2002, we have seen extraordinary growth in digital media year on year, and there is no end in sight. How do you bring the rising volume and complexity of digital assets under control?
Adopting Digital Asset Management (DAM) is the single most essential choice that a business should make in order to avoid the pitfalls and costs associated with ad hoc file storage. We have summed up some of the key benefits in our article on DAM.
As one of the most intuitive and simplest systems to deploy, Third Light IMS offers a convenient and quick route to solving your asset management problems, effortlessly turning valuable media content to your advantage. Our IMS server is a self-contained solution that is easy to deploy and won't cost the earth. IMS can cope with large scale storage and complex requirements, thanks to its smart features and thoughtful, evolving design.
If you would like us to call you to discuss our solutions, please let us know. We would like to help your organisation make Digital Asset Management into a strength.
Free Online Photo Conversion Tool
May 2009
We're pleased to announce the launch of a new tool designed to make quick image editing jobs simple for anyone on the web. Our new free online image converter provides a convenient web interface for resizing, cropping, tagging and converting a wide range of common image formats.
Simply bookmark our site or send it to colleagues, friends and associates to help them with basic photo conversions (no need to register or supply an email address). The address is: http://www.thirdlight.com/converter.
New Virtual Appliances and Self-Install Versions
September 2008
Third Light's flagship product is the IMS Corporate Appliance ('Appliance'), which is a standalone server solution for businesses wishing to run IMS on their own network or internally. Starting this month, we are offering a simplified way to licence and own the IMS product, supported by a new automatic updates service which allows you to manage software upgrades when you like (much like the updates service provided by Windows Update or Mac OS Software Update).
For clients purchasing the Appliance, we are offering two new options commencing 1 September 2008:
Option 1) Standalone installation from CD-ROM on your own hardware
This option is aimed at organisations with their own IT staff in house. Installation is very easy, and requires reformatting the hard drive as IMS is a complete operating system which uses the whole server. If you prefer, installation inside VMWare is fully supported. Pre-installed hardware and remote installation services are available if required.
Option 2) Hosted 'virtual server' in Third Light's data centre
In order to offer the full range of Appliance features, we can now provide virtual appliances. These behave in exactly the same way as option 1 above, and provide the full range of features, but you do not need to buy hardware or arrange hosting. The initial quota is 50GB, using our secure and backed-up storage platform, and can be further extended as required.
For pricing information, please click here, or contact us for further details.
Third Light partners with Pictopia to offer pro lab print services worldwide |
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August 2008
Third Light's Image Management System (IMS) is a self-contained image library solution, used by hundreds of businesses around the globe for image management and e-commerce functions on the web. IMS includes fully automated download and print sales, enabling commercial ventures to market and sell prints to clients via the internet, with no technical effort required.
Building on these successes, Third Light's e-commerce offering now incorporates a new joint offering with Pictopia, Inc. to sell professional lab prints. Pictopia is renowned for offering the highest standards of reproduction to discerning clients by using leading print technologies, and is an established leader in top quality printing. Pictopia prints are produced with uncompromising attention to detail.
Print manufacturing is in California, USA, ideal for clients in North America. No matter where the purchased items are delivered, sturdy packaging will ensure the goods arrive in perfect condition, anywhere in the world.
Michael Wells, Managing Director of Third Light comments:
"I am delighted that Third Light and Pictopia are teaming up. It's a perfect partnership. Our customers recognise the value of products fulfilled by one of the finest labs in the world. The smart technology and ready-made nature of our IMS product makes it a perfect platform to deliver this exciting service. Professional prints have an enduring appeal, and deploying print-enabled web systems has never been simpler."
Image Library Servers
Third Light and Pictopia are now developing print-ready photo storage appliances, engineered to deliver spectacular performance and features to professional users such as newspapers and periodicals. These servers can be placed within an organisation to offer turn-key printing features.
Phil Polishuk of Pictopia comments:
"We recognize the importance of safely storing and indexing huge volumes of data and placing a commercial interface in front of this valuable stock. Third Light's IMS system is an outstanding leap forward when it comes to packaging and delivering these features in a product. With the Pictopia module built in, IMS is an attractive solution that appeals directly to our client base, and promotes an excellent customer experience."
The Pictopia module is available from September 2008 in all Third Light product packages. A 30-day trial version of IMS is available from http://www.thirdlight.com/ims/try.
Third Light release IMS v5.7 with enhanced user interfaces
March 2008
Third Light are delighted to announce the availability of IMS v5.7, now incorporating a new and highly developed set of templates to make IMS even more intuitive and functional. Produced in partnership with professional creative designers, the latest templates incorporate fresh visual designs and the highest levels of browser compatibility.
IMS v5.7 templates are designed to offer an attractive and fully-functional IMS site from day one, which can be easily adjusted using a visual palette control tool without any technical knowledge assumed. Under the hood, IMS is even easier than before to customise through our HTML templates, designed to offer IT staff and web developers total flexibility.
IMS v5.7 is a free upgrade for all Third Light customers. New themes created from 10 March 2008 will use the latest templates automatically.
"No setup fee" offer for PrintButton clients
October 2007
The PhotoBox PrintButton service is closing in January 2008, and to help clients migrate to the business-grade solution offered by Third Light, we are offering a zero setup fee incentive to all existing PrintButton clients.
Any order for IMS Standard Plus received between 11 October 2007 and 1 February 2008 is eligible for a free set up (usually £300). To qualify, a valid PrintButton vendor ID number must be quoted on the IMS order form, or just mention your PrintButton account details when discussing your order.
Third Light understand PrintButton's features, having used the service between 2002 and 2006. Our current product, IMS v5 is a natural upgrade for any business with strong print sales, looking for a fully supported, commercial image library solution. To enquire, please contact us or review our price list today.
Third Light donate photo library to World Scout Jamboree
August 2007
Third Light is delighted to have supported the Scout Association by donating an on-site media library to the World Scout Jamboree in Chelmsford.
With over 40,000 Scouts and 80,000 day visitors from around the world attending for the centenary year of the Association, media interest in photographs and videos from the event was unprecedented. A donation of hardware and software to the Scouts helped the media team to manage and track the delivery of files to interested parties.
Third Light IMS provided the core features of public galleries, with traceable auditing on visits and copyright controls, as well as the huge storage capacity needed to keep pace with a team of professional photographers on site. In just a week, the image library received over 1.3 million picture viewings.
In addition to the on-site library, Third Light hosts the Scout Association's permanent media library. By following this link, you can see the latest photographs from the Jamboree including aerial photography of the site: http://www.tsa.thirdlight.com/.
For more details on Third Light's project with the Scouts and the systems used, please download our PDF case study.
Our best wishes to the Scout Association, and to Scouts from around the world in this 100th anniversary year.
Third Light joins the Adobe™ Solution Network
June 2007
Third Light are now members of the Adobe Solutions Network. Our development programme will benefit from full access to Adobe partner resources and technical support, highlighting the close involvement Third Light has with Adobe products.
Product development at Third Light is enhanced by the technical and commercial benefits of the programme, allowing us to take full advantage of opportunities to deploy new and innovative software.
"Having direct access to Adobe gives us further scope to integrate Third Light products with leading Adobe software. As long-standing supporters of standards such as XMP, our products will continue to track the developments which our clients depend upon. Having Adobe's support helps us keep IMS on the cutting edge."
Ben Holland
Technical Director, Third Light Ltd.
Third Light and Ether-Ray Announce Product Partnership
May 2007
Ether-Ray Ltd are the London-based creators of NewsFlash, a highly acclaimed public relations tool. It is used by many public sector organisations in Great Britain, to manage communications and to interact with the press.
Third Light are delighted to announce a product partnership with Ether-Ray to jointly deliver an even more impressive solution: a combined PR and Image Library System, completely integrated with carefully matched features. Designed to solve the combined challenges of textual and photo communications, the new system is the result of over 12 months of development and planning.
"Partnering with Ether-Ray establishes Third Light as the most natural choice of image library software for marketing and communications departments. It brings two key functions together, under a single system."
"UK councils and public sector organisations that use NewsFlash are well-placed to take a simple upgrade path and enjoy the full benefits of our complete image library product. The innovative features of IMS have long been hailed as an ideal solution to central management of visual assets, and we have taken care to provide just the right balance of ease-of-use and flexibility."
"We are pleased to offer carefully packaged pricing models for public sector buyers, helping clients make the most of our joint solution. From 1 June 2007 onwards we are taking orders for full IMS deployments with NewsFlash fully integrated."
Roland Henry
Commercial Director, Third Light Ltd.
Among other benefits, the new IMS service in NewsFlash ensures that emails do not have to carry high-resolution attachments, by using a unique "pick up page" function that is built specifically to support journalists.
Third Light offers tailored upgrade opportunities to public sector users of NewsFlash. To speak to our business development team, please contact us.
Canada's Largest Newspaper Launches Third Light Library
April 2007
The Toronto Star is Canada's largest daily newspaper, reaching over 2.2 million readers each week. From an archive of almost one million images, covering local, national and international events for the past 100 years, Torstar Syndication Services offers reprints and rights-managed licences for more than 32,000 Toronto Star photographs, using Third Light's IMS software.
The Toronto Star online archive is offered for to main types of buyer: members of the public can visit the site to purchase high-quality photo reprints, while business users can register to access a rights-managed library for commercial re-use of valuable photo stock. IMS offers exceptional convenience by providing a single front end web application to provide both print and licensing functions - the result is a large saving in time and significant cost savings compared to running two separate systems.
"Since the launch of our new Toronto Star Photo & Page Sales site, we have received many words of appreciation from our clients. They praise the site's clean and attractive appearance, and its user-friendliness. We are thrilled to have an application that allows us to quickly and easily deliver the top quality services and products that our customers deserve. We would recommend Third Light, and the IMS application, without any hesitation."
Claire Wollen
Manager, Torstar Syndication Services, Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
Third Light offers unique business opportunities to newspapers wishing to profit from stock photography, or manage internal libraries of photography. Newbury Weekly News Group (England) have already selected IMS as their print sales solution. To speak to our business development team, please contact us.
Third Light Announces Video Support
March 2007
Third Light is pleased to announce support for video content in IMS v5.4, released on 20 March 2007. Using a novel interface based around still frames extracted from uploaded videos, IMS is able to provide a direct overview of a movie without requiring the user to view a clip or download the file.
Download IMS v5.4 Video Press Release (PDF)By offering video features using still previews, Third Light can also offer ecommerce sales of video content, one of the fastest growing sources of media revenue on the web.
Video support is available to all corporate customers as an optional module. For further details, please contact our sales team.
Read more about IMS video supportThe Scout Association Adopts IMS Library
January 2007
Third Light are pleased to be working with The Scout Association to provide a media library service based entirely on IMS.
The Scout Association provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for 400,000 young people aged 6-25. Internationally, the Association has over 28 million young people enjoying the benefits of Scouting across 216 countries. In 2007 Scouting will celebrate its Centenary with a programme of events and activities in the UK and worldwide. The world will come to the UK for the 21st World Scout Jamboree, the highlight of the World Scouting calendar.
"2007 is an important year for Scouting. Not only are we celebrating 100 years of delivering fun and adventure to young people, we are also playing host the 21st World Scout Jamboree. Some 40,000 adults and 100,000 day visitors are expected at Hylands Park Essex in July and August, making it the largest Scout event in the UK for fifty years. With the eyes of the world on the Movement, it was vital that we had in place a robust Asset Management system to quickly and effectively upload and deliver high quality images to media partners.
"Third Light has delivered a flexible, reliable and adaptable system that has transformed the way we use and manage our images, encouraging user generated content and ensuring ease of use both at the admin and user ends. Quite simply, they've helped us "be prepared"!
Chris James
Head of Corporate Communications
Third Light are very happy to support The Scout Association, including offering a donation of equipment and software to support the media centre at the Jamboree this summer.
Click here to download a PDF case study (1.6MB)Mediablitz Images Launches
September 2006
It is our pleasure this month to announce the launch of Mediablitz Images, a brand new stock library using Third Light IMS.
To visit Mediablitz Images on the web, please go to: http://www.mediablitzimages.com/.
Our congratulations to the team at Mediablitz, who have used IMS to produce an impressive online business, including search, payment handling and order management. With a stock of over 12,000 individually keyworded images, the Mediablitz library is powered by IMS V5.0 Appliances hosted in the Third Light data centre, designed from the ground up for performance and reliability.
Martin Lee, Chief Executive of Mediablitz, remarks on the launch:
"We are absolutely delighted at the launch of Mediablitz Images. When we first evaluated the concept of a digital library the timescale to launch was anything between 6 months and 2 years. One of the best things we did was to identify Third Light as the IMS provider: in just four months we have the site fully launched.
"Early comments from users have been positive, especially with regard to the ease of use and fast navigation properties of the site. We are looking at Third Light as a long term investment, confident that they will keep us at the front of available technology, providing that essential edge over the competition."
For further details about Mediablitz Images, please contact sales@mediablitzimages.com.
Click here to download a PDF case study (1.4MB)Xstrata Deploy Global IMS Image Library
February 2006
Xstrata is a major global diversified mining group, listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges. The Group is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and has approximately 24,000 employees world-wide, including contractors. The Group's operations and projects span four continents and seven countries: Australia, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Peru and the UK.
Xstrata use IMS to manage marketing and public relations materials globally, using their corporate intranet to access a pair of high-performance IMS servers located in the Swiss headquarters in Zug.
Brigitte Mattenberger, Corporate Affairs Xstrata (Switzerland) comments:
"Since the IMS library was installed, we have been able to manage our images in a fraction of the time. Our new electronic library allows us to search and track a very wide range of marketing and corporate photography. Producing annual reports will be so much easier now that we can track which pictures have been used in the past.
"The Xstrata IMS is 100% reliable: we have been extremely pleased with the quality of the product and the high standards of service Third Light deliver."
The Xstrata system is a large-scale deployment of the IMS product, designed for a user base in geographically remote offices. Third Light's delivery of the solution included high-level IT-integration, as well as comprehensive training for the key staff administering the library. The Xstrata Global Image Library was deployed in 6 weeks.
For more information on the IMS Corporate Appliance, click here.
Click here to download a PDF case study (1.4MB)Third Light back Adobe™ XMP standards with IMS Appliance
January 2006
The IMS Appliance now includes full metadata standards compliance in line with Adobe's recent extensible metadata platform (XMP) specification.
By providing support in the latest release, version 4.1, for emerging industry-standards for digital image metadata, Third Light is providing businesses with a sophisticated, future-proofed way of storing their valuable visual assets.
Installed as an appliance, IMS is a cost effective and powerful tool for businesses to make all their pictures and photographs much more accessible and secure. By increasing our support for metadata standards Third Light is helping make images more immediately accessible and easier to find.
The key to successful picture libraries is providing good metadata so that users can find what they are looking for quickly and simply. By implementing full and extensible support for the metadata standards Third Light is helping businesses with the corporate governance of their images by ensuring all images have clear copyright and ownership definitions, making it easier to police their correct usage.
This is the first of a series of exciting new product releases that will see IMS helping businesses transform the way they manage visual assets. As well as providing a valuable compliance and usage controls to businesses IMS also offers time efficiency and cost savings thanks to its extensive image collaboration tools, developed over the last four years.
"Keywording is vital to enable search technologies to succeed. Businesses are accumulating digital photography at an increasing rate, and many marketing teams have more images than it is possible to browse, without some form of search interface. The XMP standard allows meta data to be exchanged seamlessly between IMS and other compatible products."
Dave Potts
Development Director, Third Light Ltd.
Britain On View select Third Light IMS
Winter 2005
Britain on View is the UK's specialist photographic library offering unique pictures of Britain and British life, and is operated by VisitBritain. With a significant stock of world-class photography, Britain on View required an internet based exhibition tool to allow visitors from around to world to view and purchase these images.
Using Third Light's IMS solution allows Britain on View to sell photo and gift products online, with no overheads thanks to the complete automation of the IMS printing systems. A wide range of photo and gift products are available through the new e-Shop. In addition, the galleries are searchable and indexed with keywords, to help buyers locate exactly the right pictures.
Ed Veasey, Sales & Licensing Co-Ordinator for VisitBritain, describes the new IMS system:
"Using Third Light's IMS has meant we can offer fully functional galleries of our stock in a very short space of time. The solution is simple to populate and customise, and very well-suited to offering galleries to a global audience. Our new e-Shop will allow more people to access and buy pictures, and give us management information on how our stock is accessed. We are delighted to be working with such an innovative commercial solution from Third Light."
To visit Britain on View and see IMS in action, click here.
Anglia Ruskin University deploy Third Light IMS
Autumn 2005
Anglia Ruskin University use Third Light's Image Management System - IMS - as a central image library, used by staff and suppliers across two campuses, in Cambridge and Chelmsford. Rebecca Bowerman, Marketing Executive at Anglia Ruskin, comments:
"IMS saves us hours of searching and sorting through pictures. The system is intuitive to use, works from both of our campuses and gives us excellent control over how images are used. The system is easy to use, very immediate, functional and innovative. The time saved and ease-of- access makes it great value for money."