Gallery Navigation Guide

To  enhance your visit to my print gallery, I've added the following info.

When you first visit or refresh the main gallery page, a new selection of images will be shown. The images rotate automatically in no particular order.  This feature  lets you see a variety of images without your doing anything extra other than visiting or refreshing the Gallery Home page.

Along the Top Bar and on the left hand side are several  Links to use in navigating the gallery.

• Gallery Home takes you to the main gallery page with a view of 6 thumbnails.
• Show List displays a text and link list of all the Categories.
• Specials will display any current deals or feature images.
• Your Account, Cart and Checkout are SECURE links to use if you want to buy a print, delete an order or to edit your account information. Once you enter the areas of Your Acccount or Checkout
  you will be within the certified secure area of this website, which protects all of your information with 128 bit encryption. You can view the security certificate that encrypts these areas of the website by double clicking on the "padlock" symbol at the bottom of your browser.

This site has a good Search function which I encourage you to use. It should help you find images more quickly. It has a basic keyword search and via the link below the Search field, there is an Advanced Search option which offers you more search choices. Searches are based on the image titles, categories and keywords that I've placed in the image caption. Searches aren't perfect and sometimes a few images that aren't exactly related to what you are looking for will appear in the results. I apologize if this happens and I hope that you can overlook the wrong images that might show up. Despite any wrong images, using the Search function is still probably your fastest way of finding images. You might have to try a couple of searches using different words to really narrow down a specific image. Another feature is the "Related Images" link that shows up on the lower right of an enlarged image view. This brings up directly related subjects or variations of the same image.

Next, you can navigate via the Categories that I've set up. You can access all the categories via the Show List link on the left hand side of the website. Without me making too many categories, I hope that the category list tree will help you to quickly find what you're looking for. If you have any suggestions to make it work better, I'm all ears.

The enlarged images show you how a print will look when you receive it. That is, the image on paper will have a white border around it roughly in the proportion displayed. This is for the following reasons. It helps both you and the framer handle the print. It provides a larger area for attaching matting. It gives me an area upon which to sign the print, to add a title and to add my copyright symbol. And finally, it looks good, even if you don't want to add a custom matte. So the "Print Size" is the actual paper size, which includes both the white border and the image. If you don't want my signature or the image info to show when you display the print, then you can cover it up with a custom matte. There is more Print Information under the link of the same name.

When buying a print you have to create a user account after you add prints to your Cart. I find it cumbersome too to do this and to remember usernames and passwords when I'm buying things online, but I don't have a better option for a webstore and its security. I use a program called RoboForm that stores my passwords and fills forms. It  has a free version and a pay version.

The site also has a Currency Converter at the bottom left under Search. If you can, choose your currency before you do any image browsing, searching or purchases as it will save an extra step or two backwards later. This converter is tied to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York currency list and it will give you a close approximation of my prices in your own currency, if it is listed. If your currency is not listed, then it is because the FRBNY doesn't list it. Another currency website is:  XE.com. Remember that your final price will be determined by the exchange done by your credit card at the time of purchase. These other currency rates are only guides.

The display of images on the World Wide Web isn't perfect. Web browsers and computer monitors are limited in the colours that they can display and in their display resolutions. As well, few people calibrate their monitors, which ideally they should. However calibration requires extra software and hardware to create a custom monitor profile. So if you don't have an up to date custom monitor profile, then things on the web and in this site may look a bit different on your monitor than on my monitor, which I do keep calibrated. By this I mean, that your monitor may be a little darker or lighter than mine, or that your monitor may even have a colour cast, such as a bit more red or blue or green or ??? This happens with monitors not being calibrated, and or due to the age of the monitor, as they do deteriorate over time. So, you can use this following display image to help you see if your monitor is in the ballpark for at least brightness and contrast.

This site is optimized for displays of at least 1024 pixels by 768 pixels and a Gamma of 2.2. If your display resolution is set smaller than this, you may have to scroll a little to see a page in its entirety.

So, with all this in mind, I have to also add that the images on this website may not look EXACTLY as they will be when they are printed. There are a few variables for this, such as how monitors display colours and contrast vs. how inks on paper represent the same. Or how monitors represent image sharpness compared to how paper does. As well, monitor age, settings and calibration need to be considered. Or lighting in the room where the website is viewed vs. where the prints are viewed, whether you use an LCD vs. a CRT monitor, what web browser that you use, and even whether you use a Mac vs. a PC. (I use a PC). But hopefully, the images between our monitors are close and I know that any prints that I make will look better than the best monitor can display.

Your satisfaction with navigating this website and any prints that you purchase is most important to me and that my skill as a photographer, artist, and printer depend on the quality of my workmanship. I hope that you enjoy your time here. Please feel free to ask any questions of me.

My commercial portfolio can be accessed via my main website page of Pyt' low' a' ny .

Thank You,

Alec Pytlowany