If you’re involved in the creative service industry you’ve probably received some junk mail from India. In india, there are several image processing and retouching companies who very actively email, looking to do the kind of work we’re all stuck doing but would much rather pass off.
The most common of these tasks is clipping products or people out of backgrounds so you can put them on other backgrounds in a brochure or website. This is a very boring and time consuming task than many of us loathe. Yes there are software solutions available but you still need to sit there, push the button, tie up you and your machine as you work through all the images.
After receiving a bunch of these emails a few years ago, I finally decided to investigate. They all offer an opportunity to send them some test images, free of charge, so I picked one, Images India, and sent some test images. The quality, and the quick turn around was impressive. The folks at Images India not only followed up with an email, they called me to see what else they could do. I was impressed!
After a few more smaller jobs, where they did everything quickly and effectively, I started to recommend the service to some of my clients. Catalogue or web based projects that produced a large amount of images, were well suited for this kind of service. Quite a few clients of mine established relationships with Images India and found them to be a wonderful resource.
It was about a year and a half ago, when I emailed Jack at Images India that yet another referral was on it’s way, that I said jokingly, that if I was ever in New Delhi, they owe me lunch. Jack replied quite seriously, that if I was to come, they would be more than happy to buy me lunch. I honestly didn’t care about any kind of payback. As with many referrals or connections I make, I just enjoy seeing my clients find solutions. The happier they are with the entire experience the more likely they’ll come back! As well at the time I did not have even a glimmer of an hope that one day I’d actually go to India. It was a far off dream to one day visit the subcontinent.
By now, you’ve probably realized that through some radical decisions made this year, that dream was indeed realized. I was very fortunate to have the support of my friends, family and clients to make this dream a reality. It was quite awhile after I had decided to go, that I recalled that conversation with Jack a year and half earlier. So I emailed him to say I would be in Delhi on a certain day and would love to tour the facility. He replied that this would be no problem!
As you can see by the photos, the staff were working very hard that day. 3 shifts of 12 people work ’round the clock, producing clipping paths, do retouching and resizing of images for clients all over the world. Jack informed me they get a few visitors a year, mostly from Europe. Raymond’s day starts around 10am and runs to late at night to accommodate both the European and North American markets.
It was always exciting to see first hand the part of India I’ve only read about in the business section of the newspaper. Young, tech savvy, and English speaking, Jack and Raymond represented that part of India that’s making the country an economic powerhouse. Talking with them you really got the sense of how hard they are working at providing the best possible service. They were also very gracious to take the time out of their busy day to also show me some of the sights in Delhi. It was great to meet everyone at Images India.
Jack Raymond and their staff welcoming me to the office.
Jack at his desk. Chimes from his computer were indicating uploads and downloads were constantly happening while we chatted in his office.
The staff hard at work, clipping images.
Raymond and Jack with the staff.
A few more images can be seen here