Web Sharp Pro: great support for a great Photoshop plug-in

What is Web Sharp Pro?

Web Sharp Pro is a plug-in for the subscription-model Photoshop CC. It sharpens (of course) and much more. It’s a Swiss Army knife for getting images ready for posting on the Web and social media. See my FAQ about Web Sharp Pro below.

I’ve written a comprehensive review already. Take a look at it here for more detail about the plug-in—features, installation, usability. This post focuses on responsiveness to enhancement ideas and error messages.

I’m not affiliated in any way with photographer Greg Benz, the creator of Web Sharp Pro. I’m just a satisfied customer and user.

Greg Benz delivers excellent support for Web Sharp Pro

In my experience, Greg and his team respond promptly and efficiently to the rare instances when I’ve asked for support. That includes both submitting ideas for enhancements to the product, as well as error reports (which all software encounters errors sometimes).

Enhancement ideas

From time to time developers get requests from users to improve their software, so-called “enhancement requests”. Recently, I submitted an enhancement request to enable accented characters in file names when saving sharpened output images. Greg responded the next business day with an idea for implementing that idea, and asked if I’d help by testing a beta version of an update to make sure it was ready for release. Of course I said yes.

In two business days, Greg delivered a beta for me to test. The beta version of the plug-in installed into Photoshop seamlessly and didn’t interfere with my already installed version. It worked perfectly and I let Greg know. He let me know that he would submit the enhanced version to Adobe for approval which could take a little while. Eventually Adobe approved it for release and I used the Adobe Creative Cloud app to update my installed version.

As a former developer and software product manager, I appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully Greg responded and acted. It’s exceedingly rare to have a software provider reply to an enhancement request with a beta version for testing within a couple of days. He made it easy for me to test without risk by providing an installation process that was simple (just a couple of clicks) and not disruptive to what I already was using. That’s thoughtful.

Error handling

Stuff happens. All software experiences errors for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes the error is in the software itself, other times errors occur because of conflicts with other software or hardware.

Fortunately, I’ve only experienced a few errors using Web Sharp Pro. Most of those happened because of Photoshop bugs, running out of Photoshop swap memory, or other things not directly caused by Web Sharp Pro. Usually restarting Photoshop clears out its memory and allows plug-ins to work properly again.

In any case, when Web Sharp Pro experiences an error, it displays a detailed record of what the error was. In that error message, you’ll find a button to copy the text of the error to the clipboard so you can paste it into a support request email. You’ll also find a button to create a blank email to Web Sharp Pro support. In that email you can explain what you were doing when the error occurred and paste the detailed error text into the email.

That approach to how errors get reported and fixed is so important. By providing a simple minimal-click way for people to report problems, Greg and his team streamline the diagnosis and fix process. It eliminates a lot of back and forth trying to get useful information that would help the team understand what the problem might be. Again, as a former developer and product manager, I really appreciate that attention to detail. Very mindful, very thoughtful.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why I use Web Sharp Pro whenever I prepare images for my website or social media. Greg Benz’s responsiveness to both enhancement suggestions and error reports demonstrates that he understands his users’ needs. As a photographer himself, he takes his own experiences as a software user to make his own users’ lives easier and more productive. Hats off and kudos!

What do you think?

Do you have any questions or thoughts you want to share? Comment below!

FAQ

What is Web Sharp Pro?

The Web Sharp Pro panel is a Photoshop plugin that automates the process of exporting images from Photoshop for use on the Web, whether on a website or social media. It includes features like sharpening control, metadata management, optional cropping and borders, file formats to save in, presets, and much more.

Who develops and sells Web Sharp Pro?

Greg Benz created and develops Web Sharp Pro. Greg is a photographer, blogger, and developer behind the Lumenzia luminosity masking plugins for Photoshop as well as Web Sharp Pro. He has a YouTube channel with lots of tutorials. He also hangs out at Facebook, 500px, G+, Instagram, and Flickr.

Where can I purchase Web Sharp Pro?

Web Sharp Pro is available for purchase on Adobe Exchange. You’ll need an Adobe account, and a Photoshop subscription.

Is there a free version of Web Sharp Pro?

There is a free version, just called Web Sharp. You can get it on Adobe Exchange. You’ll need an Adobe account and a Photoshop subscription. It’s pretty basic but if you can’t pay for the full pro version, it’s a practical if limited alternative.