by Andrew Shebanow on 19 Aug 16:21

What software are you using server-side to do the Microsoft Office thumbnails? OpenOffice?

For acrobat.com, we do something similar…

by Stuart Eccles on 19 Aug 16:35

Wow.

Any chance of licensing ImageGeisha?

by toms on 19 Aug 18:10

ImageGeisha is specifically tailored to our own needs for fluxiom so a release as-is is unlikely. We don’t share any future plans, but imagegeisha.com is already registered;)

by jennyw on 20 Aug 03:52

Wow, that’s an unfortunate name. When I first received your e-mail announcing the new product I thought it was spam. As an Asian woman I can tell you that there are quite of few of us that are going to be quite put off, if not offended, by your branding.

by toms on 20 Aug 09:30

Dear jennyw,

Thank you so much for your comment! It is always a pleasure to hear from our readers, and we especially welcome all feedback on our products and brands.

We are very sorry to hear that the the name “ImageGeisha” has caused offense and unpleasantness. As you can imagine, this was far from our idea! Our aim with this name was to highlight and honor the skills and accomplishments of Geishas as performers of traditional arts, and especially their ability to make difficult tasks seem elegant and effortless.

Our ultimate goal with ImageGeisha is to process visual data swiftly, accurately and, to the end-user, elegantly. Hence the parallel, and the name.

While it is true there has been a certain amount of confusion about the status of Geishas in the past, we felt modern studies have now dispelled any doubts. This article provides a useful overview, and is one of the references on which we based our naming decision.

Once again, please accept our most sincere thanks for your comments. Should you wish to point us to any references to further our learning and understanding of the Geisha traditions, please feel very free to forward any material you may find worthwhile.

In the meantime the team joins me in sending greetings and best wishes from your friends at wollzelle.

by TBurnham on 20 Aug 18:33

Is it possible that the part where you say “and she is at your service” might be considered offensive? I had a Japanese-American friend who shaved her long hair off so that she didn’t fit the stereotype of the subservient Asian fantasy woman, because so many men couldn’t see past that fantasy. It’s true that Geisha were skilled performance artists, and your graphic is adorable and not sexist. Wonder if you could edit out that bit of pandering.

by Sarah G on 21 Aug 03:22

“ImageGeisha, at your service, polishing your assets”.

Were that phrase uttered at my work-place, it would spur about 30 minutes of obscene riffing and crude hysteria. I’m above neither obscene riffing nor crude hysteria - done well, they’re quite fun - but surprised that your product name and tagline are such an obvious target.

I’m not the word police but am curious. Are my colleagues and I the only ones with such juvenile minds – or is the innuendo part and parcel of the service?

In any case, looking forward to trying the product.

by toms on 21 Aug 14:54

@tburnham:

Thank you for your comment, and for sharing the experience of your friend. We are very sorry to hear about the ordeal she went through, and can only deplore the lack of sensitivity of those who feel the need to judge their fellow human beings through the distorted lens of stereotypes, racial or otherwise.

The “at your service” in this introduction was written with the best of intentions, alluding to the instant round-the-clock availability of this new feature. ImageGeisha is indeed “at your service,” as a fluxiom user, whenever you upload files to the service. We feel the expression can be understood in its modern, purely business setting, and is the most appropriate in international English to highlight that high availability.

I do hope this clears things up, and alleviates any concerns! Should you have any further comments, please feel very free to let us know, we are always delighted to hear from our users.

by toms on 21 Aug 15:29

Dear Sarah,

Aren’t innuendos the salt of language? More seriously, wollzelle is a creative agency, and we always challenge ourselves to come up with original branding for our products.

We thought this feature would be the perfect occasion to create a name that is highly memorable, but also helps clear up any misunderstandings about a confusing concept by using it in a creative and business setting.

As you can imagine, our intention is not to offend, to shock or to promote a retrograde view on the status of women in society. We do hope, however, that, with a focus on the future, a light heart and an open mind, we can push away the shadows of the past and foster understanding of our collective cultural heritage.

Finally, do note that we used a different tagline as displayed on ImageGeisha.com. The image above is merely a peek into our creative process, that we felt like sharing with our faithful blog readers. When we posted the illustration, ImageGeisha had just finished transparently working on tens of thousands of files, already uploaded to fluxiom, “polishing,” them, as it were, to present them in all their glory.

Thank you for your comment and for your trust in fluxiom! Both mean a lot to us!

by Paul Smith on 16 Sep 07:02

Hi there,

Do you think you will ever have a paid API for this service. I would LOVE to be able to process all kinds of documents, but I can’t find any software that does everything. I signed up on the imagegeisha.com home page, but I’m wondering if you will release any more information soon.

Thank you! Paul