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I have been looking into creating a site that incorporates multiple area artists' work into a centralized shopping experience. Basically, there would be an option to purchase the original and an option to purchase a print.

I am looking for a cart/merchant processing solution that follows through to a local printer of my choice (based on [quarterly?] renegotiations based on through-put and vendor performance). Although I am familiar with online sites that process prints (and have their own solutions) it would be preferred if I could use a local.

Which solutions allow for vendor selection? Are these solutions cumbersome in comparison with those sites that you simply upload the pictures and wait for processing? (...and yes, they're pretty decent prints from those sites so assume quality is equal across the board).

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Not sure why you were voted down? I am unsure of any print queue integrated with consumer ecommerce solutions out there. This may be something you develop on your own (or at least we had to). The upside is though this should not necessarily be a hard problem to solve. Every major print shop allows for electronic submittal for pre-paid pickup.

Edit: in summary, I don't believe there is any pre-packaged service software. I may be wrong, but none of which I know. You may need to roll your own. (and maybe resell said service as a side operation?)

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I guess someone doesn't like supporting local print shops? :) ...I think my main concern in asking was that there might be a standard submittal practice/protocol that I may be unaware of. Were there any wonky areas around developing a print queue or was it like any other eCommerce channel for you? – mfg Nov 8 '10 at 16:35
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Major = worth their brick & mortar, not that they're national, in fact I couldn't care less about that part. We managed many thousands of PostScript documents routed to various service providers. Different model, but we wrote an LPD daemon that would filter, do accounting, and route the PS documents based upon whom/when the job was submitted electronically. In your case, likely a simple ecommerce that would include a workflow that would verify a local postal code for servicing, the routing would be easy after that. Even the smallest shops should be able to take an FTP or email doc submit. – Xepoch Nov 8 '10 at 16:43
Thanks for the notes, I hadn't thought about routing to various servicers (i.e. for much further out of town orders), was mostly anticipating locals, but its worth it to build in the support before you need it than after. – mfg Nov 8 '10 at 16:51

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