Photo service PictureDeskDirect has launched its new direct distribution system through the Page One picture agency in Nottingham.

They expect the system to revolutionise the way photographs are distributed and level the playing field between the small operator and the big agencies.

Users can now FTP their pictures directly into one address and have them automatically routed, by the most suitable means, to every national newspaper in the UK.

Page One founder Doug Marke (left) said: "We saw a clear need at Page One to level the playing field with the big agencies, but at a much lower cost.

"The new system means that an individual photographer can drop pictures into a folder using FTP, and these are then available to everyone in London within seconds. It revolutionises the workflow for the photographer in the field, and reduces costs in the office.

"I can now directly distribute pictures from my IPAQ to all of the nationals with one transmission.

"I've had national picture desks commenting to me on the first picture before I had finished sending the second."

The system logs all transactions and will automatically resend an image if it is not received by the paper.

If one system is unavailable then the image is automatically transmitted or made available on a second or even third system.

Images and their IPTC fields are untouched by the system, so that photographers' terms of trade with the paper are unaffected, and pictures are credited and bylined to the photographer.

Pictures are distributed at broadband speeds, and with built in redundancies and logging the system is able to guarantee levels of reliability that can only be matched with a full time manned picture desk.

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