The Newcastle-based photobook software developer is capitalising on the physical counterpart to e-publishing to increase their customers’ print volumes, according to Taopix marketing director Dianne Moralee.

Silicon Valley-based FastPencil provides an online portal for authors and publishers to self-publish books, along with marketing, advertising and e-commerce for the service.

The user - an author or publisher – uploads and edits their book to the FastPencil system for e-publishing, which is then processed as a PDF by Taopix when a physical order is received.

The network of preferred suppliers for orders through FastPencil is yet to be determined, Moralee said, but will depend on quality checks by both software parties and is limited to customers using Taopix top-end Enterprise solution, the only one of its three systems which has the self-publishing module.

Due to Taopix’s nature as a photobook software product, the exclusive partnership is designed to offer print and finishing services for soft and hardcover books that are high in image content, such as cookery books.

Taopix chief executive James Gray said: "We see self-publishing as a huge opportunity within the photo world. It's an exciting evolution for photobooks.

"We have probably the most dynamic, flexible book design software on the market. This, combined with FastPencil's far-reaching online self-publishing platform, should give those forward-thinking digital print customers a compelling reason to explore this market opportunity."

The platform will initially be rolled out across English-speaking countries, and later introduced in foreign languages as FastPencil develops multilingual versions of its self-publishing software.

The cost of using the platform is not finalised, but the FastPencil platform would be synced with a Taopix Enterprise customers’ software using application programming interface coding at the customer’s request and depending on their suitability to the scheme.