PhotoRobot Academy turns operators, studio managers, network specialists, hardware specialists, and integrators into certified PhotoRobot professionals — online, on-site at PhotoRobot, or in your own studio. Same curriculum, three delivery formats, one verifiable certificate at the end.
How it works
1 — Choose a package
Each role has its own package. Pick the one that matches the work:
- Operator Standard — the broadest entry point. 12 modules, ~14 hours. For operators running the equipment day-to-day.
- Studio Manager Essentials — 6 modules. Strategy, KPIs, workspace + recipe libraries, data plumbing, Industry 4.0 readiness.
- Network Specialist Essentials — forthcoming. Multi-site networking, infrastructure, network troubleshooting.
- Hardware Specialist Essentials — forthcoming. Hardware setup, calibration, maintenance, field service.
- Integrator Essentials — 6/8 modules live, cert exam forthcoming. PhotoRobot API V2, webhooks, viewer embedding, ERP / PIM / DAM connectors (forthcoming), shooting-list integration (forthcoming). The most advanced track — sits on top of the foundations the other roles cover.
- Speciality packages — stack on top once you’re certified: 3D Modeling, OCR, Virtual Catwalk, Medical, Carpet.
Each package leads to a verifiable PhotoRobot certificate with a 2-year validity window. Refresh exam before expiry to extend.
2 — Pick a delivery format
The same curriculum, canonical delivery formats with fixed scope and pricing — plus extended formats available on request.
- Online — self-paced, on this Academy site, with module knowledge checks and a final certification exam. Typically completed in 2–3 weeks at your own pace. Best for studios training one or two people who can dedicate a few hours per week.
- At PhotoRobot studio — 2-day intensive group training in Prague, hands-on with real equipment. Best for new customer onboarding when a small team wants to get certified together.
- On-site at your studio — 2-day intensive with a PhotoRobot Certified Instructor traveling to your team. Same scope, your equipment. Best when the team can’t travel, when equipment-specific quirks need to be addressed live on your actual hardware, or when an installation is being commissioned (instructor follows the installation team — see “How a typical on-site week looks” below).
- Admin training add-on — 4-hour add-on to Essentials (typically scheduled the morning after the 2-day intensive). Covers user + account management, studio strategy, system maintenance, supervision. Sold as a per-studio add-on, not a standalone package.
- Integrator track — 2-day 1:1 course for experienced developers, on-site or online. API + webhook + ERP / PIM / DAM connectivity workshop. Sold as a separate engagement; assumes participant already has working developer skills.
The 2-day intensive is the canonical in-person format — fixed agenda, fixed deliverable, fixed price (see PhotoRobot sales for current rates). Extended residencies (5-day deep-dives, multi-week mentoring rotations, embedded instructor weeks) are available on request as separate engagements.
Installation vs. training — separate disciplines
A clarification we want to set straight, especially for new customers reading sales materials: installation and training are two separate disciplines that happen to share the same week. The 12 hours bundled with each machine kit is hardware installation labour — assembling the equipment, commissioning the network, validating cabling, doing the first test capture. It is not the operator training course.
In the last 60–90 minutes of installation, the install team typically shows the customer’s staff “where the power switch is and what to watch out for” — that’s a safety hand-off, not a course. The actual training arrives with the instructor (who often joins the install team as a second mechanic in the first half of the week, then switches into instructor mode for the second half).
When the instructor sits down with the customer’s operators, they assume complete beginners. In the best case, the student remembers where the power switch is.
How a typical on-site week looks
The 2-day training format is designed to slot cleanly into the equipment installation week:
Europe (one installation per week, per team):
- Sunday — installation team travels to customer site
- Monday – Tuesday — installation team commissions the hardware (instructor often joins as second technician)
- Wednesday – Thursday — instructor delivers the 2-day Essentials training (the customer’s operators meet the instructor as a fresh discipline, even though they saw the same person installing earlier in the week)
- Friday morning — optional 4-hour Admin training add-on
- Friday afternoon — instructor flies home
United States (two installations per week, paired teams):
US customer cadence supports two installations per week with paired mechanic + instructor teams. The mechanics travel as pairs and complete two installations per week. With two US-based instructors on rotation (see Ben and Perry on the instructor list), the training cadence pairs cleanly: one instructor delivers the training for the customer whose hardware came up in the back half of the previous week, the other instructor delivers for the customer installed in the first half of the current week. Both instructors fly home on Friday afternoon. The schedule fits without compromising the 2-day Essentials format.
If your installation week has unusual constraints (multiple sites, language overlap, parallel team training, additional Admin training day, follow-up integrator session), tell PhotoRobot sales at quote time — we can structure the week with extended formats or additional instructor coverage.
3 — Enroll
Customers receive a voucher code when purchasing a package through PhotoRobot sales. Each voucher is single-use, per-student, and grants access to:
- All modules in the purchased package (textbook + workbook + knowledge check)
- The final certification exam when ready
- Personal certificate (PDF) with QR-code verification on pass
First-time visitors — try the free placement test (forthcoming) to see which package fits you. Or browse the list of modules to preview the curriculum.
Enrollment — sign in with your voucher
This is a content sketch for the student enrollment UI. In Phase A (preview, no auth), this section explains the flow. In Phase B (v0.6+), it becomes a real CF Access + voucher input form.
The enrollment flow for a paying student looks like this:
- You receive a voucher from PhotoRobot sales (email after purchase). The voucher is a code like
OP-STD-2026-A8K3F9. - Click the enrollment link in the email (or visit /enroll directly).
- Enter your voucher code + your email address. Email becomes your login identity.
- Receive a 6-digit code at your email (Cloudflare Access One-Time PIN). Enter it on the next screen.
- You’re in. The Academy site now shows your enrolled packages + tracks your module progress + knowledge check scores. Certificate auto-issues when you pass the final exam.
Phase A note (current): The Academy site is currently a public preview. All content is accessible without enrollment. The enrollment + tracking flow described above will be implemented in Phase B (v0.6+) on a separate functional domain. Pricing, voucher issuance, and proctoring are handled by PhotoRobot sales, not on this Academy site.
What you’ll actually do
Every cert track follows the same shape — structured content + hands-on practice + knowledge checks — but the exact agenda differs by role. Studio managers and integrators usually start with Operator Standard (operator credibility with their team), then continue with their role-specific track in a follow-up session with an instructor (often the Admin training add-on the morning after the 2-day Essentials).
In-person formats — each role’s 2-day intensive has its own agenda. See each package page for day-by-day detail:
- Operator Standard — Photography + HW + SW training. Day 1 — System introduction, installation, hardware/software basics, photographic workflow. Day 2 — PhotoRobot Controls software, system connectivity, practical exercises, knowledge checks.
- Studio Manager Essentials — Strategic + operational. Most commonly delivered as the 4-hour Admin training add-on on the morning after the Essentials (covering user / account / company management, studio strategy, system maintenance, supervision). The full Studio Manager Essentials curriculum is available as a longer follow-up engagement when the customer needs the strategic depth.
- Integrator Essentials — Developer-formatted 2-day 1:1 course for experienced developers. PhotoRobot API fundamentals, ERP / PIM / DAM connectivity, data workflows + automation, advanced configuration, integration troubleshooting.
Self-paced online — same modules, same exam, same certificate. Pace depends on the role and your weekly hours commitment. Typical:
- Operator Standard online: 2–3 weeks @ 4–5 h/week
- Studio Manager Essentials online: 1–2 weeks @ 3–4 h/week (shorter, fewer modules)
- Integrator Essentials online: 2–3 weeks @ 4–6 h/week (more hands-on coding)
Extended formats (5-day deep-dive, week-long residency, embedded mentoring, multi-team rotations, parallel-team training) are scoped separately with PhotoRobot sales as add-on engagements.
Get started
- Have a voucher? Enroll now (forthcoming)
- Considering Operator Standard? See the package
- Browse all modules (open preview): Modules library
- Need pricing or sales contact? PhotoRobot sales
- Have questions? PhotoRobot Support
For instructors
PhotoRobot Certified Instructors (CIs) deliver in-person classes at PhotoRobot studio + at customer sites. Instructor candidates: see the Instructor Certification Path (forthcoming) for the steps from Certified Operator → Certified Instructor → Certified Designer.
Existing CIs: switch the site header toggle to Instructor to access delivery notes embedded in every module (time allocation, live demo points, Q&A anticipation, materials checklist).
Languages
Course materials are currently published in English. Czech, German, French, Italian, and Chinese are planned as the content library matures (v0.5+).
Instructors all teach in English; several also teach in Czech, and one in Slovak — see the flags on each instructor card above for their language coverage.
About PhotoRobot
PhotoRobot makes automated photography systems for high-volume product photography studios. Founded in Prague in 2004 — 22 years of history and continuous innovation.
We operate worldwide. The majority of our installations are in North America, but our machines run in Australia, Africa, Asia, and the most demanding European studios. Geographic position of a studio is never a topic of discussion — we ship and install wherever the work needs to happen.
For the largest global customers, PhotoRobot develops bespoke solutions for high-volume throughput, special applications, and custom hardware built from standard PhotoRobot components — backed by the strong software foundation of PhotoRobot_controls.
Customers in apparel, footwear, jewelry, automotive, medical, archive / museum, and carpet industries.
Visit photorobot.com for the company, products, and case studies — or photorobot.io for the interactive configurator, live demos, and the broader product portal.
Meet your instructors
PhotoRobot Academy is delivered by a small team of senior instructors with combined decades of operating, photography, and integration experience across PhotoRobot studios worldwide.
