1. I clicked on the Animals/Wildlife link. All the thumbnails on the left were disorted to fit the whole image in a square form. It makes them all look bad.
2. If this ever gets big enough for people to notice Apple will send their lawyers after you for using "iPhoto"
Other than that it looks pretty clean and simple to use, although I didn't see how to buy or DL an image, even after setting up an account.
for the meanwhile there is NO method to purchase from a customers point of view... while beta testing only photographers can submit. We're attempting to get the Photographers side 100% then move into the Customers side.
We're shooting for a January 2007 Launch so in a sence we're priming the database with purchasable content. More details and function will be falling into place over time.
The photos look great now--looks like you fixed the distortion.
I like the quick feedback (no waiting for image to load, it's spontaneous)
I think once you click on an image, you should have one that's a little bigger. I know that when I go to any stock photo source page, I want to see the detail in my image before purchasing.
It looks a tad generic. Maybe needs more color or something that ''pulls you in'' the page.
Just my 2¢ and I agree with scarbrd, the iphoto will SO get you in trouble. Photo Depot is still a great name without the ''i''... In fact, I didn't even SEE the i till scarbrd pointed it out!
Edit for this comment:
When the site DOES go into effect, can the beta testers images be in a kind of special place for purchasing FIRST????
(Hey, you don't know if you never ask, right?)
In a sence we're trying to keep it generic looking, we want to keep the focus on the person seeking stock photos, I work around a lot of designers who are always browsing stock sites and are always frustrated with the sometimes overcomplicated task of simply locating the image they want to use in their publications.. Lots of these people that use these sites are in a hurry and really burdened by fancy sites with a lot of bells and whistles.
Regarding yploading, there is an option to do so after logging in from within your control panel. That can be accessed from the top link labeled Photographer Login if for some reason you have left the control panel after having logged in.
... I work around a lot of designers who are always browsing stock sites and are always frustrated with the sometimes overcomplicated task of simply locating the image they want to use in their publications ...
I hope you focus a lot of your time on an efficient keywording interface and an effective search tool.
For example, make sure you can parse the IPTC fields for existing keywords and captions when the file's uploaded. Another effective aid is to make the search engine automatically include plurals and other variations so each version doesn't have to be keyworded individually.
Thanks for the tweeks, this is the sort of input that really helps... I also noticed tht several of you signed up as a customer rather than a photographer, That indicated to me the navigation was not as clear as it needed to be.
When I click on some of the thumbnails, the pop-up window isn't big enough for the photo. You have to drag it larger in order to see the entire photo. I'm using Firefox.
Thanks for the tweeks, this is the sort of input that really helps... I also noticed tht several of you signed up as a customer rather than a photographer, That indicated to me the navigation was not as clear as it needed to be.
I signed up and it will now only let me log in as a guest. So, what do I do?
Edit to add:
I like the watermark. makes it virtually impossible to download without payment, without marring the actual photo. AND I wish the image came out larger.
Upload any stock photos that you feel would be accepted at the majority of stock sites for now, nothings being reviewed at the time being for quality, this will come a bit later, for now all will be placed into a state of approval while under development. We'll work on size requirements in the near future, then quality control will begin...
You should definitely set up an FTP upload process, plus multiple HTML uploads.
Get rid of the requirement to keyword immediately upon upload -- sometimes that has to be/is best done later; especially if you aren't going to parse pre-entered ones from the IPTC fields. Provide a way to correct/update keywords.
Didn't see keywording instructions -- I added them separated by commas. Ran out of space for one photo with fewer than 15 words. Will you take multiple-word keywords (e.g. "Golden Gate"), and do they need to be quoted?
As previously noted, make your square thumbs crop rather than distort the photo.
Are you going to allow "Username" accounts or only under our true names?
just a reminder this is in beta testing and as a result we expect a multitude of potential problems...
Firefox works fine along with IE, we test with both, seems in firefox several have reported some featuren not working as expected, Javascript should be enabled as well.
Expansion for acception for members other than USA is being incorporated as well.
Editing account info is up and coming as well as your ability to edit and manage your photodats, of course when the site goes live deleting approved photos will move a photo from active to inactive for a specific period of time to allow anyone who may have purchased the photo to redeem the purchase.
