Hmmm....there's another site that works just like that...
Yes, I understand the irony. But when the DPCP guys look at images, they're not looking at the content of the image. They're just checking to see if the file is a high-enough resolution to be printed. I think I could upload some damn ugly images to DPCP if I wanted to, as long as they were large enough.
Seems to me like the iStockPhoto "approval council" is actually judging based on the CONTENT of the image (i.e. 'We have too many squirrels.' or rejection based on shallow DOF).
I'm 2 for 5 at istockphoto at this point (and a little worried!) and one of my photos got rejected for poor composition that wasn't marketable - and rightly so.
There are lots of inspectors on istock. And they do try to make everything consistant between them. They have another que they can use if they have questions about an image. Then it will be looked at by an admin(?) or someone else. Most of the inspectors are/were photographers that have their own ports in there so they do know what to look for and they are usually on the site long enough to know what designers are looking for and how the site runs.
The reason the 3 application images are not put into the mix is because they are evaluated on a more "appeal" type of inspection. They are not gone over with a fine tooth comb for noise and such. They are inspected for "quality" when you reupload them. If you want to find out more about the process and get some answers, go to their forums. There are plenty of threads on these subjects that are answered by admins, owners, inspectors, photographers, designers and everyday people. I do have to say they do everything possible to make it a good experience for photographers. They are constantly adding new features to make it easier for everyone to track their progress, they have features for designers too, so it's like having a whole building of professionals to help you out.
Here's a bit of encouragement. If I can make $35 or $40 a month there, anyone can.
So now a question for dswebb. Are you messing with the thread because of a personal interest you might have in another site? You do seem to be very negative about the current discussion.
edit, got excited and put in the wrong amount of cold hard cash.
Hmmm, I read this a few times and wanted to try it out.
Uploaded some "let me in" images yesterday to Istock and got aproved within 2 hours.
Uploaded the images again, and am waiting 24 hours allready to get them out of the queu and into my portfolio.
Uploaded the same images to Dreamstime today, got 1 picture aproved, the others are still pending, and sold that one imidiatly, so my 1st earning of Photography $0.50 is in..
Whohooo tomorow I will quit my dayjob (just kidding)
Hmmm, I read this a few times and wanted to try it out.
Uploaded some "let me in" images yesterday to Istock and got aproved within 2 hours.
Uploaded the images again, and am waiting 24 hours allready to get them out of the queu and into my portfolio.
Uploaded the same images to Dreamstime today, got 1 picture aproved, the others are still pending, and sold that one imidiatly, so my 1st earning of Photography $0.50 is in..
Whohooo tomorow I will quit my dayjob (just kidding)
Congrats! That must be encouraging...It took a few days to get my first images approved (and rejected!) on istockphoto.
pcody: Hmmmm, I didn't think I was being that negative. Like I said several times, I thought given the current choices for amateaur photogs that these $1 sites were the best bet out there. Certainly better than leaving them doing nothing on your hard drive.
What I WAS trying to investigate was why there were no OTHER options that might be better for the average amateaur. If that's what you consider negative, then I guess I was being negative. Do you think that istockphoto is the IDEAL solution? There is no way it could get better?
And no, I'm not trying to plug any particular site. Not istockphoto or any other site. I don't know enough about any of them to do that. I'm just interested in peoples experiences and opinions on the subject.
Sorry. Guess I have to take my meds now.
No. I don't know of anything that hasn't already been mentioned in this thread. It takes years to build up a stock company and istock has that maturity and 150k+ active images. Dreamstime might start to get better as they get more pictures, and they might be the ones to migrate to the medium price range you are looking for. With all the competiton though, I'd still bet on istock.
This is just a thought, but maybe the medium price range is filled with cd's. I don't know the names of all the ones out there, but they go for a fair price but the consumer gets a lot of pictures for the cost. Would the photographer be paid a base price for each picture included? That might be something for you to look into.
So the designer has a choice between individual low cost purchases, group purchases at a good price without being able to hand pic the pictures and high cost sites with rights managed pictures. I'd say designers have a feast before their graphics tablets.
I just wanted to say thank you to all that have contributed to this thread. Although I have lurked all the way through it, I found it totally enlightening, on all grounds!
pcody: Hmmm, interesting. So there are CDs that are full of images and people just buy the CD to get all the images at once I take it? I would assume they are probably "themed" then, or have two or three themes on them. Interesting. I'll have to do a little research on that on the web here in the next few days. Maybe that does cover the middle range I was wondering about. Thanks for the info!
Not that I have anywhere NEAR enough images of "medium cost" quality to fill a CD!!!! Unless you consider 3 or 4 enough... ha ha ha. I would just like to think that all those people out there that DO have a significant number of images that could go for $20 (say) are getting more than $0.50 each for them...
pcody: Hmmm, interesting. So there are CDs that are full of images and people just buy the CD to get all the images at once I take it? I would assume they are probably "themed" then, or have two or three themes on them. Interesting. I'll have to do a little research on that on the web here in the next few days. Maybe that does cover the middle range I was wondering about. Thanks for the info!
Yeah...there are many many many more stock photo companies than what we're talking about here.
The ones discussed here are just the most accessible for complete amateurs...
I've uploaded 20 photos to istockphoto over the last week and so far they've looked at 14 and only approved 4. The rest won't be much better, I don't think...
My main problem is isolation photos. Apparently, I suck at this! Also, in PSElements you can't create a clipping path and a lot of the isolation tutorials referred to items not available is PSE.
hrmm...just curious, how do you get paid for the money that apparently sits in your account? Is there a check out button then they send you a check in the mail or what?
I've uploaded 20 photos to istockphoto over the last week and so far they've looked at 14 and only approved 4. The rest won't be much better, I don't think...
Oh well 2 rejects and none accepted so far. Compression artifacts at 100% yep that will do it. Gotta get 1 in soon, 11 to go at the moment can't download anymore for 3 hours :(
Oh no...I'm at 5 for 17! These were all downloaded at once so I used the same lame isolation 'techniques' for most of them. On the last rejection letter, they were at least kind enough to write:
We appreciate your efforts, but you really need to improve your isolation skills
before uploading any more isolated images. They are just not clean enough. It
would also help if the original images were of better quality. Don't give up,
just keep practicing.
So....I'll ask again:
Can anybody help me with an isolation technique that I can use in PSElements?
Or should I just shoot on white backgrounds and quit trying to isolate?
I'm not familiar with PSE however you can download theGIMP for free which has a decent path tool as well as most other tools you should need to do isolations.
***Disclaimer***
theGIMP works much better native in linux than the windows port does from what I have experienced.
Okay...so I'm 4 for 17 on istockphoto and I'm 4 for 5 on dreamstime.
2 of those 4 which were approved on dreamstime were not approved on istockphoto, so I'm guessing dreamstime has a lower quality threshold.
Yet, they charge more and they have a much smaller database because they're new...
I'm not sure how they will be able to compete against istockphoto with that strategy. Perhaps by allowing more photos they expect to eventually have a larger collection than istockphoto? I dunno...
I'm not familiar with PSE however you can download theGIMP for free which has a decent path tool as well as most other tools you should need to do isolations.
***Disclaimer***
theGIMP works much better native in linux than the windows port does from what I have experienced.
I was actually going to suggest the same thing. Though the path tool is kind of confusing at first. Even though I use the GIMP all the time, I can't remember how to delete a point from a path. :-( But it's plenty powerful.
I've posted 6 photos to both istock and dreamstime - 2 got accepted by both. The other 4 have had a mixed response but if my final pending photo at istock gets accepted then everything will have been accepted at one or both of the two sites. Dreamstime rejected one that istock accepted this morning and immediately sold (yay, 10c!) so i don't think dreamstime necessarily have a lower quality bar
I could easily believe for iffy shots (like mine) that they have a 50:50 chance of getting on either site, and it's random which site takes which pic
I was hoping all 6 would get accepted by both sites, so i could compare them for a while and see which site was the most lucrative. I sold one on Dreasmtime this morning as well for 50c so they're in the lead at the moment
I've posted 6 photos to both istock and dreamstime - 2 got accepted by both. The other 4 have had a mixed response but if my final pending photo at istock gets accepted then everything will have been accepted at one or both of the two sites. Dreamstime rejected one that istock accepted this morning and immediately sold (yay, 10c!) so i don't think dreamstime necessarily have a lower quality bar
I could easily believe for iffy shots (like mine) that they have a 50:50 chance of getting on either site, and it's random which site takes which pic
I was hoping all 6 would get accepted by both sites, so i could compare them for a while and see which site was the most lucrative. I sold one on Dreasmtime this morning as well for 50c so they're in the lead at the moment
Thanks for the info, Steve...I feel better knowing that...
I just got another one accepted by istockphoto, so I'm 6 for 18! Oh well, most of my rejects are isolation issues so I might give the GIMP a try!
