Author Topic: How do I make Fotolia Work? (Read 7472 times)

Leo Blanchette · « **on:** March 01, 2008, 15:15 »

I know -- sounds like a silly question. Keywording with fotolia is the most tedious of all the sites, hence it ended up taking second place (actually 6th) in my keywording priority. So indeed I eventually left off from fotolia.

I'd like to know how Fotolia works for you guys, and if perhaps there are other ways of doing things (keywording, uploading) than what I initially found. Do they take vectors?

Are they worth the effort?

Thanks.

takestock · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2008, 15:22 »

Certainly worth the effort Leo.

FT has gone back up to 2nd in my best earners with February being a very good month.

Paying particular attention I think to the top 7 keywords is supposed to be the way.
However, since the site's upgrade (V2) last year, there is still a problem with some keys not being found in search.

jsnover · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2008, 17:05 »

Fotolia's certainly worth the effort - they narrowly missed first place (behind SS) in February for me. I haven't uploaded vectors there - I did upload the JPEGs from them though, which they will accept - because I don't like the pricing.

There's no pricing based on complexity of the vector, so the simplest or the most complex is the same price - I think 7 credits. As an XL photo is 5 credits (that's the largest my 20D can qualify for at 8MP) I don't think the vector pricing works at all.

However, be aware that they recently started withholding payments unless you upload a scan of ID over an unsecure link. If they don't offer some secure option I am (sadly) going to have to close my account there. Make sure you're OK with that before you proceed.

Whiz · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2008, 17:14 »

Quote from: jsnover on March 01, 2008, 17:05

Fotolia's certainly worth the effort - they narrowly missed first place (behind SS) in February for me. I haven't uploaded vectors there - I did upload the JPEGs from them though, which they will accept - because I don't like the pricing.

There's no pricing based on complexity of the vector, so the simplest or the most complex is the same price - I think 7 credits. As an XL photo is 5 credits (that's the largest my 20D can qualify for at 8MP) I don't think the vector pricing works at all.

However, be aware that they recently started withholding payments unless you upload a scan of ID over an unsecure link. If they don't offer some secure option I am (sadly) going to have to close my account there. Make sure you're OK with that before you proceed.

Amended because the link is secure. AES 256 Bit.

dbvirago · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2008, 18:38 »

Based on some recent tests, I have begun spending a bit more time there with keywords. too early to tell if it's worth the effort.

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2008, 18:47 »

Great, thats helpful. DO they have FTP? Doing 300 images over browser...can be exausting with the clickety clickety you know?

Jimi King · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2008, 19:34 »

Third best behind SS and IS for me. And yes they do have FTP.

Most of their customers are European, so you might find that different images sell on Fotolia.

dbvirago · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2008, 19:39 »

They have ftp, but I use their flash uploader. Works just as good. Don't know what the limit is.

leszek · « **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2008, 20:08 »

I just keyword all my images with Fotolia in mind. Other sites either keep the order of keywords (which is OK) - or re-order them as they see fit (alphabetical). This way I save myself hassle. The only problem is that with some places titles are limited to 64 characters, the description has to be a minimum of 7 words etc. - but generally Fotolia does not give me any hassle with uploading (and with acceptance, after initial problems).

tank_bmb · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2008, 13:33 »

Quote from: leszek on March 01, 2008, 20:08

I just keyword all my images with Fotolia in mind. Other sites either keep the order of keywords (which is OK) - or re-order them as they see fit (alphabetical). This way I save myself hassle. The only problem is that with some places titles are limited to 64 characters, the description has to be a minimum of 7 words etc. - but generally Fotolia does not give me any hassle with uploading (and with acceptance, after initial problems).

I do the same - keyword with Fotolia in mind.

They havent been historically good for me (travel photography), but as of the last few weeks, they have made good progress for me. I've been in the top 1000 ranking the past few weeks which is higher than normal.

Still it is nowhere as good as SS or ISP for me.

modellocate · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2008, 14:55 »

This may help. Here is what I do: I pick several images that are of a similar subject, thus having similar keywords... perhaps a batch of 10

Then I create a word processing document with a list of all 10 images, titles, keywords, etc.

Then I upload these to multiple sites... no additional typing required, just copy and paste. Sites like SX allow batch editing to make this process even more efficient.

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2008, 12:50 »

Thank you everyone!

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Author Topic: How do I make Fotolia Work? (Read 7472 times)

Leo Blanchette

takestock

jsnover

Whiz

dbvirago

Leo Blanchette

Jimi King

dbvirago

leszek

tank_bmb

modellocate

Leo Blanchette

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