Author Topic: Alamy QC (Read 28674 times)

eyeCatchLight · « **on:** October 26, 2009, 05:52 »

Hello,

I submitted 4 photos to Alamy for initial test submission. I got an answer, where for 3 files nothing was written, and for the fourth file, "noticeable retouching" was given.

Does it mean I can resubmit the other three and only change the fourth? Or do they mean that this reason is for all four pictures?

Simone

travelstock · « **Reply #1 on:** October 26, 2009, 08:22 »

Quote from: simsi on October 26, 2009, 05:52

Hello,

I submitted 4 photos to Alamy for initial test submission. I got an answer, where for 3 files nothing was written, and for the fourth file, "noticeable retouching" was given.

Does it mean I can resubmit the other three and only change the fourth? Or do they mean that this reason is for all four pictures?

Simone

Usually they only look at 1 image - if there is anything wrong with it they'll reject all 4. For initial images I'm sure they look at all of them, but that doesn't mean that if they get to 1 and don't like it they'll bother with the other 3.

Remember Alamy doesn't look at the subject of your image - and there's a big editorial component to the site, so there isn't any real need to use cloning etc, especially for initial subjects.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #2 on:** October 26, 2009, 12:22 »

Quote from: simsi on October 26, 2009, 05:52

Hello,

I submitted 4 photos to Alamy for initial test submission. I got an answer, where for 3 files nothing was written, and for the fourth file, "noticeable retouching" was given.

Does it mean I can resubmit the other three and only change the fourth? Or do they mean that this reason is for all four pictures?

Simone

What holgs said. Since most of us only applied once, some time ago, it's hard to know if they meant the one failed, and all failed, which is standard for submissions, or if one failed and they stopped looking, or if only that one failed. Plus I was accepted with my first try.

Also what holgs said, expanded. They don't look at content (unless it's vulgar, or too many similar shots) so you could have a shot of a brown rock on a tan beach, as long as it's properly exposed and has no artifacts, and it will pass.

Just guessing, if you did the same editing to all of your shots, they all have noticeable retouching.

Start with a good, well defined, well exposed, full frame (of your camera frame) shot. Upsize it to 5100 longest side and save as a TIF. Edit that TIF for color levels and white balance. Make sure there are no dust bunnies (sensor spotting), nothing that looks like a dust spot, even if it's really a bird.

Save it as a JPG. That's about it!

The common refusal that I see on the Alamy forum is "Soft or Lacking Definition" which has become SoLD for contributors. This could mean many things. Poor contrast, soft focus on the main subject. Soft image all over. I'm sure people can think of more. But it's essentially a soft image. Start with something that's sharp and has good lighting, instead of trying to alter an image or save something that's not perfect. You'll have no problems after than.

ap · « **Reply #3 on:** October 26, 2009, 12:27 »

great advice racephoto. in your experience, what is the minimal mp you can get away with to upsize to 16mp if the photo is super sharp? i shoot with a 12mp slr so i know that's ok, but wondered about other cameras with lesser specs.

epantha · « **Reply #4 on:** October 26, 2009, 13:01 »

I upload photos from my 40D 10 mp camera but have had problems at times with the softness rejection. Alamy has tightened their technical standards since I joined about a year ago. They used to take uploads from my 10 mp Canon Sureshot but not any more.

ap · « **Reply #5 on:** October 26, 2009, 13:09 »

Quote from: epantha on October 26, 2009, 13:01

I upload photos from my 40D 10 mp camera but have had problems at times with the softness rejection. Alamy has tightened their technical standards since I joined about a year ago. They used to take uploads from my 10 mp Canon Sureshot but not any more.

i think the canon sureshot is no longer on their recommended camera list, but 40d is. so, i guess you can go as low as 10mp. http://www.alamy.com/contributors/stock-photography-rec-camera-list.asp

travelstock · « **Reply #6 on:** October 26, 2009, 13:39 »

Quote from: RacePhoto on October 26, 2009, 12:22

Quote from: simsi on October 26, 2009, 05:52
Hello,

I submitted 4 photos to Alamy for initial test submission. I got an answer, where for 3 files nothing was written, and for the fourth file, "noticeable retouching" was given.

Does it mean I can resubmit the other three and only change the fourth? Or do they mean that this reason is for all four pictures?

Simone

What holgs said. Since most of us only applied once, some time ago, it's hard to know if they meant the one failed, and all failed, which is standard for submissions, or if one failed and they stopped looking, or if only that one failed. Plus I was accepted with my first try.

Also what holgs said, expanded. They don't look at content (unless it's vulgar, or too many similar shots) so you could have a shot of a brown rock on a tan beach, as long as it's properly exposed and has no artifacts, and it will pass.

Just guessing, if you did the same editing to all of your shots, they all have noticeable retouching.

Start with a good, well defined, well exposed, full frame (of your camera frame) shot. Upsize it to 5100 longest side and save as a TIF. Edit that TIF for color levels and white balance. Make sure there are no dust bunnies (sensor spotting), nothing that looks like a dust spot, even if it's really a bird. Save it as a JPG. That's about it!

The common refusal that I see on the Alamy forum is "Soft or Lacking Definition" which has become SoLD for contributors. This could mean many things. Poor contrast, soft focus on the main subject. Soft image all over. I'm sure people can think of more. But it's essentially a soft image. Start with something that's sharp and has good lighting, instead of trying to alter an image or save something that's not perfect. You'll have no problems after than.

Yep a very good summary Race

. The only thing I'd add is that the image shouldn't need any sharpening to look sharp - set the sharpening to the lowest possible setting - if the image doesn't look sharp then, when viewed at 100%, its not sharp. Go back to your shooting technique and work out why you're images aren't properly sharp - usually either a focus problem, camera shake or in an extreme case a faulty lens.

I notice that the 40D isn't on the "recommended list" - but I think it still meets their technical requirements - ie. over 6MP.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #7 on:** October 26, 2009, 13:40 »

Quote from: ap on October 26, 2009, 12:27

great advice racephoto. in your experience, what is the minimal mp you can get away with to upsize to 16mp if the photo is super sharp? i shoot with a 12mp slr so i know that's ok, but wondered about other cameras with lesser specs.

I don't really know for sure. I was accepted to Alamy with a 10D (6MP) and 28-135 kit lens. Now I don't know if that would make it? Not on the recommended list, not on the Do Not list?

If you read the Alamy forums, people are getting rejections with similar cameras, but Alamy says their standards have not changed? So it's possible that the people coming to the forums have other personal issues and it just looks like something else. In other words, people who get accepted with older DSLRs aren't going to come to the forum and complain, are they?

I'm not expert but I read and take notes. Alamy makes it very clear what they want and how to do it. Maybe you would have to read a few how to's and what to submit and guidelines, but it's all right there. They even suggest some pretty simple things.

Shoot 100 ISO is one of them. I don't know why anyone who has to upsize a photo would want to shoot 2400 ISO. What's the point? Heck I can see my photos start to get softer at 800 and sometimes 400 ISO. Now if you happen to have a 1D or 5D, OK go for it.

But for those of us shooting Canon or Nikon with crop sensors, it's best to shoot as low as possible to make the initial image better.

I'm shooting with a 40D and L lenses now. I've had two rejections in two years. One for out of focus, where the second subject was in focus and the motorcycle in front of it was soft. Fair enough, they were right. Second one was for over processing, where I tried to add a shadow reflection of a tree, on the water. A better rejection may have been. "are you kidding!" Now that I look back, it was really, really BAD! I never should have sent it in.

1377 images accepted in just under two years. Target is 2,000 before the end of this year. Last I looked I have months of shooting that I haven't even culled yet. If I only submit 10% I'll pass the goal with ease. I shoot in the Summer, edit in the Fall. (and waste too much time on the forums, year round)

Quote

We have put together a list of recommended digital cameras. This shows cameras that are capable of producing images that meet our QC standards when used in varied conditions.

All cameras included in this list need to be used at their optimum settings and the images carefully processed using a professional image software package such as Adobe Photoshop.

Recommended Camera List:

http://alamy.com/contributors/stock-photography-rec-camera-list.asp

Processing Images: (your question)

Quote

Do not crop your images excessively - after cropping, your file should still have an uncompressed file size at least 17MB at 8 bit.

Yes, that's Megabyte not Megapixel. Then the part about upsizing to 48.2 Megabytes after that. (48 reads as 47.8 and it will get rejected.)

Full page about this: http://alamy.com/contributors/stock-photography-digital-cameras.asp

Then these few often asked questions, answered:

Sharpening

The normal process of preparing an image for repro always includes sharpening. This is best done only once. If you apply sharpening to sharpening, unsightly artifacts can appear. So, please do not sharpen at any stage of your workflow.

Check your images at 100%

Always carefully check the quality of your digital files at 100% before you submit them to us. 100% means that one monitor screen pixel is displaying one image pixel. This is the only way to see every pixel in your image, it is important that you check all of your images at this zoom. In Photoshop, the keyboard shortcut for 100% is Ctrl+Alt+0 (PC) or Cmd+Option+0 (Mac), or double-click the zoom tool.

Last of all, the new addition to the help files. Up until recently they just said, any camera of 6MP or larger, but I think they are getting flooded with poor quality images and QC is getting bogged down trying to review them. I know files from some of these cameras have been accepted. Anyway, now they have drawn the line at Do Not. Most are P&S and bridge cameras, small sensor devices. A few old 4MP DSLRs.

Check your camera – do NOT submit any images from camera models featured on the list below. Camera models featured on this list do not produce files that are capable of passing Alamy’s QC standards.

http://alamy.com/contributors/stock-photography-unsuitable-camera.asp

Funny. Some guy ran a test and got photos accepted, with a camera on the Do Not list, then wrote to Alamy and pointed it out. They removed the images and said "don't do that again." What that tells me is, if the photo is good quality, it's going to pass. And that's where the whole discussion comes full circle. They don't check camera used, they don't judge content, all that the Alamy QC does is look for quality production of the images. Sharp, accurate colors, Etc. It's not like micro where one week you have a reviewers select file and it gets marks, the next week the same subject, style and type of content is "these don't sell well" and all your files are dumped!

On Alamy, it's a matter of self editing and if you send in substandard work, everything is dumped, but they tell us in advance. It's not an educational site. You can't play the, send it and see what passes type game that people do with Micros. Persistent failures and you may get a vacation. Too many similars, or spamming up QC and you may see your account locked. It seems that people who have high passing marks, get through QC faster. (maybe?)

What was the question?

Yes, a 12MP camera, with a good lens, should be fine for Alamy, but after that, there's much to consider. I like the "shoot anything" concept. Although I haven't uploaded much strange and oddball shots, some day I will!

ap · « **Reply #8 on:** October 26, 2009, 13:47 »

Quote from: holgs on October 26, 2009, 13:39

I notice that the 40D isn't on the "recommended list" - but I think it still meets their technical requirements - ie. over 6MP.

if epantha's 40d is the canon eos, then it's on the rec list, but not the nikon d40 (only d40x).

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #9 on:** October 26, 2009, 14:49 »

Hello,

thank you so much for all your answers.
I have a 12MP camera (Nikon D90) with the 18-200mm lens. I have also other lens equipment, but the zoom lens is on most of the time... Now that lens is not the sharpest maybe...I can see for example that the f1.8 50mm is much sharper.

I did all the things you wrote, I thoroughly read the instructions and guidelines and so on.

I think the picture just had a too blue sky, that's the only thing I changed apart from making the sky less noisy. I would like to post it here, but from my office flickr does not open, so I can't connect :-(.

I can use the original with the normal sky maybe...as they only look at quality.

I don't mind to be rejected, I'll just resubmit something that is already perfect out of the camera :-).

Thanks!
Simone

RacePhoto · « **Reply #10 on:** October 27, 2009, 17:35 »

Quote from: simsi on October 26, 2009, 14:49

Hello,

thank you so much for all your answers.
I have a 12MP camera (Nikon D90) with the 18-200mm lens. I have also other lens equipment, but the zoom lens is on most of the time... Now that lens is not the sharpest maybe...I can see for example that the f1.8 50mm is much sharper.

I did all the things you wrote, I thoroughly read the instructions and guidelines and so on.

I think the picture just had a too blue sky, that's the only thing I changed apart from making the sky less noisy. I would like to post it here, but from my office flickr does not open, so I can't connect :-(.

I can use the original with the normal sky maybe...as they only look at quality.

I don't mind to be rejected, I'll just resubmit something that is already perfect out of the camera :-).

Thanks!
Simone

I've been reading the blogs, watching the videos, looking at FAQs and whatever other help files on Alamy for two years. Good fun. No one can say they don't document or explain things.

If I read it right, they review each rejection reason, for each file. I could be wrong. But if that's true, then only the one failed? Once you get in, it's better. I won't go into a dissertation this time.

Stu49 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 28, 2009, 18:40 »

Quote from: simsi on October 26, 2009, 05:52

Hello,

I submitted 4 photos to Alamy for initial test submission. I got an answer, where for 3 files nothing was written, and for the fourth file, "noticeable retouching" was given.

Does it mean I can resubmit the other three and only change the fourth? Or do they mean that this reason is for all four pictures?

Simone

I had 3 with rejection comments and 1 with nothing ! So wondering the same thing myself !?

Stu

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #12 on:** October 28, 2009, 23:36 »

hm....this kind of implies that the non-commented ones were ok, what do you think?

RacePhoto · « **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2009, 00:30 »

Quote from: simsi on October 28, 2009, 23:36

hm....this kind of implies that the non-commented ones were ok, what do you think?

Sounds like you need to upload one more photo?

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #14 on:** October 29, 2009, 05:01 »

yes...i guess i will simply try that, so other people also know for the future how it works.

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2009, 07:03 »

Hey guys,

I can confirm what we said: only the pictures that are marked fail. I subsituted that picture with a new one and passed QC. BTW I submitted yesterday at midnight, and this morning at 8am I had a look and it was fine, so fast!! Last time it took a week!

Now I only need to understand the license types and choose the right thing

.

Have fun!
Simone

Stu49 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2009, 15:33 »

did u just upload ONE new one ? or ALL 4 again ??

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #17 on:** October 30, 2009, 15:36 »

No, I uploaded a batch of 4 photos again, among them the three without comment of last time, and one new photo. So I guess in your case you can upload the one that has no comment along with three new ones. :-))

Klauts · « **Reply #18 on:** November 18, 2009, 10:05 »

Hey guys I have a similar problem,

This is the second time it has happened. From the 4 initial pictures the first 3 are market Failed QC without any rejection reasons and the last says Image processing error. These were uploaded online.I used 8 different photos in the 2 batches. What could be wrong? Any ideas how should I try again?

madelaide · « **Reply #19 on:** November 18, 2009, 15:34 »

I don't remember if this is the message, but maybe one file was smaller than the minimum requirement?

Klauts · « **Reply #20 on:** November 18, 2009, 15:59 »

Hmm,
well it's 5100 x 3310, making a 48.3 MB file.However, this one is the smallest of the group(only a few hundred pixels less ,tho). Should i make it a tad bigger and reupload or should I try a whole new image and keep the first 3. If they didn't have any rejection reasons, would they be considered ok?

Perry · « **Reply #21 on:** November 18, 2009, 16:09 »

5100 x 3310 should be fine. If I remember correctly there is a clear message if the image is too small (happened me once). Now there has just happened some "processing error". I once had an image that didn't go trough their processing before I saved it again (this was the third attempt for the same image)

Klauts · « **Reply #22 on:** November 18, 2009, 16:25 »

Thanks for your help.
I uploaded the first 3 images plus a new one, let's see how this goes.

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #23 on:** November 18, 2009, 20:09 »

I think that image processing error means if the image hasn't been uploaded correctly or is in some way corrupted, so that they can't open it correctly. It is not an image quality problem I think.
Just try again.
I have made the experience that only the marked file is the problematic one - I submitted 4 with one that they criticized, so I only substituted it, uploaded it together with the 3 of the time before, and I was accepted.

Hope this helps,
have a great day!
Simone

Roadrunner · « **Reply #24 on:** November 20, 2009, 12:14 »

I failed the first two times that I submitted to Alamy. So I went on the Forum for help. I was using Photoshop Elements-6 at the time. One of the guys gave me this advice which made a big difference. Get your hands on the full Photoshop software. I managed to get Photoshop - CS at a good price. There is a huge difference in the processing of your images as the log rythems are superior. I ended up with less artifacts and much cleaner images plus better colors.

Now I only use PSE-6 on jobs for the church and some lower specs on various sites - i.e. Greeting Cards and some low res images 4"X6" to 5"X7" for family and friends. All work for stock sites get the Full Photoshop aplication. I was accepted the first batch with full version!

I also moved up to the Nikon D-300 from a D-70 and invested in the Nikkor 89-200 2.8 EDIF VR lens. I love that lens!

Good luck!

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Author Topic: Alamy QC (Read 28674 times)

eyeCatchLight

travelstock

RacePhoto

ap

epantha

ap

travelstock

RacePhoto

ap

eyeCatchLight

RacePhoto

Stu49

eyeCatchLight

RacePhoto

eyeCatchLight

eyeCatchLight

Stu49

eyeCatchLight

Klauts

madelaide

Klauts

Perry

Klauts

eyeCatchLight

Roadrunner

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