Yes, this whole keywording snafu is a chance for new uploaders to rise to the top of the search engine. When I get a chance in a couple of weeks, I plan on uploading a few dozen images. It's amazing the amount of crap that's on Alamy. I would say 80% of it wouldn't pass muster on a microstock company. I've read elsewhere that several die hard Alamy supporters have tried recently to get into micros and complain on how hard it was!

Just cleared up one issue with Alamy that I've seen others struggling with.  The issue of editorial images.

I have editorial images posted on both SS and Alamy.  With the new changes at Alamy, anything showing a person and no model release must be Licensed.  No RF.  Well needless to say my pictures of Barak Obama have no model releases and are on SS as RF.  I queried Alamy about this and asked if an editorial image that was already posted elsewhere as RF could remain on Alamy as Licensed or had to be deleted.  Their response was to leave the image on Alamy as licensed and restrict its usage to editorial only.  A little tricky to do this, but no big deal once you get the hang of it.

Under each thumbnail in the "Manage my Images" section is a link called "More Options."  Down at the bottom of the more options page is a section where you can place restrictions on the image's usage.  Leaving countries, medias, industries and sub-industries set to "ALL", simply restrict all six "USAGE" categories that are not editorial.  Kind of backs into the restriction.  Instead of saying the image to be used on editorial only, it states the images cannot be used anywhere except for editorial.  End result's the same, just a different way of saying it.

Ok, I can payout now, I think in future I will upload a bit more to Alamy, it seems to work well. There are two options to pay out: By check and by funds transfer.

But by fund transfer into your bank account you do not even have to give your account number, how does that work?

I would also take the check, but does someone who lives in Germany know how much they charge to turn in a check from Alamy?

Anybody here from Germany who knows which is the best payout method for us?

zero sale, nothing. Ok, so I've got only like 60 images online, but am I doing something wrong?

In general with place like Alamy you'll need a couple hundred images before you see a download or see downloads in general. I've heard that you won't see consistent downloads until you hit 1000 uploads. I have to caveat with the fact that many of the people I see say these things on the Alamy forums basically upload travel photos or whatever they see around them and could stand to tighten up their portfolios quite a bit. I had 10 images on line for about a year and had a $200 sale, so know I'm uploading many more to get a payout from them.

Can someone help me with RFxRM in Alamy?  Do we choose which model we want, or do they have their own policy?

Regards,
Adelaide

Quote from: zorki on January 17, 2008, 16:29
In general with place like Alamy you'll need a couple hundred images before you see a download or see downloads in general. I've heard that you won't see consistent downloads until you hit 1000 uploads. I have to caveat with the fact that many of the people I see say these things on the Alamy forums basically upload travel photos or whatever they see around them and could stand to tighten up their portfolios quite a bit. I had 10 images on line for about a year and had a $200 sale, so know I'm uploading many more to get a payout from them.

Thanks zorki, for the insight. I've also taken a quick glance at the Alamy measures stats, and I see emphasis on certain set of images in my humble portfolio.

This gives me a better focus on what images to upload in future to improve my exposure.

I'm targeting to have about 200 images up there by end Feb, and moving forward, increase my portfolio gradually. Hopefully I will have some good news to share in future. 

cheers.

Madelaide,

you choose yourself, if you want to sell RM or RF. But if you have the pictures somehwere else as RF I would recommend you click on RF

There is always a running debate on the AlamyPro forum about what makes you more money being all RF or RM or a mix. It seems that RF sells more volume, RM can get more per individual sale but come more slowly. If you have a large enough portfolio I would do a mix. If you want to sell the image in multiple places, RF is probably the best...

Quote from: ptlee on January 15, 2008, 13:32
zero sale, nothing. Ok, so I've got only like 60 images online, but am I doing something wrong?

This is normal in mid- and macrostock. microstockphotographers often have many problems when they put photos to theese agencys, cause they used to have many clicks and sellings every day. In mid- and macrostock sometimes you don`t sell something for months, but you can earn much more. my best selling at alamy has 1200.- $ and i got 65% percent from that. How much photos you must sell in microstock for that fee?

But... 60 Photos are a very small stock. The chance to get a better search-placement is relatively small, cause alamy has a click-rated search engine.

Quote from: Michael on January 18, 2008, 20:25

Quote from: ptlee on January 15, 2008, 13:32
zero sale, nothing. Ok, so I've got only like 60 images online, but am I doing something wrong?

This is normal in mid- and macrostock. microstockphotographers often have many problems when they put photos to theese agencys, cause they used to have many clicks and sellings every day. In mid- and macrostock sometimes you don`t sell something for months, but you can earn much more. my best selling at alamy has 1200.- $ and i got 65% percent from that. How much photos you must sell in microstock for that fee?

But... 60 Photos are a very small stock. The chance to get a better search-placement is relatively small, cause alamy has a click-rated search engine.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this click-rated search engine?

Quote from: jorgeinthewater on January 19, 2008, 03:15

Quote from: Michael on January 18, 2008, 20:25

Quote from: ptlee on January 15, 2008, 13:32
zero sale, nothing. Ok, so I've got only like 60 images online, but am I doing something wrong?

This is normal in mid- and macrostock. microstockphotographers often have many problems when they put photos to theese agencys, cause they used to have many clicks and sellings every day. In mid- and macrostock sometimes you don`t sell something for months, but you can earn much more. my best selling at alamy has 1200.- $ and i got 65% percent from that. How much photos you must sell in microstock for that fee?

But... 60 Photos are a very small stock. The chance to get a better search-placement is relatively small, cause alamy has a click-rated search engine.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this click-rated search engine?

Uff, my english is not the best and it is a complicated mathematic formula. But... take a look here and you see it directly:

http://www.alamy.com/contributors/alamysearch/default.asp

The most important thing are the klick-rate (only by known customers!). Klicks from your friends and you don`t matters. So you need time to reach a better position in the search engine, when your photos are relative new at alamy...

The Alamy ranking is smart IMHO.

Thumbnail view does count positively only when followed by a "click" or better a sale. Otherwise it count negatively to your ranking.

This is smart because it gives advantage to portfolios which are diversified and disadvantage keyword spamming.

If you have many similar photos, you may get many views from a search, but the buyer will probably only click on a few of them as they are similar. Your rating will then go down.

If you spam with keywording, you will get views, but the buyer will not click as the photo is irrelevant to the search. Your rating will go down.

I really like the Alamy ranking system. Still waiting for my first sale however... but I'm just starting here 

Can I sell images on Alamy witch I selling allready on other sites? Or images on alamy has to be exclusive?
Thanks

Quote from: Michael on January 19, 2008, 12:28

Quote from: jorgeinthewater on January 19, 2008, 03:15

Quote from: Michael on January 18, 2008, 20:25

Quote from: ptlee on January 15, 2008, 13:32
zero sale, nothing. Ok, so I've got only like 60 images online, but am I doing something wrong?

This is normal in mid- and macrostock. microstockphotographers often have many problems when they put photos to theese agencys, cause they used to have many clicks and sellings every day. In mid- and macrostock sometimes you don`t sell something for months, but you can earn much more. my best selling at alamy has 1200.- $ and i got 65% percent from that. How much photos you must sell in microstock for that fee?

But... 60 Photos are a very small stock. The chance to get a better search-placement is relatively small, cause alamy has a click-rated search engine.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this click-rated search engine?

Uff, my english is not the best and it is a complicated mathematic formula. But... take a look here and you see it directly:

http://www.alamy.com/contributors/alamysearch/default.asp

The most important thing are the klick-rate (only by known customers!). Klicks from your friends and you don`t matters. So you need time to reach a better position in the search engine, when your photos are relative new at alamy...

Thanks Michael very informative reading.

There is nothing like a rainy night to give me patience to read the license agreement...  Can anyone help me with some comprehension issues?

1) What is "Novel use"?

2) What does this paragraph mean?

QuoteWhere the Contributor appoints Alamy as its agent to grant Royalty-Free Licences in respect of an Image, Alamy may vary the Licences it grants in respect of that Image from Royalty-Free to Traditional by giving 45 days prior notice to the Contributor at any time. If the Contributor notifies Alamy during the 45 day notice period that it does not agree to such variation then Alamy may either continue to grant Royalty-Free Licences in respect of that Image or, at Alamy's option, may delete that Image from the System.

3) And this one?  If someone buys the same image elsewhere, I have to pay Alamy a commission??

QuoteThe Contributor shall report all sales made by the Contributor or the Contributor's Sub Agents where either a sale was made where a Customer has stated that the Image they require was found on the web site maintained by any company in the Alamy Group, or where Alamy has provided a high resolution Image for the fulfilment of the sale by a Contributor. A statement by a customer as to where they first found an Image shall be conclusive evidence as between the Contributor and Alamy as to whether the Image was found via the Alamy web site.
The Contributor shall report the sale and pay 10% of the sale value (net of any transaction or sales tax including VAT) to Alamy within 30 days of receiving payment for the sale.

Also in paragraph 14d they talk about that.  How can I know if a buyer saw the image first in Alamy and they purchased it elsewhere??

4) Does selecting distribution locations work for RM only or RF as well?  Can it be set on a per-image basis?

5) As far as I understand, they call RM "Traditional Licence", yet it can be with or without Rights Protection, is that so?  I'm confused.  RFxRM I understand.  What is "Traditional" then and if it's RM how can it be "without Rights Protection"?

Regards,
Adelaide

Quote from: dbajurin on January 19, 2008, 23:38
Can I sell images on Alamy witch I selling allready on other sites? Or images on alamy has to be exclusive?

Yes.  It's in paragraph 1 of the Contributor Agreement:

QuoteUnder this contract the Contributor has the right to:(...)
Supply their Images on a non exclusive basis and may therefore sell their Images in any other way they wish.

Regards,
Adelaide

If you have your Alamy images as 'Licensed' (RM), can you legally sell the same images via another agency as RF? Or is it just considered 'unethical'?

Quote from: NumberSix on January 20, 2008, 09:46
If you have your Alamy images as 'Licensed' (RM), can you legally sell the same images via another agency as RF? Or is it just considered 'unethical'?

No, absolutley not.  By sell them as RM, you are giving the buyer permission to have 'full rights' for a certain country, or certain type of use or different things.  if a buyer decideds he wants these special types of rights, and the image has been sold as RF (where they buyer can use the image for whatever he wants) - that makes problems.

So in short.  If an image has EVER been sold as RF you CANNOT EVER sell the image as RM

Leaf - many thanks for the swift reply and excellent advice. Presumably you could have such a mix of the same images (RM on one agency, and RF on another) and then if sold on one, remove (or place restrictions) on the other agency for that particular image? If permitted to do so of course...

If a buyer sees you selling the same image RF on one site and RM on another, they are not going to buy the RM are they?  They probably wont buy anything from you.  People think that buyers only use one site but I think there are a lot that use multiple sites.

Quote from: NumberSix on January 20, 2008, 10:35
Leaf - many thanks for the swift reply and excellent advice. Presumably you could have such a mix of the same images (RM on one agency, and RF on another) and then if sold on one, remove (or place restrictions) on the other agency for that particular image? If permitted to do so of course...

no, you simply can't list the same image with both types of licenses.  A RF license means there are basically no restrictions.

If you want to list an image on two different sites, some of them allow you to have them listed as RM on both sites but then you have to watch closely and alter the license on both sites. - and both sites have to allow not having exclusivity on the images

If you want to list the images as RF on both sites, then it is not a problem (if the sites allow it)

You cannot mix and match licenses.... period.

Thanks Sharpshot - seems logical and think I'm gradually getting my head round the different systems. One final combination - is it acceptable/legal/appropriate to sell the same images as RM via different agencies?  (appreciate this is the 'norm' for RF)

Thanks Leaf - posted at the same time, and you've answered all my questions. Greatly appreciate the advice.

Quote from: NumberSix on January 20, 2008, 11:15
Thanks Sharpshot - seems logical and think I'm gradually getting my head round the different systems. One final combination - is it acceptable/legal/appropriate to sell the same images as RM via different agencies?  (appreciate this is the 'norm' for RF)

It depends on which sites you are listing with.  Some sites require that you ONLY have your images with them.

Alamy for example though allows you to list your RM with them, AS WELL as with other companies, I however don't.  it is too much trouble to try and keep track of which image sold where and which licenses were purchased, then notify the other agencies where the images can and cannot be used etc.  Most agencies wouldn't allow you to sell RM images on another site.