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Author Topic: Submission nightmare!  (Read 28163 times)

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CD123

« on: March 07, 2011, 08:23 »
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If you are not a regular contributor to Alamy, please take note of this (ridiculous) procedure!!!! I have to resubmit over 300 images due to this!

I submitted these images over a period of 7 days 28/02 till 6/03 in 13 batches. My original images + 56 had already been approved. They did not keep to the 37 hours average time for QC and all where evaluated today. Only the first batch had a rejection notification, but all batches where refused.

Here is their response to my inquiry:
"And in your case the 13 media reached the QC queue on the same day (07 March 2011 ) and so was considered as a single submission. And we randomly pick an image for QC, and the image thus considered was mercedes & masion 3d.jpg (of the media OL837866), which unfortunately failed for Soft or lacking definition and Noticeable retouching. So none of the images in any of the media were checked but failed as a whole."

Tested 1 image in a group of more that 300, uploaded in 13 batches - all rejected!!!  >:(

My advice, do not upload any batch larger that 25 and do not upload a new batch unless the previous was approved!!!!!!!!!! They work slow, you pay the price!!!

(This sucked big time - I spent days in submitting them - will now probably take a year to upload my full portfolio, but I will not step into this ridiculous trap  again)  :-[
« Last Edit: March 07, 2011, 08:28 by CD123 »


« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2011, 08:30 »
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Being 4 years with Alamy I didn't have any rejection at all.

However when I was starting with them I was careful and only uploaded small batches - so yes if you are just starting you better do it slowly.

CD123

« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2011, 08:35 »
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Being 4 years with Alamy I didn't have any rejection at all.

However when I was starting with them I was careful and only uploaded small batches - so yes if you are just starting you better do it slowly.

The rejection was for: "Soft or lacking definition and Noticeable retouching" - the image is a painting  ::)

« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2011, 08:46 »
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I never tried submitting any paintings or drawings to Alamy, only photos....

« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2011, 09:07 »
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Generally their review process is better than the average site in terms of speed. I submit one batch at a time, between 15 - 25. I wait until that one is through to do the next one. I had heard previously that whatever is in the queue waiting to be inspected is considered one batch which is why I'm careful.

Sorry for your experience.

CD123

« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2011, 09:50 »
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Generally their review process is better than the average site in terms of speed. I submit one batch at a time, between 15 - 25. I wait until that one is through to do the next one. I had heard previously that whatever is in the queue waiting to be inspected is considered one batch which is why I'm careful.

Sorry for your experience.

Thank you for the sympathy - I will wipe the tears now and start all over (if only I knew about this ridiculous process beforehand.........).

« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2011, 11:02 »
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Not quite a nightmare really, certainly not on a world scale. Try not to submit soft images in the future and all should be well.

« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2011, 11:42 »
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I've considered Alamy a couple of times but submission always seemed like too much of a PITA because of upsizing requirements.   Is that still the case?

« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2011, 11:46 »
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I've considered Alamy a couple of times but submission always seemed like too much of a PITA because of upsizing requirements.   Is that still the case?

No.. You just need 8.5MP pictures.. The boring submission process with tons of ticks and checkboxes still a pain!

« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2011, 12:02 »
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The boring submission process with tons of ticks and checkboxes still a pain!
but it can be done in batches now

« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2011, 13:04 »
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The boring submission process with tons of ticks and checkboxes still a pain!
but it can be done in batches now
true! too bad when pictures arent in "batches"

« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2011, 13:20 »
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My impression is that Alamy was very slow in reacting to microstock and, in fact, to the web itself, and is still behind the curve.   They can't see things from the contributor's point of view, where the it takes to submit a photo has to have some relationship to the chance of ever selling that photo. 

I've waited long enough for the upsizing requirement to be dropped, maybe if I keep waiting the "tons of ticks and checkboxes" will go away too.

« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2011, 13:26 »
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I've waited long enough for the upsizing requirement to be dropped, maybe if I keep waiting the "tons of ticks and checkboxes" will go away too.

it will take a few time I guess, still my second month there, dreaming with big sales every night, thats what keep my uploading..

« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2011, 16:01 »
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The boring submission process with tons of ticks and checkboxes still a pain!

This is the part which keeps me from submitting a larger portfolio to them too.  When you consider that the rule of thumb for contributors at Alamy is "$1 per year per image" it's hard to get motivated.  It seems like Alamy's contributor tools have always been about 5-7 years behind everyone else.

RacePhoto

« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2011, 01:59 »
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Generally their review process is better than the average site in terms of speed. I submit one batch at a time, between 15 - 25. I wait until that one is through to do the next one. I had heard previously that whatever is in the queue waiting to be inspected is considered one batch which is why I'm careful.

Sorry for your experience.


Thank you for the sympathy - I will wipe the tears now and start all over (if only I knew about this ridiculous process beforehand.........).


So you are saying when you joined you never read the guidelines or rules for submitting photos? The one fail, all fail is repeated here and on the Alamy forum and in their guide to submitting photos.

Might as well read it now, here's the QC policy page, but there are many more.

http://www.alamy.com/contributor/help/prepare-images.asp#QC

 A submission is defined as any group of media that are awaiting QC at the same time regardless of the day they were submitted (they will all have the status Awaiting QC).
 If we fail one image, we will reject all images in all media awaiting QC at that time.


Also you might want to make a note that once they reject one photo, they stop checking the others. So if you think all your pictures were rejected for just one, think again.

Alamy doesn't play the game that Micro does, where you can throw up anything and see what gets through. They trust people to be self reviewing and responsible adults. Only submit what you think is good quality. This cuts down on their expenses and the number of reviewers needed.

You might want to read this part too and remember it.

Ongoing QC failures can result in your online upload privilege being frozen for six months and in extreme circumstances your account being terminated.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2011, 02:03 by RacePhoto »

CD123

« Reply #15 on: March 08, 2011, 14:10 »
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Wow RacePhoto! So clever, so much information, so much wisdom...!!!!!  :o

Think with you reading all the fine print on all the sites you submit to so carefully, you would have read my post with the same attention as well  ::) "Also you might want to make a note that once they reject one photo, they stop checking the others. " Already made that note and posted it here.

"Alamy doesn't play the game that Micro does, where you can throw up anything and see what gets through. They trust people to be self reviewing and responsible adults." And your point is, if one picture out of 300 of a new contributor does not get accepted, the contributor is not a responsible adult?

Thank heavens Alamy did not appoint you as public spokesman - they would not have had a business left.........  ;D

RacePhoto

« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2011, 03:39 »
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Wow RacePhoto! So clever, so much information, so much wisdom...!!!!!  :o

Think with you reading all the fine print on all the sites you submit to so carefully, you would have read my post with the same attention as well  ::) "Also you might want to make a note that once they reject one photo, they stop checking the others. " Already made that note and posted it here.

"Alamy doesn't play the game that Micro does, where you can throw up anything and see what gets through. They trust people to be self reviewing and responsible adults." And your point is, if one picture out of 300 of a new contributor does not get accepted, the contributor is not a responsible adult?

Thank heavens Alamy did not appoint you as public spokesman - they would not have had a business left.........  ;D


Yes, I can't disagree with the last part.

But you come to the forum shouting about how you had your batches all rejected, "Submission Nightmare" for one photo and how it's ridiculous, when they make it clear, over and over, "one fail all fail" and you want to warn us. However you fail to recognize that some of us read the instructions before uploading to an agency? It's not fine print, it's repeated here and on the Alamy forums, over and over.

They rejected over 300 images I loaded over 13 batches over 7 days, after checking only 1 and then dismissed all (no further inspection), because they decided to batch them together, as they fell behind on their evaluation.


They didn't fall behind, that's the way they work. And if you have been reading, others will tell you, when there are marginal images or problems, the reviews take longer. We don't know if it goes to second review or if it's a penalty for failing, but passing takes under three working days usually, failing takes a week.  >:(

The part about throwing up anything and see what sticks isn't personal, it's the way they do business, not coddling and babying people. Not wasting time and energy like micros. Nothing about your photos, I've never seen them.

Here's the kind and gentle Alamy version:  http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2009/07/07/4769.aspx

"Contributors who have a good QC history will see their work QC'd sooner."

My favorite part about Alamy is what people miss when they are complaining about the size demands and sometimes the QC that often rejects for SoLD (common catch all rejection) The fact that Alamy does not QC for content. I think it's wonderful. No Low Commercial Value judgmental opinion, or subjective reviewers bias. You can shoot a brown rock on a sandy beach with an old stick and it will pass, if it's sharp and has good contrast.

I'd suggest that your idea about 25 at a time is a good one. Start there until you see what passes and what doesn't. Then move up to larger collections. I haven't gone much over 200 in a batch, and in the case where I had one questionable shot, but I wanted them to look at it, I sent in one. Actually I've done that a few times. Once it failed and I got the message about that kind of shot. No More. But once you get the idea of what they take and what they refuse, you'll be cruising and you can send 50 or 60 at a time, no problems.

In case you wondered, here's the How To Sell images page on Alamy. You are correct, I didn't just read it, I printed most of it and read it again and underlined important parts. But I'm old and feeble minded. Someone exceptionally smart, brash and young could probably just scan it and know everything. Someone between 18 and 22, would already know everything, without ever reading it!  ;) For the rest of the world, when something fails or you want to know how it works, you need to take the wrapper off the docs or RTFI.

http://alamy.com/contributor/help/sell-images.asp

Good luck, happy sales.

ps One Fail All Fail!
« Last Edit: March 09, 2011, 04:18 by RacePhoto »

« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2011, 04:28 »
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Race:

Laughing my **S off; take a "chill pill", sip a beer or something ;D
« Last Edit: March 09, 2011, 04:30 by visceralimage »

CD123

« Reply #18 on: March 09, 2011, 04:30 »
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RacePhoto:
Thank you for the less insulting tone this time (there might be some hope for you still - if old dogs can learn new tricks  ;) ).
But you keep on amazing me, now you even think you know my age.........(Oh' mighty wizard of Alamy  ;) )  
Hey - there could be a movie in it somewhere.......  :D
« Last Edit: March 09, 2011, 04:44 by CD123 »

« Reply #19 on: March 09, 2011, 07:58 »
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I've got about 2300 images on Alamy and have never never had a rejection.  That being said I always upload in small batches, around 20-30 a pop. I know another photographer who got pissed at his exclusive micro and branched out.  He did a massive upload and got all of them rejected because of just one image.  It was around 500 of his nearly 10k port uploaded.  I told him to try 20 and he did. It worked.  It's like doing rework....I assemble (upload) 10,000 widgets and find out one is bad, all widgets have to be disassembled and I have to start over (upload 10k more all over).  If I make (upload) 20 widgets at a time and one fails I only have to rework (re-upload) 20.  Too risky with Alamy to do large batches simply because of time vs. risk.

CD123

« Reply #20 on: March 09, 2011, 09:32 »
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That was exactly my point - the one I learnt the hard way.

RacePhoto

« Reply #21 on: March 10, 2011, 00:11 »
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RacePhoto:
Thank you for the less insulting tone this time (there might be some hope for you still - if old dogs can learn new tricks  ;) ).
But you keep on amazing me, now you even think you know my age.........(Oh' mighty wizard of Alamy  ;) )  
Hey - there could be a movie in it somewhere.......  :D

The reason old dogs can't learn new tricks, isn't because they can't be taught, it's because they are too stubborn!

We've all had your nightmare for years, join the club. It's the way they run their site. Just like some of the micros. If you don't like it, you can ignore them, and with that I pulled the plug on all of them except IS and SS. I sleep better at night. :D But Alamy is transparent and had extensive documentation about how to do things, examples of failures, guides to doing it right. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone when the "one fail, all fail" review comes up. You tried to make it sound like they were catching up because they couldn't keep up and just brushed yours aside. Well, it's nothing personal, they do it to everyone.

Nope I don't know your age, didn't guess, and I've never looked at your photos. Again it was a generalization about attitudes. I was much smarter when I was 19 than when I turned 38 and when I hit 58 I realized how I get dumber every day. Or maybe I recognize that the more I learn, the more I know how much I don't know?  ???

You still have to find out if the one image was the only one, or if you have many more that you will need to review a little closer. The common hook is, if you have one image that's SoLD, you either let one slide or you have many more. Now you know and can do something about it, before it becomes a bigger issue.

Good Luck!

CD123

« Reply #22 on: March 10, 2011, 00:52 »
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With pictures it is easier. 95% of my work are vectors and/or drawings/paintings. The decisions about which ones the sites likes differs not only hugely between sites, but also from reviewer to reviewer, as personal tastes plays a much bigger role with these than with photos (technical quality can be 100% throughout). There are most of the time not even coherence between one sites reviewers. Sometimes you can submit rejected images 12 hours after their rejection (best chance of getting another reviewer) and get all the rejected ones accepted.

Interesting enough I also found that although my portfolio may be hugely the same between certain sites, certain types of images will sell better on the one than on the other.

So, unfortunately it is not as easy as with photos to just make sure the technical quality is in order and get it accepted.  The procedure of decline one, decline all robs me of the opportunity to establish which type of images the site prefers. With other words I can get 4 batches rejected, before I can establish the "general taste" of the site, which make Alamy a tough one for me to submit to.

I had 62 images already accepted and thought I got them worked out, but obviously then they have approved images they did not look at and I that I could submit more of same. Wrong assumption and hence my frustration.

Not everything has to do with submitter's attitude as per your statement, it can be practical problems as well (so try to keep an open mind - less "stubborn" in you own opinion maybe....(from one "old" guy to another) ;).

But as you say, their site, their rules. I will have to decide if it is really worth my while submitting to them.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2011, 01:05 by CD123 »

RacePhoto

« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2011, 02:05 »
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Race:

Laughing my **S off; take a "chill pill", sip a beer or something ;D

I agree, it's like talking to a wall. One excuse after another why the site is wrong because someone didn't read the rules and can't follow them.  ::)

"The procedure of decline one, decline all robs me of the opportunity to establish which type of images the site prefers."

Hint: Alamy does not judge content, only image quality. Someone new to any agency should read the instructions and help files.

I think I've had enough of the game of "Shoot the messenger" for telling the truth. My mistake.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2011, 13:07 by RacePhoto »

« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2011, 05:00 »
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Race:

Laughing my **S off; take a "chill pill", sip a beer or something ;D

I agree, it's like talking to a wall. One excuse after another why the site is wrong because someone didn't read the rules and can't follow them.  ::)

"The procedure of decline one, decline all robs me of the opportunity to establish which type of images the site prefers."

Hint: Alamy does not judge content, only image quality. Someone new to any agency should read the instructions and help files.

Alamy is pretty basic and upfront; you can send in a picture of a rock; not an interesting rock, just an everyday "by the side of the road" rock.  If it is lite correctly, proper contrast, good white balance and position well in the frame; it will be accepted by Alamy.  SS would deny it based on focus; IS would deny based on lack of punch or color, DT would deny it based on similars, Fotolia would deny it based on "to many of the same", etc.


 

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