Author Topic: Cutcaster Website - Re-design reviews, feedback and image sales (Read 36585 times)

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2011, 14:48 »

Good timing, John. The problem as I see it, however, is I am a producer, you're a reseller, and I have no idea what the buyers think of all the recent shenanigans.

borg · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2011, 14:52 »

Very nice new look!

John, I can't find pending images after submitting...

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2011, 15:15 »

Quote from: borg on January 21, 2011, 14:52

Very nice new look!

John, I can't find pending images after submitting...

+1

sc · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2011, 16:25 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on January 21, 2011, 15:15

Quote from: borg on January 21, 2011, 14:52
Very nice new look!

John, I can't find pending images after submitting...
+1

I had the same problem this morning but I just did a 1 image upload and all went fine. (the ones I uploaded this morning aren't showing up at all though)

Site looks great - very fast search - easy upload interface.

steve

microstockinsider · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2011, 18:25 »

Hi John

it's good to see cutcaster is still up for the fight.

I like the new (much needed) look

do you have a list of todos somewhere?

i'm looking at the earnings history, it seems that not all the sales from the previous site are listed there - from way back in 08/09 (although they may have been imported and all dated as "2011-01-20" ?) is that correct?

Also the listing can't be sorted by date / is not in date order, it's alphabetic I think, so txns in 2011 are followed by 2009 then 2010 after that.

I think the portfolio on the old site could be sorted by downloads or views - it would be nice to have that functionality back, although I think features for buyers should come first.

it would be better to fill out the W-8BEN (or whatever tax form fits) online rather than print, scan it and upload it.

Suljo · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2011, 18:46 »

Put intro Welcome text into left align like below it will be better without sloppy spaces btw words

Welcome to the new Cutcaster
Cutcaster is a simple-to-use website for intelligently searching
and buying royalty free photos, hi-res pictures, stock vectors and
free stock images for use on websites, newsletters, advertising,
publishing or any commercial project.
Browse our enormous image categories, search faster with our
intuitive search engine and download affordable creative
imagery for as little as a few dollars.

sharpshot · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2011, 19:05 »

Looks good and does seem very fast. I can't see any way to zoom in to see the quality of an image. Is that something buyers like?

luissantos84 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2011, 08:14 »

besides having like 200 pictures removed now my low balance is on 0$, used to be around 2$..

Beach Bum · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2011, 09:01 »

Much better site! Great improvement. Just wish I could get a sale every now and then.

borg · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2011, 09:33 »

Quote from: Suljo on January 21, 2011, 18:46

Put intro Welcome text into left align like below it will be better without sloppy spaces btw words

Welcome to the new Cutcaster
Cutcaster is a simple-to-use website for intelligently searching
and buying royalty free photos, hi-res pictures, stock vectors and
free stock images for use on websites, newsletters, advertising,
publishing or any commercial project.
Browse our enormous image categories, search faster with our
intuitive search engine and download affordable creative
imagery for as little as a few dollars.

Also!

Not satisfied with the price? Give us your offer and wait for the response!

P.S.
John, give us some percentage more (not only referrals) and I many of us will make marketing for CC... That can be some kind of new project on CC.

We need to find way how to motivate buyers and contributors...

FD · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2011, 13:20 »

- Design too wide: would I have to scroll horizontally all the time like on the new IS?
- No left margin on left text.
- Colorless too spread out landing page; main slide show too large.
- Search for Asian sunset and get this bunch of chairs;
- "Similar pictures" on this one is a server cleaning table.

Hmpff....

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2011, 14:20 »

Took me ages to work out that I had to scroll across to see the sign-in box.

lightscribe · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2011, 14:25 »

no way to sort images after I search.....pretty standard on every stock site.....sort by most downloaded, sort by newest first, sort by relevance, etc etc etc?
also no stats, like no way to see how many downloads a particular image has. The name of the site should change... what does "cutcaster" even mean? always thought it was a weird name for a stock agency.

borg · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2011, 15:21 »

I like wide effect because my monitor is wide...

CD123 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2011, 16:48 »

As mentioned to you in my email John, here comes the complaints about the site's width.

For you with a problem with it, while holding in Ctrl (Windows), press "-" on your numbers pad and you will zoom out to the correct display for the site. Not sure about Internet Explorer, but Firefox is clever enough to keep all my other links on the original setting, while only using the zoomed effect on the Cutcaster site.

Hope it helps those unfortunates like me without the "wide screen" monitors.

PS Put down your vote about the new website here:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/microstock-news/new-cutcaster-website/msg181480/#new

garren · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2011, 18:41 »

I seem to be missing approx 25 images from my portfolio and it looks like my earnings may have been misplaced during the transition as I am back to a zero balance....but other than that... I think the site looks really good.

stockastic · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2011, 21:21 »

Looks good. Nice overall style, colors and fonts are pleasant, good proportion and placement - the site has a relaxed but serious 'feel'.

Yes, maybe the main page is too wide, and the slideshow could be smaller.

borg · « **Reply #18 on:** January 23, 2011, 05:11 »

Missing rejections and pending sections... Or I can't find it...

CD123 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2011, 20:30 »

Would also perhaps be nice to go to a My Account with indication of number of files online, pending, sales amount, number of sales, etc. in stead of a mini profile. It takes long to load and is not necessarily the info one wants to see offhand. I rather select profile if I want to look at it. Rather start with account summary.

Suljo · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2011, 20:46 »

Quote from: borg on January 22, 2011, 15:21

I like wide effect because my monitor is wide...

This wide "effect" is OK. Seams biggest front thumb in industry. (Bad thing of that is screen shot as gift away for bloggers and little screen grabber fishes)
(only on iStock you cant have wide monitor enough for they epic F5 sht)

mtkang · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2011, 11:52 »

my earning is back to 0, where is my earning?

Eco · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2011, 12:14 »

An improvement yes, but .....

95% of my portfolio just shows as broken thumbnails, even in searches. No thumbnails = no sales.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 24, 2011, 12:16 »

Quote from: mtkang on January 24, 2011, 11:52

my earning is back to 0, where is my earning?

talked with CC yesterday and the balance will appear again just like your full portfolio

Marburg · « **Reply #24 on:** January 25, 2011, 15:49 »

Nice look, but has some problems. In my case, I have files that were approved in Jan missing from my portfolio. Sales from 2008-2010 are appearing as 2011. No option to request payout from referrals. Shows only referral earning but no balance. Duplicate photos that were removed over a year ago have reappeared. Photos that were rejected appear as approved. Also--double check spelling and grammar for the site. Found several instances where "Royalty" was spelled "Royality."

Marburg

PS--I sent an email with the photo numbers in question.

Marburg · « **Reply #25 on:** January 25, 2011, 15:50 »

One additional comment: tax forms that were previously uploaded are missing.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #28 on:** January 25, 2011, 16:06 »

Quote from: dehooks on January 22, 2011, 09:01

Just wish I could get a sale every now and then.

I just went to check it out, and clicked on "people". Every image on the first page was from a certain contributor. Other people might get more sales if it were mixed up a bit.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #31 on:** January 25, 2011, 16:31 »

Sorry - I mean I clicked on the people category on the front page.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #32 on:** January 25, 2011, 18:10 »

John, looking at my portfolio, it displays oldest images first with the new ones last. Will I be able to reverse the order?

Antonio S. · « **Reply #33 on:** January 26, 2011, 14:14 »

On the old site I had set the price of my photos for the maximum size.
Now this has become the price for the M size, so my prices have more than doubled.
it seems there is no way to change the new prices

borg · « **Reply #34 on:** January 26, 2011, 16:56 »

Yeah!

How to change image prices...?
I am not satisfied wit current prices!

johngriffin · « **Reply #35 on:** January 26, 2011, 17:45 »

There will be a bulk update option which you can use to change all your pricing or ones you have selected by next week.

You should start to see broken thumbnails in your portfolios fixed and by this weekend all the images and earnings will be back in your account.

Warren at this time there isnt a way to do that but its a simple change. We can sort by newest uploads instead of oldest.

Antonio S. · « **Reply #36 on:** January 26, 2011, 17:59 »

Thank you, John

sharpshot · « **Reply #37 on:** January 26, 2011, 18:42 »

Quote from: johngriffin on January 25, 2011, 16:03

Quote from: sharpshot on January 21, 2011, 19:05
Looks good and does seem very fast. I can't see any way to zoom in to see the quality of an image. Is that something buyers like?

That is coming very shortly. We have been getting a good response regarding our image details pages and what happens when you roll over an image to preview it. We will add the magnifying glass to that view for our buyers.

Try opening up any of these Valentines day pictures.

If you roll over an image preview like this Valentine Clipart you will see what I am talking about with regards to the background blacking out.

I did notice the background blacking out. That's a nice feature and could be useful for people that want to see what the image looks like on a dark background. Good to know the zoom feature is coming soon. I thinks it's great that you still seem to be keen to make Cutcaster work and I really hope you make it.

borg · « **Reply #38 on:** January 26, 2011, 20:04 »

Thank you John...

bittersweet · « **Reply #39 on:** January 27, 2011, 11:03 »

i rarely look at the site because i've never actually had a sale there. looked today for the first time in a month... all my vectors files seem to have been lost in the transition.

awesome.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #40 on:** January 27, 2011, 12:51 »

John,
It looks like the tax forms have been lost? Will they reappear after the transition?
PS: I looked at my pending payout and saw a messaging telling me that I had not filed tax forms. I have!!!

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #42 on:** February 01, 2011, 02:22 »

Quote from: johngriffin on January 31, 2011, 16:57

Just did another major update/release this weekend. You can read about it on the blog and post questions there or here.

http://blog.cutcaster.com/2011/01/31/release-update-regarding-older-files-and-earnings/

But when do the prices of our photos go back to what we originally set them at or when will we have the ability to set the prices ourselves?

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #43 on:** February 01, 2011, 14:05 »

John,
I can't find a way to view image statistics ... downloads, views, etc.

johngriffin · « **Reply #44 on:** February 02, 2011, 14:46 »

The ability to "bulk" set your prices and edit your media details will be coming out early next week.

If you want to know your stats Warren, I can send you some information in an excel sheet but right now we don't have the views and downloads up on the site. Its a simple thing to do and will get done in the future though. Trying to focus as much as we can on what the buyer needs.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #45 on:** February 02, 2011, 15:13 »

Quote from: johngriffin on February 02, 2011, 14:46

The ability to "bulk" set your prices and edit your media details will be coming out early next week.

If you want to know your stats Warren, I can send you some information in an excel sheet but right now we don't have the views and downloads up on the site. Its a simple thing to do and will get done in the future though. Trying to focus as much as we can on what the buyer needs.

I wasn't requesting information, John. Just offering suggestions on things that seem to be missing or improvements that could be useful.
Looking forward to the finished product.

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #46 on:** February 02, 2011, 16:35 »

Quote from: johngriffin on February 02, 2011, 14:46

The ability to "bulk" set your prices and edit your media details will be coming out early next week.

If you want to know your stats Warren, I can send you some information in an excel sheet but right now we don't have the views and downloads up on the site. Its a simple thing to do and will get done in the future though. Trying to focus as much as we can on what the buyer needs.

Could you kindly put all my images on at $99 at the largest resolution. It's great that you are focusing on buyers, but on your site I have micro and macrostock images and since the new site everything has been changed to micro prices, which also puts me in an awkward position in relation to other sites.

johngriffin · « **Reply #47 on:** February 03, 2011, 15:24 »

All taken care of Komar.

mtkang · « **Reply #48 on:** February 06, 2011, 03:56 »

anyway to delete an image? i would like to replace an image with a better version.

Carl · « **Reply #49 on:** February 06, 2011, 06:19 »

The new site looks great, but I can't follow my submission from a few weeks ago. Since I can't remember which photos I submitted, I can't upload any more because I might upload duplicates. Or am I missing something? $:-\$

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #50 on:** February 06, 2011, 11:32 »

Quote from: csproductions on February 06, 2011, 06:19

The new site looks great, but I can't follow my submission from a few weeks ago. Since I can't remember which photos I submitted, I can't upload any more because I might upload duplicates. Or am I missing something? $:-\$

I think there must be some "fine tuning" in the works. We need a better way to view portfolios. It seems the default sort order is oldest first? Need a sort for "newest first." Or, most popular.
Just ideas, John.
Access to any sales/download/views type statistics isn't intuitively available or, maybe I'm missing the obvious?

Carl · « **Reply #52 on:** February 07, 2011, 19:42 »

Quote from: johngriffin on February 07, 2011, 17:11

Quote from: csproductions on February 06, 2011, 06:19
The new site looks great, but I can't follow my submission from a few weeks ago. Since I can't remember which photos I submitted, I can't upload any more because I might upload duplicates. Or am I missing something? $:-\$

You can view the status of uploads and your upload history from your account page under Media Files --> Overview.

Yep. I was missing something. My older images are there, but only the ones that were approved. Several were rejected. Also missing is the recent submission referenced above.

CD123 · « **Reply #53 on:** February 08, 2011, 15:54 »

Any news on when we can use the FTP again John? I also still short about 100 images uploaded for approval on the old site. Should I re-submit? (will in any event wait till your FTP upload facility is going again)

johngriffin · « **Reply #54 on:** February 09, 2011, 12:46 »

FTP and review should be completely back to normal by this weekend. I will make an announcement regarding FTP being back up in this forum so people know. Thanks.

How are people liking the site? I would love to hear other feedback.

jm · « **Reply #55 on:** February 10, 2011, 10:55 »

Site looks great at first sight. I wish it would be the same with approval times.

johngriffin · « **Reply #56 on:** February 10, 2011, 23:30 »

Review times should be even faster in the future with the new backend and layout we have for review. The old system was slow and painful for reviewers to use. This change should have a major impact on how many images they can review and give them more tools to evaluate new images/contributors.

Been amazingly busy so I am sorry I couldn't respond sooner to you guys. Keep the questions and feedback coming. Loveeee it.

melking · « **Reply #57 on:** February 17, 2011, 10:03 »

Any news on the FTP yet?

corareed · « **Reply #58 on:** February 17, 2011, 12:00 »

Cross those fingers!!!! We should have ftp today!!!!

That said we are 100% caught up on review, and review will now be super fast!

jm · « **Reply #59 on:** February 17, 2011, 14:06 »

My portfolio shows: approved : 31 files, but visible approved files - 11. (rest of them was approved yesterday)
Did they disappear or am I to wait?
Thanks.

johngriffin · « **Reply #60 on:** February 17, 2011, 15:49 »

The reason for the delay is that the system is resizing a lot of approved files for the entire site and it will show all your files within an hour going forward.

borg · « **Reply #61 on:** February 19, 2011, 06:01 »

When we will be able to change the prices on the entire portfolio?

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #62 on:** February 19, 2011, 12:57 »

Two questions:
Is the Medium Price limited to $15?
Why?
Three questions:
How do I delete an image?
I need to replace a few with higher resolutions.

Some of the images that we sold had $50 price for Medium. I considered leaving them but it threw all the other stuff "out of kilter."

You do know, I hope, that changing the individual price on a full portfolio is a terrific pain in the a$$?
Overall, compliments on the new look. Just wish it didn't cause me so much extra effort.

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #63 on:** February 25, 2011, 12:17 »

Sorry if this has been said before, but my accepted images don't appear in the portfolio. It's been a couple of days now. They aren't listed in Overview either, however in statistics the 'approved' stats have risen. Any help?

johngriffin · « **Reply #64 on:** February 25, 2011, 16:42 »

Fixed the issue with FTP and you can now upload via active or passive mode. Before you could only do active. There was some firewall issue with amazon and FTP settings.

Also all images and updated counts are currently being re-processed and fixed as I type so you will see the changes and fixes happening over the next few hours to a day.

borg · « **Reply #65 on:** March 10, 2011, 17:01 »

Please submit Form W-8BEN to us digitally on our website

John, I don't see link for digital W-8BEN submitting on Cutcaster site? Only PDF....

Should I wait for online "tax form" or do I have to print PDF, filling, signing, scaning sending....?

johngriffin · « **Reply #66 on:** March 10, 2011, 17:04 »

There is no way right now to do it online so you need to sign and upload it to the site in the Tax Center area. Thanks

toots · « **Reply #67 on:** April 28, 2011, 06:33 »

When buyers look at a contributors portfolio they see all the older images displayed first. Can this be reversed so that newer images automatically show up first? I really don't want all my older images to be shown first - I think my design skills have improved since uploading my very first image and I reckon it is probably the same for most contributors, both illustrators and photographers.