Author Topic: Dreamstime uploading procedure the most complicated (Read 24283 times)

gallofilm · « **on:** May 02, 2012, 06:23 »

I noticed a few days ago how complicated it is to upload images to Dreamstime, and the model release management... I couldn't believe it's for real. Now considering that it takes 10 times more time and effort to upload to this site, at least for me, I think it would make sense to just leave it out completely. Does it make sense financially?

andresr · « **Reply #1 on:** May 02, 2012, 06:57 »

I think all sites uploading procedure is complicated and they have silly unncessary items for us to specify that are not needed.

Categories? Make them up from a "behind the scenes" keyword group.

Releases? we pre upload releases in the release manager for each site then we upload a batch, say which releases are in the specific batch, site automatically matches those releases to the photos uploaded in the batch. DONE. Only Photodune has done this and it works perfect. All you have to do is make sure you upload batch by batch. Upload releases together with the photos in the ftp on a different folder and the system should be able to match everything automatically.

Keywords, title and description ICTP.

Nothing to be done online, I don't understand why this hasn't happened. It would make a lot of sense not to do hardly anything online. To match releases for every single photo its just too much work that could be spent for us in improving our photos.

noodle · « **Reply #2 on:** May 02, 2012, 07:09 »

I might add - they are stringent/unreliable when it comes to acceptance/rejection of photos... I think there was a poll here and dt was the worst when it comes to this.
So, after doing all that work work to get a file ready and uploaded, and then to have it come back as rejected is somethings that really pisses me off, and Im probably not alone.

Actually, why dont most sites accept or reject your file and THEN have you fill in any info that is needed to put it on their site? I guess that would be too easy of a process..

I would say upload, because it is still an ok earner for most people.

Wim · « **Reply #3 on:** May 02, 2012, 08:52 »

True, DT is the one of the less reliable agencies (top/middle tiers) where reviewing is concerned, SS is still the worst though.

I have no issues with uploading to both but have no need for MR's either.

heywoody · « **Reply #4 on:** May 02, 2012, 11:16 »

On topic, I think the upload is reasonably painless, IPTC + a few mouse clicks. I find IS a real pain but don't do it very often.

Off topic, reviews have become very inconsistent - possibly the bar has been raised (fair enough if so) but acceptance / rejection seems to depend on who is doing the reviewing these days and lots of different standards for the same agency turns the whole thing into a lottery.

wut · « **Reply #5 on:** May 02, 2012, 11:37 »

Quote from: andresr on May 02, 2012, 06:57

I think all sites uploading procedure is complicated and they have silly unncessary items for us to specify that are not needed.

Categories? Make them up from a "behind the scenes" keyword group.

Releases? we pre upload releases in the release manager for each site then we upload a batch, say which releases are in the specific batch, site automatically matches those releases to the photos uploaded in the batch. DONE. Only Photodune has done this and it works perfect. All you have to do is make sure you upload batch by batch. Upload releases together with the photos in the ftp on a different folder and the system should be able to match everything automatically.

Keywords, title and description ICTP.

Nothing to be done online, I don't understand why this hasn't happened. It would make a lot of sense not to do hardly anything online. To match releases for every single photo its just too much work that could be spent for us in improving our photos.

And then there's Getty's (IS's) CV on top of that, just when you think it can't get any worse...

lisafx · « **Reply #6 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:25 »

Quote from: heywoody on May 02, 2012, 11:16

On topic, I think the upload is reasonably painless, IPTC + a few mouse clicks. I find IS a real pain but don't do it very often.

I was thinking the same thing. DT upload is simple. The OP must have never uploaded to Istock if he think's DT is time consuming.

Fran · « **Reply #7 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:26 »

Quote from: andresr on May 02, 2012, 06:57

Nothing to be done online, I don't understand why this hasn't happened. It would make a lot of sense not to do hardly anything online. To match releases for every single photo its just too much work that could be spent for us in improving our photos.

Also, Face Recognition would help matching MR to photos most of the times: you just need to upload a MR with a photo of the model and the FR algorithm would do the rest.

stockastic · « **Reply #8 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:33 »

My only real gripe about DT's submission process is those worthless, archaic categories. Why oh why oh why can't they get rid of that system, which accomplishes nothing, and stop forcing me to grind through it on every single photo?

It's a perfect example about how some of the big sites are now so mired in their own complexity that they can't move forward. Getting rid of the categories would no doubt require a suprising amount of expensive work by software developers.

Fran · « **Reply #9 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:50 »

Getting rid of categories all together might be a lot of work, but "suggesting" categories programmatically so we don't have to do it manually should be pretty straightforward.

1. Analyze the entire database to see what keywords are associated with each categories and sort by frequency
2. Match keywords for each new image to categories based on some "fuzzy" heuristics.

I'd say a week of work, not including testing, plus some CPU time to do the initial data mining.

cascoly · « **Reply #10 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:53 »

Quote from: stockastic on May 02, 2012, 12:33

My only real gripe about DT's submission process is those worthless, archaic categories. Why oh why oh why can't they get rid of that system, which accomplishes nothing, and stop forcing me to grind through it on every single photo?

It's a perfect example about how some of the big sites are now so mired in their own complexity that they can't move forward. Getting rid of the categories would no doubt require a suprising amount of expensive work by software developers.

exactly - this is my biggest complaint with all agencies - categories are useless, and misleading - most images fit multiple categories, and still wont be what auyer is looking for. and since any given category has thousands of images no buyer is going to waste time looking at 'landscapes'

gillian vann · « **Reply #11 on:** May 03, 2012, 07:25 »

Quote from: cascoly on May 02, 2012, 12:53

Quote from: stockastic on May 02, 2012, 12:33
My only real gripe about DT's submission process is those worthless, archaic categories. Why oh why oh why can't they get rid of that system, which accomplishes nothing, and stop forcing me to grind through it on every single photo?

It's a perfect example about how some of the big sites are now so mired in their own complexity that they can't move forward. Getting rid of the categories would no doubt require a suprising amount of expensive work by software developers.

exactly - this is my biggest complaint with all agencies - categories are useless, and misleading - most images fit multiple categories, and still wont be what auyer is looking for. and since any given category has thousands of images no buyer is going to waste time looking at 'landscapes'

aaargh, categories!! I've just uploaded a small batch of fashion images and there is NO category for fashion/beauty!!! I guess it's such an unimportant category ........ "retail" also has no category. I ended up sticking them in Business- still life. Hilarious.

S. · « **Reply #12 on:** May 03, 2012, 14:07 »

I agree, Dreamstime has the more timeconsuming upload procedure of all the microstock agencies I sumbit to (I'm not an iStock contributor though), followed by Fotolia.

Only Alamy is worse than Dreamstime, but it's not a microstock website

cascoly · « **Reply #13 on:** May 03, 2012, 14:51 »

alamy's can be easier since you can bulk edit - i add all the basic attributes for an entire batch, then can usually bulk add keywords on smaller groups - much faster than DT's system

most agency submissions aren't that bad per se, but they a;ll require mu;ltiple clicks, scrolls and submits which is what takes time, esp'ly when the agency website is slow to respond. a 1-2 second delay is much more annoying than a system that takes 5-10' to process a batch since you can do something else

stockastic · « **Reply #14 on:** May 03, 2012, 16:09 »

Quote from: cascoly on May 03, 2012, 14:51

they all require mualtiple clicks, scrolls and submits which is what takes time...

Very true, but at least most of those clicks and scrolls arguably serve a purpose; whereas mandatory 'categories' are a total waste of time for both contributor and agency.

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 03, 2012, 16:33 »

I agree that the categories are not very useful and mostly a waste of time, but you can autofill them from previous submissions so it is a minor nuisance. The sites that require you to prioritize keywords (e.g., FT, Alamy, PM) take much more time for me, and of course DA at iS.

stockastic · « **Reply #16 on:** May 03, 2012, 16:55 »

But prioritizing keywords has value, if it leads to better search results.

cascoly · « **Reply #17 on:** May 03, 2012, 17:36 »

Quote from: stockastic on May 03, 2012, 16:09

Quote from: cascoly on May 03, 2012, 14:51
they all require mualtiple clicks, scrolls and submits which is what takes time...

Very true, but at least most of those clicks and scrolls arguably serve a purpose; whereas mandatory 'categories' are a total waste of time for both contributor and agency.

absolutely -- too bad no one has a system like ebay or amazon, where you can download your entire inventory as a csv [i have over 2000 items listed on amazon], then you can edit offline & upload once. not only is it easy and simple, but it encourages contributors to keep everything up to date and complete.

stockastic · « **Reply #18 on:** May 03, 2012, 18:15 »

Quote from: cascoly on May 03, 2012, 17:36

i have over 2000 items listed on amazon...

Please explain this amazing statement :-)

cascoly · « **Reply #19 on:** May 04, 2012, 17:41 »

Quote from: stockastic on May 03, 2012, 18:15

Quote from: cascoly on May 03, 2012, 17:36
i have over 2000 items listed on amazon...

Please explain this amazing statement :-)

mostly books, but also about 200 different classics illustrated comics (1950-60s) and 400 different National Geographic maps (from 1920's on). there's a 2-5x markup in prices, but volume is low, so you need to have many listings. luckily, amazon only charges when you sell

once items are listed it's not much work - i subscribe to a service that automatically adjusts my prices so i always offer at or near the lowest price

Mantis · « **Reply #20 on:** May 04, 2012, 17:49 »

Quote from: lisafx on May 02, 2012, 12:25

Quote from: heywoody on May 02, 2012, 11:16
On topic, I think the upload is reasonably painless, IPTC + a few mouse clicks. I find IS a real pain but don't do it very often.

I was thinking the same thing. DT upload is simple. The OP must have never uploaded to Istock if he think's DT is time consuming.

Exactly and if you have enough images to fill your weekly quota, several weeks a month, it is even more time consuming, especially the higher you are on your canister levels. I am currently at 30 a week, but someone like Lisa is much higher...not sure what diamond is.....but it's higher than 30. And when I use deep meta and attach a release....it rarely actually uploads the release so I get a release rejection. I just think that the OP has not experienced the joys of uploading to IS.

stockastic · « **Reply #21 on:** May 04, 2012, 20:05 »

Quote from: cascoly on May 04, 2012, 17:41

Quote from: stockastic on May 03, 2012, 18:15
Quote from: cascoly on May 03, 2012, 17:36
i have over 2000 items listed on amazon...

Please explain this amazing statement :-)

mostly books, but also about 200 different classics illustrated comics (1950-60s) and 400 different National Geographic maps (from 1920's on). there's a 2-5x markup in prices, but volume is low, so you need to have many listings. luckily, amazon only charges when you sell

once items are listed it's not much work - i subscribe to a service that automatically adjusts my prices so i always offer at or near the lowest price

Interesting. I knew individuals could sell on Amazon but didn't realize people were now using it as they used to use Ebay.

lagereek · « **Reply #22 on:** May 04, 2012, 23:38 »

DT, is simple uploading, no problem at all. I dont know where you are getting this from? The DT, reviewing is also very fair, they dont want similars, etc, which I can fully understand.

S. · « **Reply #23 on:** May 05, 2012, 03:42 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 04, 2012, 23:38

DT, is simple uploading, no problem at all. I dont know where you are getting this from? The DT, reviewing is also very fair, they dont want similars, etc, which I can fully understand.

it's not "simple" uploading.... you have to choose categories and spend a few more clicks on useless checkboxes for each image (no bulk editing)...

ProImage · « **Reply #24 on:** December 14, 2012, 05:45 »

Dreamstimes process is painful.

They seriously need a bulk editing option. With some minor changes, I find Fotolia and 123rf easy to submit to.

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: Dreamstime uploading procedure the most complicated (Read 24283 times)

gallofilm

andresr

noodle

Wim

heywoody

wut

lisafx

Fran

stockastic

Fran

cascoly

gillian vann

S.

cascoly

stockastic

sgoodwin4813

stockastic

cascoly

stockastic

cascoly

Mantis

stockastic

lagereek

S.

ProImage

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors