MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => General - Top Sites => Topic started by: kjekol on March 25, 2013, 07:55
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Hello everyone,
I'm new here today, so here is a short resyme:
Bought my first DSLR in 2010. Started upload at iStock and got approved as exclusive contributor June 2011. Cancelled my exclusive agreement a few days ago. Here is my portfolio: http://www.istockphoto.com/search/portfolio/6563832 (http://www.istockphoto.com/search/portfolio/6563832)
Sold 3188 photos in 2012 with 1150 photos online (03/2013).
Did I do the right thing to cancel my contract? Anyone with experience?
Thanks,
Kjetil
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After looking at your port and sales I think I would stay exclusive.
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Thanks for your replay jjneff.
What is the reason you recommend that I remain exclusive?
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Why ask now if you have made the move it will only fuel your doubts
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Your quality of work is good and a lot of those images don't fit what ShutterStock is looking for. Considering the amount of time it will take you to spread out I think you would do better to focus on new content and skills which will increase your profit more then spreading out. Just my opinion here, there are a lot of iStock haters here and I understand why but I always consider the bottom line and my time involved.
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Thanks for your answers.
I just exported whole my portfolio from Deepmeta to Excel and scripted the information into IPTC (JPEG). I uploaded and auto submitted all photos with one application (Octopus) to all big sites. So pratically I have uploaded my whole portfolio with almost no effort to three agancies allready.
Do you still beleive it will be better to stick as exclusive if you look away from the administrative part? I guess it's still possible to go back to exclusive after some time if I still upload all photos to istock as well!?!
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This is completely your choice! I know the struggle you are going through but just keep pressing forward no matter what direction you choose.
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Thank you jneff. Nice portfolio by the way!
You guessed correct... :) Even for an hobby photographer like me I struggle a bit with this decision...
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I'm an iStock supporter but I can't imagine why anyone who needn't do so would become or stay exclusive in the current climate. Let's hope they produce some initiatives to make exclusivity more appealing soon.
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Great wolf images by the way!
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Hi fotoVoyager,
I actually like istock myself. I hope they will get back on track and I want hesitate to get back.
Thanks! I borrowed a friends 400mm 2.8. :)
I'm impressed with your travel photos!
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Give independence a try for a few months at least. You can always go back to being an exclusive and if eventually you do then at least you will know what it was like on the 'other' side. There's no rush in taking up the crown again as I don't see iStock turning things around anytime soon.
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I just exported whole my portfolio from Deepmeta to Excel and scripted the information into IPTC (JPEG).
Can you share a bit more about this process? I have all my info in Deepmeta but so far I have just been manually copying and pasting it back into IPTC on the JPEGs. I am aware of programs like exiftool and know some Linux scripting but I haven't heard about DM -> Excel and also not sure how to match the files back up automatically.
Don't second guess your indy decision! IS exclusivity is still sound financially for many people but you'll find many others who wish they weren't locked in at this point. jjneff has a point that it might allow you more time to focus on the craft, but that'll also get you locked in tighter. Loved iStock for a good long while but it's not just recently that contributor treatment has been trending badly, it's a fairly lengthy and consistent pattern going back at least 2 years.
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How did you script the info from Deepmeta to your portfolio? You're a genius to have cracked this!
Short term it'll be bumpy but long term it'll be a wise decision, lots of big changes in the industry right now.
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How did you script the info from Deepmeta to your portfolio? You're a genius to have cracked this!
Short term it'll be bumpy but long term it'll be a wise decision, lots of big changes in the industry right now.
yeah, how'd you do that?
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You can just copy and paste to a text file, and then import that into excel. The question is how, then to get it into the jpg...
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You can just copy and paste to a text file, and then import that into excel. The question is how, then to get it into the jpg...
that's the part I want to be able to do....magically connect it all
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I think you made the right choice. I just cancelled my direct contract with Getty (for both RM and RF files) - just because I don't want to be exclusive anywhere, it doesn't make any sense these days. I was never exclusive with istock.
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You can just copy and paste to a text file, and then import that into excel. The question is how, then to get it into the jpg...
Don't know how to get there (from Deepmeta to a text file), but from text file to IPTC in jpg can be done with exiftool. That tool is really powerful when it comes to manipulation of Exif and / or IPTC data.
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Thank you for your answers everyone.
I will not guarantee that this works for you since it was done in a hurry. Could contain unnecessary code / errors etc. I couldn't get the script to set the categories correctly, so this was set in batches with Octopus Microstock.
I did the following:
- Make a Excel file of all rows in the Deepmeta list (Copy / Paste). Delete all columns without:
title, keywords, categories, description , filepath
To get this to work you NEED the filepath column. This is the location of the original file on your hard drive. Deepmeta only have this field if you actually uploaded the file from that PC. If not, this is not possible. - Download the IPTC / EXIF command exiv2.exe and place it in directory c:\IPTC\. Download and install Microsoft PowerShell
- Copy and paste the Powershell script in a text file and save it with a .ps1 ending.
- Run the ps1 script in c:\IPTC\
Done.
Powershell script (exif_change.ps1)
#Read CSV and write to IPTC by Kjetil Kolbjornsrud Photography
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Get-Job
$list = Import-Csv istock_semi.csv -Delimiter ';'
$list[1]
foreach($entry in $list)
{
$title=$entry.title
$keywords=$entry.keywords
$categories=$entry.categories
$description=$entry.description
$filepath=$entry.filepath
echo ----------------------------------------------------------
echo $entry.title
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"del Xmp.dc.title`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"set Xmp.dc.title $title`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"del Exif.Image.ImageDescription`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"set Exif.Image.ImageDescription $description`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"del Exif.Image.XPKeywords`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"del Iptc.Application2.Keywords`" `"$filepath`""
invoke-expression "c:\IPTC\exiv2.exe -M`"set Iptc.Application2.Keywords $keywords`" `"$filepath`""
#echo $entry.keywords
#echo $entry.categories
#echo $entry.description
#echo $entry.filepath
}
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Hello dirkr,
1. Just select all rows in Deepmeta, hit Ctrl + C on the keyboard.
2. Paste it in Notepad in Windows.
3. Save the file as a text-file.
4. Open Excel. Go to the menu Data > From Text.
5. Choose comma separated and Finish in the import wizard.
You can use exiftool for the same purpose as script.
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You can just copy and paste to a text file, and then import that into excel. The question is how, then to get it into the jpg...
that's the part I want to be able to do....magically connect it all
Lightroom or Adobe Bridge?...one file at a time of course :(. Maybe if you know how to write plug-ins for Lightroom it can be automated?
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I actually like istock myself. I hope they will get back on track and I want hesitate to get back.
agree
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You can just copy and paste to a text file, and then import that into excel. The question is how, then to get it into the jpg...
that's the part I want to be able to do....magically connect it all
Lightroom or Adobe Bridge?...one file at a time of course :(. Maybe if you know how to write plug-ins for Lightroom it can be automated?
I already use Bridge to input metadata, and it allows bulk editing. so that is my current workaround. but it would have been great to be able to export my metadata from DM into the respective jpgs, but i assume that would be fairly complicated, especially if file locations have changed.
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Thank you for the explanation and script @kjekol!
Stacey, my file locations have changed too, but the file names haven't. All I used to do was have a pending area where I'd move files to and add to DM from there. After upload/accept I'd put them into folders by year. In my case, I can probably just move big batches of files from the yearly catalogs back into the pending area DM knows about. Still considering which is faster, doing that semi-automated or just cherry picking the best files and copy and pasting from DM manually.
I think it's already be said here, but in case anyone missed it (like I did at first), you can easily copy the keywords from one file in DM by clicking the file in the list view and hitting ctl-C or right click and copy. I don't know of a way to select keywords once looking at the file close-up details in DM but from the list view, it works fine.
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I actually like istock myself. I hope they will get back on track and I want hesitate to get back.
agree
me too
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Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?
Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.
tx!
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Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?
Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.
tx!
I tried Octopus again the other day and it looks like they had stopped supporting it. Try microstock submitter instead!
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... and what town are you in Kjetil?? I'm in NOrway as well.
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Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?
Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.
tx!
Hi Newby 514,
Sorry, I saw your post just now. This is a bit difficult to say because iStock sales was decreasing for me in the end of 2012 and in 2013.
I cancelled my istock exclusivity march 2013. It took me until the end of 2014 to get a "normal" sales level on all the new agencies. Now I have approximately the same return per image as the good days at iStock (2012 - Q1, 2013). So better than being exclusive at iStock these days I guess. Many say their sales at istock are slow now.
At Istock I earned almost everything in two genres of photos. Now I earn in different genres on many agencies.
My conclusion is that I don't regret to be non-exclusive.
Regards,
Kjetil
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Well, I guess he's got his anwaser.
After two years. LOL.
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Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?
Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.
tx!
Thanks for the feedback. What has been your experience regarding income from "the big three" (iS, SS, Fot) vs. the smaller players. Are the smaller players worth the overhead of uploading to?
Hi Newby 514,
Sorry, I saw your post just now. This is a bit difficult to say because iStock sales was decreasing for me in the end of 2012 and in 2013.
I cancelled my istock exclusivity march 2013. It took me until the end of 2014 to get a "normal" sales level on all the new agencies. Now I have approximately the same return per image as the good days at iStock (2012 - Q1, 2013). So better than being exclusive at iStock these days I guess. Many say their sales at istock are slow now.
At Istock I earned almost everything in two genres of photos. Now I earn in different genres on many agencies.
My conclusion is that I don't regret to be non-exclusive.
Regards,
Kjetil
Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?
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Courageous move and wish you all luck! I can say this, I am Double-Diamond at IS and I have like six sales per day, hundereds at SS and dozens at Adobe/FT per day that is.
No matter what, the climate right now is of such nature that exclusivity is a non affordable avenue and not even an option.
I think you've done the right move.
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Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad
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Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad
Egads. I'd be living in a van down by the river if I was still there and doing 1 sale a day. Just looking back at a random month, October of 2010, I had 12,623 downloads.
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Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.
My God! whatever happened :o :o
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1421 downloads for me in Nov 2005. 342 in Oct 2010. 31 in Sept 2015. iS Exclusive the whole way. Ugh!
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Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.
My God! whatever happened :o :o
Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.
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Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.
My God! whatever happened :o :o
Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.
Now when you mention it, not a word since he left, didn't he leave SS as well? going with GI? or was it the other way around. Can't remember.
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Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.
My God! whatever happened :o :o
Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.
Now when you mention it, not a word since he left, didn't he leave SS as well? going with GI? or was it the other way around. Can't remember.
http://arcurs.com/2013/07/microstock-sees-its-first-major-setback-in-6-years-and-here-is-why (http://arcurs.com/2013/07/microstock-sees-its-first-major-setback-in-6-years-and-here-is-why)
(What is the white snot coming from that boy's nose all about?)
http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around (http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around)
“Having just spent 3 days at GI in New York and today in Seattle with the IT exes I believe that very interesting things are in the pipeline for IS. Did I have a say in the upcoming changes... Yes - for sure. That being said. The GI top exe dev guys are highly competent and more flexible and agile towards change that I would have imagined. We are working on a set of core site improvements that will dramatically improve user experience and ultimately sales. Only thing that I can say now: Give IS three months and see the changes for yourself.
“Shutterstock might be in for a bit more competition than they expected, especially if GI has me project managing the development team and we utilize the two things GI has that nobody else has: 1. The best images in the world. 2. The best editors in the world. The best images displays that the world has ever seen is just around the corner. Watch this space!”
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Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad
Egads. I'd be living in a van down by the river if I was still there and doing 1 sale a day. Just looking back at a random month, October of 2010, I had 12,623 downloads.
The way they treated you was shocking; but maybe it was tough love for your own good.
Probably not, just ironic in that the 'push' helped you in the long run.
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They use to be Rolls Royce in the stock industry! Look at them now old rusty Lada ready for car graveyard :(
(http://prettycarz.com/data_images/gallery/03/lada-laika/lada-laika-04.jpg)
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Getty and IS should separate. Its not a healthy partnership anymore.
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Hi wds,
Here is how my income is spread over the agencies:
Shutterstock 40%
iStock (incl PP, subs and getty) 27,9%
Fotolia 10%
123RF 6%
Bigstock 5%
Pond5 5% (almost just video sales)
Dreamstime 5%
Depositphotos 3%
Canstock, Veer, Alamy - almost no sales
I think the sales varies on the different sites dependent of the contents of your portfolio.
I use Stocksubmitter for upload to all sites. Uploading to 10 sites takes the same time as uploading to three sites.
Hope this answer your question!
Regards,
Kjetil
Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?
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Hi wds,
Here is how my income is spread over the agencies:
Shutterstock 40%
iStock (incl PP, subs and getty) 27,9%
Fotolia 10%
123RF 6%
Bigstock 5%
Pond5 5% (almost just video sales)
Dreamstime 5%
Depositphotos 3%
Canstock, Veer, Alamy - almost no sales
I think the sales varies on the different sites dependent of the contents of your portfolio.
I use Stocksubmitter for upload to all sites. Uploading to 10 sites takes the same time as uploading to three sites.
Hope this answer your question!
Regards,
Kjetil
Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?
Thanks!