Author Topic: Cancelled my iStock exclusivity - Good or bad? (Read 16245 times)

kjekol · « **on:** March 25, 2013, 07:55 »

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

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

jjneff · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:05 »

After looking at your port and sales I think I would stay exclusive.

kjekol · « **Reply #2 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:08 »

Thanks for your replay jjneff.

What is the reason you recommend that I remain exclusive?

Pauws99 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:14 »

Why ask now if you have made the move it will only fuel your doubts

jjneff · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:15 »

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.

kjekol · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:37 »

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!?!

jjneff · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2013, 08:39 »

This is completely your choice! I know the struggle you are going through but just keep pressing forward no matter what direction you choose.

kjekol · « **Reply #7 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:00 »

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...

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #8 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:03 »

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.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #9 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:07 »

Great wolf images by the way!

kjekol · « **Reply #10 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:20 »

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!

mlwinphoto · « **Reply #11 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:29 »

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.

BrianM · « **Reply #12 on:** March 25, 2013, 10:07 »

Quote from: kjekol on March 25, 2013, 08:37

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.

mattdixon · « **Reply #13 on:** March 25, 2013, 12:35 »

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.

SNP · « **Reply #14 on:** March 25, 2013, 12:36 »

Quote from: mattdixon on March 25, 2013, 12:35

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?

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #15 on:** March 25, 2013, 12:38 »

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...

SNP · « **Reply #16 on:** March 25, 2013, 12:52 »

Quote from: sjlocke on March 25, 2013, 12:38

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

Elenathewise · « **Reply #17 on:** March 25, 2013, 13:40 »

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.

dirkr · « **Reply #18 on:** March 25, 2013, 15:33 »

Quote from: sjlocke on March 25, 2013, 12:38

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.

kjekol · « **Reply #19 on:** March 25, 2013, 15:36 »

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)

Code: [Select]

#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	
}

kjekol · « **Reply #20 on:** March 25, 2013, 15:46 »

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.

wds · « **Reply #21 on:** March 25, 2013, 22:21 »

Quote from: SNP on March 25, 2013, 12:52

Quote from: sjlocke on March 25, 2013, 12:38
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?

gillian vann · « **Reply #22 on:** March 25, 2013, 23:30 »

Quote from: kjekol on March 25, 2013, 09:20

I actually like istock myself. I hope they will get back on track and I want hesitate to get back.

agree

SNP · « **Reply #23 on:** March 26, 2013, 00:11 »

Quote from: wds on March 25, 2013, 22:21

Quote from: SNP on March 25, 2013, 12:52
Quote from: sjlocke on March 25, 2013, 12:38
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.

BrianM · « **Reply #24 on:** March 26, 2013, 08:25 »

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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Author Topic: Cancelled my iStock exclusivity - Good or bad? (Read 16245 times)

kjekol

jjneff

kjekol

Pauws99

jjneff

kjekol

jjneff

kjekol

fotoVoyager

fotoVoyager

kjekol

mlwinphoto

BrianM

mattdixon

SNP

Sean Locke Photography

SNP

Elenathewise

dirkr

kjekol

kjekol

wds

gillian vann

SNP

BrianM

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