MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Kasper Ravlo on February 19, 2016, 10:58
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Hello everyone,
I would like to invite all of you to check out www.qhero.com (http://www.qhero.com) - the new tool for uploading fast and easy to iStock. We also made an introductional video for you: https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg (https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg). We offer fantastic features like:
- Bulk Uploading
- Auto Disambiguitation
- Auto Keyword suggestions
- Auto categories based on keywords
- Bulk editing
- Collection management
- Download files with updated metadata
- Direct uploading to iStock
All of this and much more has been build to make you a faster and happier photographer!
Check us out and let us know what you think.
All the best,
Kasper Ravlo, CEO.
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Hi Kasper..
Just curious... is this a new official tool for istock? Will it replace deepmeta?
Dont get me wrong. It really nice to have new tools for that... just want to know exactly what is going on... ;)
Thanks
Lisandro
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Hi Kasper..
Just curious... is this a new official tool for istock? Will it replace deepmeta?
Dont get me wrong. It really nice to have new tools for that... just want to know exactly what is going on... ;)
Thanks
Lisandro
I doubt this is the new official tool for Istock.
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Watched the vid and appreciate the effort put into this, but must say that this is basically another version of DeepMeta
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Please add the ability to do EPS files, there are a lot of vector illustrators here!
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Hi Kasper..
Just curious... is this a new official tool for istock? Will it replace deepmeta?
Dont get me wrong. It really nice to have new tools for that... just want to know exactly what is going on... ;)
Thanks
Lisandro
Hi there Lisandro,
Yes and no. qHero is an official tool for iStock as we have an API agreement allowing us to submit directly to iStock. As it is now we are not replacing deepmeta, but we think we have made a smarter and faster way to submit. With over ten years of experience with iStock submission and all other sites, we felt it was time to built a tool that enables other photographers to focus on what they are good at, and let us worry about the tedious part of submitting the files.
Log in and try the tool, you will be surprised how fast it can be done ;)
All the best, Kasper.
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Please add the ability to do EPS files, there are a lot of vector illustrators here!
Trust me we are working 150 % on implementing all the features necessary to fulfil everyones needs, and EPS should be supported by the end of this week. We are initiating live testing tomorrow!
Stay tuned :)
All the best, Kasper.
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Watched the vid and appreciate the effort put into this, but must say that this is basically another version of DeepMeta
... and what is not to love about that? You don't loose out on functionality, but you get a faster, better, and easier system which is web-based and supported by many, many years of experience :)
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I will wait and see. From early reports it isn't even working yet, anyone managed to upload a batch?
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I will wait and see. From early reports it isn't even working yet, anyone managed to upload a batch?
Nope. Get stuck at the moment when I need to link my iStock account with Qhero. Have been trying since day one, without success. PM'ed Kasper for additional support, waiting for their response...
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I will wait and see. From early reports it isn't even working yet, anyone managed to upload a batch?
Our users are not experiencing any significant problems, and the system is working perfectly. One of our continous issues though, is that users either mistype their username or by mistake put in an email instead of their istockusername. We are working on this, but other than that qhero is working perfectly :)
I would suggest you set up an account and start uploading - you will be a happier contributor :)
All the Best,
Kasper.
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I will wait and see. From early reports it isn't even working yet, anyone managed to upload a batch?
Nope. Get stuck at the moment when I need to link my iStock account with Qhero. Have been trying since day one, without success. PM'ed Kasper for additional support, waiting for their response...
... That is where PM ends up :) Sorry for not getting back to you sooner - see my response, the correct username should solve the problem :)
All the best,
Kasper.
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What about audio?
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... That is where PM ends up :) Sorry for not getting back to you sooner - see my response, the correct username should solve the problem :)
Do you suggest using username for logging into Qhero? If yes, then this still doesn't work, since Qhero asks for an email instead, and if I put only my username, it returns an error saying that "please include "@" in the email address". If you mean that I should use my iStock username instead of email address when linking my Qhero account (once logged into) to my iStock account via the button "Connect to iStock account", then this returns the same result as using my email address. I'm really perplexed, so say the least... :(
I have replied to your PM, together with a screenshot of my Qhero interface.
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... That is where PM ends up :) Sorry for not getting back to you sooner - see my response, the correct username should solve the problem :)
Do you suggest using username for logging into Qhero? If yes, then this still doesn't work, since Qhero asks for an email instead, and if I put only my username, it returns an error saying that "please include "@" in the email address". If you mean that I should use my iStock username instead of email address when linking my Qhero account (once logged into) to my iStock account via the button "Connect to iStock account", then this returns the same result as using my email address. I'm really perplexed, so say the least... :(
I have replied to your PM, together with a screenshot of my Qhero interface.
Thanks a lot - for the broader audience - I mean via the "connect to istock account" button, not when logging into qhero. I will reply to your PM now as well :)
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I just noticed this in Kasper's signature line...
Kasper Ravlo
CEO, Qhero.com - Chairman, Arcurs Creative
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I just noticed this in Kasper's signature line...
Kasper Ravlo
CEO, Qhero.com - Chairman, Arcurs Creative
Hi Cathy (and everyone else),
Yes, this is correct, and if you check my linkedin you will find that I have been in microstock since 2005, and I have been involved with Crestock in the early days of microstock, CEO of Yuri Arcurs Photography and CEO of Yuri Arcurs Productions. No secret in that.
My focus has always been on finding ways to give photographers time to do what they love. Since day one, when Yuri Arcurs Photography only consisted of Yuri Arcurs and myself, this has been my focus, and this is also what qHero.com is all about. The algorithms, workflow, and methodology put into qHero by our team, is based on this simple mission.
All the best,
Kasper Ravlo.
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OK, but still there is Disambiguation needed to be done so I don't see how it might be easier to upload to Istock.
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Hello everyone,
I would like to invite all of you to check out [url=http://www.qhero.com]www.qhero.com[/url] ([url]http://www.qhero.com[/url]) - the new tool for uploading fast and easy to iStock. We also made an introductional video for you: [url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url] ([url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url]). We offer fantastic features like:
- Bulk Uploading
- Auto Disambiguitation
- Auto Keyword suggestions
- Auto categories based on keywords
- Bulk editing
- Collection management
- Download files with updated metadata
- Direct uploading to iStock
All of this and much more has been build to make you a faster and happier photographer!
Check us out and let us know what you think.
All the best,
Kasper Ravlo, CEO.
Hi Kasper, We were one of the beta testers and things had been working out great with qhero. The ability to quickly copy and paste all info from one file to the next or to a batch speeds things up considerably. I do however have a huge issue with a recent batch, it involves 6 model releases and a property release. For some reason the releases are not being seen by the istock reviewers, particularly the property release. I'm on the 3rd try with this batch so a little frustrated. I'm wondering if this is browser related? I've been using Edge browser, but also tried internet explorer on the last try with no luck. Do you have a preferred browser? is anyone else having this issue with releases?
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Hello everyone,
I would like to invite all of you to check out [url=http://www.qhero.com]www.qhero.com[/url] ([url]http://www.qhero.com[/url]) - the new tool for uploading fast and easy to iStock. We also made an introductional video for you: [url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url] ([url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url]). We offer fantastic features like:
- Bulk Uploading
- Auto Disambiguitation
- Auto Keyword suggestions
- Auto categories based on keywords
- Bulk editing
- Collection management
- Download files with updated metadata
- Direct uploading to iStock
All of this and much more has been build to make you a faster and happier photographer!
Check us out and let us know what you think.
All the best,
Kasper Ravlo, CEO.
Hi Kasper, We were one of the beta testers and things had been working out great with qhero. The ability to quickly copy and paste all info from one file to the next or to a batch speeds things up considerably. I do however have a huge issue with a recent batch, it involves 6 model releases and a property release. For some reason the releases are not being seen by the istock reviewers, particularly the property release. I'm on the 3rd try with this batch so a little frustrated. I'm wondering if this is browser related? I've been using Edge browser, but also tried internet explorer on the last try with no luck. Do you have a preferred browser? is anyone else having this issue with releases?
Hi, I'm very sorry to hear about the model release issue you are experiencing. We do know about this, and it is caused by problems with the iStock API not communicating accordingly. We are working hard on this issue and if you will send me your username (you can't send it in a Private Message or through our feedback tab in qhero.com if you prefer), then we will into your specific issue.
That is the best I can do for you right now, sorry for the bad experience :(
Kind Regards,
Kasper Ravlo.
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Hello everyone,
I would like to invite all of you to check out [url=http://www.qhero.com]www.qhero.com[/url] ([url]http://www.qhero.com[/url]) - the new tool for uploading fast and easy to iStock. We also made an introductional video for you: [url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url] ([url]https://youtu.be/zXCJQQoE4Vg[/url]). We offer fantastic features like:
- Bulk Uploading
- Auto Disambiguitation
- Auto Keyword suggestions
- Auto categories based on keywords
- Bulk editing
- Collection management
- Download files with updated metadata
- Direct uploading to iStock
All of this and much more has been build to make you a faster and happier photographer!
Check us out and let us know what you think.
All the best,
Kasper Ravlo, CEO.
Hi Kasper, We were one of the beta testers and things had been working out great with qhero. The ability to quickly copy and paste all info from one file to the next or to a batch speeds things up considerably. I do however have a huge issue with a recent batch, it involves 6 model releases and a property release. For some reason the releases are not being seen by the istock reviewers, particularly the property release. I'm on the 3rd try with this batch so a little frustrated. I'm wondering if this is browser related? I've been using Edge browser, but also tried internet explorer on the last try with no luck. Do you have a preferred browser? is anyone else having this issue with releases?
Hi, I'm very sorry to hear about the model release issue you are experiencing. We do know about this, and it is caused by problems with the iStock API not communicating accordingly. We are working hard on this issue and if you will send me your username (you can't send it in a Private Message or through our feedback tab in qhero.com if you prefer), then we will into your specific issue.
That is the best I can do for you right now, sorry for the bad experience :(
Kind Regards,
Kasper Ravlo.
Thanks Kasper, I do love the service and I'm sure you will get it sorted out. Sent you a PM on qhero.
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So those of you that have used this? Any first thoughts? it does look nice but I'm never an early adopter
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Just a question.
Is there a way to ask qhero "Show me all files of my istock portfolio". I mean even images not uploaded through qhero but that are in my portfolio before qhero.com arrival.
Thanks
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Just a question.
Is there a way to ask qhero "Show me all files of my istock portfolio". I mean even images not uploaded through qhero but that are in my portfolio before qhero.com arrival.
Thanks
Hi there, thanks for the question. This function is not available and not supported by the API provided by iStock. Sorry for that, but our features are going to make your workflow a ton more efficient with AI supported, automated keywording, categories, and disambiguation. Give it a test and remember that all files submitted through qHero are backed up, free of charged, organised in custom made collection - what is not to love :)
Hope to see you on our list of users soon!
All the best,
Kasper.
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Kasper thanks a lot for your reply.....other 2 questions:
1) Is there a way to ranking keywords? Let me say...I copy and paste keywords in random order in the box "input Keywords" after that am I able to change order of the keywords? I mean changing rank without cut and paste of the keywords in the editor mode but simply drag and drop
2) As far illustrations are concerned, can I upload directly eps file and jpeg file without zip them in one file?
Thanks
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Kasper thanks a lot for your reply.....other 2 questions:
1) Is there a way to ranking keywords? Let me say...I copy and paste keywords in random order in the box "input Keywords" after that am I able to change order of the keywords? I mean changing rank without cut and paste of the keywords in the editor mode but simply drag and drop
2) As far illustrations are concerned, can I upload directly eps file and jpeg file without zip them in one file?
Thanks
Hi there,
First of all - I'm so sorry for the VERY late reply - the notification was in my spamfilter :(
Firstly - keyword ranking. This is not necessary, and doesn't make any difference what so ever. Istock doesn't use the ranking for anything, and all it is, is a way for deepmeta to make sure the maximum 50 keywords you upload, is the 50 keywords you want to upload. There is a maximum limit of 50 keywords on iStock. That means spending time on ranking keywords, is just a waste of time.
Second - illustrations. All you have to do is upload your EPS file directly, and qHero will generate a thumbnail and extract all metadata. Simplicity!
Please let me know if there is more I can do to help you, and accept my apologies for only getting back to you now.
All the best,
Kasper.
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Good job works really well for Istock, it would be good if we could also upload to FT SS etc
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Interestingly, I try to subscribe. But the service provides for the payment of a subscription?
From what I understand you load the image of qHero and later by qHero is transferred to iStock. This second transmission will be very fast?
Why I say this?
Because the bottleneck for sending the images, at least for many of us, are the ADSL connections.
Having loaded the image already on qHero would be interesting to also send images to other agencies throughout remotely.
It would have a great time saver in the transfers, at least for those who have slow connections.
Personally I upload a picture to the cloud and from there directly to the I transfer via ftp agencies (cloud -> agency) saving time.
It might be an idea to expand the qHero services?
I wrote a tutorial how to transfer from cloud to ftp agencies images, I do not link because I do not want spam!
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Hi there,
Firstly - keyword ranking. This is not necessary, and doesn't make any difference what so ever. Istock doesn't use the ranking for anything, and all it is, is a way for deepmeta to make sure the maximum 50 keywords you upload, is the 50 keywords you want to upload. There is a maximum limit of 50 keywords on iStock. That means spending time on ranking keywords, is just a waste of time.
This is complete nonsense. Back in September 2012 the search was changed/updated/rejigged by the team from Getty who also broke the keyword priority order system, which still doesn't work properly. A few months later, having realised the problem (and having no way to fix it) istock introduced the facility in DeepMeta to prioritise the keyword order. Why did they do that? Because with a broken system file uploads would just get lost, or only found with remote secondary keywords.
The system is still broken, at least for new uploads, because it only 'works' for sales, not views. So in order to get visibility (and sales) for the most important/relevant keywords it is absolutely imperative to upload with DeepMeta and spend the extra time sorting keywords into priority order. If suppliers don't do this, sales for new uploads will be few and far between. The ONLY way to guarantee that files will be seen for the most important/relevant keywords is to use the DeepMeta sort function.
To upload without prioritising keywords is akin to throwing files into a lucky dip. If you want sales at istock you HAVE to sort the keywords on upload.
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This is complete nonsense. Back in September 2012 the search was changed/updated/rejigged by the team from Getty who also broke the keyword priority order system, which still doesn't work properly. A few months later, having realised the problem (and having no way to fix it) istock introduced the facility in DeepMeta to prioritise the keyword order. Why did they do that? Because with a broken system file uploads would just get lost, or only found with remote secondary keywords.
The system is still broken, at least for new uploads, because it only 'works' for sales, not views. So in order to get visibility (and sales) for the most important/relevant keywords it is absolutely imperative to upload with DeepMeta and spend the extra time sorting keywords into priority order. If suppliers don't do this, sales for new uploads will be few and far between. The ONLY way to guarantee that files will be seen for the most important/relevant keywords is to use the DeepMeta sort function.
Interesting. I seldom use DM for uploading unless uploading directly isn't working.
'They' have admitted that there has been a problem with files uploaded since Sept 2012, and for certain it seems my buyers would rather buy an old scan from before I was doing stock rather than more recent work, and files uploaded since then seldom get bought. (I'm scared to deactivate the earlier versions!)
The system reorders keywords upon upload, more so in the new view than in the classic view, for no reason that they have explained.
In the 'Ten Reasons to use DeepMeta', they don't mention that only by using DM does the priority of your keywords stick. That would be Game, Set and Match for DM (none of the other reasons were persuasive for me, some were irrelevant [to me])
Anyway, as an experiment, it so happens I'm currently uploading two similar files, one horizontal, one vertical, so I uploaded one directly and the other via DM, and for the sake of the experiment, I kept the keywords identical and in the same order (i.e. omitted 'horizontal' and 'vertical').
I'm not fully convinced, however. Word is that the vast majority of iS contributors upload via DM, yet I see that in the vast majority of ports, even highly successful 'commercial' ports, new-ish files aren't getting a lot of love.
However, if you are correct (as you often are), I'll have a lot of deactivating/reuploading to do. :( And I'll thank you for the info, even if through gritted teeth!
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I was confused so yesterday I contacted istock support asking if order of the keywords counts in terms of search results.
The support answer:
"No, the order you enter your keywords in does not affect the search results"
So I conclude qhero is ok for uploading. The only thing I don't like is the fact that qhero cannot show me all the files of my IS portfolio.
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OK, both files are through inspection. Both files have the same order, similar to mine, in Classic view; both files have the same order - totally random with the main keyword near the bottom and a couple of keywords added that I didn't append and I haven't worked out how they got there.
Objective conclusion on a sample of two: there's no difference between uploading with DM or uploading directly, and the New View mucks up the keyword order badly, pushing 'more generic' keywords to the front and suppressing the more specific/relevant/helpful keywords. Why they're doing that is a mystery - it leads to some very dissimilar 'similars'.
Subjective conclusion based on months of this nonsense: They've heard of buyers and want no truck with them. (Douglas Adams, adapted)
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Hello Kasper,
For some reason nothing happens on Qhero when I press connect to istock to upload the pictures. I get redirected to Istock, I log in but than nothing happens. On the Qhero page it still says I need to connect to Istock. I tried login out of Qhero and relogging, using a different browser but the problem stays the same.
Is this a known problem?
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Unless I miss this functionality in qHero, it would be also nice to have a possibility to prepare editorial images for submission in batch mode. For instance, it could be very well a case where I have several photos with the same subject, location, date etc. So it would be nice to be able to CTRL-select several images and enter the editorial metadata just once instead of repetitive times.
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Hello Kasper,
For some reason nothing happens on Qhero when I press connect to istock to upload the pictures. I get redirected to Istock, I log in but than nothing happens. On the Qhero page it still says I need to connect to Istock. I tried login out of Qhero and relogging, using a different browser but the problem stays the same.
Is this a known problem?
Hi there, unfortunately iStock is experiencing problems with their API, which interferes with qHero's access. They have assured me they are on it, so it shouldn't take too long. Thanks for letting us know, and just a hint - next time I'm faster to reach through our feedback through qHero.
Best, Kasper.
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Unless I miss this functionality in qHero, it would be also nice to have a possibility to prepare editorial images for submission in batch mode. For instance, it could be very well a case where I have several photos with the same subject, location, date etc. So it would be nice to be able to CTRL-select several images and enter the editorial metadata just once instead of repetitive times.
Hi, this is not a bad idea and I can reveal to you that once the unification project of iStock and Getty is done, we will have a different setup for editorials much similar to our current for images. I hope you will stay tuned until the changes goes in effect.
Best, Kasper.
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I haven't uploaded to Istock in quite a while, as I can never justify the time spent on preparation of the submissions.
Thanks for this tool - it works well for me, and it certainly saves time.
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Unless I miss this functionality in qHero, it would be also nice to have a possibility to prepare editorial images for submission in batch mode. For instance, it could be very well a case where I have several photos with the same subject, location, date etc. So it would be nice to be able to CTRL-select several images and enter the editorial metadata just once instead of repetitive times.
Hi, this is not a bad idea and I can reveal to you that once the unification project of iStock and Getty is done, we will have a different setup for editorials much similar to our current for images. I hope you will stay tuned until the changes goes in effect.
Best, Kasper.
Sometimes I see and option to select Editorial, and sometimes it's nowhere to be seen. Why does it keep coming and going, as it works fine when it's available?
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Hi there,
The option for editorial submissions should always be there under the image under your images when you are in "iStock Submission" mode. If you ever experience that it disappears, please take a screenshot and email it to me.
Thanks,
Kasper.
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Hi there,
The option for editorial submissions should always be there under the image under your images when you are in "iStock Submission" mode. If you ever experience that it disappears, please take a screenshot and email it to me.
Thanks,
Kasper.
Thanks Kaspar. I'll check when I have some more editorials to upload, and get back to you if it's still not visible.