Agency Based Discussion > iStockPhoto.com

iStock keywords query

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KPMSG:
Hi!

I have been a stock photographer for several years on other stock sites, and am trying iStock for the first time. I have uploaded a test image to ESP just to see how the system works etc.  I am reading through their user guides too, but would really appreciate some clarification from others on a couple of points.

1. I have the message 'Keywords in red not found. Click for suggestions, remove, or recommend a new keyword' and a lot of keywords in red.  These are keywords I've used successfully on Adobe, Shutterstock, Alamy etc.  They are fairly normal words.  Do I need to make sure that I only use iStock specific keywords? If so, how do people manage this practically?  Do you learn the keyword system over time and keyword your iStock submission differently to those going to other agencies?  Or do you just upload and edit once you see which are red?

2. The 'title' field hasn't come across from Lightroom, although the description field and keywords have.  Is this named as a different field in Lightroom? I am aware you can select different metadata fields to show and normally have it set to 'EXIF and IPTC'. I also see from their guidelines that they prefer short titles, although they allow 255 characters. Do people generally shorten their titles for iStock?

3. This is a more generic than just iStock - but I hadn't noticed such a big deal made of it in other site guidelines.  Do you complete a fresh model release every single day you shoot?  For example, I regularly shoot my daughters in images, and previously had used a single model release for a range of dates, and then just updated every so often.  This seemed to be acceptable to other sites, or at least it was never queried.  I will have to do a new model release form here anyway as the previous ones are on Adobe papers - but do people re-sign a form for every single photo? Obviously I would do that anyway for external models.

I do appreciate any answers and time. Please do feel free to point out anything else you'd suggest I know with adding on iStock!
Take care

qunamax:
Regarding release, yes you need new release for every day of shooting, they are quite strict about it and date on release must match date in exif.

Clair Voyant:
Forget ESP it is a clunky way to go. Use Deepmeta, it is great and streamlined once you put a bit of effort into using it.

charged:
1. Yes you have to use iStock only keywords, otherwise it won’t be translated into other languages. So you should just build a list locally on your computer with the words they use.
2. I don’t keyword in Lightroom, I use Bridge. Never had a problem using Bridge. The title field in Bridge is called Headline. Headline is the real metadata field name embedded in the IPTC.
3. You should contact iStock and ask them about this particular situation. For example if I am sending in photos of myself, I still reuse the same model release I signed 4 years ago. It is accepted because that would be a self portrait, dates don’t matter in this situation. Thus since you are the parent of the child, dates perhaps might also not matter here. But best if you ask them directly.

KPMSG:
Hi all

Thanks for your time.
I wasn't aware of Deepmeta, so will look into that. If it's better, then I'd rather just learn one system, and use that for my first submissions.  I hadn't known iStock had CV and had just assumed you could create your own, like with the others I'm with. I'll get there!

I'll ask about the model release for family only.

Thanks for saying Headline is the field - I can see that in Lightroom separate to title, so will see if that works.

Kind regards

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