Alamy

Alamy seems rather hard to get into, or am i misreading it?   I've never submitted to any stock agency before, so i'm not sure how tough it is.

no its not, just need to be sharp at 100%, they don´t look into the subject, anything goes, upload is quite boring despite latest improves

For Alamy, they would need to be quite sharp and you'd need a good scanner - I tried with some old slides there but they just weren't up to it.

However, you can get slides into iStock - I have a number of them, some up to 30 years old, and in Vetta too.  They aren't as sharp as I'd like but you can downsample to help with the imperfections.  They take a lot of cleaning up though;  dust and scratches and the like.  I used a dedicated slide scanner, but it wasn't a particularly good one.  iStock do offer a professional scanning service (I think it goes to India) but unless the slides are something special it may not be worth the expense.  And prior to being Exclusive, I had some in Fotolia and Bigstock too, so it is possible.

Quote from: Chicago on September 15, 2011, 16:14

Hi everyone,   
Noob here.   Ok, my dad has this huge archive of old slides he's taken over the last 40 years.   Many of them are fantastic images of Chicago landmarks and historical places that are either gone, or not the same.    THe collection also has many non landmark, but old nonetheless, images that maybe ok for stock.    I was considering putting up a smugmug gallery to try to sell these things, but i wondered if anyone knows of a place i can sell them as stock images?    I know it's not traditional microstock, but is there a site that these might be accepted, and if so, is there some market for this type of image.  THANKS

I'd say Alamy also. In my opinion they have less stringent requirements than some of the micro sites and because the images sound fairly unique they could probably justify a higher dollar amount such as Rights Managed.

Also, you didn't say this but I'm assuming he's alive so make sure if you're doing the submitting that the account and photos are under his name. You can't submit them under your name unless the copyright is transferred to you.

Same as what he said. Get a document that you have all rights to reproduction, or have your Dad transfer ownership, so you are protected. Just in case.

Alamy will still require fairly large images, without dust, streaks or spots. Go RM and hope some publication needs a historic shot. They aren't going to be best sellers on micro anyway, as they aren't the kind of shots that are in great demand for Microstock buyers.

No Alamy is not hard to get into or accepted. Just as others have pointed out, sharp images, good exposure, clean (no dust bunnies) and that's all you need. I always say, you can send a crisp image of a brown rock, on a brown sandy beach on a cloudy day and they will take it. Content is not reviewed. They let the buyers decide.

Considering the landmarks and other subjects you may want to go Editorial RM to avoid legal issues. One more point about Alamy. Although they do have some requirements, they also emphasize that ultimately, the final use is the obligation of the buyer. If something is marked Editorial and the buyer things it's fine for public domain, then they can use it that way. You and Alamy have done their part.

Alert: Personal Opinion warning!

I don't find that slides or film shots are worth the time. Maybe someone has some specifics which might sell, but I have shots going back to the 60s and older materials from family members, I can't see where much if any, has any Microstock value.

Scanning 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 B&W negatives presents it's own problem, beyond content, I haven't tried that. Same for 2 1/4 square slides from a twin lens reflex, mounted in glass. Now there's some old stuff!