both downloads and $ were slightly higher -- modified about 30% of my photo's keywords -- 0 of these has sold since modified (some were top sellers some had never sold)

After purchasing a copy of Photoshop CS2 and signing up for my "free gift" of 2 issues of Layers magazine, I got the following email.  Interesting idea.  Now how do I get my photos in the group of 60    

iStockphoto is the Internet's premier royalty-free stock photography community , where designers can search and download over 1,179,000 images , starting at just $1.00 each. Our international community of photographers and administrators work tirelessly to bring over 1,000 new images each week!

Choose 30 images from 60 of the hottest shots -- free! Plus, we'll put 5 credits in your account to spend on any images in the iStockphoto libray.

Feel free to download 30 of our sample photos for free. Just click on an image to download the hi-res version

Sign up today for 5 free credits to use on iStockphoto. Just enter the member code: LAYERSMAG when you sign up.

Thanks for the info.  I tried a couple of things and I'm back in operation.  Not sure which one (along with your advice) did the trick.  The problems were connected somehow as they both got fixed at the same time.

So true about the learning (I think they call this negative transfer in Psych terms) and getting use to the instrumentation.  I've decided to use the tutorial that comes with the software so I can get an overview of what I've got.  Having driven in the US then Australia -- that type of switching can be scary.  Several bicyclists don't know how close they came to being road-dirt. 

Calling a photoshop/adobe expert...  I just installed Photoshop CS2 (was using Photoshop Elements) and two things have changed on my pc that I'd like to change back.  I assume Photoshop did this. 

1) My Pixvue (keywording software) no longer presents itself as an option when I right click a .jpg file.  I played around with Adobe Bridge to keyword but found it painful.  How do I get the menu item to come back?

2)I lost most of the details that used to be displayed when I passed my cursor over a jpg file (like f stop and shutter speed) when viewing documents in "my documents".  Any idea on how to get this back?  I know that Bridge lets you see the info in Metadata but I don't like the hastle of opening the software just to get the details.

For what it's worth, I had always heard that CS2 was much better than Elements but I'm not finding that to be true.  I know I need to play around more with it and I will learn to love it but I miss some of the ease of Elements.  In general I find I'm clicking a lot more to get to features that were either simplier or on the top menu 

Quote from: CJPhoto on October 20, 2006, 13:48
Admart - keyword changes dont need approval, they get updated automatically (not sure if done overnight or immediately). 

Thanks CJ Photo.  I redid most of them the right way.  I thought 2 things were odd -- one that it took so long and two, other people could change my keywords in the same way.  Funny how I chose to ignore the "that's odd" feeling and push through. 

Quote from: mattb on October 19, 2006, 13:33
Anybody know how long its taking for keywords to be reviewed? Mine have been under review for almost a week.

My downloads have taken a turn for the worse so I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for my keywords to be updated.
[/quote

I think I did it the same way you did as my keyword changes are taking forever to be approved.  What's the coaching here if someone did it the wrong way? 

Thanks in advance for all advice]

So here's an interesting connection...  I just viewed my portfolio (looking to see if my new keywords were accepted -- not yet) and notices that the usual display order was different.  Connecting it to this thread,  the photos that have been reviewed show up before those with 0 reviews.  I never did understand how the sort order worked before but this is a defineate change.

A big thanks for providing this link.  I just made a purchase and will upgrade my Elements for CS2. 

I've changed a few as a "test" -- it's taking a real long time for the "Under review" process - not the 24 hours they state.  I have not sold a photo since I started the test and was having the best start ever.  Hope I didn't put a "whammy" on me 

I haven't been able to get on all day (I also have a high speed connection).  Seems to get "stuck" loading.

Been a better-than-average week for me.  Got a few files accepted and 1 - 3 sales each day.  My prior weeks have been easy to beat. 

Perhaps I'm too new at editting to know better but if I want a completely isolated image,  I carefully dodge/burn (white/black background) the shadows.  I do a quick "equalize" to see where there might be noise I don't want, undo it, dodge/burn some more.

perhaps I have the wrong page bookmarked but I have to click on account details to see the sales.  A good while back it showed on the top bar.  This change has been in place for over 1 month for me. 

Well that's a bit more difficult than I thought... got the first one easy then missed bad on the second two.  Thanks for the link

I've taken my photos off the site.  No sales after many months (but my number accepted was low so I didn't have a high number to begin with) and a few I had offered as exclusive.   I look forward to hearing others' experiences.

As I recall -- DP Challenge thread (started by leaf  )

Quote from: leaf on August 30, 2006, 05:30

Quote from: Professorgb on August 29, 2006, 22:34
And the winner is http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=1759748

i don't think shutterstock hand picked this image for the 1,000,000 prize   I think it was a bit more random.

I'd agree -- I expected an awesome shot (no disrespect meant for the photographer) -- a real stand-out.  Looks like my shots had a chance   Perhaps now mine that are waiting for approval will get through the queue.

Quote from: fintastique on August 16, 2006, 18:17

Does anybody know if you can increase extended licences at FT in a bulk format as all my images are set at the default measly 10 credits?

I had a nice fellow named Chad offer to do bulk changes for me (he stated that it would take a few days)... perhaps if you ask real nice   

Quote from: Striker77s on August 14, 2006, 19:06
Of course their target is designers not photographers.  But I have never personally seen one advertisement for a microstock agency.

Mark

Designers for sure but I'm guessing that they'd also attract potential comtributers (although this would be a very expensive way to reach us)

I was at a book store last night (drinking coffee and reading Photography Magazines - a cheap date  )

I looked through about 7 magazines and got the idea for this poll.  I'm curious to see who's paying the "big $" for ads (as many sites are promising they're spending on advertizing)

I know that print media is only one type (internet ads are another) and this is far from scientific but this might be interesting to see the results.  You can vote for all you see and add to your vote if you see another (at least I hope I set that up correctly)

Yesterday (6th of August) was my first day since January that I didn't have a download.  I had hoped to go all year with a sale each day but the streak has been broken

been trying to see what's up but the site's not responding (for about the last 5 minutes)

Call me suspiciou/practicals but I think they pre-select the landmark images.  If they do, it makes sense -- you'd want to highlight the landmark with an image that's extra special.

how did you find this out?  did you get a message or did you suffer the public embarassment and see your photos in the bin  ?

I have a relatively small number of photos per site (about 200) so all tracking and managment is simple and labor-intensive.  For management, keep folders by category (e.g. people, nature) and a folder of shots ready to be uploaded.  Every so often I make a CD.  Also keep folders of "exclusive" shots accepted on the sites that take that kind of thing.

I use to track per photo sales but this got too cumbersome - now I track end-of-month sales $ and number plus total number of photos accepted per site.

Welcome to the site!

T

I use an excel spreedsheet.  I use to track money made "by image" and "by month per site"  The "by image" got too labor intensive (espeically when it's not a simple price per sale x number of sales)

So, I gave up and track monthly totals ($ and #) per site.  Anthing else needs daily upkeep.