Very good suggestion but nothing further came through - I use PSP rather than PS and the tagging is useless, stuck with the IPTC available in Windows.  It's not a major hassle as I ain't exactly prolific and only upload to DT, FT, SS and very rarely to IS if I think something has a chance    Easy enough to copy & paste from the image info where needed.

90% of pictures could be properly described with less then 15 keywords. Just Cutting keywords from 50 to 20 could solve most of the problem. There will be simply too tight space for serious spamming and everyone will be forced to think about keywords instead of blindly copying from other images.

The simplest solution is usually the best!!

Was just doing the keywords on a batch submitted to FT - after finishing no 5 I noticed 1 - 4 were already approved

Interesting....

In may case IS would be waay out in front as they reject virtually everything and the others accept virtually everything.  This includes an isolated  variant on my best selling IS image (unusually rejected for commercial potential rather than "technical" issues), accepted by the all the others and outsells the non-isolated version by at least 2 to 1.

Fotolia are the fastest (of the 4 I use), then SS, DT pretty slow but these sites approve the vast majority of submissions.  IS take weeks and then reject virtually everything 

This whole thing is a simple matter of supply and demand � buyers have loads of choice and plentiful supply so, inevitably, prices go lower and lower and returns for contributors go the same way.  No point in talking about unions etc � it just ain�t gonna happen.  All one will achieve by removing content from a site you have a beef with is to lose a potential market and lose further income.  There is a solution if one of the bigger agencies had a bit of vision that would increase commissions and corner the supply.  Some points:


High prices and commissions for exclusive CONTENT (need to corner the supply not the producer)

Acceptance criteria should be reasonable like DT, FT, SS (going the IS route will ensure plentiful supply for competitors)

Contributors will readily buy into this because of the rates (self interest is a stronger motivator than talk of unions / co-operatives)

Buyers will eventually have to follow the contributors instead of the other way around (win win for supplier and agency)

Automatic acceptance for images already on a big 4 site (must be removed on approval with account termination for anyone who doesn�t comply with the image exclusivity)

Long, interesting and alightly scary thread.  There are 2 fundemental problems with what has happened:

1.  Zero due process

2. Not a question of suspension - seems he's been permanently kicked off the site.

This is a point I have made previously in other settings but you do NOT have to be able to do modelling to produce rendered images in the same way that you don't need to actually father the children you might photograph.  It may take a long time to become expert but, with low cost or even free tools and commercially available models, you can easily make images suitable for stock use (possibly with the exception of IS).  The example you show is pretty complex in comparison to most stock "stick figures" but could be produced relatively easily even in free software such as Wings 3D (although rigging is a whole other ball game).  With a little imagination such figures could also be produced by adapting, already rigged, commercial models.

My reason for wanting to know review speed: 

I work a lot with illustrations and deal constantly with new ideas / concepts I am trying out. It takes lot of time and effort and the faster I can see if the site owners accepts it, the faster I can change strategy / concept and not waste valuable time.

 

The problem is that what is accepted on one my not be liked by all - of the big sites, FT and SS are pretty quick, DT is fairly reasonable and IS takes weeks.

What the other guys said.

Any hint of a visible polygon, banding or anything that might be interpreted as pixellation / artifacts will be rejected.  I've also found that what is accepted needs to almost "look like" a photo rather than an illustration.  Much simpler on the other big 4 sites where renders are classed as illustrations.

I get very few rejections on the other sites but always amazed when something is accepted on IS.

You should - can you see the files at all?  I've never waited more than a day even at weekends.

Quote from: MatHayward on November 22, 2010, 14:22

I could be wrong, but I think it is 2 years of being unsold that drops the price down to 1 credit.  Also, even when you did accept the 50 cents so your photo could be sold on the free site, your image(s) still remained for sale in the Fotolia database as well.  They were not removed or deleted.  The 50 cent offer is no longer valid however.

Mat

Quote from: OM on November 16, 2010, 07:35

There was a discussion some time ago on FT forum about the unsold files. I had the impression that you either took their 50 cents and your files went into the free section or you declined payment and removed the 'offending' files yourself.
Not so according to one of the moderators. Moderator ignored the notices, retained files in their portfolio and did not collect 50 cents. Now, of course, the new rule has been introduced that if you have files unsold after 12 months and they have been 'marked up' according to your ranking/exclusivity, then those files will revert to a single basis credit price  until you have sold one of those files more than 5 times; at which point you may return to a basis price of 2, 3, 4 in accordance with your ranking/status. The onus is on the contributor to keep count of the files that become eligible for 'restoration' after 5 sales, should they wish to do so. Needless to say, demotion of any files to single credit status without sales for 12 months, is fully automated and immediately effective!

Sorry Mat. 12 months.

From FT forum:

"Recently, we've been receiving a lot of requests from contributors to
remove underperforming files from their portfolios. Apparently, most
photographers think that there is no chance of selling an image if it
hasn't been downloaded at least once in the last year.

Since then, our product and marketing teams have been working hard on
creating a solution that benefits both contributing artists and
customers alike. Our belief is that if one of your images was accepted
into Fotolia's collection, it is an image that deserves to be sold and
used.

To make your images even more attractive to customers, we're
introducing a new pricing strategy for images that have not been
downloaded in the last 12 months. These images will be priced at
Fotolia's best rates - 1� for XS, to 10� for XXL. If your images are
already priced at this level, images in your portfolio will remain
unchanged. Once the affected images are downloaded at least 5 times,
you will be able to set their maximum prices once again.

Along with our other sales and marketing initiatives, we're
anticipating increased sales when this new policy comes into effect
September 1st, 2010.

Best Regards,

Team Fotolia"

Rather than putting images in a bargain bin or giving them away it might make sense to be able to review / update keywords?

If you are not already an expert, Vue is worth checking out - cost is a fraction of some of the others and it's perfectly viable for simple stock type images, There is a fully functional evaluation version available for free @ www.cornucopia3d.com (limited resolution watermarked images).  Not much use for modelling other than basic manipulation of primitives but wings3d is a good free subdivision modelling tool.  You do need decent computing power for complex renders but I get by with an old laptop.  Of course, if you have loads of money....