On November 12, Stockxpert content will be removed from Photos.com. We are still working on the timelines for JIU and will announce that information at a later date.

This is indeed very bad news. This month (Nov 2009)  the majority of my DLs on StockXpert was from photos.com and JUI. I won't compensate thru iStock since I opted out of the subs deal. There are limits in the price of subs: I'd rather sell nothing than give anything for a lowered commission.

For the complete details please refer to the original announcement here. iStockphoto provides a wealth of information and ideas for you to grow from.

Growth? I doubled my port on iStock this year and nothing of my new stuff sells at all. Only my old crap of 2-3 years ago gets downloaded. I have no clue why. I think the search engine hates me. Up till this date, my November earnings on iStock are half of those on StockXpert.

So be it. There are not enough funds in my Paypal to buy Getty.

Is there a way to show the whole post when I click on a month or category?

There are many templates around for WP that don't exploit the full functionality of it or just focus on one set. What I always do for WP is not to concentrate on the looks but on the functionality present, even if it looks ugly. Then I change the look/fonts/graphic elements purely in the CSS, not in the template itself, which contains the functionality.

It seems to me that limiting a sub sale to a maximum size of around 10-12 MPs would be more friendly.

Well the contributor has that choice, doesn't he? I will never upload the future 21MP of my 5DMKII on microstock.

In fact, when you upload full size, you do that in the hope that once in a while, an EL will be sold for a billboard or so.
What you get is loads of max size sub downloads by larger design companies, but what the heck? They do it for their comfort. When making a composite, it's much fancier and better looking to start with the max size to cut out the overwhite object (beware of the jpg jitter even at quality 12) then reduce the size of the finished composite. Also don't forget template elements like buttons in one illustration image: they can be very tiny in any other size than max and awkward to extract.

The only danger is that a hit-and-run HeroTurko would download his max quorum and throw the images on the net for "free". That could be prevented by an account manager at the sites that checks the subscription package buyers. I still feel DT is more cautious as to that than for instance FT. But I might be wrong of course. All we can do is look at the track record of the different agencies.

My last sales...

subscription $0.35 medium (RF)  
subscription $0.35 extrasmall (RF)
....

My last 20:
This is a level 2 image     4 credits (2008)    $1.70     small     (RF)
This is a level 1 image    subscription    $0.35    large    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    1 credit (2008)    $0.37    extrasmall    (RF)
This is a level 3 image    subscription    $0.70    maximum    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    5 credits (2008)    $1.82    extralarge    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    6 credits (2008)    $2.22    large    (RF)
This is a level 3 image    subscription    $0.35    maximum    (RF)

Update: mystery solved. At this time the image was still level 2 but turned 3 right after the download. That's why the new download a few hours later was 0.70 (green). It is then listed level 3 on all sales upstream, so that can cause confusion.

This is a level 1 image    1 credit (2008)    $0.38    extrasmall    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    subscription    $0.35    extrasmall    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    2 credits (2008)    $1.00    small    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    5 credits (2008)    $2.04    medium    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    2 credits (2008)    $0.70    small    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    6 credits (2008)    $2.36    large    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    subscription    $0.35    maximum    (RF)
This is a level 5 image    subscription    $1.26    maximum    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    1 credit (2008)    $0.38    extrasmall    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    subscription    $0.35    maximum    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    2 credits (2008)    $0.74    small    (RF)
This is a level 1 image    subscription    $0.35    maximum    (RF)
This is a level 2 image    subscription    $0.35    maximum    (RF)

In general subs are 50% of total sales for me. In the last 20, there were 9.

Achilles has been answering the subs issue a few times, also on this forum as I remember. It boils down to designers needing a few or many alternative images for a particular design, so that they can present these options without clumsy watermark to the customer. We read before here on this forum how designers hate comps with watermarks.
In fact, only one of those images will actually be used, so Achilles pointed out that sub sales are in fact an extra, those are sales that wouldn't have been happened on a credit package (except the image finally chosen of course).

So it isn't about greedy image hoarders scratching around for bargains, but about some comfort for the designer. Also concerning the max size downloads: imagine you want a crop or a banner out of the image, how can you do that in a credible way for the customer out of a 300px watermarked thumb? Makes you look cheap as designer to the customer. If your webpage is a 800px wide design, you will then have to upsize the thumb to give an idea about the final result, but that might not go well with the customer if he has deeper pockets and if he wants to have a realistic idea of how the result will look like. A designer might try different crops and that doesn't work well from an XS image.

If as designer, you want to evaluate how a particular image will look like (colors, crispness) in large print, you can't do that with a watermarked thumb. Small but vital defects can't be judged on a thumb at all. Take for instance sloppy isolations with plaques less than #FFF. I bought a few like those from LuckyOliver and I was totally p*ssed of I had to redo the isolation all over. So a designer with volume production might prefer to buy an expensive subs package in order to have some comfort in choosing the right and correct image amongst those downloaded. They cost of this might be much less than the designer's hourly wage.

The issue with photographers/illustrators is often that they are unaware of the needs of a designer. I still trust Achilles in the sub decisions as he has a track record of honesty towards contributors, and since he has an overview of what happens on both sides of the fence, contributor needs and buyer needs. Other agents are not as good in this, but apart from the occasional slam, they seems to get away easier with subs.

The "bitter" pill has been sweetened by the higher weight for level 3 and up images in the subs package. You could argue that they just represent a small part of any port, but proportionally, they have more sales or they wouldn't have become level 3+ images in the first place. Finally, DT is the only agent that rewards good sellers with higher yield. On SS, you'll get always your 0.36 (or whatever) independent of # of downloads.

This was a positive thread about DT.  

Second, it seems to be a bit of a mixture with a social networking site, that's not bad to make contacts.

How? I can't contact anybody on DT. My right to comment on photos was taken away 2 years ago. I have no clue why. The only blog post I ever made there was removed. You can't even put up a decent tutorial there since external picture and video links are impossible. The DT blogs are glorified forum posts and the vast majority is a total time waste.

I don't need social networking on DT, I need sales.

In defence of Dzain she even said on the SS forums that she was going to come over to this site to let off steam as she didn't want to post it on Shutterstock's own forums.

Ah, I stand corrected then, and my apologies to Dzain, especially if it's a she. 

There's quite a bit to like about them IMO.  Probably the reason they keep winning the "who's your favorite micro" polls. 

That might change with the next poll. When would that be?

What's the price tag for keywording.?..

In general: 2-4$, 2 for series. Title/description included.
They never will post it in public.
As you know, I'm into outsourcing now and I had thoughts about a similar service at a place where the wages are 35% under those of Chennai. But to be perfect and microstock-relevant, I should check all the output myself plus check competing shots at the sites to bump over them as to relevancy. Given that overhead plus the costs (included training) a price of 3$ is realistic.

Personally I would never let go the metadata out of my hand, since the right wording is vital for correct search info placement. It might make sense for volume uploaders though and image "factories" that run a tight shop.

The least the keywording services should do is put some examples online to have a quick idea of the wording quality.

I was just looking at my sales at Dreamstime and all the recent sales either quote   x credits (2008) or subscription. Why would I not have any 2009 credit sales ? Does anybody have (2009) credit sales on Dreamstime ?

Last 20 sales: 11 subscription, 9 2008 credit sales. No 2009 credit sales. Digged deeper (last 120 sales): no 2009 credit sales at all.

Overall, this is a big step by fotolia. Huge expansion. I never could have believed how the agencies were missing the Turkish market.

Didn't they have HeroTurko already?

I just had a sale there, 15$, yield 7.5$. It was an image that never sold elsewhere. Apparently FP is digging into market holes that no one did before. FP is still in intensive care but Elena, though very friendly, isn't a sissie that will give up easily. Given that, and the fast and easy upload, I'll stay there for a while. In total, FP made me much more than Zymm.

I don't like the way SS treats it's contributors by not communicating about the possible loss of the OD-program.

They did.

I don't like the image garantee crap and the way they throw away our work like garbage, because of that.

Just curious. Are you going to call SS "crap"/"garbage" in every thread under the cover of anonymity?
If you "hate", "don't like" SS, then don't upload there.

I had two deleted with cars with, full sideview but no logos. They are amongst good sellers at other sites, so I guess it's a matter of time before iStock kicks them out too.
That's a consequence of the latest cry in microstock about the "guarantee". I wonder when Dreamstime will offer the "guarantee".