|
MicrostockGroup Sponsors
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - gnirtS
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 ... 38
26
« on: April 21, 2025, 03:11 »
Wasn't envato the favorite place for videos. And difficult to get into?
Like storyblocks?
Yes it was. The only place that involved quite a few hoops and checks. Then they introduced elements and an identical system to this SS thing. Earnings went to zero effectively with it.
27
« on: April 20, 2025, 22:04 »
Doing the maths here. From the initial email explaining a pool share of 50% of earnings then assuming max usage Shutterstock have cut the minimum possible payout per asset from $0.38 to $0.002 in 5 years (since 2020).
Even worse for video where we went from $40 to $0.002 !
28
« on: April 20, 2025, 21:27 »
.
It's strange that getty allowed shutterstock to do this.
Getty has no say. Nothing has been signed. The way it's looking I can see them pulling out as they're offering way over the odds for a company that may not exist in a year or 2. Waiting to pick off the carcass seems more sensible.
29
« on: April 20, 2025, 21:23 »
I also have the unlimited images only filter applied by default when I search the site.
So they'll screw over existing users by only exposing the ultra cheap stuff by default? Effectively hiding normal content. That's crazy. So far it seems mobile site has default unlimited and not desktop. But its coming. 
30
« on: April 20, 2025, 21:03 »
if it's true,In my opinion this is wrong and should be avoided,Adobe shouldn't allow a single contributor to upload 20,000 images in space a year,that's just too much.
Why not? While I agree nobody can produce more than a few hundred good images a month there are reasons. If someone is already an established contributor, for example IS exclusive and decides to join AS then they can easily have 20,000 good images ready to go. Why ban them from doing so? My upload is bursty - I go to months working away getting images. I then upload later so send nothing for 7 months then 5,000 in the space of 2 after that. Why rate limit it? The problem lies in the lack of enforcement of standards. If they actively human reviewed submissions and kept the same standards of old along with account warnings and bans there'd be no issue. The fact they haven't opened the flood gates of unadulterated shite, some real but most text prompt AI spam. Now they're using desperate, ineffective methods with unforseen consequences to fix it. Simple fix, completely separate real images from AI. Different website, different search engine, different review stream. This is better for contributors and customers. Bluntly this entire mess was created by their unthinking headlong shift to AI. 99% of AI images are just people mass text prompt spaming (often with stolen credentials) using a free or pirate upscale service, using AI to automate and create a set of awful generic keywords and descriptions then just uploading in mass without checking or even looking at the output. Its a zero effort, industrial scale production mindset. Adobe do not and likely never will have the resources to handle this increasing river of crap.
31
« on: April 17, 2025, 21:20 »
I've seen people offering classes on marketing and letting students use their ss images in their own marketing - not what this model envisions but what it will be used for in addition to the many other kinds of image theft and misuse. Looking for that opt-out button now.
This is a problem in general. The licenses sold are (I) too cheap and (ii) allow far too much legal use. What used to require an extended licence can now be done on a sub. The second problem is there's no realistic way to enforce license adherence with a digital image. Once it's in the buyers hands, realistically there's no way at all to ensure they're complying with the licence or not. Most people now are buying ultra cheap packages and have no intention of following the extremely generous license terms.
32
« on: April 17, 2025, 12:34 »
I didnt receive the email, which I believe is why my sales have dropped significantly. Ive never experienced such low earnings on the platform before
 Not connected. The product doesn't even exist yet. Sales are dropping because customers are leaving them. This is likely a final roll of the dice.
33
« on: April 16, 2025, 03:51 »
I guess they're not too concerned with mass AI spam similars (unflagged as AI) if this profile is anything to go by: https://stock.adobe.com/sg/search/images?creator_id=206533842&filters[content_type:photo]=1&filters[content_type:illustration]=1&filters[content_type:zip_vector]=1&filters[content_type:video]=1&filters[content_type:template]=1&filters[content_type:3d]=1&filters[content_type:audio]=0&filters[include_stock_enterprise]=0&filters[is_editorial]=0&filters[fetch_excluded_assets]=1&filters[content_type:image]=1&order=relevance&limit=100&search_type=pagination&search_page=1&load_type=page&get_facets=0 How many Oysters with fluffy meaningless, inaccurate AI descriptions to you need? Or cakes. Or errr well, you get the idea.
34
« on: April 16, 2025, 03:41 »
I had a few rejected for "AI". They're not. I loathe text prompt spam crap. I've never used it.
Oddly they're in sequences of other images that were accepted. That has to be automatic algorithm flagging. Any human would see if the other 15 or so in the series weren't AI then the middle one wasn't.
35
« on: April 16, 2025, 02:49 »
The least Adobe could do is to list the removed images properly. Now we have no idea what exactly has been removed.
Looking at the couple of removed images (have only seen 2) I'm wondering if Adobe is possibly getting ready to offer illustrative editorial images as material for AI?? Those removed images MAYBE show recognizable incidental people at 200-300% (but hardly so at 100%).
Not with mine, random marine life and drone shots of uninhabited jungle etc.
36
« on: April 15, 2025, 11:09 »
I am lucky that only twelve of my images removed thus far (portfolio of 7400 images). I was, however, annoyed that one of the removed images was one of my all-time bestsellers. I searched for this image on the main Adobe page and find it still online, but not under my name.
It was stolen by Designpics and here is the image:
https://stock.adobe.com/za/images/greyhounds-at-full-speed-during-a-race/609179796
I looked through this portfolio of 100 pages and find many more of my images. Obviously a portfolio of stolen images. Those of you searching for removed images and find them still online, make sure they are under your name and not stolen.
You can't compete. He is a "premium" user, and his duplicates don't suffer from the new algorithm treatment.
https://stock.adobe.com/za/search?creator_id=206467774&search_page=91
Edit: In just a few clicks, I also found stolen photos from my collection. 
So... Adobe deletes the original photos of the authors, and preserves the copies sent by the thieves, it's disgusting!
Description and keywords have been changed by the thief.
Programming an algorithm to detect fraudulent uploads of existing photos would be possible to do. Why doesn't Adobe do this? ?? Adobe likes thieves, not photographers???
(Those are not my pictures in the screenshot, just to show duplicates and that he has a premium account)
That's about an obvious a stolen account portfolio as you'll ever see. The variety, the dodgy descriptions in bad English etc. A very very quick search on one of my areas yielded at least 4 of my images on the first 3 pages.
37
« on: April 15, 2025, 05:33 »
Your lobster, clownfish and the 2 drone videos are still showing up in your portfolio, do you now agree that the ones that were removed were duplicates?
No given the other 40+ ive checked the last few days which only appeared once in total. Some very easy to confirm given there were only 5 or 6 shots in the series in total.
38
« on: April 15, 2025, 02:52 »
As part of our ongoing commitment to enhance the content discovery experience for both customers and contributors, we have identified and are removing duplicate files on Adobe Stock. You should have received an email regarding this update on February 27, 2025. All assets have been carefully evaluated to ensure minimal impact on your portfolio.
Thats what the email says but many of us are getting things removed that arent duplicates. Exactly what criteria is used here - is it identical image, similar images, similar metadata? Is it fully automated or human audited? Also, please can we have a filter on the rejected page to see which have gone rather than have to manually trawl through page after page of normal rejections over the last decade?
39
« on: April 14, 2025, 06:47 »
Cheers i might give them a look. My workflow is similar to yours with a master XLSM of keywords as well i guess.
I'm having some luck creating Gems from Gemini (because its free) and trained it with the AS and other docs and some other criteria. Its single image currently but i could Python batch it if needed.
looks like you still need to transfer results to images manually? for 100 images that eats time.
my captions xlsx contains more than keywords -- for each image, i store description and keywords. key to my system is renaming all images to YYMMDD-{seq}, so can quickly find any image by date. details are at
https://cascoly-images.com/building-a-microstock-tracking-system-part-1
VM edits the meta and provides a csv of all images
I use a different workflow video v stills. Video i have a macro enabled master XLSM that i paste in details and it'll spit out a CSV compatible with SS,AS,P5,BB automatically which i then just upload to the service. Stills are different as i specifically want each image in LR to contain the title, description and the keywords in case i ever need that specific image again (or rarely, start a new stock site membership). I could get macros to pump external data into LR to populate the list but not sure its worth it.
40
« on: April 13, 2025, 22:36 »
"We have determined that this content is incompatible with the Stock Contributor Terms on the basis of an internal audit."
Who did this internal audit? There are millions of images and I am sure the internal audit has not been done by any human.
They are removing works which are totally accurate.
Definitely isnt a "who". No doubt this is an automatic script let loose with no human oversight with significant bugs working on undisclosed criteria.
41
« on: April 12, 2025, 22:39 »
Just woke up to another email of a further 11 removed so 56 in total.
They DO appear in the rejected items but in the location in time of where they would have been rejected so you need to trawl through.
The SEEM to be starting at the older and working up because so far all the stuff is on the last few pages. Most of it from Fotolia days!
Its the same bland, generic removal reason that offers no useful information and might be garbage.
Can see with the attachments, as a selection i have a sea fan, clownfish, coral crab, flooded bridge, rice terrace and old drone shot of a river all "incompatible with terms". It doesnt tell me why or any details at all.
Most of these are from 6-8 years ago, some are Fotolia so pre-adobe stock days. So apparently my images have managed to violate Adobe Stock terms and conditions despite being uploaded and accepted literally before Adobe Stock even existed.
Do i need to persuade a clownfish to sign a model release now? Or check for an owner of a blade of grass?
FWIW quite of a few of these images sell quite well even to this day.
It looks to make like they're started at image number 1 and applying their unspecified criteria from there upwards which suggest a lot of people could lose hundreds or potentially thousands of images by the time this completes.
The really frustrating thing here is the complete contempt they seem to be treating contributors. They've gone down the Shutterstock route.
There is no clear criteria listed anywhere, there's no timeline, there's no explanation of HOW the process is conducted (i suspect entirely automated.. but based on what?). No discussion of whether this is a one off or will continue scanning or pruning indefinitely.
Theres not even a simple filter to show WHAT has been deleted - the email link just uselessly goes to the "rejected images" most recent page.
AS *used* to be different to the others, direct 2 way engagement and communication with contributors, things were explained (even if not agreed with) but you knew where you stood. Those days have gone.
It appears that all these files are still online, so the reason why they were removed may be because they are duplicates. Please can you check if the file numbers of the removed files and the file numbers of the ones still in your port are different?
The numbers are the same - i think it just takes time for the deletions to filter through the database (as is normal outside this for manual changes).
42
« on: April 12, 2025, 22:19 »
i have thousands of images, many years old, waiting to be meta'd
i've been using visaulmind.ai which does a great job for about 2-3 cents / image. (you can try it for free on 30(?) images) you can append keywords or add to descriptions before submitting (eg adding a byline for editorial, or location when it isn't obvious. but VM has identified the rhine river by a castle in the background or accurately named the interiors of Istanbul mosques. and Even translates from some greek or latin inscriptions on mosaics. it correctly identifies plants & animals. for simitars they actually write different descriptionsi. in a recent example of a poster from last week's protest "only you can prevent fascist liars ", it understood it as a reference to smokey bear!
i can set up 200-300 images in a few minutes & it runs in background - i then select for various post-processing (several thousand) & resizing. i've added >2500 images to SS, >1000 to AS over last 3 months and i can also update my excel captions sheets by appending the resulting csv (these sheets allow me to locate any of 50K archived images by keyword in at most a few minutes)
for free services like chatgpt, you need to consider the time it takes to prompt or upload & you'd still have to add the result to your image meta.i'm not aware of any free services that process in bulk & update the image meta & provide a csv
Cheers i might give them a look. My workflow is similar to yours with a master XLSM of keywords as well i guess. Im having some luck creating Gems from Gemini (because its free) and trained it with the AS and other docs and some other criteria. Its single image currently but i could Python batch it if needed. Trying to decide if its worth me continuing with my own attempt or pay someone else to further reduce my income(!). Ill use the 20 credits to do a compare with it v mine. Example of mine spitting out (with obvious debug stuff to help me fine tune). [b]**Image Analysis:**[/b]
The image is a close-up underwater photograph featuring a Pink Skunk Clownfish (likely *Amphiprion perideraion*). The fish, characterized by its pinkish-orange body and distinct white stripe behind the eye, is nestled amongst the green, bulbous tentacles of its host sea anemone. The setting is clearly a marine environment, suggesting a coral reef habitat typical for this symbiotic relationship. The composition focuses tightly on the fish's head and upper body, highlighting its interaction with the anemone. Key themes include marine wildlife, symbiosis, underwater ecosystems, and natural habitats.
[b][u]**Keyword Analysis and Grouping:**[/u][/b]
[b][i]* **Top 10 Keywords:** [/i][/b]
The most important keywords capture the specific subject, its scientific name, its symbiotic partner, the general category, the environment, and the core concept. These are: `pink skunk clownfish`, `Amphiprion perideraion`, `sea anemone`, `clownfish`, `underwater`, `symbiosis`, `coral reef`, `marine life`, `wildlife`, `fish`. These are prioritized as they are the most direct and searchable terms related to the image content.
[i][b]* **Descriptive Keywords:**[/b][/i]
These specify the type of fish, anemone, and general animal category, along with prominent colors and visual attributes. Examples: `anemonefish`, `invertebrate`, `animal`, `green`, `pink`, `orange`, `tropical`, `vibrant`, `colorful`.
[i][b]* **Activity/State Keywords:** [/b][/i]These describe what the subject is doing or the relationship depicted. Examples: `hide`, `shelter`, `symbiotic relationship`.
[i][b]* **Location Keywords:**[/b][/i] These define the setting and environment. Examples: `ocean`, `sea`, `marine environment`, `natural habitat`, `Indo-Pacific`, `home`.
[i][b]* **Conceptual Keywords:**[/b][/i]
These describe the broader themes, ideas, or feelings the image evokes. Examples: `nature`, `biodiversity`, `ecosystem`, `habitat`, `protection`, `safety`, `marine biology`, `harmony`, `fragility`.
[i][b]* **Technical Keywords:**[/b][/i] These relate to the photographic style and composition. Examples: `close up`, `macro`, `underwater photography`, `natural light`, `nobody`, `no people`. Technical keywords are placed last as they are generally less critical for initial search relevance than subject and concept keywords. --- --- **SUMMARY**
Image analysis: Close-up underwater shot of Pink Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion) sheltering in green tentacles of host sea anemone, illustrating symbiosis in coral reef habitat. Focus on marine wildlife and nature.
TITLE 1: Pink Skunk Clownfish in Green Sea Anemone [41]
TITLE 2: Clownfish Amphiprion Perideraion Hides [38]
TITLE 3: Vibrant Anemonefish Among Green Tentacles [42]
DESCRIPTION 1 (Revised): Pink skunk clownfish Amphiprion perideraion nestled safely in green sea anemone. [76]
DESCRIPTION 2 (Revised): Close view pink skunk clownfish refuge in green tentacles host sea anemone. [73]
DESCRIPTION 3 (Revised): Marine wildlife Amphiprion perideraion fish symbiosis green anemone home. [69]
KEYWORDS: pink skunk clownfish, Amphiprion perideraion, sea anemone, clownfish, underwater, symbiosis, coral reef, marine life, wildlife, fish, anemone, nature, habitat, protection, animal, ocean, sea, tropical, vibrant, colorful, green, pink, orange, hide, shelter, invertebrate, anemonefish, biodiversity, ecosystem, home, safety, natural habitat, marine biology, Indo-Pacific, close up, macro, underwater photography, natural light, nobody, no people [40]
--- ---
Do you require any keyword variations yes/no?
43
« on: April 12, 2025, 21:44 »
Just woke up to another email of a further 11 removed so 56 in total.
They DO appear in the rejected items but in the location in time of where they would have been rejected so you need to trawl through.
The SEEM to be starting at the older and working up because so far all the stuff is on the last few pages. Most of it from Fotolia days!
Its the same bland, generic removal reason that offers no useful information and might be garbage.
Can see with the attachments, as a selection i have a sea fan, clownfish, coral crab, flooded bridge, rice terrace and old drone shot of a river all "incompatible with terms". It doesnt tell me why or any details at all.
Most of these are from 6-8 years ago, some are Fotolia so pre-adobe stock days. So apparently my images have managed to violate Adobe Stock terms and conditions despite being uploaded and accepted literally before Adobe Stock even existed.
Do i need to persuade a clownfish to sign a model release now? Or check for an owner of a blade of grass?
FWIW quite of a few of these images sell quite well even to this day.
It looks to make like they're started at image number 1 and applying their unspecified criteria from there upwards which suggest a lot of people could lose hundreds or potentially thousands of images by the time this completes.
The really frustrating thing here is the complete contempt they seem to be treating contributors. They've gone down the Shutterstock route.
There is no clear criteria listed anywhere, there's no timeline, there's no explanation of HOW the process is conducted (i suspect entirely automated.. but based on what?). No discussion of whether this is a one off or will continue scanning or pruning indefinitely.
Theres not even a simple filter to show WHAT has been deleted - the email link just uselessly goes to the "rejected images" most recent page.
AS *used* to be different to the others, direct 2 way engagement and communication with contributors, things were explained (even if not agreed with) but you knew where you stood. Those days have gone.
44
« on: April 11, 2025, 18:46 »
I had 2 removed in the "audit" process, tells me that they are against the guidelines and a link to read. I did read and I have no idea how "dead trees in a drought affected lake" go against the guidelines. The other one was a "hemp plant ready for harvesting" again I dont see how it goes against guidelines.
To me these removals are clear as mud.
Actually the email said I had 2 removed, I look at my numbers and I have had 19 removed so far. All of them say "This content has been removed for violating Adobe Stocks content submission guidelines. We have determined that this content is incompatible with the Stock Contributor Terms on the basis of an internal audit. "
So apart from the previous 2, there are mushrooms, a small frog, some ducks and I have no idea what else because there is no point in looking ...
I guess they've started. I had an email saying 45 removed (out of about 22,500).It contained a shot of I guess what's been removed (an old head on photo of a Hawksbill sea turtle on a coral reef). I click the link to see more but it just goes to my dashboard. The rejected items count hasn't increased so it seems theres no way to see what's been removed or why. If they're deciding underwater shots aren't suitable I may as well close up shop at it's 50% of my portfolio. I wonder if they're starting at oldest and working forwards. The complete lack of clarity and transparency is the issue. Adobe used to be different. Now they're just like SS. Contributors are just an annoyance that have to be tolerated.
45
« on: April 11, 2025, 09:09 »
upload an image to SS and use the keyword tool,then simply copy and paste wherever you want. 
Thats a tiny part of whats needed. Get some keywords off that, they're generic. After that need to add customisations to make it unique, adjust priority and so on. My general process involves the SS keyword generator, AS similar search, then add individual customisations, trim them down then prioritise. Takes ages and hate it. Ive hated it for the best part of 15 years. It makes uploading any new topic offputting.
46
« on: April 11, 2025, 06:54 »
I simply use content that I already have in my port to copy keywords from content that is similar in subject or concept,then i review them and add some more pertinent to the subject.
not always but generally,when I upload content to AS I upload 2 copies,I send one,and I keep one among the contents to be sent with the indexing already copied from the same content sent,so in case of rejection,if I want to make changes and send again,I just copy the indexing data from the content I left.
If I want to send this content to other agencies in the future,I simply copy the indexing from the content that is in my AS port.
This is because if the content is rejected it is still possible to copy the title but not the keywords.
My system isnt overly different - i keep an xls with the common topics and themes to copy/paste. I dont like to mix it up though so im not reusing them all the time. The issue is when i have a new subject/topic/place i need to start from scratch and it takes ages. Its this im trying to shortcut.
47
« on: April 11, 2025, 04:43 »
I can't help you because I don't use AI to automate the indexing process.
from what I've seen you can get decent results,but generally you still have to review the title and check the keywords,so I find it easier to write everything myself.
Review and adjust is fine. Im trying to avoid the 20-30 mins of searching stock sites, collating keywords, adding them from my own database, removing duplicates and so on and putting them into priority order. Im trying to streamline a process i absolutely detest.
48
« on: April 11, 2025, 04:27 »
I use Payoneer and Im based in the UK. Probably for a year or two now.
That said, I would love it if Adobe would let you set up bank details to transfer income to like Alamy does. PayPal and Payoneer etc seem to be in competition to see who can inflate their fees the most! Any chance of this happening @MatHayward?
Im in the UK too - that sounds like a better deal than Paypals conversion rate and fees. If its the case of a few pence at most then i'll switch to bank payment.
Late to this but doesnt Alamy bank transfer only use SWIFT and therefore attract large fees?
Just checked my last payment from them. The conversion resulted in fees that were less than Paypal but probably only marginally less than Payoneer.
How much are we talking here? Some places are $30+ for swift fixed fees. I'm trying to move from PayPal due to their fees so gauge the best way to do so
The money received would = 0.749 per $ instead of what was 0.77 per $. We are taking a couple of fee.
However, I'm based in the UK and Alamy is a UK company paying me in $ (bizarre I know). I've never received a fee of $30+ swift fees but this may depend on the country you live in.
49
« on: April 10, 2025, 22:53 »
OK let's be honest here. I hate keywording. I loathe it with every fibre of my being. It takes me far longer than editing photos of videos. I often leave edited stuff sat for weeks in a folder purely because i can't stand the prospect of keywording it for upload (just as im doing now for example).
Recently it seems to be a massive influx of heavily marketed (lots are spammed everywhere) AI keywording tools. Often these have dubious to no privacy or data security policies and so on.
Are any of these actually any good? Will they produce useful metadata i can use with only minor tweaking then upload? Or are they all producing as the old ones did overly generic results?
Are any worth using? Specifically, i want something to JUST generate keywords (and descriptions maybe). I don't want to use it to upload content. I just want the keywords to stuff into LR or a CSV.
I've had a little play using Google Gemini (not ChatGPT as you can only upload about 3 images a day) and "fed" it on the various submission guides. It produces OK results that still need tweaking but OK as a starting point. Its not capable of searching for similar images on stock sites and scraping keywords to start with though. The main issue i have is amnesia. It'll occasionally forget i told it base verbs, no plurals or return 80 or 20 keywords instead of 30-40 ish and so on. I cant get consistency out of it.
Is it worth me trying to tweak my current Gemini model or trying one of the other services? If so, which one? I want one that isnt spammed with referral codes to every FB group in the world.
50
« on: April 10, 2025, 21:30 »
I've noticed one file was removed yesterday and another today from my Adobe port. That's only 2 files for now but how far and deep is this purge going to?
Yeh I read the email several week ago and so this should not be too much a surprise but personally I'm tired of the way all agencies are treating contributors now. Your mileage may vary but I'm no longer pursuing stock with anywhere near the dedication I use to.
If they go big on the new rejection of too many similar to others in the entire collection and then badly AI automate this check then a ton of people will lose a large chunk of their portfolio. Given how badly it's screening similars already for new submissions it could be a total disaster.
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 ... 38
|
Sponsors
Microstock Poll Results
Sponsors
|
Show Posts
