what will happen in this case in my opinion is very simple.

sooner or later it will come to light that there are similar images,and Adobe clearly won't allow this,then going to verify who the real creator is,simply by checking the upload date,for start i think,and in this case it is more obvious because the thief's contents are generated by AI.

I really don't think Adobe Stock can allow a library full of duplicates,so the problem will be solved anyway,it's just a matter of time.

there are duplicates,thieves,those who have 10 accounts or whatever you want,they are there because unfortunately the procedures for checks and any actions take a long time,unfortunately time is necessary,as when an account is blocked it can unfortunately take a month or two,because they are simply procedures that take time.

Yeah, don't disregard or write off iStock/Getty. Currently I earn almost as much from them as I do from Adobe, despite the lower royalty rate, and despite having a smaller portfolio on iStock.

yes but how many licenses do you have to sell to be able to make 100 usd on Istock?in general,forget about rare sales.

300?probably even more.

Istock is the bane of microstock,continuing to contribute to this agency is like shooting yourself in the foot in the long term.

Where are the Istock representatives?Here there was a long discussion about the Washington refund,has anyone come here at least to publicly apologize for what happened?To explain something?Has anyone ever come here from Istock?

I hope Adobe starts an exclusivity program so maybe many will decide to stop helping Istock ruin microstock.

iStock Exclusive is better than Abode.

Istock is the worst agency that exists,do you know that they deleted 4,500 contents from my portfolio,without any valid reason that could justify this?They just sent me an email to warn me of what they had already decided,based on pure assumptions and without even asking me anything before acting in this way?

when I responded to their email,explaining what they were doing wrong,what they had misunderstood,they changed the version of events and they started accusing me of stealing content from free sites.

Istock destroyed years of work in one click.

I can only hope that someone will do to them what they did to me,so maybe they learn a little respect for those who work.

My advice is to run from Adobe as if your pants were on fire!!!!

and run to go where?I'm curious,tell me,where would you like to run?

you can run as far as you want,but you won't find any other agency out there that is on Adobe's level,in every way.

what I see here is simply that every opportunity is a good one to throw mud on the only serious agency that remains,the only one that still makes microstock possible.

I frankly advise you to look more at what you do rather than look at what others do.

It seems to me that Adobe has blocked and investigated so far a huge amount of portfolios that have violated or suspected of violating the terms,for whatever reason.

when I randomly find some account that for any reason is violating the terms or is behaving incorrectly,do you know what I do?nothing.

If anyone copies my work,I wish them all the luck possible,while it lasts,because this type of behavior does not last long.

I don't think contacting Adobe for these things is a good idea,don't worry,sooner or later all the problems will come to a head.

I do my job and let Adobe do theirs.

I have 0.30 and 1.03 today

I finally decided to start with AI Generated images. I read a few articles, watch a few video and so far the process looks simple

1) Generate image with Midjourney. It look like it's the best generator now
2) Upscale with Topaz Gigapixel AI or Topaz Photo AI. Which one is better?
3) Create description, upload
4) Profit!

What I'm missing?

strange is that now that you have decided to start with AI I have decided to stop with AI!

I didn't sell even one of the last 115 AI images I made,which have been on sale for about a couple of months,in December instead I had about twenty for sale and I sold 3 of them.

anyway it's ok maybe they will sell later,frankly I'm realizing that this AI content is a flash in the pan.

the fact remains that in any case it is better to try to do everything,at the moment however I am more focused on doubling my "real" video library by the end of the month,and in general I'm more focused on "real" content.

Quote from: Injustice for all on May 05, 2024, 04:39

Quote from: Mifornia on May 04, 2024, 21:51

Congratulations 🎉 That�s a big milestone and shows your long term commitment. I hope Adobe will have an exclusive option soon.

thank you!

yes an exclusive program I believe it is necessary in the future to maintain fair royalties,because it is other agencies like Istock that drive prices down,with an exclusivity program Adobe could counteract this,maintaining higher royalties for exclusive content,I hope they will choose this path.

think how lucky we are with Adobe,despite the "dramatic" scenario we experience today with microstock,with agencies trying to attract customers by lowering prices,Adobe still manages to maintain honest royalties for us contributors,it's not easy,we're lucky! 

Exclusive program at Adobe Stock would be great. But I'm afraid it won't happen.

As I had said before. Exclusive program is a countermeasure for underdog agencies to compete with the top dogs. And AS is surely not an underdog. No microstocker would dare to omit AS and miss a good chunk of income. Some of my images are already exclusive at AS. So why would Adobe create a redundant (exclusive) program and pay us more?

I'll be happy to be wrong.

I think you're partly right,most contributors would give up any agency to become exclusive with Adobe,and that's exactly the point.

I don't really agree with this:"Exclusive program is a countermeasure for underdog agencies to compete with the top dogs"

the point is that if Adobe Stock really takes microstock into its own hands by becoming an exclusive agency,ensuring a monopoly on content,which no other large agency can have,it could decide the prices.

it's a slightly surreal scenario,but I don't feel like ruling it out completely in the future,Adobe could start with an exclusive collection accessible directly from Adobe Stock,and not through other channels as it is now.

the only thing I am certain of is that as long as we continue to contribute to agencies like Istock or SS we are the ones starting the race to the bottom.

What do we expect if we continue to give our content to an agency that pays us 15% and to make 100 USD we have to sell 300 content if not 500 or more?

of course it's good in the short term it's money,but in the long run this behavior of ours is wearing out the microstock system,sending content to anyone who gives us some money,I don't think it's a good idea anymore.

this is also why I chose to contribute only on Adobe Stock,I still have other active ports,but since September 2023 I have decided to upload only to Adobe.

I understand that you say that Adobe already has this content,but the point is that it doesn't have it as exclusive.

we need to start asking ourselves some questions as:"why does SS reset the level of contributors every year?"we complain,but then we accept,and that's why we find ourselves like this today.

Istock and SS have hundreds of millions of content thanks to us,but what if they no longer have it?

and every time I make this speech I feel guilty first of all because I still have my active port on SS!

Adobe launches exclusivity program!Please save us from ourselves! 

Congratulations 🎉 That�s a big milestone and shows your long term commitment. I hope Adobe will have an exclusive option soon.

thank you!

yes an exclusive program I believe it is necessary in the future to maintain fair royalties,because it is other agencies like Istock that drive prices down,with an exclusivity program Adobe could counteract this,maintaining higher royalties for exclusive content,I hope they will choose this path.

think how lucky we are with Adobe,despite the "dramatic" scenario we experience today with microstock,with agencies trying to attract customers by lowering prices,Adobe still manages to maintain honest royalties for us contributors,it's not easy,we're lucky! 

Happy 6th anniversary.

I'll second the advice you heard earlier about scaling back on the love for Adobe Stock (or any of the agencies). In September I'll celebrate my 20th anniversary of contributing to microstock. I've been in love and had my (virtual) heart broken multiple times with multiple agencies.

None of the agencies, least of all Adobe Stock, have contributor's interests at heart. We are just a small part of their software subscription universe. At the moment, they're trying to convince investors that Adobe is an AI "winner"; investors were worried that subscription income will nosedive as a result of the rise of AI tools. It's been a rocky path for them (and the stock price is way down from the $638.25 peak earlier in the year).

This article from Friday seems to be on point - but perhaps read it tomorrow so you don't cloud your anniversary with not-very-positive views:

https://petapixel.com/2024/05/03/adobe-throws-photographers-under-the-bus-again-skip-the-photoshoot/

first of all,thank you for the good wishes!

I read the article.

my first impression is that there are a lot of personal considerations based on "skip the photoshoot"

and I believe that unfortunately we have now gone beyond this point,or not yet?

it is certain that AI brings with it significant changes to traditional photography,and I know it's a difficult reality to accept,but we have to adapt,there's nothing left to do on this point it seems clear to me,since long time.

the author of the article writes:"With AI,the logical next step is getting rid of the photographer".

I don't agree,this won't happen,it's not possible to do without some kind of photographers first of all,then,in general,it's not possible,because a red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus) even if you can generate it with AI it's not the same,similar,yes very similar,but not true,and this concept is applicable to many other kind of contents.

reality is reality and nothing can ever replace this.

of course you can "skip the photo shoot" if you need a model with shopping bags,or other type of concept,It doesn't matter if it's real or not.

That's why it's important to try to understand what an Adobe Stock customer prefers to be real,what cannot be completely replaced by AI.

Adobe says it supports creators as follows:

-Empowering creators to monetize their talents through our Stock marketplace.

-Compensating Stock contributors and creators through paid programs like Stock royalties,Firefly contributor bonus,Adobe Missions,and payments for custom content.

-Advocating for laws including a new federal anti-impersonation right (FAIR Act) to protect artists from people misusing AI tools to intentionally impersonate their style.

-Pushing for transparency around the use of AI with Content Credentials,which are like a nutrition label for digital content.

so what I read confirms what I think,and believe me,on the last point I also raised some doubts about the transparency of labeled AI contents,but recently I realized that I was wrong.

believe me Adobe is doing everything very clear,in the way they are labeling AI content,so that customers can know "what" they download.

and again the author of this article follows the points just listed by Adobe with this:"Conspicuously absent is any mention of photography,photographers,or even artists".

again?is it still not clear?Has photography changed?Many photographers who used to do photo shoots are now useless?YES

I also used to print on paper with my enlarger and work in the darkroom,and that's how I earned in the 80s and 90s then digital photography replaced this beautiful work.

coming back to us,AI will not destroy the microstock,they will change it,improve it in some aspects and eliminate others,it is the normal process of evolution,which certainly makes many angry and makes others happy.

even the way the article is concluded feels too personal:"No, Adobe,choose to embrace it because you can sell this "new digital camera" to customers, your relationship with human artists be damned".

no I don't think that's the case,and Adobe also knows very well that it will never be possible to do without human artists completely,it's simply impossible.

they're trying to convince investors that Adobe is an AI "winner?"

they are right to do it! we should do it too! 

thanks for the article!I'll reread it tomorrow!

Congrats on your anniversary!

Hope your hard work keeps paying off!

Thank you Cobalt,I hope too!

Happy MicrostockDay to me! today marks 6 years that I started in Microstock.

It's often difficult to understand how lucky we are to have Adobe Stock.

You understand this when after having worked for 4 and a half years with Istock,you receive an email in the middle of the night in which you are informed that all the work you have done,all the sacrifices,all the time,all the effort made to improve,they were destroyed in a second,without any valid or truthful reason that could justify this.

Adobe can block our account,yes,but then after a month or two at most,it is unblocked,unless a real and intentional violation of the terms is proven and verified,but often even in this case,you can get out of it with a simple warning,then if the violation of the terms is repeated another time or two,Adobe will certainly permanently and definitively block your account.

Is Adobe Stock perfect?probably not,nothing and no one is,but their commitment to trying to be so is certainly closer to perfection than any other agency there has ever been.

today I have been a microstock contributor for exactly 6 years,and a couple of years ago,when I received that email from Istock,I had lost all hope,since I had finally managed to improve my hardware and was aiming to improve myself and my future,just then I received that email that completely destroyed me.

I still earn little,I'm nobody,but I'm improving quickly,but today,I have a completely different perspective of my future,a hope,a reason,and all this thanks to me first of all because I didn't give up,but also thanks to Adobe which makes it possible,today,for me to dream and hope for a better future.

I will make it,I know I can do it and I will!

thanks so much Adobe!

keep it up! 

I also believe that shutterstock doesn't care about our personal opinion.

But I think that shutterstock is wondering whether the approval of pngs will bring in a lot of money for the competing agencies. And whether customers might migrate to the agencies that offer pngs. This may be an attempt to get an idea. And possibly get a slice of the pie.

sure,plausible,but if they want a piece of cake they have to be willing to break a few eggs,but look like this people want to eat all the cakes without breaking an egg!

however,no,some of the png I make require several hours of work,I can't see them go away for 0.10 I just can't take it.