I notice that Alamy has a section on their website. https://www.alamy.com/contentresearchtool/whatshouldishoot.aspx
Maybe someone can tell me if the others in the Big 4 have similar pages?

Hi all

I seem to remember that some stock sites like SS used to have a place they published requests for images on certain topics from time to time.  I think they tweeted them, but not on their regular Twitter account.
Can anyone share links to places where I can find out what images are in demand (i.e. new material is needed)?

Thanks!

Quote from: Hannafate on July 18, 2019, 14:04
When I do a vector version of an older illustration, I add variations, such as a black outline or stencil version.

Here's an example.  One extra with no gradients, and a black outline version.

Hi
Could you tell me how you upload the variations?  Are they separate eps files zipped as one upload?
Thanks

Hi all

I'm still confused about this. In the upload guide Adobe says you can either submit a stand-alone vector, or a zip file with a JPG preview at 15MP minimum.   This does not seem like a preview quality!  The old Fotolia preview was about 1MP.

I searched a keyword and tried "all", "vector" and "Illustration", and noticed that the illustrations appeared more frequently and higher up than the vectors. Someone here said vectors sell better, but perhaps it varies depending on the subject...

The best solution seems to be to make different versions as vectors. 

 

Thanks for your efforts! 
I'm not sure I can solve this.  I've got the exact same code working perfectly on an old Joomla website, but it stopped working in Wordpress.  I think I'm just going to put in a static link with an image. 
Thanks again for trying 

This is the code:

<div data-id='fcf89473-10e9-4020-b820-41e2c4248f10' class='sstk_widget' style='position: relative; width: 300px; height: 600px;'> <a href="https://submit.shutterstock.com" target="_blank" style="position: absolute; bottom: -1px; right: 1px;"> <img src="https://sstkcbstorage.blob.core.windows.net/content/img/red_grey.png" style="height: 26px;"/> </a><script type='text/javascript'>window._wdata = window._wdata || [];_wdata.push({server_url: 'https://promote.shutterstock.com', widget_id: 'fcf89473-10e9-4020-b820-41e2c4248f10', host_url: document.URL,width: 300,height: 600});(function(){if (typeof (alensa_widget) !== 'undefined' ) return;var alensa_js = document.createElement('script'); alensa_js.type = 'text/javascript'; alensa_js.async = true;alensa_js.id = 'alensa_w_script';alensa_js.src = 'https://promote.shutterstock.com/content/embed.js';var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(alensa_js, s);})();</script></div>

Thanks for replying.  I'm not trying to put in a link - it's the code snippet that shows thumbnails of best selling or latest images.  You used to be able to copy the code from somewhere in your catalogue.  Possibly under promotion?  But nothing's there now.

 Hi all

The code I embedded to show my latest images in a widget on my Wordpress site just stopped working out of the blue.  I tried to find the code snippet on my contributor space, and I can't seem to locate it or remember how I got it in the first place.

Can someone help me?  I tried on the SS forum and received no help 

Thanks!

Thanks!

Quote from: Chichikov on May 02, 2018, 12:28
Yes, you have to put the eps file and the corresponding jpg, containing the IPTC data, compressed together in a zip file.
As it is okay for any sites I make the jpeg as close as possible to 15 MB
The name of the zip is not important (I let the default name - "archive, 1, 2, 3, etc., or what else it can be).

If your Fotolia and Adobe accounts are synchronized, you can continue to upload through Fotolia, and the files will also appear on the Adobe site

Thanks for your help!  I was unsure about whether to upload through Fotolia or AS - it seems AS has an improved interface?  Will the approval process be the same? i.e. it will be the same team doing the approval regardless of which channel I use?

Hi

I can only find answers here about uploading the jpg preview of a vector file in a zip, but that's not what need to know.

Can someone advise me...?

I would like to know whether I need to upload an image as both vector and jpg if I want to sell as both types.  Or does the vector automatically get offered as vector and jpg by Adobe?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I've only just synced my Fotolia account with Adobe Stock and it's ages since I uploaded content.

Thanks a lot.  I'll take a look at that.

Hi all

I'm trying to find out what kinds of images are needed or trending, but I can only find requests for photography (for example all these requests refer to photography - https://twitter.com/GettyImagesWant)

Does anyone know how I can find out what illustration subjects are needed?  I'm a contributor to the big 4 and focusing on those needs.

Thanks!

Makes sense - I will persevere!

Quote from: Microbius on June 13, 2012, 09:37
Congratulations. I took a look at your portfolio. You have a distinctive style executed very well.
I hope your success continues, it is rare to see anything unique in stock!

Make sure you sign up o the other top agencies if you haven't already done so.

Thanks for your praise!  I've had 100 images on FT for the same length of time, and only 12 downloads ($3).  I've been trying to get IS to look at my application for over 2 months - they keep losing it and "resetting" it and promising to assess it.  Driving me nuts.  Have also got onto DS, but heard so many bad things about them, that I've not published anything yet.  The interface is also vile and off-putting.

The reason I'm not pursuing the others actively, is everyone seems to favour SS, and my experience has vindicated what they're saying.  But perhaps I should persevere...?

Thanks for your encouragement everyone!  It's great to have your feedback.

I've just hit my first payout, after starting on SS just over two months ago. I want to thank everyone here for their amazing support - all my questions have been answered by people here in such a generous way.

In the first month I had about 100 vector images, and in the second about 400. With absolutely no self-promotion I've hit $75 (all 25-a-day subscriptions apart from 5 On-Demand). 

I'm interested to know whether you think this is good going, super fast or super slow?

I'm also starting an experiment to compare how my sales do with the help of social networking.  I've started a FB and Twitter presence and am putting up some articles on Squidoo.  I'll report back and let you know how my sales are affected in another 2 months or so.

I'd appreciated it if you could Like my FB page or follow us on twitter @TnTDesignsZA  to help get some momentum going!

Thanks again for the friendly helping hand,
Toni @ TnT Designs Africa

Hi all

I read some advice recently about promoting my stock images on Flickr.  One method is to put rejected images up on Flickr (they shouldn't be for sale anywhere), and then somehow get people to visit my collections for sale on Shutterstock and the like.

I've just read that Flickr only allows linking to Getty, because of their partnership.

Does anyone know how to promote SS images on Flickr?

Thanks!

Hi all

Could anyone point me to an overview of the common features of microstock license agreements?
I'm wondering whether they are all pretty similar, or whether there are any which should be avoided.

Thanks!

Quote from: stockastic on May 21, 2012, 00:37
I think that's an understatement.  The only way Zazzle works is if you have your own channels of promotion.  Otherwise it's just a giant haystack in which to put your needles. 

Hm, is CafePress any better?  Or are there any that show good results and promote your products?

Hi
Can anyone confirm whether ClipartOf is closed to new contributors?  Permanently?
Thanks.

Hi there

I have a large vector portfolio, and someone at SS forum advised me to try my images as products on Zazzle.  I've found that the design process is really time-consuming and I'm now finding out from this forum that the promotion aspect is really lacking, and I agree - why should all the burden be on the contributor, when the payback is so small?
Not sure if anyone posted this helpful linkhttp://www.squidoo.com/zazzle-gallery-promotion] [url]http://www.squidoo.com/zazzle-gallery-promotion[/url] - 48 ways to promote you Zazzle store.  Seems like a crazy amount of work!

My other concern is that there is no review process or quality control.  Surely they will just be drowned in mediocre or poor products?  Then we have to make more effort to get people to find our good designs...

I'd appreciate any advice on whether this is worth pursuing, given the amount of effort required?

Thanks!

Quote from: FreeTransform on January 22, 2012, 05:13

Quote from: mtkang on January 12, 2012, 03:34
1. how can i let the illustrator just make the file name apple tree.jpg?

2. and do i need to set 300dpi for the jpg setting? i notice that the there is no information of dpi of jpg i generate using illustrator.

I prefer to open my AI files in Photoshop. That way I can set the exact pixel dimensions when opening. Using the EPS might cause the problem with the gradient, depending on your EPS settings.

Re: 300 dpi — The DPI is not what's important, it's the overall pixel dimension. What site(s) are you uploading to? iStock specifies their JPEGS to be 1900 x 2800, or the equivalent. This means if you multiply 1900 x 2800, you get <5.3 million. So as long as that number is above 5.3. million, you're good to go. You file could be 2350 x 2255, or 4000 x 1325, or anything. The DPI is irrelevant. Now, if you set your file size to 2800 x 1900, then change the DPI, the length and width will change. So watch out for that.

If you're using Save For Web in Illustrator, click on the Image Size tab and just make sure that those dimensions, when multiplied, are over 5.3 million.

As for the [converted] thing, go to your preferences in Illustrator an UNcheck "Append [Converted] Upon Opening Legacy Files." See if that works

Thanks for this - very helpful.  I've been saving as JPG from Illustrator, and was getting massive file sizes.  I keep the large ones for sites that ask for large jpgs, and then open in Photoshop and resize for smaller previews.
I never realised I could Save for Web and change the dimensions there.
Now I'm getting a 5Mp JPG for 600k instead of 3Mb, which will save hugely on my upload time - thank you!

I'm not sure what I should be setting as the "quality" of the export - any tips? 
I'm also getting an error on export saying that the dimensions exceed what "save for web" was designed for - I ignore it and carry on.  Just wondered if there's anywhere to change the default max?

Thanks!