Quote from: Bauman on January 08, 2026, 22:15
I agree with Duck.

The problem isn't that I don't want Sinandogan to sell his images; he can.

The problem is that I don't think he should sell them alongside professional photographers and illustrators and amateurs of medium-to-high quality.

The two markets should be separated, otherwise the noise of the huge volumes uploaded risks making quality work invisible. A good photographer risks being irrelevant to the algorithm.

Call it what you will: enshittification or slopification.

https://www.theringer.com/2025/12/17/pop-culture/ai-slop-meaning-meme-examples-images-word-of-the-year

https://sarah-stumboeck.com/blog/the-great-slopification-why-the-future-belongs-to-human-artists

But this is what's happening on all platforms, especially now with AI, not just stock image platforms, but also music, art, and news platforms. The creative industry is at risk if mid/high-quality work and crap work is mixed.

This is done to lower production costs and pay image creators less and less.

But this way, the web is dying under a tsunami of low-quality content. People are getting tired of scrolling through junk feeds.

I have 6,000 to 7,000 high-quality images created over 15 years, and they generate between $600 and $800 a month on Adobe Stock, while Shutterstock still barely surpasses Adobe. Sinandogan has four times as many images as I do, but he earns in a year what I earn in a month.

There's clearly a quality issue. I suggest Sinandogan submit fewer images and study to improve the quality of his shots.

I don't think it's fair to play in the same game. What do we offer clients? Low-quality images? That keeps clients away! Some say: professionals should go to premium agencies. Unfortunately, premium agencies don't sell anything anymore; even the most prestigious newspapers and magazines and the most famous commercial brands buy stock images from Shutterstock, Adobe, or Istock.

I would be in favor of bringing back an entrance exam for selling through agencies. If you deserve it, you can sell. Otherwise you start studying to improve your images until you reach an acceptable level.

Well said. The two shouldn't be mixed and sold as the same.



How do we know what's real and what's AI? At least this is marked AI.

Quote from: synthetick on November 28, 2025, 08:55
https://www.ft.com/content/d958b81f-b0a5-4373-b7ff-471cb4b290d8

Behind paywall. Free https://www.uktech.news/news/government-and-policy/getty-could-ditch-uk-if-regulators-block-shutterstock-takeover-20251128

The Getty CEO said plans to acquire Shutterstock are necessary as AI picture and video generation platforms threaten the entire stock image market.

Quote from: cobalt on March 13, 2025, 23:40
That is a good point. Will producers get to ask them if they will be accepted, before they start deleting files?

But overall I think it is a good solution. I was wondering how the exclusives will fare and if maybe their royalties will be lowered if there is a large influx of new exclusives.

If too many people are exclusive the fine balance of higher royalties and prices versus the indies does not work.

Where are you finding all of this about exclusive or what's going to happen to SS and how everything will change. Do you have an inside connection or is this all made up from imagination. Why should they raise our pay when they have the only agency, and own everything.

Quote from: ShadySue on February 13, 2025, 15:45

Quote from: alan b traehern on February 13, 2025, 13:47

Quote from: fotoroad on February 12, 2025, 22:23

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 12, 2025, 20:03

Quote from: fotoroad on February 12, 2025, 17:08
Last weekend I upload some images to Alamy, before if is one images failed all other images from same submission is also failed. Not at this time. One is failed but other stays online for key wording.
I am not sure it was accidentally or no. I hope, they finally find out it was not smart way before.

If it fails for intake data, error or image size, the whole batch doesn't fail. If it fails QC, the whole batch fails.

As far as I see, no changes to the one fail, all fail rule.

It was Failed QC

I've never seen that. One fail all fail. What was the reason?

To encourage us to check our files more carefully before submission.
Plus it's their ball, their rules.

What ws the reason they gave for the fail, not why do they do that.

Quote from: cobalt on January 29, 2025, 15:56
looks like people enjoy reading and commenting and following us injustice.

at least we have sales...and want to improve our income.

others are just here to enjoy playing in politics threads.

How does putting your sales and rank on the forum every day improve sales and income?

Quote from: gnirtS on January 08, 2025, 14:28
The usual sub-continent FB groups they AI spammers have noticed that sales are better from non-ai images as they're more attractive to buyers so have started doing exactly that, not labelling.

(As well as submitting to agencies that dont allow AI at all).

After I looked at the FB group, those people couldn't make a real image, if their life depended on it. They copy, flip, use stolen images for inspiration, then use AI to make new trash. All they do is spam and ask how to make money. There's no effort at all.

My sales on iStock have doubled since this merger was announced, and I haven't had a download on SS since the first news of the merger.

Quote from: alan b traehern on November 23, 2024, 18:55

Quote from: Madede on September 09, 2024, 14:42

Quote from: synthetick on September 09, 2024, 11:06

Quote from: Madede on September 08, 2024, 09:48
Deletion of uploaded files is treated same as file rejection and effects on your stats and sales.

If that is the case with deleting stuck files, then the effect would be negated when re-uploading them back into the queue?

Of course NOT.
if you upload 1000 images your upload counter will state that you have 1000 uploads.
And if you delete 100 and  then upload those 100 again, your counter will state that you have 1100 uploads and 100 deleted / rejected images.
It is a basic math.

Where do I see the stats and sales you are talking about, that shows how deleting a file becomes a rejection? What difference do stats make?

Madeup doesn't answer her made up stats or where to see them. Good anonymous troll on personal attacks and telling others how she thinks they should be. Momie probably told her she was a special person when she was a little girl and she believes.

No one wants a flip book, we have phones that show video.

Leaf hasn't posted since January. The site is slower every day. There aren't poll results because 39 people is not enough. I will post this and see if it goes live or if the forum times out before it's created. Enjoy the group while you can.

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on May 11, 2024, 09:21

Quote from: Injustice for all on May 01, 2024, 16:08
then as I already said,in my opinion basing a portfolio only on AI is a mistake in the long term,just as not making AI content is a mistake too!

Your positioning is clear. And you have some nerve to intervene on this post. 
You should look for the post with the petition: "Come on people! Signing! PRO AI" 
or go and pour out your views on the numerous posts that praise all the advantages of AI

Unfortunately, the vast majority of those who still speak here are won over by AI.
Otherwise, the approach of this petition is commendable. But, I doubt Adobe will change its policy, they enjoy an all-powerful situation. And they dare to talk about ethics...

It's hard to keep beating the drum for your minority opinion. Why don't you form a union or coalition of people who agree with you? I'm not won over by AI but I have better things to do than cry, complain, attack and accuse others. Next you'll claim that the people who agree with you have left the forum. Imaginary friends who agree, but they are invisible?

Quote from: synthetick on March 22, 2024, 11:31
We have an official response from kelvinjay on the iStock/Getty forum:
" UPDATE: Refunds / cancellations

Some contributors have noticed an increase in cancellations on their royalty statement this month.

A large corporate customer who licenses a high volume of content mistakenly selected these uses as royalty-bearing when, in fact, they were for comp / low-resolution image use. It is standard industry practice that comp uses, for client pitches, mock-ups, etc., are not a royalty generating license.

We subsequently met with the customer to reiterate the correct licensing requirements and reversed these transactions. Due to the customer's sizable team, some assets were selected for intended comp use multiple times, necessitating multiple cancellations

In future, if the customer licenses and downloads some of the affected assets for actual, published projects, these will appear on Connect statements. Please note there is no need to open tickets regarding this issue.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or confusion caused during this process."

Team comp use means all of these are reversed.

Quote from: Cyclone on March 20, 2024, 00:52

Hey all,

I am new to this AI thing. Just wondering where to start so I can start selling AI images. On Dreamstime for example.

I am currently using Adobe FireFly to generate images but you have to pay....

Thanks in advance!

You only have 34 images, you should be able to add more to bring your total up. DT can't be passive income unless they pay you. Did your Canon Power Shot G2 break? Maybe AI will be your answer.

Quote from: Andrej.S. on March 11, 2024, 08:54
Yes, it doesn't seem to be as easy as you might think at the first glance.

I found one "study" with analyse of the keywords and other factors of the 10,000 bestsellers on SS:
https://xpiksapp.com/blog/microstock-keywording-analysis/

There are some interesting insights, some no-brainer but aswell some patterns you would not think about.
Probably one should focus more on low-competition keywords by using more verbs and adjectives and less nouns.
Aswell one should probably try more 2-word keywords.

https://xpiksapp.com/blog/keywording-files-for-microstock/

Another interesting aspect to think about is using various image descriptions and keywords instead of the same ones for series, since then images would not compete against each other.
Aswell not using too generic keywords.

I wonder if updating the keywords to current new trends would lead to a better visibility / rankings and more sells or if the ranking is already "fixed" within the time.

You could spend less time trying to trick the search and take better pictures.

Quote from: derby on February 16, 2024, 08:29

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on February 15, 2024, 21:24
I think I may have an explanation for why we're seeing lower royalties on custom licenses this month versus during January. In another thread about royalties, Mat Hayward said:

It should make sense JoAnn but there is still something I don't understand:
For what I can see the "custom license" earning for contributors is not really "fluctuating": at the contrary it decreases regularly from january 1st
It started with about 1,47$, then started decreasing and it had never went back to that price

I can't see a single sale with a higher amount than the previous ones.
It quite difficult to understand that the increase of use of this pro plan is so regular in 45 days from the beginning of year.

Did this happen last year too or just January 2024?

Quote from: PokemonMaster on February 13, 2024, 03:17

Quote from: Roscoe on February 11, 2024, 20:54
It's an interesting experiment, and I understand that the contributors want to stay anonymous, because buying your own images is against the TOS. But on the other hand, this leaves very little room for verification. Anyone can claim anything. Always be careful with 3rd party information like "heard it from a friend who has been told by a friend that another friend..." Information can get thickened or altered per hop :-)

It's not much a friend of a friend thing. I know the guy on the forums for many years. And yes, it's about ToS. He is still not ready to pull out the portfolio from SS.

But this is not the first time I have seen such accusations against the SS. It was always something like, "I know the client and he told me about a purchase that I don't see," or someone would just say that some studio made a control purchase and it's failed, etc. Things I might have missed or not believed. But this time I have a clear numbers, clear data on what and when. That's why I bring it here.

This is a good idea. Ask your friend to check DP, DT, AS, IS and Alamy for the same, then write the anonymous report of the findings. Why only SS?

Quote from: blvdone on March 05, 2021, 03:12
All those nobody stock contributors hate me.  LOL!!  Whatever. 
They got nothing better than ridiculing people.  Useless posters.
They've never started a meaningful thread/conversation.  All they do is to come in and ridicule people.  And then I strike back, they get upset like a little punk.  LMAO!!  Weak.

Seek support from a mental health professional.

Quote from: cobalt on February 02, 2024, 03:21
I had a look at the mage page.

In the terms of service it says that everything created is public domain.

Not sure if that is ideal.

Everything created is public domain because AI can't be copyrighted. A machine is not a human mind.

I just got a review that says data set image which means a rejection, without saying it's a rejection or why. This is stupid dumb. I will delete the image. Now SS doesn't have to review, just let AI drop them into data set or approve.

Quote from: Stock4Me on April 18, 2023, 09:32

Quote from: Her Ugliness on April 16, 2023, 19:19

Quote from: Uncle Pete on April 16, 2023, 19:07


Each one needs to be edited to remove the color bar in the lower right. Resizing could be done batch. Still, I haven't seen anything from Open AI that didn't need editing, and people who use the other, still need to edit for size and error's.

Not sure what color bar you are talking about, my AI images don't have any.

Everyone who still claims AI images need some major editing is either lying to keep up the pretense that there is some actual human work involved or is simply using the wrong AI image generator.
Maybe this was true for the first gen Ai generators, but by now they produce perfect results at least 90% of the time.

Perfect results, you're joking.

Artist wins and rejects the prize.
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/artist-refuses-photography-award-after-revealing-his-picture-was-ai-generated/ar-AA19Yj8M
For me, working with AI image generators is a co-creation, in which I am the director. It is not about pressing a button—and done it is." The images are "fake memories of a past, that never existed, that no-one photographed," created by putting them through AI image generators between 20 and 40 times, Eldagsen says on his website.

Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 31, 2023, 21:16

Quote from: Year of the Dog on March 31, 2023, 15:29

Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 31, 2023, 12:31

Quote from: cobalt on March 31, 2023, 12:20
midjourney temporarily halts free image trial

https://www.pcworld.com/article/1677533/midjourney-halts-free-trials-after-ai-photos-go-viral.html

Do not understand what the "AI-generated fake images that went viral" have to do with the free trial. It's not like the paid subscription will keep you from generating "fake images" - After all that's the whole point of midjourney.

"There's an expert .. who says that if there is not an indefinite pause on AI development ... 'Literally everyone on Earth will die,'"

Uhm, okay? I still do not understand what that has  to do with Midjourney stopping their free trial?

Humor that's a shortage around here.

Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 31, 2023, 12:31

Quote from: cobalt on March 31, 2023, 12:20
midjourney temporarily halts free image trial

https://www.pcworld.com/article/1677533/midjourney-halts-free-trials-after-ai-photos-go-viral.html

Do not understand what the "AI-generated fake images that went viral" have to do with the free trial. It's not like the paid subscription will keep you from generating "fake images" - After all that's the whole point of midjourney.

"There's an expert .. who says that if there is not an indefinite pause on AI development ... 'Literally everyone on Earth will die,'"

W. Michael Lewis is a composer, producer, arranger, saxophonist and keyboardist who has collaborated with Laurin Rinder on many disco and funk albums, such as **Seven Deadly Sins**, **Le Pamplemousse** and **Tuxedo Junction**. He is also known for composing music for films such as **Shogun Assassin**, **Enter the Ninja** and **Blood Beach**. He is the vice president and director of audio research at Rinlew Production Co., a company that specializes in sound design and music production.

Producer and co-founder
AVI Records
Mar 1976 - Dec 1981 5 years 10 months
Hollywood, CA

Produced Liberace, El Coco, David Benoit, Le Pamplemouse, Rinder & Lewis. Composed the theme and soundtrack for the "In Search Of..." series hosted by Leonard Nimoy.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/w-michael-lewis-35b7222a

AVI Records began in 1968. It was formed by Seymour Heller, Ed Cobb and Ray Harris. Lewis doesn't show as a founder. Rinlew or what name they use, AVI produced an album by studio group El Coco, passing off the product as European.

Vice President/Director AR and co-owner
SnailWorx/S. Cargo Productions, Inc.
Jan 2006 - Present 17 years 3 months
Nashville, TN
International Record Company and Production Company

Who do you think is the real composer and who is the poser?

Did anybody get a 1099 from Wirestock?

Quote from: Her Ugliness on February 13, 2023, 18:37

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on February 13, 2023, 18:33
Who cares any more?

People who still make decenet money from SS? For most contributors here, according to the monthly poll, SS ist still the second best earner.

46 behind AdobeStock and 6 ahead of IStock second best and falling.