There isn't an Other at the highest levels, and only random categories have them at the 2nd level. Part of the problem. No consistency.

See, totally confusing. They need to just get rid of them.

I started uploading to Pond 5 and have about 170 images on line to test the waters. Has anyone had much lucky selling photos through them ?

I have 4,288 illustrations on there as of today. I've made about $100 (much more than I would have made before they acquired Pixmac). Just pennies for only 1.5 years. But the submission process is practically effortless and the commissions are decent. So I keep uploading.

As an illustrator, I have seen a shift from mostly subscription sales to mostly credit sales, with more money per image sold. So it has been good for me in that regard. 

I just joined this site and all I see is doom and gloom. I'm a newbie photographer/vector artist and I think selling microstock is a great source of passive income. I would never do it full-time, but as a part time thing, it's pretty great....

Unfortunately, it is easier to destroy (complain) than it is to build (inspire). I too strive for optimism. My family depends on me for income. MS is becoming a bigger slice of that income. So I must be optimistic and open to opportunity or we'll lose our house and starve.

Peace.

SS must have hired a batch of reviewers that just want to be paid for all their rejections (easier to do than to accept).

And just to add to the jollity of it all, I'm getting Illustratve Editorial images rejected for
Altered Editorial -- Major alterations to editorial content such as adding or removing objects from a scene are prohibited. Alterations that go beyond traditional photographic techniques (dodging/burning, cropping, color adjustments, etc.) are unacceptable.
when I have done NOTHING.
Nothing added, nothing taken away.
But how can I prove this?
Sigh........

Yeah, I think they are taking ANYONE for reviewers. Inconsistent and crappy. Then they keep changing options for Reviewer Notes. Annoying! 

I'm going back and forth with them now on "poor rasterization." I asked them to show me where things are poorly rasterized. It's becoming clear that the inspector opens the file at 100% (or more likely 200%), sees whatever's in the middle of the illustration, doesn't understand what it is because he/she never looks at the whole image, sees overlapping vector shapes and misinterprets where the shapes meet as "noise" or something. But most of all I think the new auditing system is pressuring them to make rejections, so they just press the most likely reason they can think of. Once in a great while the reason is valid (for example, I forgot to click the "illustration" button), but the great majority of the time the rejection is bogus.

Hopefully with Adobe Stock SS will take a step back and rethink this process.

Since Adobe stepped into fotolia things seems to improve a lot. Hope the sales are going the same way. Thanks for the good work.

I agree. But I hate the company for trying to turn us into software rental sharecroppers with the CC scheme, but I'm making much more per sale. Most of them have been non-subscription.

Quote from: marthamarks on June 07, 2015, 01:15

Quote from: CaptureLightUK on June 07, 2015, 01:03

I do realise it, that's why I said I'll take the advice on board in two separate posts.
What's your point?

I think he means that you come across as a bit cocky and glib, especially for somebody just getting started.

I guess I'll just have to watch what I type and keep my newbie comments to myself then.

The internet is the worst and best place for advice. Worst in that anonymity removes natural inclinations towards politeness and best in that you can find information once reserved for rulers and wealthy individuals. If you look at the constructive feedback and compare it to the non-constructive feedback, you'll find that the constructive feedback generally outweighs the non-constructive. However, as human beings, mistreatment or abuse turns on our instincts to flee. So it is with internet forums.

Keep moving forward and learn from your mistakes�and the mistakes of others. Advice is generally inferior to personal experience.

Peace.

I am happy with the growth of income for me as an illustrator since 2010. My portfolio is at 4000+ and I've been cranking out 60-100 submissions per week since March 2014 (a grueling, but rewarding endeavor). I hope these tips from my experience help. Sorry I cannot share my portfolio on the forum. I stay anonymous here because some agencies have been known to retaliate against us when we criticize them and I really need the money they pay me  .

1. Set clear, simple goals for the year
Example: Submit 10 new pictures to each agency every week.

2. Include general categories to focus on for each month. Regularly write down ideas for the images you want to make (you'd be surprised how quick you'll forget a good idea!).
Example: June=People, August=Health, September=Holidays, etc.
I found these articles useful for planning:
http://blog.123rf.com/infographic-33-trendiest-keywords-by-month/
http://www.shutterstock.com/trends

3. Do all of these things with the idea that you should constantly work on nailing down a style and niche.
Example: I personally focus on cartoons of non-white people and avoid perfect symmetry, lines and perspective (not encouraged, but I don't care because it's fun and some buyers really prefer the "hand drawn" look).

Peace

I thought this program was for referring new buyers as well as contributors. 

same image numbers as Yaymicro.........

edit:  Yaymicro had added 4 more API to unselect, since last time I checked.  Stockmaxx was one of them.

That Yaymicro site is a real loser for me. No wonder. Thanks Ibarn. I feel bad now that I emailed stockmaxx and told them to prove I gave them approval to resell my work. I better go uncheck that box!

Don`t know how i found this site

What do you think. Looks ok but very boring.
It`s nothing special i can see.

..stocktal: "they changed the world of microstock" 

I see they acquired my entire portfolio and I never knew about it. *. Theif.

Hi,
I have same problem with uploading zip (eps+jpg) by FTP. Metadata are lost. I will try to upload by website now.

Yes, website upload is the only workaround. No response from support for months for me.