It would be nice if there were thumbnails on the sales page so we didn't have to open every link to see what sold.

Yep, that's on our very long list of improvements to make to that page. 

Hi all,

How does one get to the page with that info, I FTP some vectors and don't know where To go to see a status.

I do have a "brand"


My Very Best
KimsCreativeHub.com

Hi Kim, you won't see the files until they're submitted.  As I mentioned in the email, there's quite a long wait for vectors as we've only just started reviewing and we have a massive backlog.  I'll contact you with instructions when your files are submitted.  But feel free to ping me any time if you'd like an update:  [email protected]

Thanks for uploading! 

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on September 16, 2014, 09:55

The ones marked Unsubmitted are really unsubmittable (which probably isn't a word), at least not by the contributor.

I had a few like that and even after some were manually fixed up, a few on the next batch ended up in that state too. I contacted support and Lee manually did whatever he had to do because there was still a bug causing this problem. As I understood it, there was nothing about the files themselves, but something about their upload process. It didn't mean they were rejected.

Thanks Jo Ann!  That's bad news, because I've got a LOT of "unsubmittable" files.  No idea how many :  I have about 2000 files that are "to be cut out" OR "unsubmitted".  But as there is no way (yet) to sort images, I am not going to count them manually ... 

Hi Anyka, as Jo Ann said (thanks Jo Ann!) we have a known bug where images fall out of the review queue and end up with status "Unsubmitted".  We've patched the bug and tomorrow will return all the images that fell out into the review queue.  Apologies for the confusion.  It'll all be back to normal shortly. 

Quote from: Lee@Canva on September 10, 2014, 00:48

ETA:  We purchase a license from our contributors each time we use your images for our own marketing.  If you read the agreements you'll find most (if not all) microstock agencies reserve the right to use your images for their own marketing without any compensation to you, the contributor.

  I'm not saying we're better, but it's all the little things like this that add up to a respectful relationship.

ok then , Mr Torrens,
... then let us say it

...
 u r better 

Too kind! 

Thanks Lorraine, I'm glad I behaved myself then.    We've had a few contributors mention they heard about us from MSG recently. 

Quote from: Lee@Canva on August 29, 2014, 13:52

Quote from: ana on August 27, 2014, 13:55

Lee do you mean for all contributors? i did my first upload 2 weeks ago and my portfolio still empty :-(

in my case, you have any estimated waiting time?

Hi Ana, sorry, no.  That's just for photo (raster) files.  Vectors is still just getting started. 

It's very difficult to give an estimated time given it's a process we haven't done before and the quantity of images keeps growing (we're proceeding in order of contributor signup date, but contributors ahead in the queue keep uploading).  It'll likely take us a few months to get to those who've just signed up recently. 

Quote from: Valo on August 27, 2014, 17:25

You are doing great ! Very happy so far.

Thanks Valo.  We're all working very hard.  It's a huge task. 

that's ridiculous!    that essentially means we'll be waiting forever!  images should be reviewed in the order received

Yes, it is ridiculous. No, you won't be waiting forever. And yes, there's a lot of things that "should" be a certain way. 

Lee do you mean for all contributors? i did my first upload 2 weeks ago and my portfolio still empty :-(

in my case, you have any estimated waiting time?

Hi Ana, sorry, no.  That's just for photo (raster) files.  Vectors is still just getting started. 

It's very difficult to give an estimated time given it's a process we haven't done before and the quantity of images keeps growing (we're proceeding in order of contributor signup date, but contributors ahead in the queue keep uploading).  It'll likely take us a few months to get to those who've just signed up recently. 

You are doing great ! Very happy so far.

Thanks Valo.  We're all working very hard.  It's a huge task. 

Lee, I sent you an e-mail on this but perhaps others would like to know the answer as well ... at least those, like myself, who don't know already. 

Seems there are different types of PNG file selections in Photoshop.  If you go to "Save As", you get one PNG option that results in a rather large file (as high as 50mb on some of mine).  However, if you go to "Save for Web" there are two PNG options: PNG-8 and PNG-24.  PNG-8 seems to be a low rez compression, but PNG-24 is listed as a non-compressed 24 bit file format.  However, it's resulting file size is comparable to a JPG file.  How this can be without compression I don't know.  That's just what some literature I found says.  Anyway, which of these two options would you prefer ... straight PNG or PNG-24?  One I could submit via FTP but the other would have to go as a DVD via snail mail.

Regards,
Russ

Hi Russ, in the context of Canva the biggest difference is that 8-bit PNG files don't support semi-transparent pixels.  If you're isolating photos properly, you really need semi-transparency to have clean edges.  So we suggest you use 24 bit to have the best chances of getting your cutouts approved.

You're also welcome to post a hard drive, DVDs, CDs, flash drive, memory stick or whatever digital media device you have.  We'll copy the files to your account.  We're about to move, so please check our FAQs for the current address:  http://contribute.canva.com/faq

Where does one see the status of submissions on Canva? I only see the tools for buyers and nothing about my images. (The log-in is the same for buyers and contributors, right?)

Hey Kenny, the contributor stuff doesn't appear until your content is submitted after uploading, which for you will happen about 20 minutes from now.  You'll get an email with instructions on where to find them at that time. 

This will be an unpopular opinion, but the more people reporting sales, the more people who will jump on this, the more you are diluting your own sales again.

For Canva it is of course a good thing they get lots of content but for contributors it isn't.

We are complaining about Shutterstock having too many images and too many contributors, yet we can't stop ourselves from sharing sales, attracting more competition again. 

I am with an agency which has netted me a few nice sales, but you will not hear me about it. 

Having that said, congratulations to all with sales, it is good to see there is still potential for new starters. And Canva is a nice difference from the established micro and trad agencies.

Hey Valo, this is so true, and has always been one of the ironies of this market. I guess it's community winning over self-interest, which for those who do it as a hobby is human nature, but for those who rely on the income seems totally backward. One positive for everyone is that it's better that positive earnings reports come from contributors rather than from the agencies themselves.

Lee, perhaps half of my isolations (on white or on black) include clipping paths.  Are these what you are looking for that would go straight through to the collection?  And would it be of any benefit to add clipping paths the to remaining isolations or just leave them as is?

Hi, our systems don't recognise clipping paths at this time.  It's something we considered, but we didn't have much data on how common it is, and after asking around and getting barely any interest, we pushed it towards the bottom of the priority list.

We've had images with clipping paths go through our system, and they don't change anything. Those images go into the cut out ("deep etch") queue. 

One of our core philosophies is to not expect contributors to do anything special just for us.  But if you're interested and have the time, you could use the clipping path to isolate the image and then save it as a transparent PNG.  We have very high standards for cutouts, as our customers often use high resolution designs with cropped images (at 100% magnification), but if you're confident in the quality of your clipping path, and/or can do some manual refining before saving as PNG, we'll happily put them through review.  Feel free to email me samples if you want some feedback before you invest time in it - an offer that's open to everyone.  lee @ canva . com

Please keep in mind that our cut out queue is already well into the hundreds of thousands range.  And it's an expensive process to have the images manually cut out to a high standard.  For this reason, the queue is not moving very fast at all.  Realistically, we're not sure many of the images in that queue will ever go through, unless there's some breakthrough in the technology of creating isolations at a high standard.  And we've tested a LOT of technologies for this.  So please don't expect images that go into this queue to come out in days like a standard review queue.  Don't even expect it to be months. 

Just wanted to publicly thank those here at MSG for making Canva visible to smaller contributors like me (having never heard of them until just a few days ago), and to Canva (Lee and Cliff) for helping me through the contributor process so quickly and easily. Fingers crossed for this venture!

Hey Photominer, you're very welcome.  Thank you for contributing! 

Just FTP a decent batch- smooth and Fast! Plus 35 sales in one week! 

Thanks Goofy.  Our new FTP server seems to be performing well. 

I'm glad you're happy with your early sales.  We're working hard to get the numbers rising for everyone.

35 congrats good start.  news like this is impetus 4me get my act 2gether to ftp my stuff asap.

Excellent!  Looking forward to it. 

How can i see the name of the artist on the artwork or the portfolio of each artist?

Hi Ana, if you hover of the images in the search results, you'll see an "i" icon. Click that to reveal the metadata, including the artist.  If you click the artist name, you'll see their portfolio in your search results (pushing the current results up). If you click the image ID at the bottom it'll take you to the image detail page, from where you can click through to see that contributor's portfolio at full page width. 

Otherwise, if you know the artist name, just put it after the domain name like this:  https://www.canva.com/leetorrens

yesterday i upload some vectors but today i try to conect to the ftp and i get this message: I/O Error: Connection failed read timed out.   

Ana, I think I address this with you by email, but for the benefit of everyone else:  we've recently seen a 7-fold increase in our quantity of submissions and our FTP server couldn't cope.  We upgraded it to a bigger machine yesterday and it's proving stable so far. 

Quote from: Mumut Greenstripe on August 12, 2014, 21:11

Tried to send files via FTP (EPS + PNG), but the uploaded files are just vanished from the server, nothing to show there or in my porto page, is this normal? Also what size do you require for the PNGs?

Yes Mumut, the vanishing files are normal.  They are immediately transfered after uploading.  My first 1000 files appeared after 3 days on my account page.  My second big batch is now visible as "unsubmitted" (just the Canva file numbers, not the thumbnails).  I'm now waiting for them to appear before uploading the next batch.  Can't upload right now, because I forgot which was my last uploaded series, so as long as I can't actually SEE the files in my account, I'm stuck 

Thanks Anyka! That's accurate.  Our process transfers the files off the FTP server as soon as the upload is complete. 

I'm sorry you're stuck.  Our ingestion machine is also overloaded, so it's taking about 24 hours for the thumbnails to appear. We're upgrading that machine next. 

Mr Lee@Canva, reading the comments by  invitees
i suppose only  FTP the only way 2 upload.  will i be able to upload by html?

Hi Etudiante, yes, at the moment FTP is our only online upload method. You can post a CD/DVD or hard drive if you like.  A HTML upload form is on the plans for next year.  Email me directly ( lee @ canva.com ) if you'd like to discuss other alternatives.

ok, maybe I do not see it yet because I have not even uploaded my artwork.

Question to Canva/Lee... if i upload a vector background, how much time it take to review my artwork... in the background there would be nothing to cut or separated into parts because it is a vector background ... or i would have to upload it to the web as a raster image not a vector?

Hi Ana, as Goofy says, you need to switch to your contributor brand to see the files and earnings pages.  Detailed instructions are here:  http://contribute.canva.com/faq/how-do-i-view-my-royalty-earnings/

But you won't see the brand switcher until your files are submitted.

Hi Lee,
Apologies if this has already been explained, or if I was supposed to figure it out for myself but didn't:
-If I want to submit vectors, do I FTP just the eps files? If so, how do I get you the metadata? Do you accept only eps8, or can I submit eps10 or .ai files with effects such as drop shadows? Any restrictions on things like open paths and unfilled paths?
-On my 3D rendered images, it's easy for me to turn off shadows and render a perfectly isolated PNG of an object. Is that what you are looking for? Can you read metadata from the PNG file? Do you have a file size limitation on raster images? What is the preferred resolution, e.g. is 6000x6000 too big for your designs?

I really like Canva. I had some serious fun composing Kindle book covers. They turned out pretty good really. And while more people are learning Photoshop and Illustrator and may not need Canva, it seems like mobile users alone will be a huge market for you. Canva seems like a natural for tablet and phablet users.

Hey Michael, no worries.

Yes, you can upload just the EPS files.  If they have a same-filename JPG preview, we'll extract the metadata from that. Otherwise, we extract metadata from pair-less EPS10 files.  We accept EPS8, EPS10 or SVG, but we do not accept AI at this time. 

The usual restrictions such as no open paths apply.

If you can re-render to PNG with transparent background, those images will go straight into the library after review.  Anything with a plain white background, or any solid colour, goes into the 'cutout queue' which is currently super long and not going very fast.  So sending us a transparent PNG is to your advantage.

We don't extract metadata from PNGs at this time, but you can upload a same-filename JPG preview with PNG like you would for EPS and we'll extract the metadata from that. 

Maximum filesize is 50MB.  We don't have a set maximum size in pixels. 

I'm glad you like Canva.  It meets different needs to the Adobe products but we're finding a lot of people use both.  And yes, we think it will be a natural fit for tablets too. 

Thanks!