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Messages - gameover
101
« on: October 01, 2022, 14:45 »
again, unsupported assumptions tending towards conspiracy theories- that's not how machine learning operates,
Then please enlighten us how it does work.
and your claim DALL-E copies other images is specifically denied by open-ai. you may choose not to believe them, but that doesn't justify your claiming to know how the image is created.
I am not claiming the Ai copies any specific image. I claim that the AI creates images on a variety of existing images and I claim that the AI has to store what it learned somewhere. We store information in our brain, computers typically use databases. Without a database or some other data storage the AI can learn nothing. So the question remains what exactly is stored in this data storage, what does the AI actually learn? Clearly it does not learn what a naval battle is. It only learns how images with that description or that keyword look like and it has to store this information somewhere. So it has to store for hundreds of thousands keywords how the images with those keywords look like. How else would it be able to create images when the user enters those keywords?
You seem to think that this is some kind of magic. I believe it is technology.
Speaking of database is quite reductive. Never heard of neural networks or deep learning? The images are not "stolen" but used to form concepts, as you do looking around, stimulating your brain through your eyes. Also if you are not a scientist there are tons of information online to begin to have a better idea of the machine learning process.
104
« on: September 16, 2022, 05:27 »
Nobody's killing anything. Results are out there for everyone to see and those that are cherry picked are mildly impressive. Technology displacement will make some jobs redundant eventually and will create new ones, like it did many times before. So please stop with this doom and gloom clickbait nonsense
I completely agree. I can add that I'm working with AI for almost a month now with great fun:it is another tool, multifaceted and there is a lot to learn to master and to build your own style. I'm also lucky to have developed software for so many years and this helps to understand how to move to get results. AI is continuously learning and in one year I expect the developments will be huge. Better to be ready 
105
« on: July 09, 2022, 02:55 »
Not uploading any more images. All I am getting is $0.05 sales or less. If there are no decent sales like I once had soon I will close acct.
Maybe I've found a more terrorist defense. I have begun to 'freeze' some images I don't want to give away for nothing deleting all the keywords except one. Is a very easy thing to do with the image manager, as you can quick delete with one mouse click the keywords of a big bunch of images together and then upload a single one keywords to all. They insist a lot to put 45-50 keywords to make the image discoverable. You can always upload your keywords again if the situation changes.
106
« on: July 09, 2022, 02:36 »
I am still trying to understand what is the advantage over using Photoshelter or Photodeck?
Or Smugmug?
I think personally I would prefer a place that is officially an agency, lets me set my own prices and upload whatever I want, but does all the billing under their own system with the customer, so I just get my monthly summed royalty.
I was thinking of maybe using my pond5 exclusive account for a specialized theme for photos and videos. But I just learned that only video is treated exclusively.
Most important I need a defined subject with at least 1000 files.
And if they are good enough, they should probably go to higher end agencies, like stocksy.
But I will follow your project with interest.
The advantage of a shop would be if it can be integrated into my own website, so that longterm people bookmark my site without being dependent on an agency.
Shopify seems to have an SEO advantage with Google so I'm giving it a try to see what happens. Like with any personal website, success lies in getting your own traffic and having something unique buyers want.
Photoshelter - I just dropped them after having a website for over ten years. I no longer have any confidence in their longevity. Long time ago they tried to launch an agency and abandoned it. Then they did a much advertised platform update (named Beam?) which seemed half baked. Then they shifted their business away from photographers/artists to chasing corporate clients with digital asset management. Then they went back to chasing photographers/artists so I'm not sure if DAM is still a core part of their business. Then a few years ago they made a highly promoted announcement of massive platform updates. During this time my sales went from okay to nothing. Their platform isn't overly customizable and the user interface is a cobbled together bandaged mishmash of UI designs from different time periods. Now they seem to only spend time on writing posts on their blog which I really dont care at all about. They just seem to be struggling to find their way as a business but that's only my perception.
Photodeck - My main website is with them and overall I'm happy. It's a small UK based company so there's always a concern with them deciding to exit the business. However, they post somewhat regular updates about new functionality they've added. Platform is highly customizable, SEO capabilities are reasonably good and I get decent traffic and regular sales. Performance is very fast and the user interface is well organized and intuitive but probably leaning a little more toward techie than the bubbly friendly UI of Shopify. The licensing options include prints, RF and RM. I totally customized the RM configuration to meet my needs. I get a mix of higher dollar RM licensing sales and print sales. They also have a handful of print integration partners for automated fulfillment. Overall a very nice website platform for artists who are a bit more into customizing.
Shopify - Just setting up my site now. I want a platform I dont need to worry about spending a ton of time on and then them going out of business. And I want more traffic and sales. My Photodeck site gets decent traffic but I seemed to have hit an SEO wall where I'm not able to increase traffic any further. As a test I did a bunch of Google searches to see which art websites showed up toward the front. After getting past the big sites, usually next up were independent artists with Shopify websites. The Shopify user interface is very slick and intuitive with a ton of apps you can add for SEO, customer live chat, stock licensing, and even fully automated POD fulfillment such as through Printful. With Printful, Printify and other POD apps, customers can place orders and you dont need to do anything. The Shopify order automatically goes to Printful and they print and ship.
Smgmug - Tried it for a while and didn't like the platform and had zero sales.
Thank you very much for sharing your quite valuable experience! I was impressed by the Shopify fast loading pages and a fast website is now absolutely important for traffic and sales.
107
« on: July 08, 2022, 16:00 »
In another words, you opted out 1st April but THEY opted you in.
She doesn't mention ever opting out, unless I am misunderstanding something here?
I opted out the Novel use and they told me that I should have to opt out distributor,ha, ha. Since I am so many years in distributor without problem, I thought the Novel (the new use) was the cause of the few cents sales. The real problem is they do not inform you (on purpose?) what exactly do you opt in/out
108
« on: July 07, 2022, 14:27 »
I am still trying to understand what is the advantage over using Photoshelter or Photodeck?
Or Smugmug?
I think personally I would prefer a place that is officially an agency, lets me set my own prices and upload whatever I want, but does all the billing under their own system with the customer, so I just get my monthly summed royalty.
I was thinking of maybe using my pond5 exclusive account for a specialized theme for photos and videos. But I just learned that only video is treated exclusively.
Most important I need a defined subject with at least 1000 files.
And if they are good enough, they should probably go to higher end agencies, like stocksy.
But I will follow your project with interest.
The advantage of a shop would be if it can be integrated into my own website, so that longterm people bookmark my site without being dependent on an agency.
I can only say that years ago I discarded these websites, because there were not enough automatism to upload quickly many images at once and populate the pages accordingly. You have a lot of hard boring work to do without the time to concentrate on what you want to do. The difference using Pixify is striking.
109
« on: July 07, 2022, 08:44 »
If you've opted out, report it to Alamy. I did and ended up getting 100% commission. There was a fault (which has been corrected) but you'll need to check and get in touch with them
Congrats  - good for you but what did you say, and who did you email to?
I reported my 0.01 sales and all I got back the usual "long lead times" BS. And yes I've opted out both NU and distribution.
I knew I'd opted out of Distribution sales in China back in April this year and that I'd opted out of novel use scheme back in 2013. That's all I told them and that I'd already complained about receiving 100 of these sales at the end of last year. I was told that there had been an error (now corrected) and that they'd refund 100% commission. That was it.
Thank you, HalfFull for posting this.
Basically, my situation was the same - opted out distribution April this year, been out of NU for many years. Though my ultra-low net sales were measured in tens, did not reach 100, but that shouldn't be the issue.
All I was told was the "long lead times" BS:
"These images were downloaded and used before you opted out of distribution in April this year. Many of our distributors have long lead times and the sale has only just been reported to us. We've instructed the distributor that the image is now no longer available for licensing"
Anybody else contacted Alamy about the 0.01 net sales? What kind of respose did you get?
I contacted Alamy about the 0.01 sales and you'll find their answer and my comments on my last blog post "De profundis" https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/07/07/de-profundis/ Enjoy 
110
« on: July 07, 2022, 02:58 »
I need a place that automatically handles all the International VAT issues and tax requirements for Germany.
The EU to EU VAT taxes for digital goods are quite a nightmare. The good news is that Shopify handles automatically them to consumers already in the basic plan. For B2B VAT reverse charge the EU company has to login for the validation. I''ll write a post about the handling of VAT taxes on my blog. If prices on most agencies keep dropping then having our own stores, or at least one store about a specialized subject we love, is a good add on.
This is my idea, I make a bet on
111
« on: July 06, 2022, 09:02 »
112
« on: July 05, 2022, 11:24 »
I posted the same thing in the Alamy forum.
Reply from Alamy:
" Hi All,
To update on the above, the calculations should include distribution sales.
We're working on this our end, to ensure that this is correct for all accounts and that no-one is out of pocket.
Thanks,
Alamy "
Maybe they should have told that the person answering my first email...
But I am relieved that it is just an error and not a policy...
Good news! Happy for you 
113
« on: July 05, 2022, 09:51 »
If you've opted out, report it to Alamy. I did and ended up getting 100% commission. There was a fault (which has been corrected) but you'll need to check and get in touch with them
Thank you for the tip! I've sent an email to Alamy just now. If it is a fault okay, it could happen... once 
114
« on: July 05, 2022, 06:55 »
115
« on: June 30, 2022, 03:10 »
Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.
With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.
Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.
Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.
Pete, I just wanted to give you more feedback on my husband's Shopify store: yesterday he looked at his stats there and he is now in the top 18% of sellers. Yes, he has a good product with high prices, but he hasn't done anything with his shop for months now. No new listings, no promoting on social media groups, no monthly newsletter, nothing (he's been too busy with his work), and his traffic and sales are going up. Just new buyers out of nowhere. So that is a good indication of how well their search performs, I guess.
That is very interesting, thanks for sharing I just opened (yesterday!) a stock image shop on Shopify with Pixify beta and it is incredible easy to manage! More to come, I'm writing a post about.
116
« on: June 04, 2022, 03:16 »
Hi, since yesterday I keep selling by Adobe the same image. At the moment there are 26 sales. Happy but quite unusual.
Stop at 126
Time for new trip to the deli store! Don't forget a camera
in schedule for next Thursday 
117
« on: June 03, 2022, 14:12 »
Hi, since yesterday I keep selling by Adobe the same image. At the moment there are 26 sales. Happy but quite unusual.
Stop at 126
118
« on: May 26, 2022, 02:51 »
Looks like it's not gameover, but gamecontinue ;=)
These DL's are all subs, right? 36 - 99 cents range? (If I am asking too much, please ignore)
yes, but once more than 36-99 range
119
« on: May 25, 2022, 12:42 »
120
« on: May 25, 2022, 10:30 »
121
« on: May 16, 2022, 14:45 »
122
« on: May 16, 2022, 12:14 »
...58 
123
« on: May 16, 2022, 03:14 »
Ah, my sales keep going, now are 48 ! Quite unusual and this is not among my best ones.
That is quite extraordinary. Continuing sales are not so strange - Adobe search engine ranks higher images that sell, specially recent sales - but initial 26 in a day is very intriguing
Images that are best from photography perspective are not necessarily highest sellers. This is my image with highest # of downloads on AS - 131
Also nothing special and there are better images of this place, but for some reason this one picked up. If you search for "santa catalina arch antigua guatemala" there will be 5 pages of results, but this one is second on first page & getting couple of downloads every week which keeps it high on the list
Interesting, thank you! Great image
124
« on: May 15, 2022, 10:56 »
Frankly I do not understand why are you submitting to WireStock.
Some months ago I gave it a try, but
- you cannot delete any of your images: it is not a button for that, you can ask and they make difficulties to do it, I closed immediately my account telling them to remember that the copyright is mine.
_ There is not your name on your image, only WireStock (on Alamy, -> Photographer: WireStock). I don't tell you any more else...
- It is not true you can have more visibility uploading with them. WireStock has.
125
« on: May 15, 2022, 03:03 »
take a look at the curated asset collections seen at the bottom of stock.adobe.com. If you image is featured there, it could explain the sudden jump in sales.
-Mat Hayward
Image was not there, but I enjoyed looking at that collection; some really nice images there. This is my favorite, not so easy to produce
splendid image, nice to share! it is a pity not to know who the author is, it is written only wirestock there... Congrats, it is difficult to sell with Dreamstime. Ah, my sales keep going, now are 48 ! Quite unusual and this is not among my best ones.
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