MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Lina

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 8
1
Canva / Canva acquired Affinity
« on: March 26, 2024, 10:42 »
I don't know what to think about it and I am not Canva contributor, just sharing the news. I am happy that Adobe will get more competition, I think it will help them become less arrogant. On the other hand, I am unhappy because greedy agencies have to put their claws on last affordable software and basically everything they see. We'll see how it all develops.

https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/affinity/

2
Saw today that there are just approx. 55k PSD (Photoshop) templates on Adobe Stock. So the competition seems still to be low here.
I'm currently thinking about creating some product templates by generating AI objects and then create PSD collages within Photoshop, which you could then easily edit.

Since I would be spending a lot more time than just submitting AI images (which are already oversaturated), is it worth the time investment?
Has anyone tried out whether templates are sold in significant amounts?
As far as I know, template contributors are invitation-only and that's why competition is low. Incredibly unfair IMO.

3
Adobe Stock / Re: what comes after "1 year ago"?
« on: March 05, 2024, 05:03 »
I see something is changing on the website. Payout button is on left side now on my computer, and it looks weird on the phone, so maybe "a 1 year ago" is a bug while more exciting news are coming to the site?

4
Canva / Re: Canva Tax Forms
« on: December 03, 2023, 04:13 »
This doesn't sound right at all.  US witholding tax is 10% not 5% and only applies to a company registered and operating in the US and making distributions to residents abroad.

US witholding tax is max. 30% not 10%. It depends on agreement USA has with contributor's country.

5
Thank you so much, @Annie2022 . I will take a look, that sounds like there is still some hope. :)

6
Hi Lina!

Yes, I stopped using their paid ads too. Mainly because I found that I was attracting too many of the wrong buyers. I was selling to the sellers (product mockups for party suppliers, mainly) but the ads were drawing in the general public, some of whom were angry and upset when they didn't read my listings properly and accidently bought my photos instead of actual party supplies.

Instead, I used eRank, who give you all the keywords, descriptions and analysis that you need. Also, instead of paying for Etsy ads, I decided to invest a small amount each month into a paid eRank account, that gave you a huge amount of information about the whole market and pricing, competition, etc.

https://erank.com/


With quite of bit of research, thanks to eRank, I was able to increase my revenue on Etsy up to $300 USD a month, after about 6 months last year.


However, this year, I had a lot of problems, mainly because of harassing messages from someone who was not a genuine buyer. Its really easy for people to set up bogus accounts there. Also, some of my competition started to get into price cutting, which started to bring down the market price from $5 to $1 per jpeg/png photo**. That, plus constantly having to be at the beck and call of buyers, was started to stress me out too much, so I decided it just wasn't worth my time anymore.

However, for someone who doesn't have my problems, I believe there is reasonable money to be made with the right amount of research and finding gaps in the market there.

All the best,
Annie


** I now sell them mainly on Adobe where I get up to 99c for them. Not as many, but it's hassle-free.  :)

Thank you very much for these advice, Annie! :) Especially for eRank, I am using free version, but wasn't sure is it worth to pay for it or not. Maybe I will give Etsy one more chance with eRank research, I'll see.

And yeah, I somehow feel it as a annoying mess and I believe AI and Canva changed many things there too, so people who don't have much knowledge can compete in many areas with millions of images, mockups, templates and consequently lower the prices. Probably it wasn't like that just couple years ago.

So yes, I definitely agree, as much as I don't like stock sites for many reasons, at least they are hassle-free and more in order in terms of copyright infringements etc.

7
I tried to sell something but I wasn't persistent. Only time I had many visits was when I was paying for Etsy ads which are paid per click and cost me 3-4 times more than I earned. Otherwise, no views, no visits, nothing. So I got demotivated soon and basically gave up.
Maybe it works if someone is consistently uploading, knows how to write everything so it's good for SEO, promotes successfully on social media etc.

8
Adobe Stock / Re: Adobe Stock 2023 contributor bonus program ??
« on: November 13, 2023, 23:20 »
Would love to know, my code for Photoshop ran out. Now working with PS Elements 22. usable, but I miss the shiny new ai tools.

And no, I am too stingy, I pay for lightroom every month, don't want to add more.

Doesn't your LR monthly fee also include PS?

No, lr is 10 euros, ps costs another 23 euros a month :(

PS elements is 90 euros and usually works for 2-3 years then it is "no longer compatible" with the latest ios update.

I hope one day I earn enough to get the entire photoshop suite every year.
I think you should check it again. Photography plan for 10 per month includes both LR and PS.

9
Adobe Stock / Re: recent top sellers list?
« on: November 13, 2023, 05:13 »
Ditto to copycats 😞

Where is an option to sort by featured?

Here, on buyer's side (https://stock.adobe.com/):

10
Adobe Stock / Re: recent top sellers list?
« on: November 11, 2023, 14:30 »
Thank you Mat for clarifying it. Is there a way to opt out of being featured on this list? If moderators or customers dont see it, I would rather stay humble.

It would be nice if there would be a badge that Adobe can attach to a profile. It would speak of quality of images and might give customers more confidence to download them?

Yeah, I was there few times too and although it was nice to see my name, I was just afraid copycats will have a feast. ;D I was hoping I will be higher in search when "Sort by featured" is chosen on buyer's side, but it wasn't the case. Badge is really great idea. :)

11
That's what Pinterest is for so just go for it. :) There is space where you can place your link when you create new pin. I believe you have to do some special tag only if you have affiliate link.

Anyway, don't expect too much, people are looking but rarely click on these links on Pinterest, at.least in my case.

12
Canva / Re: Canva July sales are in, and it's not good
« on: September 18, 2023, 13:30 »
First time I went to read Canva's license and wow, that Pro license is so unfair to contributors, no wonder sales are crashing: "As a Pro subscriber, you will simply be issued with a new One Design Use License for the second, third and fourth designs (and so on). You do not need to pay for these individual licenses, they are included in your subscription. Free users need to pay for a new license for each subsequent design."

Plus, they allow selling on POD and similar, buyers obviously need just slap text over image and that's their "new" design: "All of our photos, fonts and graphics can be used to create designs for printing on products for sale (like t-shirts, mugs, books and other merchandise). Please note, you cant sell standalone prints of Canva content, such as a printout of a stock photo (without any other design elements) on a t-shirt."

I'm not on Canva (luckily), I was just curious because some discussion from people who are heavily using Canva content for reselling on various designs. Sometimes is hard to read and I was convinced it is not allowed but I was wrong, obviously.

13
And you are raising CC software prices which were already high, that's really not nice Adobe.  :-\

"Starting November 2023, Adobe plans for users to be able to purchase additional Generative Credits through a new subscription plan, starting at $4.99/month for 100 Credits." So will we get paid whenever someone uses our image and know which one is it, like we are paid for normal, paid images? It should be similar, why not? I like bonus I got, but I don't like to be paid in bulk, not knowing how many of my images were used and at which price.

All info is from Adobe blog https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2023/09/13/ai-creative-cloud-release-pricing-update?sdid=VG52KCB7&mv=social&mv2=paid-owned&fbclid=IwAR0W4AIxqg-zKvR8XNEQT3r80dW5NGWwxFZgn4DnAjUARChtw_3OLRibYEI.

15
I realize it's a bit childish of me, but I am so angry to see any pretense at reviewing standards tossed aside in the frenzy of AI madness. I defy anyone to convince me that a non-AI image like this could ever get approved without property releases for the on-screen content. I've had to provide releases for use of my own images (on walls and screens) so many times...

Me too, I don't understand why rules suddenly don't apply for AI images.

16
Off Topic / Re: This should settle some different opinions
« on: July 27, 2023, 18:12 »
Deleted.

17
According to some reports, Adobe staff worried they are killing jobs of their own customers with AI:

https://www-benzinga-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.benzinga.com/amp/content/33368787

Here is the original articles with more details.
https://www.businessinsider.com/adobe-ai-firefly-kill-graphic-designer-jobs-cut-seat-sales-2023-7?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=business-sf&utm_source=headtopics&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=2023-07-25


Some key notes:

"Adobe often sells cloud software subscriptions based on the number of seats, or licenses (...). A company with, say, 5 graphic designers in-house would buy five licenses. So if designers are getting laid off, demand for licenses might fall"

.... how some constributors still think AI was a good thing and they will still have a job in 10 years where all they do is enter prompts when not even the customers - the designers - are safe, is beyond me.

That article is behind paywall. I think that people who did photo-manipulations are already affected most. Other designers - I don't know, maybe it can replace some simple work but not everything, AI would explode if it heard some of my clients requests. :) In my opinion, Canva destroyed designers much more than AI ever could.

18
According to some reports, Adobe staff worried they are killing jobs of their own customers with AI:

https://www-benzinga-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.benzinga.com/amp/content/33368787

19
(c) How can I ensure that the income generated by the stolen images goes to the original authors? Or alternatively, the income from such accounts could be donated to a good cause.
Buahahaha. Sorry, I couldn't help it. :D You know that agencies keep that money for themselves, right?
That's perfectly fine - I didn't feel any different when I wrote the question.

But nevertheless, I will ask.

And then we'll see if we can find out the name of the operator through a legal enquiry, so that we can do some digging.
And yes, I'm fully aware that there's not much chance of success - but if you don't poke a little at the wasps' nest, nothing will change.

Yes, you don't have much chance of success, but I like your attitude. :)

20
(c) How can I ensure that the income generated by the stolen images goes to the original authors? Or alternatively, the income from such accounts could be donated to a good cause.

Buahahaha. Sorry, I couldn't help it. :D You know that agencies keep that money for themselves, right?

21
I just started watching, but it seems interesting so far:

"The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee holds a hearing on artificial intelligence and intellectual property on Wednesday.
Witnesses testifying include Jeffrey Harleston, general counsel and executive VP of business and legal affairs at Universal Music Group; Karla Ortiz, concept artist and illustrator; Matthew Sag, professor of artificial intelligence at Emory University School of Law; Dana Rao, executive VP and general counsel at Adobe Inc., and Ben Brooks, head of public policy at Stability AI."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCJun7gkbA

22
Canva has already commodified our work beyond anything dreamed of a few years ago. I make as many sales in a MONTH there as I have over nearly two decades across the other agencies. And the earnings from Canva barely touch SS at its peak now (after Canva cut our paymnets per dl by 10X+).

This had already devalued our work to a devastating degree. AI is the nail in coffin. The industry will not exist in its current form in five years time.

Customers can use AI generators or stock images inside their Apps as part of their subscriptions. No need for outside agencies at all. We get hundredths of a cent whenever an image is used for training or dropped into a design. And the AI training payments will be a one off meaning we effectively lose control of our portfolios for a few dollars.

Same thing actors have shut down Hollywood over now, but we are too fragmented to do the same. We should be the ones profiting from AI. We have the shovels to sell in the goldrush. Shame.

It makes me so sad. Everyone could benefit from these high volume sales from Canva or licensing for AI, but noooo, greedy sites had to lower prices and/or keep most of profit for theirselves. Well, I don't know who will feed AI when all photographers, writers etc. lose motivation to do anything. I really hope some laws and rules will appear before that happens.

23
You are right, just the title is editorial.

But that kind of title, in addition to iphone, should have got it deleted.

Yes, definitely. :/

24
this is an illustrative editorial iphone mock up made with ai

https://stock.adobe.com/de/images/cairo-egypt-february-8-2021-mockup-of-an-iphone-13-with-a-white-screen-mockup-of-an-iphone-13-with-a-blank-screen-generative-ai/557274891?prev_url=detail

Is this allowed?

I didnt know we could do illustrative editorial with aiit seems counterintuitive.

Other than title, it isn't marked anywhere as illustrative editorial. Editorial images have below image: "Restriction: Editorial use only". But yeah, it is weird that copyrighted images suddenly are not a problem with AI, while photos review is much more strict.

25
Nope, copyright is yours. You sell license so someone can use your photo.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 8

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors