QC Failed on first submission. Trying to upload again, but can't.

[jacquesco07]

Hello,

 

I'm new here and just uploaded my first batch of photos. 1 of the photos failed QC. I'm trying to upload again, but it says I can't because I failed QC. Do I have to delete the photos from the image manager first, then upload? If so, how do I do that? No delete button is showing up and I can't even select any of the photos. Thanks!

[noelbennett]

There is normally a 10 day period after you first fail QC during which you cannot uupload new images. You cannot delete the failed batch.

 

 

[NYCat]

Well that is harsh. I don't think that was true when I started.

 

Paulette

[Brian Yarvin]

Paulette, It certainly is harsh, but I've known so many people - sometimes good friends that I thought knew better - who've tried to start with photos that didn't even meet the basic standards and kept blaming Alamy for their failures that QC has to do something to protect itself.

 

My own opinion is that the standards aren't high enough. The only chance we have of re-establishing professional level fees and respect for our work is to increase our own professionalism and that means a better product from us, the contributors.

[NYCat]

I get your point. I made a lot of mistakes at first and I think Alamy was my teacher.

 

Paulette

[M.Chapman]

1 hour ago, Brian Yarvin said:

My own opinion is that the standards aren't high enough. The only chance we have of re-establishing professional level fees and respect for our work is to increase our own professionalism and that means a better product from us, the contributors.

+1 It's not just image quality either, it's the quality of captions and tagging that merits attention too. IMHO it's crazy to focus all QC's efforts on image quality when the ability of the contributor to keyword and caption are never even checked. As a result Alamy is hosting millions of images that will never ever sell.

 

Mark

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, NYCat said:

I get your point. I made a lot of mistakes at first and I think Alamy was my teacher.

 

Paulette

 

Hi Paulette, I think the same as you as I had a lot of fails but Alamy kept accepting my submissions with only a short lock out between some.  I have looked up my record from the beginning in the AIM page and am quite sad at my lack of knowledge, but very pleased that Alamy persevered with me at that time.  Also don't forget back in 2008 the digital cameras we were using in a lot of cases did not produce images up to Alamy's standard of 48 Mb and we often had to uprez the submitted images. Which often, as far as I remember, would fail as SoLD due to the uprez.

 

My record below.  (please don't laugh)

 

Date                 Pass/Fail

3/11/08                 F

6/11/08                 P

27/11/08               F

27/11/08               F

28/11/08              F

21/12/08              F

23/12/08             F

1/01/09                P

6/01/09               F

7/01/09               F

12/01/09             F

13/01/09             P

16/01/09             P

2/02/09              F

10/02/09            P

12/02/09            F

13/02/09            F

16/02/09            P

17/02/09            F

18/02/09           P

18/02/09           P

22/02/09          F

23/02/09          P

 

After the 23rd things started to get better with more passes and less fails.

 

Today I am surprised that Alamy did not ban me from submitting images forever after that record.

 

Allan

 

 

[Joseph Clemson]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

Well that is harsh. I don't think that was true when I started.

 

Paulette

 

I don't think it is harsh in any way at  all. The ability to quickly resubmit initial submissions to QC could just generate a 'chuck everything at it and see what sticks' attitude. Having to wait a while before submission gives the candidate the chance to examine the failed image and to understand the reason for failure and, in the process, to learn before correcting (or writing off the failure and trying something different) and then resubmitting. 

 

It's the same thinking which underlies the main Alamy QC process. Contributors are 100% responsible for the quality control of their submissions. If a batch fails then the contributor may be suspended from contributing for a period. This is not to punish them, but to encourage them to take the time to understand the failure and to address whichever part of their workflow has caused the failure. I believe that in the long run Alamy approach to QC produces better photographers and contributors than the 100% inspection regimes of microstock agencies which too often results in an 'us v them' mentality, where the aim becomes to submit everything repeatedly until it gets passed one way or another.

[Tatiana]

2 hours ago, Joseph Clemson said:

I don't think it is harsh in any way at  all. The ability to quickly resubmit initial submissions to QC could just generate a 'chuck everything at it and see what sticks' attitude. Having to wait a while before submission gives the candidate the chance to examine the failed image and to understand the reason for failure and, in the process, to learn before correcting (or writing off the failure and trying something different) and then resubmitting. 

But how long is sufficient?
I wait 2 weeks or more for the photo to be checked, and then another 10 days I am not allowed to ship.
In addition to technical quality, the content of the photo is also important.

[Betty LaRue]

9 minutes ago, Tatiana said:

But how long is sufficient?
I wait 2 weeks or more for the photo to be checked, and then another 10 days I am not allowed to ship.
In addition to technical quality, the content of the photo is also important.

Sorry to say Alamy does not consider the content of images. Some images are rare, or would be an Alamywhack. If you have a rare one-off image that looks to be a desired subject, it really hurts to see it denied a pass. But if there’s something wrong with it, so be it. A fail. And a fail that hurts. We”ve all had them, or most of us have.

[Joseph Clemson]

50 minutes ago, Tatiana said:

But how long is sufficient?
I wait 2 weeks or more for the photo to be checked, and then another 10 days I am not allowed to ship.
In addition to technical quality, the content of the photo is also important.

The length of time before the initial inspection has extended since the Covid pandemic of time and I guess it will improve in coming months.

 

There are upload routes to Alamy which allow old, unusual or unrepeatable photos to be included in the Alamy archive. However, before these routes can be utilised the contributor must first have demonstrated that they are technically able to take and process ordinary photographs. The quality bar of three competent photos of the contributors choice isn't that really high for a photographer of any experience.

 

Ten days gives the would-be contributor the chance to read Alamy's thorough documentation on how to be a contributor, and to supplement that with a deep browsing of the Alamy forum. You would be amazed how many new contributors did not do either of those things then find themselves surprised by rejections either of their initial submissions or early proper submissions to the library.

 

E.T.A.  I would also say that ten days is not much in the great scheme of things. Success at Alamy is likely to involve many years of work and getting off on the wrong foot be leaping in half-prepared makes success much less likely in the long run. The ten day wait may seem harsh but it's value may only be appreciated much later. If anything, I would make all new contributors wait ten days and furnish some kind of proof that they had indeed read the documents on the contributors homepage before being granted upload privileges.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Joseph Clemson
Additional thoughts

[Betty LaRue]

Also not mentioned, a fail used to cause a 6 week time out, isn’t that right, Joseph? I was a victim of that too often  in the beginning of my stock career, but I finally got the message, and had my eyesight fixed also.

[Joseph Clemson]

6 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Also not mentioned, a fail used to cause a 6 week time out, isn’t that right, Joseph? I was a victim of that too often  in the beginning of my stock career, but I finally got the message, and had my eyesight fixed also.

 

I don't remember it being as much as six weeks, but you have longevity over me as a contributor. The most I recall is four weeks suspension from uploading - ample time to reflect on one's shortcomings.

[Betty LaRue]

20 minutes ago, Joseph Clemson said:

 

I don't remember it being as much as six weeks, but you have longevity over me as a contributor. The most I recall is four weeks suspension from uploading - ample time to reflect on one's shortcomings.

Maybe it was 30 days. I know it seemed like forever. Cobwebs have taken over my brain since surgery. I’m sweeping them out little by little each day. Meaning I’m decreasing pain meds sharply. Only took them once in the last 24 hour period.

[Jill Morgan]

I've only had one fail and luckily Alamy didn't put me on the naughty step for that one.  But I had had many successful uploads before that.  Haven't had one since.  I know it is hard when we have an image that we just love, but we know it is bordering on being accepted.  If I find myself debating on whether to upload, I don't.  That just means I'm trying to convince myself that the image is acceptable, when in my heart, I know it isn't.

 

Jill

[Rebecca Ore]

On 14/02/2022 at 19:03, jacquesco07 said:

Hello,

 

I'm new here and just uploaded my first batch of photos. 1 of the photos failed QC. I'm trying to upload again, but it says I can't because I failed QC. Do I have to delete the photos from the image manager first, then upload? If so, how do I do that? No delete button is showing up and I can't even select any of the photos. Thanks!

 

If these were your first three photos, make sure that the next three photos are well-exposed, main subject in sharp focus, and no noise or chromatic aberration.  I had a fail in my first month back, but didn't have a problem uploading more, but I held off and also removed a few more from the batch.  

 

The biggies for rejection are noise, main subject not in sharp focus, and chromatic aberration, at least in my experience and what I've seen mentioned by others.  Back in my earlier contributorship with Alamy, I submitted and had pass a lot of photos that were slightly underexposed (too dark).  All three of my Sony cameras now are set for some exposure compensation.  Some of exposure variance might be artistic choice, but for first test photos:  plain, sharp, no noise in the shadows, nice inverted U histogram with lowest points on both sides.   Many cameras and most professional photo processing software can be set to show over and under exposure.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Rebecca Ore
clarity, I hope.