Colin Woods Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi All I didn't know this existed until it was mentioned in another post yesterday. I don't like keywording so the idea of automating this task a bit seems good. Is anyone using it? Do you like it? It looks tempting but does it give too many keywords and lead to an increase in less relevant views? Thanks in advance Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylineboy Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 would also be interested to other views on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I believe Keyword Perfect is another name for A2Z as mention in another thread "Need help with my keywords". If you watch the A2Z demo on Youtube it mentions that over half a million images have been key worded with the software since 2002. I do not have a date for when the demo video was taken but if it is recent, ( showing updated software actions), then that is not a lot. Indicating few users, or many users but not of high output as most photographers submitting to online libraries. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Woods Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Thanks Allan I hadn't got to watching the video yet, but its true that that's not many pictures keyworded. Also the lack of any positive response from this forum is quite telling. When I first started to submit to Alamy I over keyworded, putting in all sorts of words that were at best vaguely associated with the picture. My rank was crap. At about 4000 pictures I decided to redo all of them and I stripped out all but the most basic and my rank improved steadily. I would be afraid to reverse that by swamping my pictures with low relevance keywords. I'll keep an open mind on the software but for now I'll continue using the manual type-'em-in method. Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I can see the temptation for wanting to use software such as this. In an ideal world (!) the tool would understand both the search engine and the person doing the searching, but I think that you're right, Colin: all this is likely to do is bulk up your keywords. It may make entering the words easier and put less strain on the brain, but long-term probably not the best investment - for me at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 If I had the time I would download the free trial on offer and give it a go. Just to give you all some feedback. Unfortunately I do not have the time. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I'm doing just that. Will see what happens as I have free time:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 On first impressions: 1) It looked like I had to enter quite a lot of stuff to get the keywords. However, it does seem to generate things based on what you enter. 2) You can batch process similar images. 3) Having the generator split things out into Main and Comprehensive is very useful. 4) Looking at the keywording, it has added [ ] around certain words. Not sure if these are used in Alamy. I know about using " " such as "salisbury cathedral" but the square brackets? Anyone with more knowledge on that, it would be useful to hear from you. 5) You can add keywords to the dictionary. 6) Important - YOU have to input what you believe is the essential keywords in the image 7) I can't see how to get rid of the first test batch that I have created. I've tried but I only seem to add to the first batch. That is annoying as I don't want to see the previous batch. *Edit - just found this but it is not as intuitive as you would think. I only found it by watching a tutorial video and found where to go. 8) Finding a little bit of a pain to use but I could see its uses! 9) Is it worth nearly 100 bucks? If it increases sales through better keywording and the all important placement of those keywords then I would say it's a yes. My massive bug bear with Alamy is the splitting of keywords. i feel that is making me do two jobs at once. This tool however could be an interesting addition to an Alamy workflow. *Edit. Just did another test. I used an image of a jetty on Derwent Water up in the Lake District. I used the caption of: Derwent Water in the Lake District national park, Cumbria, UK. Once processed, it didn't take Cumbria into the keywords. I would have thought that it would do this. Yes, I could enter into the Essential Keywords but I was hoping the software had a little more intelligence behind it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 4) Looking at the keywording, it has added [ ] around certain words. Not sure if these are used in Alamy. I know about using " " such as "salisbury cathedral" but the square brackets? Anyone with more knowledge on that, it would be useful to hear from you. These are an alternative to using quotes. Alamy give you the option of surrounding a group of keywords in either quotes: "sunny day" or square brackets: [sunny day] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 4) Looking at the keywording, it has added [ ] around certain words. Not sure if these are used in Alamy. I know about using " " such as "salisbury cathedral" but the square brackets? Anyone with more knowledge on that, it would be useful to hear from you. These are an alternative to using quotes. Alamy give you the option of surrounding a group of keywords in either quotes: "sunny day" or square brackets: [sunny day] Way back when Alamy were considering (apparently) activating such in keywords, square brackets were used to indcate the words contained in the brackets could be used together as a phrase, but also individually. The inverted commas " . . " were going to indicate the words contained therein were only to be used together (as a phrase). I don't recall Alamy ever officially announcing that they were no longer working on activating these, but it was so very long ago I'm sure they've all forgotten the previous promises . . . or did I miss the annoucement? dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 4) Looking at the keywording, it has added [ ] around certain words. Not sure if these are used in Alamy. I know about using " " such as "salisbury cathedral" but the square brackets? Anyone with more knowledge on that, it would be useful to hear from you. These are an alternative to using quotes. Alamy give you the option of surrounding a group of keywords in either quotes: "sunny day" or square brackets: [sunny day] Way back when Alamy were considering (apparently) activating such in keywords, square brackets were used to indcate the words contained in the brackets could be used together as a phrase, but also individually. The inverted commas " . . " were going to indicate the words contained therein were only to be used together (as a phrase). I don't recall Alamy ever officially announcing that they were no longer working on activating these, but it was so very long ago I'm sure they've all forgotten the previous promises . . . or did I miss the announcement? dd Thanks for the correction, Dusty, I got that point slightly (but crucially) wrong. I recall reading (or hearing in one of James' videos) that this has never been officially retired, but I'm not holding my breath... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylineboy Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 is the general concensus that less is more? i have a specilist collection (or will do when complete), and one of my images - this one> is simply keyworded (i think) - with a title of exactly what it is - Ford Escort RS1800 - 1975, some of the other images ive seen for that search, and some of my others use other more loose words, such as concepts and such). but the simple title of the one above makes it appear 5th on the first page! am i better off (bearing in mind i specialise in motoring), to simply state the make / model / engine / year / transmission type of the car and leave it at that, or am i better off including concept words like racing, fast, speed, and other associated words to do with cars, even if the car isnt at speed (like my one above?). this is only a very brief loose test ive done, but the image above seems to be in a great search result compared to others i have keyworded. admittidley only just 120 of them so far (im struggling against a backlog of 20000 to get scanned in etc and uploaded), plus digitals i take as and when. 2014 - busy year for me! would love to hear some opinions - perhaps from other people who have car / motoring images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Baker Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 We've had such threads many times over the years and the thing that comes out of it is that there is no quick way to input keywords - that is, no quick way to input them intelligently - but using software is a very efficient way to overpopulate them with wonderfully descriptive words that aren't used in searches. This is after all, why we do so. I've never tried an app for this purpose but my instinct is that for all the time it might save me in the short-term, I know I'll spend much more time by finding and removing the errant words that are dragging down my CRT. Perhaps long before Alamy Rank, one could stuff the boxes to the brim with all sorts of alphabetical fantasies but as we know, by doing so today we will be punished tomorrow! To me, there are no shortcuts and well-aimed keywording will prevail. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Yes, it's sad, but there's just no way to get out of doing the work. But if you want to look at their demo, here's she be: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggers Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I've recently renewed my acquaintance with Alamy now that I have more time to do so. I'm using the trial version of Keyword Perfect (as recommended by Alamy who have a promo code for it). Over the past couple of weeks I have used the software for key-wording and uploaded my images. The keyword generating seems fine to me as the keywords can be edited as you go if not happy with them. When happy, I Process the keywords to IPTC and also save as an Alamy worksheet ( I select the Alamy option in preferences). What I find frustrating is that the images having passed QC now need to have the keywords re-entered in the various keyword fields for each image (albeit the copy and paste does help!). However, I had assumed that attaching keywords to the image IPTC would have done that or there was some sort of "plug-in" link with Alamy? I've read on their tutorial that the Alamy worksheet can be used simply by emailing as an attachment to Alamy, how does that work? Despite this, I'll probably splash out and buy the software as there doesn't seem to be any other options - apart from manually inputting. I'd be interested on hearing from other users on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 It's all a matter of perspective, no? When I want to be a photographer only, I do a sort of Vivian Maier and do just that: the whole process involving simply taking the photo, and sometimes (but not always) post-editing. Sometimes just taking the image is enough to scratch that particular itch. But . . . when I'm being a stock photographer for here or elsewhere, keywording is just one part of that particular process. I'd no sooner hand keywording over to a computer program than relinquish control over any other part of that particular process. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Plus 1 for these Dusty thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkS Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hi I am just finishing up the 30 day trial for Keyword Perfect and have decided it is too clunky to use. Also couldn't find a seamless way to put the keywords into Alamy accurately . Found too many keywords were generated that didn't make sense. By the time I re-edited the keywords it seemed I could just do it once myself and I am sure I can create a library or template in Word or Excel that would be helpful. So- i am deleting the app. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis D Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 We've been full-time assignment and stock photographers for 25 years, so know a thing or two about keywording. I tried Keyword Perfect several years ago on referral from a fellow photographer at another agency and I, too, found it too clunky and didn't like all the superfluous words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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