Andy Davidson Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Hi, folks Please forgive me if this is answered in the FAQ or elsewhere in the forum but searching it for 'upload' and reading the returned articles didn't answer my question. I'm a travel photographer and interested in uploading some images from my recent trip to India as a test submission. I uploaded a few images using FTP and then visited 'My Alamy' as suggested by the documentation, but I do not see the images in 'Manage my photos'. The images have disappeared from the Stock folder on the ftpd also. So I tried to submit those images through the Flash based web upload tool. The tool suggested the upload is complete but the images are not there. What I'm expecting to happen at this point is that I will look at the images online to make sure that the upload was correct and in line with my intentions, and to tag the images with keywords and then bundle them together for a QC inspection. Clearly this isn't how I prepare a submission for QC but I can't work out what I should do instead. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate. Great looking service, can't wait to iron out my early mistakes and join in this community. All the best, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armstrong Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Hi Andy, Welcome to Alamy and the forums. You've got the process a bit mixed up. The process is this: 1. Upload photos via FTP or web upload. You won't be able to see them in the FTP stock folder after upload. Your FTP client or the Alamy web interface will tell you if the upload has been successful. 2. Check that they have been received by Alamy on the Track Submissions page - they generally appear within minutes but FTP sometimes can be a little later. Certainly no later than overnight. 3. Wait for QC approval - you can see this in Track Submissions or you can wait for the email that is sent. If approved... 4. Caption and keyword images. 5. The next day they go online. 6. Await your first sale :-) Good luck with your first submission! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Only upload 4 images for your test submission. These don't need to be from your trip. Content doesn't matter for QC. What matters is a properly exposed sharp image with no CA (check edges of trees and buildings and all dark-meets-bright edges) or dust spots. Do not sharpen, or if you do, only a small amount. A shot of your thumb, if it meets technical specs will pass as easily as an image of an exotic locale. Of course your thumb image should have editorial merit. Like hit it with a hammer first, and include the hammer in the photo, lol! Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Douglas Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Only upload 4 images for your test submission. These don't need to be from your trip. Content doesn't matter for QC. What matters is a properly exposed sharp image with no CA (check edges of trees and buildings and all dark-meets-bright edges) or dust spots. Do not sharpen, or if you do, only a small amount. A shot of your thumb, if it meets technical specs will pass as easily as an image of an exotic locale. Of course your thumb image should have editorial merit. Like hit it with a hammer first, and include the hammer in the photo, lol! Betty I can't see an reference to the 4 initial test images in the process defined on the Contributor page. http://www.alamy.com/contributor/how-to-sell-images/best-place-to-sell-stock-images-photos/ Maybe that requirement has gone away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Douglas Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Yes, I see it now Philippe. I'm sure that there will be a lot of new contributors who realise that only four are required after they have uploaded their first batch of photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Whew! Thought I'd messed up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 OP, if you do come back, the gist of this is that if your first sub is more or less than 4, it will fail automatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Davidson Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thank you for the help everyone! Ok, I think I'm going to have to brace myself for a fail then because I uploaded six and they were related, though they as the best six from a batch of some hundred should meet with editorial merit, technical merit and be pleasing on the eye to boot. Will hopefully be back in a few days once I've been through the cycle a few times and have what the QC people are looking for nailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Fagundes Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Best luck with your first submissions Andy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 technical merit This is the only thing relevant to QC. The others are for buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Davidson Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Thank you again for the frank and fast help everyone, what a superb community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurcharan Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Welcome Andy, you are not the first one I had also read about 4 test images, but uploaded (thinking 4 is minimum) 5 images, they failed I uploaded 4 in next, they passed. Now I have more than 900 online images in three months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Davidson Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Good news! Your test submission has passed. I had a couple of go-around landings, one caused by an FTP submission of four images turning into a 3 and a 1, and one which had a QC fail due to some interpolation issues. I need to do some reading around this subject carefully because I never upsize images, which I think is the stage at which interpolation issues creep in. I take RAWs from my Canon 5Dii or Fuji X cameras into Lightroom, tweak for contrast, sometimes a little crop, and then save the JPG at the highest setting. For *everything*, it's my only workflow. But for now I am happy to be in the club. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armstrong Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Congratulations :-) You don't need to increase the size of files from those cameras for Alamy. If the client does want something bigger than I would expect you would receive a request from Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 QC reasons aren't always completely accurate but they sometimes point up a problem somewhere in your workflow. I've accidentally ticked a box in export before now, and I didn't find out what was wrong until I got the fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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