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I've never understood people quoting actual prices when complaining about low fees - it really is counter-productive.

This is an open forum and openly quoting the amounts customers are paying in complaints will only make potential clients reading this forum wonder why they are paying more than that, and demand to get the low prices we are complaining about. 

Complain by all means, but please don't let the customers who are paying more know what they could be getting away with. (By all means keep quoting the 3- and 4-figure sales in the Good News thread though.....)

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laughable how some people proclaims Alamy not being micro-stock, well they have no micro-site ( yet) but they sure as hell have prices like microstock, they have to or else they would be extinct. They even enlist and encourage photographers from the MSG, a microstock forum.

 

Anyway nothing wrong with that since they have to move with the times and stay in tune and trying to be where the money is.

 

The traditional way of just RM/RF is finished, its gone! period. 

There isnt one single traditional agency today not even the smaller botique agencies that dont also include what we reffer to as micro pricing.

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According to the following Vlog published on 4 Feb by Alamy, the personal use is quoted at £15 +VAT (US $20 +VAT).  Where is the difference?  Or as usual, did I miss something while something was happening?  :huh:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkW9r4YKffA

 

Sung

 

Yes, this video is from 04.02.2016 and as you can see you need to click below the first few licenses to open more options to find "Personal Use" (PU). You see the old version and prices, before it changed in March(?)/ April... SFL, I think you've missed a lot of (removed) informations and actions lately on the forum and behind the forum...

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Is "novel use" any better?

 

I have over 10,000 images on Alamy.  Last year, as an experiment, I uploaded about 60 images to several microstock sites.  The result of that experiment was that I decided that RF was not the way forward: it is not worth the bother for the miniscule returns involved and the type of pictures I take.  Nevertheless, the microstock images remain on-line and they still sell now and then.

 

Yesterday, I had two sales.  One was a microstock RF image, the other was an Alamy RM sale (not the same image, of course).  The Alamy licence was "novel use".  After the 50% Alamy commission, the net amount I will receive from Alamy from the Alamy sale is LESS than the amount I will receive from the microstock sale.

 

What is the point of RM licences via Alamy, if the end result is that Alamy contributors may end up getting even less for their images than they would if they were put out to RF microstock?  Of course, there is always the hope that the Alamy images will be licensed on a more sensible (remunerative) basis, but it seems to be a race to the bottom if Alamy is competing with microstock levels of remuneration through the "novel use" licensing mechanism.  If I wanted these levels of remuneration, I might as well put my images out to microstock, and I would sell more of them to boot: at least microstock has the trade-off of volume compensating for individual image fee levels.  What on earth is the point (from the perspective of contributors) of the "novel use" licence, which generates microstock (or less) levels of return?  Am I missing something? 

 

The novel use image is not a bad picture: it is an image taken in India which has sold twice in recent weeks (both for novel use), so someone obviously likes it.  Doesn't it make you feel great that you have financed your equipment, paid for your trip to India (or wherever the destination happens to be), had the skill and taken the time and effort to see and take the picture, paid for the computer and software required to process the image, taken the time to process it and keyword it, put it through QC and put it on sale through Manage Images, all for a net return of less than $1?  Am I missing something, or am I being taken for a mug?

 

Graham

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I find that the images I sell on POD sites are pretty much the same ones that license for editorial use on Alamy. I guess that says something about my "artsy" imagery.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

 

Thank you Betty, I've had some images replaced but I didn't realize I had the option to remove select images once posted.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I find that the images I sell on POD sites are pretty much the same ones that license for editorial use on Alamy. I guess that says something about my "artsy" imagery.

 

I have no problem with licensing images that I sell on a POD. I have a problem with those images being licensed as personal use on Alamy since they are licensing for just pennies and more than likely are being used for prints in competition with my POD sales. Also, with a POD sale the client never gets the full image file, only the print.  Giving that file away for just $10 or $15 with a license to use it over and over for years is beyond crazy.

 

Personal use sales as a means to evade paying regular licensing fees by commercial or editorial clients also gives me heartburn.

 

Am I correct in saying it's all or nothing? Must I restrict all images from personal use or can I just put the restriction on some of my images?

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I find that the images I sell on POD sites are pretty much the same ones that license for editorial use on Alamy. I guess that says something about my "artsy" imagery.

 

I have no problem with licensing images that I sell on a POD. I have a problem with those images being licensed as personal use on Alamy since they are licensing for just pennies and more than likely are being used for prints in competition with my POD sales. Also, with a POD sale the client never gets the full image file, only the print.  Giving that file away for just $10 or $15 with a license to use it over and over for years is beyond crazy.

 

Personal use sales as a means to evade paying regular licensing fees by commercial or editorial clients also gives me heartburn.

 

Am I correct in saying it's all or nothing? Must I restrict all images from personal use or can I just put the restriction on some of my images?

 

 

Haven't tried it, but I don't see why you couldn't put restrictions on selected images only. I understand your concerns.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

 

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

Thank you Betty, I've had some images replaced but I didn't realize I had the option to remove select images once posted.

Lynn, when you put up an image for deletion, first delete all your keywords. I believe you have to have something in the caption and/ or essential fields. I don't remember which. So I put nonsensical letters like ZFRB or something similar in those two fields. Save the changes. Then wait a day or whenever Alamy updates. Then go back in and put the image up for deletion.

It takes what? 3-6 months? before they are removed from the database, but seldom are they found, if ever, in a search because of your nonsense letters.

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

Thank you Betty, I've had some images replaced but I didn't realize I had the option to remove select images once posted.

Lynn, when you put up an image for deletion, first delete all your keywords. I believe you have to have something in the caption and/ or essential fields. I don't remember which. So I put nonsensical letters like ZFRB or something similar in those two fields. Save the changes. Then wait a day or whenever Alamy updates. Then go back in and put the image up for deletion.

It takes what? 3-6 months? before they are removed from the database, but seldom are they found, if ever, in a search because of your nonsense letters.

 

 

 

Or you can ask MS to do it for you.

 

Allan

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I find that the images I sell on POD sites are pretty much the same ones that license for editorial use on Alamy. I guess that says something about my "artsy" imagery.

 

I have no problem with licensing images that I sell on a POD. I have a problem with those images being licensed as personal use on Alamy since they are licensing for just pennies and more than likely are being used for prints in competition with my POD sales. Also, with a POD sale the client never gets the full image file, only the print.  Giving that file away for just $10 or $15 with a license to use it over and over for years is beyond crazy.

 

Personal use sales as a means to evade paying regular licensing fees by commercial or editorial clients also gives me heartburn.

 

Am I correct in saying it's all or nothing? Must I restrict all images from personal use or can I just put the restriction on some of my images?

 

 

You can restrict individual images in MI

 

Allan

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

Thank you Betty, I've had some images replaced but I didn't realize I had the option to remove select images once posted.

Lynn, when you put up an image for deletion, first delete all your keywords. I believe you have to have something in the caption and/ or essential fields. I don't remember which. So I put nonsensical letters like ZFRB or something similar in those two fields. Save the changes. Then wait a day or whenever Alamy updates. Then go back in and put the image up for deletion.

It takes what? 3-6 months? before they are removed from the database, but seldom are they found, if ever, in a search because of your nonsense letters.

 

 

 

Or you can ask MS to do it for you.

 

Allan

 

 

Thank you Allan.

I started a pseudo for images I want to eliminate because I had uploaded new, better versions to replace them (I knew I could replace images, I just didn't realize I could remove them). I removed all descriptions and keywords from at least a dozen images. I've been preoccupied with a new job and moving so they've sat for months. Amazingly, they are still getting viewed despite being devoid of any identification. How do clients find them?

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Three years ago I weighed the decision to come with Alamy carefully as I didn't want it to complete with or undermine my direct print sales through FAA. I decided there would be little chance for competition between the two types of accounts since Alamy isn't a POD and I started posting here. Until recently all was well so I even posted a few of my "arty" images without incident. Then my first and so far only PU sale popped up a couple months ago. Unfortunately it's one of those that I'm confident is either being misused (not for personal use) or was purchased to print in direct competition with my POD account. I hate to opt out of distribution since 28% of my sales and income are distributor sales but I also don't want to risk more of these PU sales. I also worry that individuals purchasing for personal use will disregard requirements for model and property releases causing problems. Since I don't relay on Alamy for support, I'm seriously considering taking a stand and opting out of distribution.

 

Lately zooms have been up, sales have improved slightly and my ranking has improved so I intended to start uploading again in quantity. But between the onerous contract changes last year, changes this year making me responsible for misuse of images without releases, and now the introduction of personal use licensing it's hard to find the motivation.

 

I have put up for deletion all of my artsy POD images I have here. I'll keep them separated from now on. I didn't upload but 25-30 of them here as it is. None has been zoomed or sold yet, so it's no loss, and they won't be going for peanuts here.

 

Thank you Betty, I've had some images replaced but I didn't realize I had the option to remove select images once posted.

Lynn, when you put up an image for deletion, first delete all your keywords. I believe you have to have something in the caption and/ or essential fields. I don't remember which. So I put nonsensical letters like ZFRB or something similar in those two fields. Save the changes. Then wait a day or whenever Alamy updates. Then go back in and put the image up for deletion.

It takes what? 3-6 months? before they are removed from the database, but seldom are they found, if ever, in a search because of your nonsense letters.

 

Or you can ask MS to do it for you.

 

Allan

 

Thank you Allan.

I started a pseudo for images I want to eliminate because I had uploaded new, better versions to replace them (I knew I could replace images, I just didn't realize I could remove them). I removed all descriptions and keywords from at least a dozen images. I've been preoccupied with a new job and moving so they've sat for months. Amazingly, they are still getting viewed despite being devoid of any identification. How do clients find them?

If you didn't replace a critical field with a nonsense string, but simply deleted all fields, one of them, I don't remember if the caption or essentials, remains and is still searchable. You think it is blank, you deleted it, but it magically reappears later. The description isn't searchable.

Early on here I made that mistake of deleting all fields thinking they couldn't be searched. One or two fields HAS to have something in them, thus nonsense string of letters no one would put in a search. I just put the nonsense stuff in the caption and essential since I can't remember which field reappears.

In the case of deleting, after deleting keyword fields, putting a nonsense string in, wait until your My Images has updated the changes before putting the image up for deletion. If you delete the image before an update, all the keywords will stay with the image the required time before leaving the database.

Betty

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If you didn't replace a critical field with a nonsense string, but simply deleted all fields, one of them, I don't remember if the caption or essentials, remains and is still searchable. You think it is blank, you deleted it, but it magically reappears later. The description isn't searchable.

Early on here I made that mistake of deleting all fields thinking they couldn't be searched. One or two fields HAS to have something in them, thus nonsense string of letters no one would put in a search. I just put the nonsense stuff in the caption and essential since I can't remember which field reappears.

In the case of deleting, after deleting keyword fields, putting a nonsense string in, wait until your My Images has updated the changes before putting the image up for deletion. If you delete the image before an update, all the keywords will stay with the image the required time before leaving the database.

Betty

 

 

 

It's the Caption and Essentials fields that need something in. I always delete the others and put nonsense in the Caption and Essentials fields, then change to the junk psuedo, save changes, then delete.

 

Geoff.

 

 

If you can be bothered, you can replace the caption with "image replaced by improved version: " and quote the new Alamy number. In the essential keywords, I put a meaningless word.

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Alamy disapprove of junk keywords and I was ticked off for suggesting it, so ;).

I add the old number to the keywords of the replacement.

 

 

I didn't realise they disapproved. What else can we do? ...

 

Geoff.

 

I just use a full stop (period for those more familiar with the US-influenced version of the language). 

 

I don't think that's an Alamy-approved tactic either, but it looks neater than nonsense words.

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Alamy disapprove of junk keywords and I was ticked off for suggesting it, so ;).

I add the old number to the keywords of the replacement.

 

 

I didn't realise they disapproved. What else can we do? ...

 

Geoff.

 

I just use a full stop (period for those more familiar with the US-influenced version of the language). 

 

I don't think that's an Alamy-approved tactic either, but it looks neater than nonsense words.

 

yep, Alamy only approves of the delete button, I once had a post removed suggesting something else.

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Personal use is OK with me, as long as it is personal use. I have bought a few stockphotos that i really liked for personal use. Oh, it does not make much money, but small sales are also sales. The problem is when somebody buys a pic for pesonal use as the cheepest way to get it out of Alamy without watermark, and then hope to get along with usng it in a calender, as told about in another topic. 

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