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All FilesAll Files Posted Wed Mar 6 4:15PM | iStock Contributor Guide and FAQ iStock can be a little overwhelming for contributors, especially new ones, so we have decided to put some helpful links all in one place. The list below covers many of the questions you may have have when starting out as a contributor. You can either browse through this forum thread or click the links in the directory below to go directly to the information you need. Have fun! The following links will take you to the specific parts of this thread:
Here are links to the guidelines for these specific media:
(Edited on 2013-05-01 05:18:42 by kelvinjay) |
Posted Wed Mar 6 4:15PM | Strange Royalty Amounts - Find answers here! Mysterious balance rises Pretty much every month we see people on the forums reporting mysterious balance rises. If you have seen a balance increase but cannot find a corresponding sale to account for it, it's most likely that you have had sales in the Partner Program or sales on Getty Images, so here's where you can find out more: There are monthly threads in the Partner Program Forum to discuss PP sales and in the Exclusive Forum for people to post and discuss their Getty Images or GI sales. If you click on THIS LINK and see either green bars or purple bars, you have had a PP or GI sale, respectively. Strange or inconsistent royalty rates received Since 2007 the royalties paid to contributors have been based on the original net cost of the credit(s) used. In effect what that means is that a file may earn a contributor different amounts when it sells, even if it sells at the same size, as the royalty paid depends upon the credit package that the buyer used to purchase the credits that were used to license the content. Larger packages of credits offer larger discounts for buying in bulk. Since 2005, all credits purchased have had a one year life span, although extensions to this time limit may be granted at the discretion of Customer Support. However, there may still be a tiny amount of pre 2005 10 cent credits floating about that had no set life span. One important factor to keep in mind is that any combination of credits could potentially be used to download a file, and each credit could have a different net value and result in a royalty not shown on the current packages page. Additionally, it is worth noting that for the very biggest buyers, whose needs exceed even the largest advertised credit bundles, there have apparently been deals that offer larger discounts than those advertised on site. Another cause of frequent head scratching is seeing you have sold and Extended License but then not appearing to receive any money for it. Or you sold an EL but only got a few dollars for it. If this has happened then the chances are that you have had someone buy an Extended Legal Guarantee. Although it appears in your charts as an EL sale, contributors do not receive any money for it, for reasons laid out in the article above. You do still receive the royalty for the size of file sold though. Unrelated to the above, but on the theme of odd royalty amounts, if you should stumble upon an instance where you see a royalty of 0.00 it is the result of someone re-downloading the file after having just paid for it. Customers are permitted to re-download files (without additional credit cost). Since all file downloads are tracked and recorded you may see the repeat download as a 0 royalty. If you have previously downloaded your own image for any reason in the past, this file will now show as being free to download to you, but not to others who have not previously licensed it. (Edited on 2013-04-29 05:39:34 by kelvinjay) |
Posted Wed Mar 6 4:16PM | File Sizes and Upload Limits Photo file dimensions Size Pixels Approximate Print Size XSmall 300x400 1"x 1.5" @ 72dpi Small 600x800 2"x 3" @ 72dpi Medium 1200x1600 4" x 5" @ 300dpi Large 1920x2560 6" x 8" @ 300dpi XLarge 2800x4200 9" x 14" @ 300dpi XXLarge 3300x4900 11" x 16" @ 300dpi XXXLarge 3700x5600 12" x 18" @ 300dpi Photo and Illustration upload limits Photo and Illustration contributors can upload up to 999 files per week, regardless of canister level or any other qualification. These limits apply equally to exclusive and non-exclusive contributors alike. (Edited on 2013-04-22 16:22:25 by kelvinjay) |
Posted Wed Mar 6 4:27PM | Model releases First, please read the iStockphoto Photography Standards: Model Releases Article Second, please read the Model Release FAQ. The articles linked above have the most complete information on model release best practice. Model Release FAQs: How can I upload more than one model release for a file? You can just stitch all the releases into one jpeg in Photoshop or anther image editor. You can also put the signed paper releases next to each other on a table and photograph them. Alternately, the third party software Deep Meta can do this for you automatically. I've uploaded the wrong release, do I need to upload my file again? If your uploaded file has not yet been inspected and you need to replace a MR that you uploaded in error, you can use this link to replace it and just replace the XXXXXXs with your file number. http://www.istockphoto.com/file_modelrelease_upload.php?id=XXXXXX What is the change in policy that started on September 1 2009? Files needing a model release that have been created after September 1 2009 need to specify a shoot date on the release. Files created before September 1 do not need to specify a shoot date. If you have older shots with older model releases that you haven't uploaded yet, you can still upload them after September 1st 2009. Do I need to specify that they were shot prior to Sep 1 2009? Additional information entered into the Description field is helpful to the inspection team. Please check to make sure it is removed from that field after acceptance. Can I use a single release and just add new shoot dates to it each time? You cannot add new dates to an old release. Not even if everyone signs it again. A new release should be created each shoot. You can use a small date range, so for example 'July 27-30th 2009' in the shoot description. However this has to be a small time frame, where 1 shoot extends over several days. You cannot use this to cover weeks or months of shooting. When can the contributor sign and date the release? Any date before or after the model and witness sign and date. When does the model have to sign and date the release? Any date before or after the shoot date. When does the witness have to sign and date the release? At the same date as the model. The witness must witness the model signing and therefore the dates for the witness and model signatures must be the same. The witness does not have to witness the photographer or videographer signing. Can models in group shots witness each others releases? (not their own)? Yes. Do all releases, even non-istock ones require photographer signatures and shoot dates? Yes. Is the date of birth field required? Yes. For those models that are obviously over 18, a DOB such as 1956 or May 76 is acceptable. Are any of the fields on the release optional?? The email, ethnicity and visual reference sections are optional. Everything else is mandatory. Can we use the Getty release? Yes. Can I replace the iStock info at the top of the release with my own name and logo? Yes, so long as no changes are made to the other wording on the release. Self Portraits Do I need a release for self-portraits? Yes. Do self-portrait releases require a witness? No, witness is not required for a self-portrait. Do self-portrait releases require a shoot date? No, catch all releases for self-portraits of you (the contributor) are OK. Please help the inspector realize they are looking at a model release of the contributor by adding: Self portraits – catch all date release allowed Into both the Shoot Date and Shoot Description fields. Please resubmit the release if it gets rejected only for not having a shoot date. Reminder: Self portrait release do not require a witness either. If you have any questions about MRs which are not answered by the linked article or the summary above, please open a new thread in the HELP FORUM, and we will try to assist you. (Edited on 2013-03-27 15:40:22 by kelvinjay) |
Posted Wed Mar 6 4:29PM | Uploading and Inspection FAQs Why was my application image rejected from the collection? Are the standards different? What are the upload limits? If I re-submit a file, does it cancel out the previous rejection? How long does it take to have my files inspected? Why was one of my later submissions inspected before an earlier one? What can I do if I disagree with or don't understand a rejection? Who or what is Scout? Pending executive? What does that mean? Searching, Sales and Promotion FAQs Why can't I find my image in the search results! Why has my account balance increased when I don't seem to have sold a file on iStock? How long will it take to get my first download? Yay! I got a download! What is Best Match and how does it work? How do I link similar files? What are private lightboxes? What are public lightboxes? iStock Collections and Exclusivity FAQs What's exclusivity? How do I become an exclusive contributor? What is the Photo+ collection? What is the Exclusive+ collection? What is the Vetta collection? What is the Agency collection? What is the Value Collection? Miscellaneous FAQs Is there a list of things we're not allowed to upload? What is a Creative Network? What's with the acronyms? BME? WMTY Huh? How much do you make in a year? How can I buy iStock content using money I earned here? How do I change my site username? When will I receive tax forms for my iStock earnings? How do I request a payment of earnings? How do I deactivate a file? How come I sold a file but it has no views? How does the view counter work? (Edited on 2013-05-01 05:08:54 by kelvinjay) |
Posted Wed Mar 6 4:31PM | Useful Articles Photo Submission Articles Lighting Standards Focus Standards Noise and Compression Standards Model Release Standards Editorial Standards Photo Technique Articles Shooting Concepts Shooting RAW vs. Shooting Jpeg Think like a designer Working with a Ring Flash Vector Articles Successful Vector Silhouettes References for Vector submission Audio Articles Creating Seamless Audio Loops Noise Reduction for Audio Video Articles Reflecting on Reflectors for Videographers Aiming your video with audio 3D Articles 3D Render Standards Flash Articles Flash without code Importing Illustrator files into flash |
Posted Mon Mar 18 5:54PM | Below are the 2012 Redeemed Credit targets for iStockphoto contributors. We are happy to announce that there is no increase in any of the RC targets over the previous year's revised targets — all redeemed credit targets for all file types will stay the same for 2012. These targets will determine your starting/minimum royalty rate for 2013. If you reach a new target during the remainder of 2012 you will move up to a higher royalty rate, otherwise your current rate will remain in effect until the end of the year. For reference, below are the revised 2011 Redeemed Credit targets for iStockphoto contributors. Here are the new targets. Revised numbers are in blue. |
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