The new PantherMedia contributor portal

PantherMedia has launched their brand new contributor portal. They claim that the first priority while implementing was to speed up the submission process, especially for bulk images or whole series of images. The PantherMedia beta-testers have uploaded thousands of new images.

The PantherMedia contributor portal is now the fourth portal in a family next to the stock agency, the photo community and the blog. All sales relevant functions are bundled on this new platform. From upload to payout, you can find everything here that is important when selling photos online. 

The portal indeed seems to be quick, well-structured and easy to use! Check it out here.

Crestock introduces 4 new file sizes

Crestock has recently launched 4 new file sizes and now offers the images for sale in sizes ranging from XS to XXXL, depending on the size of the file originally submitted. The pricing is now ranging from $1 to $25, which increases the sales opportunities in both lower and higher price points from Crestock’s original pricing structure. The minimum threshold for an Extra Large (XL) image is 6MP. The Crestock team strongly suggests that submissions meet or exceed that size, so that the images are available for sale in the largest range possible. They have also increased the pricing for all vector files from $10 to $15 due to the extensive scalability of vectors.

See the new pricing here

To join Crestock as a contributor click here

Fotolia commission system updated

New royalty structure was announced by Fotolia. Commissions have been reduced approximately by 10-20%, depending on the contributor rank. The good news is that no changes were done for those with the emerald status and higher. While the newcomers, who want to sell photos through Fotolia, will earn just 20% of the stock photo price based on the new system. Take a look at the new royalties here. If you are interested in older Fotolia commission information, it is available at microstockgroup wiki.

Royalty changes at iStockphoto are live

As announced earlier in September, iStockphoto implements the new royalty structure. This change caused a huge resonance within the microstock industry. Now the system is confirmed, and the only thing that has changed, is the structure of redeemed credit target. The changes were recently announced and can be found here: new royalty structure at iStockphoto.

Based on the previous year redeemed credit target, iStockphoto defines the starting royalty for 2011. And to be frank, it is still disappointing at least 90% of the microstock contributors. Despite the announced changes, these targets are just enormous. Even the exclusive contributors get less than non-exclusive at some other leading microstock websites. Well, only time will show what are the consequences of such decisions.

Also, you will need to agree with all changes of the iStockphoto Artist Supply Agreement. The next time you log in you will be directed to the new agreement.

Zoonar strengthens its international partners network

The picture agency Zoonar (Hamburg, Germany) announced the Photolibrary picture agency is the latest partner. Now there are six reselling partners in the company network. In addition to the German suppliers DDP Images, Fotofinder, DFJV and Picturemaxx, the photographers can now also offer their photos via Alamy, AGE/THP and Photolibrary.

As of 24 December 2010, Zoonar offers the photographers a lump-sum share of 60% of all received commissions via the partner network. A brilliant commission in comparison to other international agencies.

Zoonar's CEO Michael Krabs announces the aim of integrating further partner agencies in 2011. "Our aim in the long term is getting 20-30 partners who are extremely well in direct selling." According to Michael Krabs 100 agencies can already be integrated in the selling with the existing partners. The winning of sales networks is very popular in the agency business. 

Though the speciality of Zoonar according to Krabs is "that the photographers own the complete control over their pictures and that they can variously distribute single photos, price segments or license types. Other than that, microstock photos can be integrated in the distribution network".

According to Zoonar's CEO, the sale via the new partner network will mainly start in the first quarter of 2011. That's why they calculate with a considerable growth in sales as of the second quarter of 2011.

All of the above sounds nice. Let’s wait to see how the guys cope with this.

123RF minor interface change for submitting artists

123RF image agency has recently relocated the 'Sell Images' tab to accommodate the webpage appearance.

You may access all Contributor related links by clicking the `Sell Images` link located at the footer of the main page under `For Photographers`.

Well, it seems not as convenient as before, but it does save the page space for the search index bar.

If you are not yet registered at 123RF, you can join the agency here.

iStockphoto Now Accepting Contributor Submissions of Editorial Images to be Offered on iStockphoto.com Early Next Year

iStockphoto has announced to its community of more than 85,000 contributing artists that in January it will begin accepting images for use under a new “editorial use only” licensing agreement to be rolled out in early 2011. These images will be available to those needing non-released imagery such as news outlets, publishers, magazines, bloggers and presenters. They will be licensed for use as a descriptive visual reference to a product, place, event or concept.

While all images currently available on www.istockphoto.com can be used for editorial purposes today, they are most commonly used commercially for advertising and promotional materials. This creative type of usage requires contributors to follow a stringent set of guidelines. For example, images of specific products or anything marked with a logo are not allowed, images of people require model releases, and many buildings and landmarks may not be shown.

Because editorial only images may not be used for commercial purposes, they are not subject to the same guidelines. This makes it easier for contributors to provide additional content and provides customers with access to more great imagery.

iStock is currently accepting several types of editorial imagery including:

                  Products

                  Architecture and landmarks

                  Travel and lifestyle

                  Social commentary

                  Urban living

iStock is not looking for time-sensitive news items or images or items that fall within the realm of traditional photojournalism. Contributors looking to submit these types of images are encouraged to contact Getty Images. For more information on submitting editorial content, please visit http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=939.

What is micro stock photography?

Alright, I will start this blog with a brief description on what is microstock and why someone would buy or sell the royalty-free images online. Micro stock photography means an industry of low-cost stock images. From a photographer’s point of view, it means some websites where you can sell your photos, and someone can buy them for a micro payment, like a few dollars. Usually, designers and editors are the ones who buy such images.

Traditionally, stock images have been quite expensive, and it was tough to use high-quality photos in a web design project or a small business brochure. When micro stock business model appeared, a much wider audience got an access to high quality inexpensive photographs available just in a few clicks. Nowadays you can notice these images everywhere around you – in the ad posters, on billboards, in the corporate media, on product packaging and even in the private blogs.

Micro stock photography attracted lots of new photographers to the image sales business. Now you don’t have to be a real professional with over 25 years of studio experience to sell the images of green apples online. Yes, quality does matter, but now you can at least try earning some extra money on your hobby. Many amateur photographers can pay off their equipment (camera, lenses and accessories) selling images at photobanks. So the hobby eventually starts to pay off itself! And some who have enough patience start earning decent money. Or if you are an experienced photographer, you can boost your income with online sales. You will need patience to understand the principles of microstocking, but it may be worth it.

There are devoted people making $100K per year on microstocking while the industry leaders earn over a million annually. What I personally like is that the demand for royalty-free photos is growing every year. I will not close my eyes on the constantly growing number of photo contributors, but successful ones make more and more every year. So, if you are ready to explore the new opportunities, there is a list of most popular microstock agencies here. Good luck!