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There is not point in repeating any of the great info already provided but here is a tip that will help you to spot if your exported EPS file has bitmaps in it.
Export it with your settings then open up that exported EPS 10 file and from the Menu click on Windows > Info > Document Info (Tab on the panel that pops up) > Click on the corner icon that looks like “V=” (down arrow with three lines) and select “Embedded Images”.
If there are no images imbedded then it will say “None”. Otherwise it will tell you which ones there are and you can track down which parts of your Vector is causing the “Bitmapping”.
Some bits of advice from my limited experience.
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[*]Keep text to a minimum and only where needed. Make sure to put text on a separate layer so it can be easily switched off or edited by you and the buyer. Make sure you do not use copyrighted fonts and make sure to explode them for your export but keep your original unexploded so you can still edit it.[/*]
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[*]Work in separate layers! You AND your buyer will thank me later! Just trust me, keep your items in separate layers and groups. Makes editing SO much easier and you can also lock parts of the vector if you keep them separate.[/*]
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[*]If you play and create artistic vectors that is great. For stock you need to avoid using all special effects if you want to export successfully. Avoid blurs and drop shadows and most of the built in effects that work like they do in Photoshop. Learn from tutorials online how to manually and safely create special effects that export to EPS 10[/*]
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[*]For some reason the actual file size can get complete out of control but one way to reduce the size is to select everything on your canvas (make sure to unlock EVERYTHING) and reduce it down to a very small artboard for your export. For some crazy reason this works. So much for Vector heh? Strange bug but this works.[/*]
[/list]Jo
Welcome Daniel!
Your site is looking great!
Jo
Ok, liked the page with both my personal and public page but only one will count towards the “like” count as per Facebook’s handling of page likes. Posted it to both as well. Will be great to have enough people to like it so we can get a custom http://www.facebook.com/SymbioStock/ url 😀
Jo
I’m still battling with Windows 8.1, don’t ask. If you want any image of mine you are also welcome to it. I’m kind of in between off and on line at the moment.
J
I had this happen to me recently. The image file really never got processed and then it was removed from the ftp area so I had to upload it again. I don’t know of any other way to do it but to re-upload. I also try to upload in smallish batches to avoid congestion or it bombing out. I try to upload no more than 10-20 images at once. It’s easier to see if any got lost.
On a last thought, no offence meant, did you go to your Images > Drafts? If you have the “Process to Drafts” option as your screen shot shows then they get processed and put under the Drafts section till you edit them and “Publish”.
Hope this helps.
Jo
@steveh wrote:
Hi Jo
The reason I’m doing it like this is to add a lot more specificity in my descriptions and in that SEO metadata line. Many of my images also go to Shutterstock and the like and there are limits to the description – 200 characters. In the Symbio site I can bold certain words and give a fuller description where helpful. I’m hoping that will help in the Google rankings.
Steve
Ah ok! That does make sense. I try to keep my descriptions short so I haven’t seen the 200 characters become a problem for me. I also stick to 50 keywords max which seems to work across the board.
I haven’t gotten around to looking much into the SEO Meta areas. Maybe one day with patience.
Jo
Honestly? I do all my work in the meta tags for several reasons. For One, I can cut and paste off line. Secondly once it is done, it is done permanently. Third, when you need to re-upload for any reason you don’t have to do it all again.
I just upload, process, and then categorise and do the licences.
Jo
Hi and welcome!
I was busy typing what Christine explained and we had a power failure that lasted for hours and then my windows just wouldn’t load.
Boy was I annoyed! I was about to hit enter LOL!
With the image categories sometimes they aren’t immediately updated I have found. Sometimes if there is more than one page of categories if may appear on a following page alphabetically once you create/edit it.
Jo
I’m up for this! I think exposure is a good thing unless your pants are down. I don’t think anything needs to be given away. People will take what they want from anywhere and those people will never be clients anyway.
I think it’s important to have exposure for SymbioStock. I don’t think it is going to translate to direct sales but info is info. If it’s not available then it doesn’t get out there. I have two of my own pages. One is a business page of sorts.
I’ll be on board and “like” etc. as soon as I get my PC up and running after the install.
Jo
Perhaps an alternative is to explain it and upload a different colour space within a zip file as an option to download. Just takes up more space on the server.
My feeling is that if you use Prophoto/AdobeRGB or anything else on the web it looks dull. I think (I don’t know) as most micro sales are oriented to web use I use sRGB. It’s not also just on the web. On some image viewers it also doesn’t look great.
I think the most important thing is to include a colour profile so the end user doesn’t have to play a guessing game and software that understands will display the image properly.
Jo
@jsnover wrote:
Right – in the search on my live site I’m seeing images that show up that shouldn’t.
I went to Cathy’s life and did a search (she’s in my network) and a search there for border will have those images show up on my site.
Not sure about external search engines, but it makes the search look broken or makes me look like a keyword spammer!
I do understand. I’m sure there is some code work that will pass on to the search engine not to index the image file.
Unfortunately I can’t help much as we had a power failure earlier today and then windows simply decided not to load not mater what I did. So just I bit the bullet, took win 8 off the shelf and reinstalling with that for the first time.
Couple of suggestions off the top of my head… What you can try is to upload the image to the server manually and then copy the direct link to it and use that in your code? It might not index it that way. So just manually create a folder somewhere on the server called “SiteImages” or something and put it in there. There is a chance that it may not index if it is not “part” of the site’s database as such.
Look up perhaps how to force a non index on files perhaps too? Might be a simple enough bit of code.
Jo
@marthamarks wrote:
Jo, I have the “Pinterest block” plugin active on my site. Exact opposite direction as you.
Blocking Pinterest may or may not be smart, I don’t know. But I do know I haven’t wanted to be involved with Pinterest at all.
Now, if they change their rules/policies, that might make a difference to me. Will you keep us posted on that?
I can certainly do that. 🙂
It’s just a thought I had in my head for now. I don’t even know what they have changed on the policies. I just read the article with half (p)interest in one of my newsletters. I do have some of my articles and images on Pinterest and they currently link back to my Public Facebook page. Can’t say how effective it could be but I’ve had a few repins. I also haven’t put much effort into it since first trying it out.
I would think you could STILL run a Pinterest block AND use it for promotion. I assume that the block prevents people from selecting an image from SymbioStock and using it on Pinterest?
So you could still block them from doing that but allow your OWN upload to go through and link back. It’s a bit like a one way street to your site and not away from.
Ho
@cathyslife stockphotos wrote:
Personally, I will not be interested in participating in anything to do with Pinterest. They promote copyright infringement of images and that is the wrong message to send people regarding images we are trying to sell.
I have read of others who think this is a good idea (on the MSG forum) so I will be interested in finding out if it does any good. It will somehow have to be tied to google analytics so that results can be tracked, otherwise how will you be able to track the conversion of pins and repins to actual sales? After all, looking at your site is one thing; having people actually buy images is another, and for me, the end goal.
Do graphic designers and people who BUY images really sit and surf through pins to find images to buy? I don’t know.
I do understand what you are saying. In fact I was reading about it just the other day and I recall they are changing things because of the points you bring up.
I don’t think it will lead to direct sales as such and there is no way to really track it. I think that people share a lot of stuff on Facebook and some of it is linked to Pinterest. So what I was thinking was to create a brand, an awareness so to speak.
I sort of follow the philosophy that you should always look presentable when you leave the house because you never know who you will meet. Similarly I feel that getting the awareness or the images out there might help in the long run. Who knows who is looking for what and where when they see your work.
On the other hand it may also amount to nothing more than people sharing pretty photos. LOL!
Jo
@donland wrote:
I’ve uploaded my images in AdobeRGB. After scrutinizing them I see that the online images are dull and muted because of a profile mismatch. I am using ImageMagick for processing which is supposed to take care of the issue with the displayed images, but apparently not.
Has anyone else noticed this or are you uploading in sRGB?
I’ve started exporting to sRGB for stock and including the profile too. I know that it reduces the colour range but it displays far better in a browser and unfortunately a lot of people are sold on instant eye candy.
So I edit all my stuff in high colour and 32bit where possible but then save down for use on the web. I keep a separate folder for my “Stock” versions so I don’t botch my original edits.
Jo
I’m really not a tech head and while I understand SEO it makes my head go foggy LOL! I agree with Cascoly that just page views are not something to go by. What we need are buyers to come look at the images.
I had an idea last night and would like some ideas/input/suggestions/knowledge. I was thinking that what drives business is exposure. Pinterest seems to be a fast growing phenomenon. What do you think of this idea I’m going to outline below to generate some traffic and attention?
If one uploads a fairly decent image without watermarks (not large enough to really steal it and perhaps a little compressed too) and then link those images back to our actual product for sale on SymbioStock, is this a good/bad/pointless exercise?
My thoughts is that if you take some of the better photographs that have some “Arty Pinterest” appeal and promote them then there is a chance people will repin them. With further repinning (by others) may come some clicks and awareness of the site?
Any further ideas? After all it is free and not much to lose but perhaps there is a downside or negative aspect I haven’t thought of?
Jo
