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How to FTP

on Friday, 18 November 2011. Posted in All

Microstock FTP Tutorial

This tutorial is for all the people who have no idea what the heck FTP is and they want to quickly upload a lot of photos to Microstocks sites. I am going to try to simplify it a much as possible. All you tech people may be insulted by my simplicity but let’s make it easy.

What is FTP?

FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol. It is the easiest way to take pictures that are on your computer and send them to the microstock server.

Note: a server is a really big and powerful computer with special software on it to display web pages.

Step 1 – Download Filezilla

Filezilla Web Site

Filezilla is free software that allows you to connect to the microstock servers using FTP. This type of software is called a FTP client.

Step 2 – Install Filezilla

If you do not know how to install software then you may want to stick to just using the web forms for submitting pictures. Filezilla is probably going to be too confusing for you.

Step 3 – Launch Filezilla

On the left hand side of the screen it will show the folders and files on your computer.

Step 4 – Connect to the Microstock Server

At the top of the screen there are boxes that say Host, Username and Password

123RF

Host: ftp.123rf.com
Username: 123RF Username
Password: 123RF Password

BigStock

Host: ftp://bigstockphoto.com
Username: BigStock Username
Password: BigStock Password

Dreamstime

Host: ftp.shutterstock.com
Username: Email address associated with your Submit Shutterstock account (example: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
Password: Your shutterstock password

Fotolia

Host: ftp://submit.fotolia.comLogin
Username: Fotolia ID (example: 909095866)
Password: Fotolia login(username) followed by your password (ex : if your login is “login” and your password is “password”, your ftp password will be “loginpassword”).

Shutterstock

Host: ftp.shutterstock.com
Username: Email address associated with your Submit Shutterstock account (example: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
Password: Your shutterstock password

After you have typed in the correct host, username and password click the “Quick Connect” button. It may take a minute for filezilla to connect to the server. When it does you will see the message “Directory listing successful” in the top box.

The boxes on the right hand side are the folders and files on the server. These will normally always appear empty when you are uploading to a microstock server because as soon as you put your files on the server they are moved automatically somewhere else.

Step 5 – Upload your files

Drag and drop your files from your computer to the server

That’s it! Your files will upload and can take a few seconds to a couple minutes per file depending on the file size and your internet connection. You may want to leave it running and go get a snack. If I am uploading a lot files I will start the process before I go to bed and leave it running overnight.

Step 6 – Process your files

Add the keywords, categories, model releases, etc…

123RF - http://submit.123rf.com/ftpresults.php?action=process
BigStock – http://www.bigstockphoto.com/account/uploads/contribute/
Dreamstime - http://www.dreamstime.com/unfinished.php
Fotolia – http://us.fotolia.com/Member/Contents
Shutterstock - http://submit.shutterstock.com/submitted_photos.mhtml

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Shutterstock Gallery

on Monday, 14 November 2011. Posted in All

I wanted to add my shutterstock image gallery to my website and realized there was not an easy way to do this so I wrote a custom solution that I am sharing with the world.

If you would like to embed your own shutterstock gallery into your website you can use my code generator.

Go to the Shutterstock Gallery Generator

Please note that this is still in beta and please report any bugs you experience.

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Microstock Control Panel

on Friday, 18 November 2011. Posted in All

I'm fairly new to the microstock world. I started submitting images in September 2010. I learned everything through forums, trial and error and developed several of my own tools to help me manage my collections at multiple sites. I decided to build a website and share those tools. The site is still in development but I completed my "Master Microstock Contributor Control Panel" and would like your feedback.

http://www.jazzerup.com/microstock-control-panel

I don't know about you but I found it extremely confusing jumping between microstock web site contributor interfaces. This is a quick way to get to the links I needed on the sites I used most often.

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IPTC the Timesaver

on Friday, 18 November 2011. Posted in All

What is is?

IPTC is VERY important if you are trying to sell your images on microstock.

When I started I had about 30 images that I uploaded via web form to three different microstock sites. I manually typed in the title, description and keywords for each image at each site. The entire process took at least five hours.

I knew there had to be an easier way. I started an excel spreadsheet of all my titles, descriptions and keywords so I could more easily paste them in.

Then I discovered IPTC!

IPTC is data embedded in the photo, otherwise known as metadata. With IPTC you can add the title, description and keywords into the image itself and the microstock sites will automatically read that data. No more manually filling out the forms fields for each image! Unfortunately you’ll still need to individually enter the categories on the individual websites that require categories.

Okay, you sold me, how do I do it?

If you are on a PC you can add IPTC information in several ways.

Windows 7:

Right click on your file, select properties.
Select the third tab "Details"
Fill in the Title, Subject and Tags

Adobe Bridge:

Open Adobe Bridge
Browse for you file
On the "metadata" window you can update the Headline, Description, Keyword, Title

Note: According to this blog if you download the trial version of adobe photoshop you get bridge included. Photoshop will expire in 30 days but you can continue to use bridge for free.

Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator:

Open Photoshop or Illustrator
Open your Image
Under File, select "File Info"
Update the Headline, Description, Keyword, Title

Note: I recommend applying the IPTC to your source files (psd, ai, eps). When you save them as jpgs they will inherit the IPTC information.

ProStock Master (freeware): http://prostockmaster.com

Open ProStock Master
Browse for your image
Update the IPTC data on the bottom box

On a Mac

(Sorry, I don't own a mac BUT I heard you can add IPTC data in iphoto. Will find a mac and update soon)

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Photoshop Scripting - Batch Convert AI to JPG

on Tuesday, 06 December 2011. Posted in All

If you are like me then you dislike mindless tasks and try to automate anything repetitious. With Microstock you can spend hours resizing and saving your images. What you may not know is that photoshop allows you to write script that automate these tasks.

Great Resources:

If you want to write your own scripts I recommend using Adobe's ExtendScript Toolkit If you have the Adobe creative suite installed then you probably already have the Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit Installed. If not, then you can download it for free on the Adobe website.

Batch Convert AI to JPG

Here is a script I wrote to take your AI illustrator files in a folder and save them as large JPG files and thumbnails.

 
//----------------------------------------------------
// Illustrator to JPG Adobe Photoshop Javascript
// Created by Jaz Witham (Jazzerup)
// 2011
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND
// Script reads all your ai files from a folder and saves them as large JPG files and thumbnails
//----------------------------------------------------
 
 
// This also allows you to simply double click the JSX file
#target photoshop

// Save current dialog preferences
var startDisplayDialogs = app.displayDialogs;
var FILE_TYPE = ".ai"; // The type of files that this script works on -- you can change
var SEARCH_MASK = "*" + FILE_TYPE; // Image file filter to find only those files
 
// Set of exception strings for error handling
var X_NOINPUT = "noInput";
var X_BADDOC = "badDoc";
var X_WERROR = "writeError";
var X_CERROR = "closeError";
 
try {
  // Ask user for input folder
  var inputFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select the folder with your ai files");
    var outputFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select the folder to save your jpg files");
  if (inputFolder == null)
  throw X_NOINPUT;
 
var VarPrefRes = prompt("How many megapixels would you like your large files?", 20);  
var VarPrefResSmall = prompt("How many megapixels would you like your thumbnail files?", 1);     
 
function resizeimages(inputFolder,  outputFolder, VarPrefRes, varsize)   {  
    // get all files in the input folder
  var fileList = inputFolder.getFiles(SEARCH_MASK);
 
  // Open each file in turn
  for (var i = 0; i < fileList.length; i++) {
      // Only want to open non-hidden files (and no folders)
    if ((fileList[i] instanceof File) && (fileList[i].hidden == false)) {
 
 
      // Open the file in Photoshop to find out resolution
      var docRef = open( fileList[i]);
      if (docRef == null)
        throw X_BADDOC;
 
                app.preferences.rulerUnits = Units.PIXELS; 
                var docRes = docRef.resolution; 
                var docWidth = docRef.width.value/docRes; 
                var docHeight = docRef.height.value/docRes; 
                var  fname = docRef.name;
 
var varRes =((docHeight * docRes) * (docWidth * docRes))/1000000;  
 
//Ratio for resizing
var resratio = VarPrefRes/varRes;
var newresneeded =  Math.sqrt(VarPrefRes/varRes) * 300;
 
docRef.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
 
        // Set the ruler units to pixels
        var pdfOpenOptions = new PDFOpenOptions
        pdfOpenOptions.antiAlias = true
        pdfOpenOptions.mode = OpenDocumentMode.RGB
        pdfOpenOptions.cropPage = CropToType.MEDIABOX
        pdfOpenOptions.suppressWarnings = true;
        pdfOpenOptions.resolution = newresneeded
        pdfOpenOptions.page = 1
 
        // Open the file in Photoshop
      var docRef = open( fileList[i], pdfOpenOptions );                
 
        //save file
       myNewString = String(outputFolder + "/" + fname + "_" + varsize + ".jpg" );
 
        jpgFile = new File(myNewString)
        jpgSaveOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions()
        jpgSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = true
        jpgSaveOptions.formatOptions = FormatOptions.STANDARDBASELINE
        jpgSaveOptions.matte = MatteType.NONE
        jpgSaveOptions.quality = 12
        app.activeDocument.saveAs(jpgFile, jpgSaveOptions, true,
        Extension.LOWERCASE)
 
        // Close the Photoshop file
      docRef.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
    }
    }
}
 
resizeimages(inputFolder,  outputFolder, VarPrefRes, "lrg")  
resizeimages(inputFolder,  outputFolder, VarPrefResSmall, "thumb")  
 
 
}
catch (exception) {
  // Show debug message and then quit
  alert(exception);
}
finally {
  // Reset app preferences
  app.displayDialogs = startDisplayDialogs;
}

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Photoshop Scripting - Batch Resize Images

on Tuesday, 06 December 2011. Posted in All

Great Resources:

Batch Resize Image Files

Here is a script I didn't write but modified to allow inputs. This script will automatically resize all your images in a folder.

 
/*
* optimizeMyImages for Adobe Photoshop
*
* This script will optimize all images in a given folder and save them to another (or the same) folder.
* Optimization involves resizing, coversion to RGB mode, and saving as a JPEG
* 
* @Copyright: (c) Mohammad Jangda (
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 )
* @License: MIT License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
*
*/
 
// This also allows you to simply double click the JSX file
#target photoshop

/* 
* Config: Change the following values to your desired settings
* MAX_WIDTH: The maximum width (in pixels) allowed for optimized images
* MAX_HEIGHT: The maximum height (in pixels) allowed for optimized images
* FILE_TYPES: The allowed file types that should be optimized
*/
const MAX_WIDTH = prompt("What would you like the maximum width (in pixels) allowed for optimized images?", 1600);  
const MAX_HEIGHT = prompt("What would you like the maximum height (in pixels) allowed for optimized images?", 1200);  
 
var FILE_TYPES = [".jpg",".jpeg",".png",".tiff",".tif",".gif",".psd"];
/*
* end config
*/
 
/*
* begin script
*/
openFilePath = Folder.selectDialog ("Select the folder with your image files");  
saveFilePath = Folder.selectDialog ("Please select a folder to save the web-ready images to:");
 
openFolder = new Folder(openFilePath);
saveFolder = new Folder(saveFilePath);
 
iterate(openFolder, saveFolder);
 
function iterate(openPath, savePath) {
 
  var files = openPath.getFiles();
  var f;
 
  for (var i=0; i<files.length; i++) {
    f = files[i];
    if(f instanceof Folder) {      
      iterate(f, savePath);
    } else if (f instanceof File) {
      //if proper file type, then open resize and save in new location
      if(isAllowedFileType(f)) {          
        app.open(f);
        resizeMyImages(savePath);
      }
    } else {
      alert("Unknown Data Type found. Exiting.")
      exit();
    }
  }
}
 
 
function isAllowedFileType(file) {
  for (var i=0; i<FILE_TYPES.length; i++) {
 
    var filename = file.name.toLowerCase();
    var ext = filename.substr(filename.lastIndexOf('.'));
 
    if(ext == FILE_TYPES[i]) {
      return true;
    }
  }
  return false;
}
 
function resizeMyImages(savePath) { 
  var docs = app.documents;
  var count = docs.length;
  var maxWidth = new UnitValue (MAX_WIDTH, "px");
  var maxHeight = new UnitValue (MAX_HEIGHT, "px");
 
  for (var i = 0; i < count; i++) {
      doc = docs[i];
      fname = doc.name;
    fname = File(savePath + "/" + fname);
    app.activeDocument = doc;
 
      if (doc.width.as("px") < maxWidth.as("px") && doc.height.as("px") < maxHeight.as("px")) {
    // no resize needed
       } else {
        if (doc.width.as("px") > doc.height.as("px")) {
           doc.resizeImage(maxWidth);
        } else {
            ratio = doc.width.as("px") / doc.height.as("px");
            width = maxHeight * ratio;
            doc.resizeImage(width,maxHeight);
        }
    }
 
    //ensure RGB mode
    if(doc.mode!="RGB") {
      doc.changeMode(ChangeMode.RGB);
    }
 
    // Save as JPEG
    jpgSaveOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions();
    jpgSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = true;
    jpgSaveOptions.matte = MatteType.NONE;
    jpgSaveOptions.quality = 8;
    app.activeDocument.saveAs(savePath, jpgSaveOptions, false, Extension.LOWERCASE);
    }
 
    //Close all open images
    while (app.documents.length) {
    app.activeDocument.close();
  }
}

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