How to Upload Vector to Fotolia

Uploading vector Fotolia is one of the easiest. You will need to prepare only 1 ZIP file. The ZIP file should contains:

• Vector file saved in EPS8 or EPS10.
• JPEG in 4000pixels x 4000pixels. Fotolia does not accept image dimension smaller than this.

Go to My Files > Upload new Files.

Upload your ZIP file accordingly.

Fill up this page like the below. A few things that you should take notes are:

• Title must be short and precise.
• Enter as much keyword as possible. Make sure the important keyword are moved to the top.
• Choose 2 categories.
• Make sure you offer this vector file for Extended License to maximize your sales profit.

Submit and you are done. Wait about 1 day to get approve.

Tutorial How to Create a Banner Scroll Vector Using Adobe Illustrator

Have you ever been wondering by how vector artist able to come out with unique banner that curved so perfectly? Here is a step by step guide on how you can do it with Adobe Illustrator.

1. Use your Adobe Illustrator and draw the below examples. I guess you have no problem drawing the following, right? In order to make all your points overlap accurately, you can use the Grid Tools (View -> Snap To Grid).

2. Select one of the rectangle and use Warp (Effect -> Warp -> Flag) just like the below.

3. Repeat the above step for the rests of the objects until you are satisfied.

4. Group the whole banner and use the Warp tool again. This time use Warp -> Arc, and you will get a perfected scrolling banner like the below.

I am also selling this banner scroll at IStockPhoto.

If you love this tutorial, please share to your friends and colleagues.

7 Reasons Not to Hire People to do Vector Stock For You

1. Return of investment. 

You may not get back what you have invested from the person you hired. The reason being is because a stock vector may not sell at the end of the day or at worst, gets rejected. Here is an example of what you will get per vector depending on the quality of the vector. Bear in mind all of the figures below are just estimations and may not be accurate at all.

An antique abacus vector.
Skills required: Average.
Production time: 3 hours.
Earning after first 6 months: $1.00
Hiring a freelance to create: $50.00.

100 road sign vector.
Skills required: Average
Production time: 10 days.
Earning after 6 months: $50.00.
Hiring  a freelance to create: $500.00

2. Management.

Hiring someone means you have to look into his work to ensure that there is quality control. You also need to have discussion (waste of time) with him and sometimes you have to look at his angry face when you comment on his works. This is called management. And managements means more investment.

3. Potential of infringement.

How do you know that a vector he produced are not stolen from somewhere else? Will you check? There are millions of vector out there and most are free. Bear in mind that this is a very serious offend if your portfolio contains a copied of others people work. You may get your whole account banned for just 1 vector.

4. He may become your competitor.

Now, isnt that something common and shouldnt be a concern? Yes, it is common if you are in car repair industry, hair dressing, or software house, but vector stock industry is different. Imagine your portfolio is popular with seamless pattern design, and this guy who has been working for you has learned all the necessary skills to produce back the similar, but better vectors. He may soon start a new portfolio that competes with you on the same category. You have to understand that you have no advantage in this because buyers dont really care much about your reputation, nor do they have emotional attachment with you.

5. He can do it too.

When you are making a lot of money from him, he will sooner or later realize that he can do this on his own. This will happen a lot sooner than you can expect.You must understand that anyone with illustration skills can do this on his own. All he need is a computer, a software, and some keywording skills. Nothing more, right? This is not an industry whereby you need a lot of resources to start.

6. He may moonlight from you.

Whats stopping him from producing higher quality vector for his own portfolio, and producing lower quality one for you? 

7. You learn less.

On a technical side, you will be spending a lot of time managing your workers. Will you still have time sharpening your skills on illustration? Afterall, the most important aspect in this industry is your illustration skills.

The above reasons make sense if you applied it on vector stock. However, if you are in stock photography, then the above 7 reasons do not applied anymore. The overhead to become a big and successful stock photography contributor is very high. You need cameras, models, studio, photography equipments, and travelling expenses.

Vector Sales Earnings in June July and August 2012

Vector sales has been amazing all the way until the last 3 months. Shutterstock has the biggest drop in sales compared to the rest. Many big contributors have been reporting a loss of 30% to 50% at Shutterstock. Other agencies fluctuated, but are still consistent and bearable, except Dreamstime.

In the last 3 months, I had failed to reach a payout ($100) at Dreamstime. This never happened in the last 2 years. The sales at Dreamstime is very disappointing with a lot of subscription sales ($0.35) and hardly any on-demand sales.

Other agencies such as DepositPhotos, CanStockPhoto, GraphicRiver, 123rf are all doing fine with little fallback. I hope they rise further.

iStockPhoto maintains its usual trend although I did not upload much there. This shows that iStockPhoto is consistent and sustainable. The sales is hard to improve, though.

Just like iStockPhoto, Fotolia remains strong, but again, I do not see major improvement despite heavy upload. The Enhanced License purchase at Fotolia is getting rare and almost unseen these days.

I believe the biggest reason for drop in sales (especially in Shutterstock) are due to summer holiday, Euro Cup, and Olympics. Many have complain that Shutterstock screws up its search algorithm making it difficult for buyers to purchase. I do not believe this is true. Looking at the site analytic from compete.com, Shutterstock traffic is dropping dramatically.

Summer holiday is ending soon, and I hope the slowdown is over. We should be seeing major improvement from September and onward. However, if no improvement can be seen at Shutterstock, then we could have a big problem.

The big problem may caused by competition from sites such as DepositPhotos, Fotolia, and ThinkStock which are currently promoting their subscription model heavily.

10 Reasons Why You Should Sell Your Vector Arts Online For Graphic Designers Only

All graphics designers in this world should sell their artworks online. Below are 10 reasons of why every graphic designers in this world should try and sell their artworks online. If you are new to this, I strongly recommend you to read the FAQ here to understand how everything works.

1. You already have the knowledge to draw artworks, and it is a waste not to use your skills to gain more income for yourself. I started out as a web designers, earnings $3000 a month, and now just after 6 months into microstock industry, I have earn an extra $2000 a month (even without doing anything anymore).

2. You dont have to convince anyone. I understand that the frustration we have as a graphics designers. We feel frustrated when our clients dislike our works and request for changes. However, in this industry, you only need to pass through the agency reviewers (which is always easy). Even amateurs with some simple buttons design can manage to sell their artworks online. Take a look at an artwork I did 6 months ago. Believe it or not, I have manage to made over $300.00 in just 6 months time with it. And the sales is still coming in. For the record, I have only spent 3 hours with the below artwork. This simply means, my 3 hours of work is worth $300.00 and it is still counting.

3. No marketing needed from us. Yes, microstock agencies in this world are huge companies. They are companies that worth over $50 millions. Marketing and advertisement campaign are done by them. They are the hypermarket, and we are the producer of the products inside. Joining these agencies will allow you to concentrate on your work fully and need not worry about no one buying it.

4. Your vector artworks will be on sale forever. Once you have successfully uploaded your works into these stock agencies, you can then sleep well at night and check on your earning the next morning everyday. No business can be better than this for a graphic designers.

5. You dont need a funding to start. This is not a big business whereby you need a significant resources to start. As long as you have a computer, vector illustration softwares, and skills, you can already start generating income. Read this page to learn more on how to start selling your vector online.

6. You dont need a partner. In fact, all vector artists should do this alone simply because you dont need a partner to start. This is all individual work, and you dont want to waste your time in discussion.

7. You work for your hobby. There is no obligations, regulations, or any commitments you need to put into this. Microstock agencies do not force you to do anything. You do it whenever you feel like doing it. For your information, some vector artists produce 1 artwork everyday, while the other... 20 a day depending on the skills and quality of the work.

8. The biggest dilemma of being a graphic designer is to chase for the money. Clients sometimes drag our money to a very long extent and at worst, they never pay at the end of the day. After 6 months into microstock industries, I have to clap my hand and give praise to how efficient they pay my earnings. So far, I have not receive any late payment or delayed earnings at all.

9. The longer you are in the industry, the bigger you are. Buyers love to buy back from you if you can consistently produce good artworks. When your portfolio becomes bigger, your chances of selling is also higher.

10. And lastly, you can work from home :)

For a start, I would recommend you to join the below 6 microstock agencies and get yourself to register as a contributor to them.

Shutterstock

IStockPhoto 

Fotolia 

Dreamstime 

GraphicRiver

They have consistently create sales for my works and best of all, it is in an uptrend. 

I wish you good luck and may all the graphics designers in the world earn more.

Ohh, and before I forget, joining these stock agencies as a contributor is totally FREE.

Register as a contributor now :)
If you have any problem in the registration process, just ask me at this Facebook Discussion Board. I will try my best to help.

Fotolia is Rejecting my Vector for no Good Reason

Fotolia had been one of my best agency. I used to love it. It accepted everything I submitted and produced a decent sales all the time.

But recently, Fotolia has been rejecting my vectors... without giving me a good reason. I am really frustrated and annoyed. Below are the sample of rejected vectors. Bear in mind that these vectors had already been accepted by all other agencies and they are selling already.

And below is the rejection reason from Fotolia.

Fotolia: Photograph Declined - Technical Problems 

Hello leremy, 

We regret to inform you that photo 39961352 was not accepted. Photographs submitted to Fotolia must meet high technical standards.
The image contains one or more technical problems:

• Blurry or out of focus

• Over/Under exposure

• Framing problem

• Over or under saturated colors

• Problems with contrast

• Noise or Pixelation

• Quality of routing

• Interpolation problem

Looking at the rejection reason, one vector contributor can clearly understand that these reasons are standard reasons for declining a photograph, not a vector. Vectors will not have the problems mentioned above. What I am really questioning now is whether my reviewer is a qualified vector artist himself or merely a photographer who dont understand anything about vector.

Since Fotolia did not gave me a reason that make sense, I guess the problem could be having jagged edges in my vector when Fotolia requires us to submit a 15MP resolution JPEG for the vector. You know, when you save any artwork of that size, your artwork will have jagged edges because the DPI in our screen could not accommodate such a precision. This is actually a limitation. That could be the reason for rejection. Thus, I have resubmitted my vector and explained to them about the problem in the Note to Moderator column. What happen was, they rejected it again with the EXACT SAME reason like above. I was hoping that they could at least give me a clue on whats my problem was. This is utterly frustrating.

I then, wrote a message to Fotolia about all the problems mentioned above. Below is the message.

Fotolia keeps rejecting my vector work recently and the reviewers did not specific the problem. They only give me a general reply to the rejection which doesnt make sense at all. This is making me very frustrated.
The REF in my Inbox for these problems are:9054164490541643905416419054164090541639
Can you please explain in details what are the problem with these submission?
From a very frustrated contributor. 

And this is their reply. Again, another standard reply which makes you feel the that you are unimportant to them.

Hi,
Thank you for your e-mail. 
All of your images and videos have been reviewed by our selection team. Please note that the selection team is a separate department, so we have no influence on their decision. The main criteria for validation or rejection are: the quality of the image/video, the technical requirements, the similarity to existing Fotolia photographs and the images/videos sale potential. We know that it can be difficult to have an image or video rejected but please bear with us. You would be able to view your deleted files by going to: "My Files > Manage My Files > Show Deleted Files (green button located on the right side)". We encourage you to continue uploading your images and videos.
Kind regards,
Fotolia.com 

You see, up to this point, there is almost nothing I could do to get my artwork approved. These artworks had taken days to produce. It is not just about tracing photograph. It takes days and months to gather the resources from real objects and human model I photographed myself.

To conclude this, I will give up submitting to Fotolia for the time being, and hopefully there will be a change in the reviewer system one day later. Of course, this will not break my spirit to continue since all other agency still love my work.

If you are a vector contributor and having the same problem, please share with us. Thank you.

Where is the Best Place to Buy Stock Photo and Vector

There are more than 30 stock agencies out there, and I will only recommend a few based on their credibility, trust-worthy, quality, and quantity of stocks available in their site.

iStockPhoto
iStockPhoto is definitely the top site to buy photos and vectors from. They are reliable and very customer-centric.The special thing about iStockPhoto is that it has many exclusive photos and vectors. Meaning, you cannot get these stocks anywhere else. Furthermore, the quality of their stocks are top notch. The only fallback is that they are more expensive compares to other agencies.

Another issue to concern about is the expiry of your credits. Your credits will expire in a year time if you do not finish using them. This has been quite a headache because these credits cannot convert back to cash.

Shutterstock
If you are looking for the most-loved stock agency in the world, then Shutterstock is my choice. Shutterstock is loved by buyers and contributors. From my observation, there are at least 10 to 30 times more buyers at Shutterstock compares to other agencies.

They are loved by buyers because they have the biggest collection of photos and vectors. And most of their stock are NOT available at iStockPhoto because they do not meet iStockPhotos requirement. This is not because they are low in quality, but because they are "too cheap" and contain text. A single file can contain hundreds of beautiful elements, and Shutterstock is selling them at the same price. You cannot get these files at iStockPhoto.

Apart from that, the on-demand and subscription plan are simple and easily understandable. The search is amazing as well and you can easily find the stocks you want. Whether you plan to buy one file or many files, it has the right choice for you. Shutterstock is a MUST-CONSIDER stock agency.

Fotolia
Why Fotolia? They are the cheapest. Yes, the pay-as-you-go and subscription plan at Fotolia are unbelievably cheap. You can also customize your credit plans and this is one of my favorite tool. Fotolia will remain as one of my top choice when considering where to buy.

The quantity of collection at Fotolia is lesser compares to Shutterstock and iStockphoto mainly because contributors contribute less here - because they sell too cheap and the royalty rates for Contributor is among the lowest too. You can get an Extended-License at Fotolia for the cheapest price in the industry because many of the contributors did not (or forget) to adjust the pricing for their Extended-License. So, many files remain as 40 credits for Extended License as oppose to 100 credits.

The only reason not to choose Fotolia is because their search engine are less accurate. If you compare search results, Shutterstock would almost beat Fotolia anytime. This is a very important criteria for designers because a good search engine saves time - a lot of time.

123RF
If you are looking for the best customer service with live support, then 123RF is the agency you are looking for. Their live support (Live Chat) is definitely quick and supportive. Whatever questions and help you need, they can answer you straight away and you dont have to wait for emails or queue.

GraphicRiver
There are two things that GraphicRiver offers to designers that you cannot get anywhere else. First, is the Photoshop file. Second, is the exclusivity of their files. Furthermore, their files are very high in quality.

GraphicRiver tags their files very cheap, and you dont have to buy credits in bulk, and so this is good for small time buyers. If you cannot find what you need elsewhere, then perhaps you should look into GraphicRiver. It may contains just what you needed.

DepositPhotos
Another great site. DepositPhotos is the rising star in microstock industry. Small time buyers love to buy here because they only have to pay very little before they can actually start buying. Their pricing is as good as Fotolia.

As a contributor myself, I can see DepositPhotos is moving into the right direction. I believe in the long run, DepositPhotos can be a top agency.

To summarize this, on whether which is the best stock agency to buy from will depend on who you are. If you are a small timer, then Fotolia, GraphicRiver, and DepositPhotos are good choices. If you are looking for high quality items, then buy from iStockPhoto. And if you are looking to buy a lot of photos/vectors, I would strongly recommend Shutterstock as it has the most choices, plus the search engine returns the most accurate result - always.

Shutterstock Vector Sales Not Doing Well

Vector graphics earning in Shutterstock had been on increasing trend for a very long time. Contributors were working very hard to produce more and more high quality vectors. The competition was stiff as ever, but we survived. Not this time, though.

Reading posts from everywhere around the Internet, I can see that weve probably hit the peak somewhere in 2013. 2014 is a decline for Shutterstock and it is still declining. Yes, probably only Shutterstock is declining because other agencies have been neutral. Sad, but true.

I am seeing a sharp drop in my sales at Shutterstock just like everyone else. Many have come up with theories such as:
- search algorithm changes by Shutterstock
- server uptime issue
- summer holiday
- tight competition among contributors
- Getty giving away free images
- ... and many more...

Everything above could be true, but I personally dont think of that. I think Shutterstock is losing clients.

Fotolia introduced DPC (I have opt out because I dont like the idea).
IStock introduced subscription model.
DepositPhotos and 123rf are advertising heavily.

All these are hurting Shutterstock sales and we dont see our overall earnings spread evenly because the income of our vector images are getting less and less everyday in other agencies when they "silently" played around with their royalties, ranking system, and buyer packages.

The trend of "race to the bottom" is also worrying one. Agencies are fighting a price war. Contributors and agencies are suffering because of this. Jon Oringer knows this (who would have know better, if not Jon?). If I am Jon, I will probably start diversifying my investment into other new revolutionary ideas.

Strategies in Selling Vector Graphics

Selling vector graphics needs a strategy to win. You cannot simply draw anything you like and upload them without a direction. You need to set yourself a winning strategy to gain in the long term. Yes, this is a long term game, and it is not a get-rich-quick thing. I have seen many strategies used by different artists and I believe most of them have excel in their own ways.

Producing Only Good Quality Vector

Producing good quality vector takes time. One very good vector takes about 3-7 days to produce. You take into consideration of every pixels and make sure everything is perfect before releasing it. Your portfolio will be very much smaller in this case because you can only produce 2 vectors per week. There is a big advantage in this strategy because your vector graphic is likely to sell a lot and for a very long time. A high quality vector can generate about $500 a month and will probably continue to sell for a very long time. Additional to that, you will be branded as a "celebrity" and celebrity has fans.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/176509/176509,1290532071,2/stock-vector-vector-set-calligraphic-design-elements-and-page-decoration-lots-of-useful-elements-to-embellish-65754793.jpg

High quality vector.

This is a top seller at Shutterstock.

Producing a Similar Theme of Graphics Everyday

Now, this is a strategy that not many will use because it is hard to produce something similar, over and over again. But if you are a machine and full of ideas about it, this strategy can be applied to you. Producing a similar type of graphic has its advantage of its own. First, buyer who lands on your portfolio will definitely buy something from you because you have got tons of choices to choose. There are high chances that he will buy a few vector graphics from your portfolio in one time. Also, he may come back for you in the future because he knows you have a lot of choices for that particular subject.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/196705/196705,1283411048,1/stock-vector-seamless-pattern-60203107.jpg

A beautiful seamless pattern.
This is one of the best seller at Shutterstock.

Producing Single Isolated Cartoon Massively

How much is consider massive? 10000. Yes, there are vector artists who produce isolated cartoon massively. It is not crazy, is just pure hard works and creativity. Take a look at this portfolio by lineartestpilot and Cory Thoman. They have produce tons and tons of beautiful cartoons everyday and I think everybody will love these cartoons. In my personal opinions, single character cartoon dont sell well (perhaps 5 downloads per month) because it is very limited to its usage, but when one need it, they will definitely buy it for whatever price. A huge advantage in this strategy is that you can increase your portfolio size tremendously. Bigger portfolio means higher visibility. Drawing cartoon characters is fun too and you will never get boring with it. Because you are good in drawing cartoon, you can produce a lot of them in a short time. This strategy works and will definitely pay off.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/83138/83138,1232570881,5/stock-vector-little-dog-sitting-23672650.jpg

A cartoon dog by Cory Thoman.
This is on sale at Shutterstock.

Getting Out of Competition

You know, whatever things that you can think off now, has most probably been drawn by other artists thousands of time already. Competition is never good. A strategy that some use is to get out of the competition. You research on the thing you had in mind and sees if anyone else have drawn it yet; and if you could do better. Yes, there are still things that hasnt been drawn thousand of time yet and you will definitely land on the first page in the search. Being seen means a sale possibility.

If you search for the keyword "Chinese Chess" vector at Shutterstock you will get less than 10 results. This means almost no competition for this subject and you will definitely being seen. Whereas, if you search for the keyword "icon", you will get more than half a million of such results. Try to avoid competition. Do something new and unique and it will be profitable in the long run.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/598477/598477,1274752699,1/stock-vector-chinese-chess-vector-53805082.jpg
Chinese Chess in Vector at Shutterstock.

Drawing According to Seasons

What seasons do we have? We have Christmas, Valentine, Halloween, New Year, Independence Day, and many many more. This has never gone wrong and there will definitely be buyer on this. However, you have to upload your seasonal-theme vector a few months earlier. Clients need to get their stuff ready and graphic designers need your vectors earlier too for the preparation.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/193093/193093,1263083679,4/stock-vector-valentine-s-day-type-text-44144614.jpg
Some Valentine Day artwork at Shutterstock.

Packing Everything 

You pack everything into one and sell it cheap. Yes, this basically destroy the microstock industry because you are pulling the price down. But again, if you dont do it, others will. And they will prevail, while you fail. This strategy is proven working, but whether it is worth doing it or not, is not up to me to judge. Packing everything definitely sells better but it is time consuming, and sometimes dont really sell at all.

As a conclusion, there are definitely many type of strategies to sell your vector graphics efficiently. However, it all comes down to hard work and skills. If you are really keen to go into selling vectors to make money, I recommend you to join the below agencies for a start and will it will definitely pay off.

Shutterstock

IStockPhoto 

Fotolia 

Dreamstime 

GraphicRiver

I wish you good luck and remember to share this article to your friends if you love it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Am I Too Late to Sell Vector Graphics now

Thats one hell of a question. But, every old birds in the microstock industry will tell you that it is never too late. However, 10 times tougher you must expect (with Yoda voice).

Contributors used to sell hundreds of downloads for a simple set of 16 vector icons during 2008 era. One such simple set of icons can generate you thousands of dollars over a short period of time. Today, a big set of 100 - 500 vector of icons can only generate you $10 dollar a month. Though, this is just my hypothesis, but I believe many can agree and more would agree soon.

Too many people contributing too many high quality works causes the meltdown. The supply is overshadowing the demands. Do you want to know who you are competing with? Take a look at this.

Searching for the keyword "icon set" at Shutterstock.
Searching for the keyword "silhouette" at Shutterstock.
Searching for the keyword "animal cartoon" at Shutterstock.
Searching for the keyword "labels" at Shutterstock.

Are you up to the challenge? Can you produce such quality and quantity? If you think you do, then it is not too late for you. And all is not lost. There are contributors who are still be able generate a comfortable side income from this with less quality works. You must be able to hit the right niche and continue to be committed to it.

If you really want to give it a try, then I recommend you to try the below 3 agencies first due higher volume of downloads and acceptance rate.

Shutterstock (must try first)
Fotolia
DepositPhotos

The golden era of microstock is definitely over, but that doesnt mean you cannot create your own golden era if you start now.

How to Upload Vector to Shutterstock

Uploading vector to Shutterstock may be confusing to newcomers because Shutterstock does not coupled the vector and JPEG together to sell. You need to upload both of them separately so that both your vector and JPEG version are available for sale.

First, prepare the below 3 files.

• JPEG in 2800pixels x 2800pixels. This is for the JPEG version. You are advised not to save this JPEG in a much bigger resolution because your illustration will look jagged and distorted when you view it in 100%, thus the reviewer will most likely reject it. So saving it in 2800pixels x 2800pixels is sufficient.
• Vector file saved in EPS8 or EPS10.
• JPEG in 4000pixels x 4000pixels. This will be used to generate the preview for the vector file above. It is OK to save this file in a much smaller dimension, however, some agency like Fotolia will need this JPEG to be this big.

Go to Upload Content > Upload Images > via HTTP. Upload your 3 files accordingly. Please take not that the vector file and JPEG for preview MUST BE IN THE SAME NAME. Press submit files when you are ready.

Fill up the this page like the below. A few things that you should take notes are:

• The title is best to be short and precise. Do not spam this section or you may get warning.
• It is best to have as many keywords as possible, but make sure they are all relevant.
• Choose two categories.
• Illust/Clip-Art must be checked as Yes for both the Vector and JPEG version.
• Although Shutterstock will not ask you for the photo (or sketches) you used to trace or refer when you create the illustration, but make sure you keep the original photo for this in case there is a dispute in future. REMEMBER, the photo that you used to trace or refer must be owned by you 100% or your account will be shut down.

Submit for review and you are done. Wait about 1 week for them to get approve :)

Good luck.