Permalink7 July 2008 at 11:03 by Alan Capel - Head of Content
Posted under Advice and tips
© Digital Vision We introduced our new annotation structure to enable us to improve the quality of our search results, launch a number of new features and to improve our offering to the commercial market.
We’ve been looking at the quality of the annotation of the images and unfortunately we’ve found a number of problems. So much so that we are delaying
a number of initiatives until we are are happy with the accuracy of the data.
We want to take this opportunity to reiterate some of the key points to remember. We'd like to encourage all contributors to have a look at their annotation and amend any inaccuracies, this will not only help our customers but may well have a beneficial effect on your future AlamyRank. Remember, irrelevant images will be ignored and that's not good for your Rank.
We appreciate that the tools we have provided are not ideal for annotating large numbers of images or for re-annotating images already online. We are
progressing our plans to provide a much improved interface which will include 'bulk tools’ enabling you to work on a large number of images at one time. For
example if all of your images are ‘photographs’ rather than illustrations’ you will be able to set this for all of your images.
These new tools are on the way, so we fully understand that you may want to wait until they arrive before tackling this work. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.
Model Releases
Why do we need this information?
Accurate model release information is critical when operating in the commercial sector inhabited by corporates, designers and advertising agencies.
In order for Alamy to fulfil its potential in this area we need greater confidence in the quality of our information. If we can pass this confidence onto our customers we will all prosper.
What to remember.
You may have seen our response to a contributor who knowingly stated an image was released when it wasn’t. Hopefully this highlighted the importance we attach to the accuracy of this information.
All we need to know is whether you have a release in your possession or not. The answer should be unambiguous.
We are embarking on a project to spot check a number of images, we will pay particular attention to images where we feel it's doubtful that a release
exists. If a contributor has stated that a release exists we will ask for a digital copy of the release.
We appreciate there may be genuine mistakes. If we suspect this may be the case we will give the contributors involved a short period of time to double
check all of their images to avoid them suffering the same fate as the contributor who actively tried to mislead customers.
This may seem an over reaction but we have been encouraged by the positive feedback to our actions so far and remind all contributors that we have the
customers' best interests at heart.
Property releases
Why do we need this information?
If an image is used without a property release, the owner of the property may have recourse for financial recompense if their property is associated with a brand, service or product. Many cases involve property that is instantly recognisable as belonging to a specific person but this does not have to be the
case. Customers wanting to use images for commercial purposes want to have the security of a signed property release.
What to remember.
What does or doesn’t require a property release has long been debated in our industry. The general principle though is that if an image contains identifiable physical property (house, car, pets even! etc) or intellectual property (logo, trademark etc) it requires a property to be used for commercial purposes (e.g. in an advertisement or company brochure). Images that contain property that requires a release but one doesn’t exist can still be submitted to Alamy but these images should have editorial only restrictions and they cannot be royalty free.
We would also like to remind contributors that they will be liable if they are found to have trespassed when taking the image. It’s fine to take a picture
of my house from the road but if you come in my garden to take the shot I can sue you.
If you are in any doubt we recommend you protect yourself by saying that the image does require a property release for commercial purposes.
We have provided a list of the more obvious images that should not be Royalty Free.
How many people are in the image?
Why do we need this information?
This information is important for two reasons, in the future we want to make a filter available for customers who want a certain number of people, or no
people at all in an image. We also use the answer to this question to qualify whether you need to answer the next question regarding whether a release
exists.
What to remember.
It may seem a very straightforward question and we believe it’s an easy one to answer, however we have seen mistakes made here. We’ve seen images full of people listed as ‘0‘ people and the opposite where images with no-one in sight are listed as containing people.
A few rules to follow:
- However unrecognisable or obscured the person may be it should be considered to be a ‘person’
- Body parts should be considered to be a ‘person’
- If it’s a crowd scene please mark as ‘more’
Photograph or Illustration?
Why do we need this information?
Alamy contains both photographs and illustrations, in the future we will provide customers with the ability to filter search results using this criteria.
What to remember.
This is a photograph
This is an illustration
Illustrations are images created by means other than directly through a camera. If you take a photograph of an illustration but show
it in context, well then this is a photograph and not an illustration.
Is this image a Cut Out?
Why do we need this information?
Many Alamy customers want to cut objects out of images and drop them into their own designs and layouts. In the future we want customers to be able to find images suitable for these purposes through a search filter.
What to remember
This is a cut out
This is not a cut out
This is not a cut out
The key element should be able to be completely cut out and placed elsewhere. These images are typically studio shots on white
backgrounds, however a single coloured background will also serve the same purpose. Even if an image can be ‘cut out’ but it has light or shadow across the
object it would not be suitable for ‘cut out’ as it would look peculiar if viewed out of context.
Is the image digitally altered?
Why do we need this information?
Some customers want to ensure the image has the utmost authenticity and is not a gross distortion of the truth. We want to provide a search filter so these images can be excluded if the authenticity is important to that customer.
What to remember
This is digitally altered
Examples of digitally altered images:
- Digital composites where items have been added, moved or removed from the original image
- Digital manipulations where major changes to saturation or contrast have been made
The following should not be classed as ‘digitally altered’:
- Cropped images
- Images converted to black and White from colour
- Minor changes to levels or saturation
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