Category: Recommendations
Pixamba.com Beta opens to the public
It seems that once a three year we create the next thing, helping you to get some more sales online ![]()
Visit Pixamba web site and take a look what we did this time.
Build on an advanced cloud computing infrastructure, Pixamba is probably the world-fastest online stock photography agency today. Utilizing our technological advantage, we plan to add more features and media services soon.
We start with 255,000 midstock collection and we welcome microstock contributors.
At the moment the business model is credit-based and your commissions are $0.40/credit for any non-exclusive submission, which is effectively 40%-53% (depending on the credits package price) of the sale price.
Register now, take a tour and tell us what you think and how we can make things better and more convenient for you.
ProStockMaster celebrates 3 years, special discount available
>>> July 27 2009 - UPDATE: Hurry, just a few days left! <<<
We have started in June 2006 and this month ProStockMaster celebrates 3 years online.
We invite you to celebrate with us and we are happy to offer you a special limited-time discount: 15% off for PRO license. Hurry, this offer ends on July 31.
Redeem coupon 3YEARS here
Upload to any FTP-enabled photo stock agency with ProStockMaster by replacing Shutterstock
Did you know that if you do not work with Shutterstock in PSM you can use "Shutterstock FTP" credentials uploading to any FTP-enabled agency? Just keep in mind that what is shown as "Shutterstock" in PSM is in fact your trusted "ABC-stock" agency.
How to do that: go to "Upload->Stock Agencies->Shutterstock" and replace Shutterstock FTP server name with the name of the FTP server for "ABC-stock", adding your FTP credentials for "ABC-stock".
From now on, each time you upload to "Shutterstock" the file actually goes to "ABC-stock". Since Shutterstock keeps blocking their submitters login with the image captcha you can't see your Shutterstock stats in PSM anyway, so it can be used as a placeholder for any other FTP-enabled agency you prefer to work with.
Yuri Arcurs shows up his studio, Crestock promots itself
If you did not see it yet somewhere else, worth watching:
a virtual tour in Yuri Arcurs studio, guided by Yuri.
Impressive.
Dumping all JPG IPTC metadata to a CSV - free utility
We just have released a small and nice command line Java-based utility that can dump all your JPG IPTC metadata to a CSV file. It runs recursively for all the subfolders, collecting all JPGs there and writing their metadata in a CSV file.
This JPG IPTC metadata to CSV utility is free to download and is free to use with no limitations. It is delivered to you as a part of ProStockMaster software according to PSM EULA. This utility requires an installed PSM v1.6.2 or later, with either free or commercial license. Free PSM installation is available here. The utility also requires pre-installed Java 5 or later. (Get latest Java here)
You can download the utility JAR file here
Windows Installation & Run
Installation
Put psm_metadump.jar file in the lib folder in ProStockMaster installation directory (Typically, "C:\Program Files\ProStockMaster")
The full path to JAR should be like "C:\Program Files\ProStockMaster\lib\psm_metadump.jar"
Running
It's a command line tool, so you open a cmd window, then type in:
cd prostockmaster-installation-directory
(i.e. typically you type: cd "C:\Program Files\ProStockMaster")
Next, run:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar root-folder-for-your-JPGs
Example:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar D:\\usr\\david\\img\\20D\\edited_full_size_jpg\\stock
Note that you have either to duplicate back slashes in the folder path, making \\ instead of \
or replace each \ by / (replace the backslash by the slash)
The utility produces a CSV file "psm_metadump.csv" in the current directory, i.e. in that "C:\Program Files\ProStockMaster" where you run it in the cmd window.
NOTE: the output file is overwritten each time!
Mac Installation & Run
Installation
CTRL+click on PSM 'java-cup' icon, whenever you have it installed, select Open Folder and put the downloaded psm_metadump.jar file in "Contents/Resources/Java/lib" folder. You should see all the rest of .jar files there, if they are not there you went to the wrong place.
Run
Open Terminal window and type in
cd psm-installation--folder/ProStockMaster.app/Contents/Resources/Java
where psm-installation--folder is where you put PSM (e.g. your Desktop folder path)
Next, run:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar root-folder-for-your-JPGs
Example:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar /usr/david/Desktop/images/stock
The utility produces a CSV file "psm_metadump.csv" in the current directory, i.e. in that "psm-installation--folder/ProStockMaster.app/Contents/Resources/Java where you run it in the Terminal window.
NOTE: the output file is overwritten each time!
More configurable params (all platforms)
1. You can specify different output file path by providing the second argument in the command line:
Example:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar /usr/david/img/stock /temp/metadata.csv
in this case the output file will be "/temp/metadata.csv" (note again the double-backslashes)
2. You can replace the default columns delimiter ";" (semicolon) by any char you want, providing the third argument to the command line:
Example:
java -jar lib/psm_metadump.jar /usr/david/img/20D/edited_full_size_jpg/stock /temp/metadata.csv #
- here symbol "#" will be inserted as the columns delimiter in the output file. Make sure that your reading software can understand such CSV though.
Using "," (comma) as a columns delimiter is NOT recommended since this is the default keywords delimiter. Do not use comma until you want each keyword to be inserted in its own column (and I have no idea why you might want that)
3. When openning the CSV file make sure you have checked 'semicolon' and unchecked 'comma' check buttons in the export wizard:

Faster Faster ProStockMaster
We have just released a new Windows package with no embedded Java.
It is a much smaller download - just about 6 MB instead of 19 MB, and it works with your pre-installed Java.
You must have an installed Java on your machine in order to run PSM with this installation! If you are not sure if you got any Java, go to Windows "Start" menu, select "Run" and type in "cmd".
A DOS-style shell window opens. Type in
java -version
on the command prompt. If you get something like this
java version "1.6.0_12"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_12-b04)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 11.2-b01, mixed mode, sharing)
it means that you have some Java installed. It is highly recommended to upgrade your Java to the latest version using MS Windows Control Panel prior to starting the application. The minimum required JVM version is 1.5.12.
Since modern Java 6 on Windows is faster than the previous JVM version we bundle with PSM, with the new packaging and with the latest JVM ProStockMaster will run faster! Also, many GUI-related issues are fixed in Java 6, so various skins work faster and behave more stable in JVM 6.
The new PSM packaging also fixes some weird but relatively rare problems with Windows Vista 32-bit/64-bit pre-installed JVMs. If PSM refuses to start on your Windows machine with the bundled Java try this 'unbundled' installation package.
Note that ProStockMaster version did not change. It is the same v1.6.0 we have released last month.
If you wish to 'upgrade' your existing 1.6 installation with the new packaging, taking the advantage of faster PSM with your latest JVM just get the the setup file and install PSM in the same folder where the previous version resides.
Actually, it's a 'back to future' packaging since we have started the distribution this way. Then we switched to bundled JVM to avoid support issues related to improper Java installations and JVM functioning. Now we came back to that, bring you now both the 'bundled' and the 'unbundled' packages, so you can choose the package that works better for you.
Installation packages: Worldwide | North America
