GET YOUR IMAGES ON SALE: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
Follow our 3-step guide for everything you need to know about uploading your images to Alamy, from how to get your images on sale to how to be in control of your content with Alamy Image Manager (AIM).
Complete Step 1 by uploading, then adding captions and tags to get your images on sale.
Then, complete steps 2 and 3 to increase visibility of your images in customer searches and your chances of making more sales by adding additional information and metadata.
So what are you waiting for? Get started and get uploading with our easy guide!
GET YOUR IMAGES ON SALE
There are just two things you need to do to get your images on sale: upload, and add captions and tags.
Upload
1. For your first test submission you need to upload 3 of your best images. Our system needs both “Make and Model” Exif data fields to go through to the QC team.
2. Uploads can be made through our Online Upload Tool through Alamy Image Manager (AIM) or by using FTP.
3. There'll be confirmation in your account whether you’ve passed QC or not. Once you’ve passed your first test, then you can upload as much as you like.
Captions & tags
4. Now your images have passed QC they can be managed in Alamy Image Manager (AIM).
5. To get them on sale add a caption and at least 5 tags to each of your images. You can add tags to more than one image at a time by selecting multiple images at once, for example if it’s a set of images from the same shoot.
6. Now your images will show as being 'on sale’! This is indicated by the red bar under the image turning from red (meaning 'not on sale') to orange or green (meaning 'on sale'). They’ll be on the customer-facing side of the site 24 hours after the search index update.
7. Read on for how to add restrictions, license types and make your images more saleable by adding additional metadata.
Top tips for Upload
If you’ve uploaded images via your Smartphone, you’ll need to add captions and tags through a PC or laptop to get them on sale.
QC review takes up to 24 hours, but can be longer over weekends, public holidays, and during busy periods, or if you have a low QC Rank.
Most images are failed for being soft - make sure you check your images at 100% before uploading. See our detailed guide on “How to pass QC”.
If you’re looking to upload Live News images you’ll need to request access. Visit our live news page for more help with this.
Top tips for Captions & Tags
Adding captions helps the customer understand the context of the image. Adding tags means the customer can use keywords in their search to find your images more easily.
Only add words that are relevant to the image. You don't have to add 50 tags (it's not a target) and images that have 10 to 20 keywords perform equally as well. Read more about best practice for adding captions and tags.
Supertags are tags which are given a higher priority in the search results than normal tags. Click the star icon (which appears on each tag) to convert a tag into a supertag.
For more on how to manage your images, check out our detailed Alamy Image Manager (AIM) guide.
SET LICENSE TYPES, ADD RESTRICTIONS AND RELEASES
Choosing a license type (Rights Managed or Royalty Free) and the restrictions ('editorial only' or all uses) on your images means you have control over how your images are made available to customers. This includes how and where your images might be used, whether for editorial use or commercial use. These can be set on an image-by-image basis or by default.
Setting License type (RM or RF)
• ‘Rights Managed’ (RM) means that the image can only be used in specific projects which define how, where, when or for how long an image will be used. ‘Royalty Free’ (RF) means that the image can be used on any specific project as well as any future projects by the same customer.
• Set the license type for images in Alamy Image Manager. If you know that you want all your images to be either RM or RF, you can set a default using the cog wheel at top right of AIM to save time for future uploads.
Adding an Editorial restriction
• You’ll be asked on upload if the image is intended for editorial uses only, otherwise by default your images will be made available for both editorial and commercial uses.
• You can set a default in AIM using the cog wheel (top right) so future submissions will be automatically restricted.
• If you want to restrict images already uploaded, you can do so using the Optional tab in AIM.
Model and Property Releases
• A release is a written agreement between you and the model you’re photographing or between you and the person who owns the property you’re photographing to give you permission to sell the image commercially. Read more when you might need a release.
• Follow the steps below to make it easier for customers to understand whether you’ve got a release or not, as this may inform their decision whether to license the image, especially if they want to use the image commercially.
• In the ‘Optional’ tab in AIM, select the number of people in the image. If there’s at least one then you can select yes or no to whether you have a Model Release. If you say you have a release, you need a release for all the people in image - this includes if you cannot see the person's face or they are unrecognisable.
• Select yes or no to whether there is property in the image. If there is, then you’ll need to add whether you have a release or not. 'Property' includes images that contain any third-party intellectual property such as cars, logos, tattoos, statues, as well as buildings and private property (land).
Top tips for Licenses and restrictions
Customers search for and select images through our website. RM images will be priced for their end use and RF on the size downloaded or by use.
If you want to license your image for commercial use then you’ll need a model release for any person that’s in the shot, even if they’re unrecognisable.
RM licenses can be offered on images marked as RF to give customer flexibility on purchasing choices. Images marked as RM can never be sold as RF.
Check out our guidance for the difference between editorial only uses and commercial uses.
Top tips for Model and Property Releases
If there’s people or property in your image and you want to make your images available for commercial licensing, you’ll need a release. See our blog for why you might need a release for your images.
You can download and use our Model Release Template and Property Release Template.
You don’t need to send us a copy of your Model or Property Release, just update whether you've got one in AIM.
Property includes things like buildings, artwork, logos, branded items or identifiable trademarks.
ADD ADDITIONAL METADATA TO IMPROVE DISCOVERABILITY
Completing the 'optional metadata' section in AIM could make your images more discoverable, and filling this section out accurately will mean your images have added value. It can help customers verify the image and be better informed in deciding whether to license your image, compared to others where this information is incomplete.
Below are descriptions for each of the fields found in the optional tab of AIM (guidance on ‘Number of People’, ‘Property’ (releases) and ‘sell for editorial only’ are covered in section 2 above).
Additional Metadata
• Location – freeform text, it’s good practice to include town/village followed by county or region, then country.
• Date taken – If you don’t know the exact date, or upload archive material or artworks see the best practice for applying "date taken" information.
• Primary & Secondary categories – these are subjects for the types of images you’re uploading depending on context. A Secondary category is not always needed. Download our Image Categories Guide for more details on category definitions.
• Public Domain images – you only need to tick this box if you’re uploading images where copyright status has expired or does not apply. It does not refer to a photograph that you have taken in a public place and you still own the copyright.
• Exclusivity – Tick this box if your images are ‘exclusive’ to Alamy. You don’t have to be exclusive, but there are benefits. Read more about the criteria needed for marking your images as exclusive and how our Infringements Team work. You should never mark an image as 'exclusive' if it doesn't meet the criteria mentioned in the blog.
• Additional Info – this isn’t searchable but can help customers understand the background of an image, with contextual information that’s additional to the caption/description of the image.
