Thanks UncleGene, I appreciate that very much!

Well I just tried it out for few hours and :

Thing I miss or I couldn't figure them out ,  or I think would make it more useful than now

Alphabetical sort for keywords - almost a must for me

I would like to see copy IPTC data in a click option ( I mean right clicking the thumb , copy data , shift clicking multiple thumbs and pasting whole image info) , rather than exporting text files or adding similar images and browsing folders etc.

Working in multiple windows ( like in bridge ) would make my workflow way more simple. 

And stats for several sites are not accurate or have data missing.



Once again I spent just few hours with it so maybe I couldn't find some options that are possibly there

Lizard:
Alphabetical sorting of keyword is available in "Manage Metadata" window. Clicking there on the keywords list column header will sort keywords alphabetically (asc/desc order) and will remove duplicates (relevant for 'suggested keywords' column).

Among other well-hidden features: ALT-click on thumbnail or preview shows the essential metadata: shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, file size - just the short summary

Metadata copy in context menu - thanks for the tip, great suggestion, we'll do it. And thanks for the other comments.


RacePhoto:
Auto-update is incremental and typically works well if your current version is relatively new, i.e. "2-3 releases old".
This is because we want to save time and bandwidth during the upgrade.
For the older versions  the recommended practice is just to re-download the full software archive.
The same is correct if after the auto-upgrade your software suddenly behaves strange :-)
The latest binaries are located here:
http://www.prostockmaster.com/download.php

On Windows, if you install the new version in the same folder you are done.
On Mac, install PSM in a separate folder, run the app and select "Connect", pointing to the previous DB location. Thus your new version will start working with the previous DB.

Reports printing is a very nice idea, thanks for requesting it. This feature becomes very important with the planned increase of statistics data reporting.

 

I'm stll testing/using the trial version.  I really like the keywording and preparation capabilities, especially being able to duplicate data from one image across several.  The interface is much more intuitive than the trial version of Cushy Stock.  After trying both, I settled on ProStock. 

I'm new to the business and uploading to only three agencies, but ... when/if I expand, this software will be even more valuable. 

This isn't a sales pitch.  .... Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... maybe it should be.  Got any free samples, David?   

I use the program and like it a lot, great interface and the upload feature works well. Saves me a lot of time! I highly recommend buying the program.

How does it handle the explanation of keywords on iStock? You use the keyword "Orange", and then iStock asks you to check off, if you meant "color" or "fruit".

Can I upload (with free version) ONLY 5 images or 5 images on a each agency...

Five on each agency.  You can use it, however, for keywording and do your uploads later.

Thanks Warren!

Can I upload (with free version) ONLY 5 images or 5 images on a each agency...

All you have to do is click on the agencies you want to upload to, and click on  the file folder, which would have only five photos in it of course, and it connects and sends to all of the agencies. One easy process, instead of connecting and playing with each agencies individual, sometimes convoluted, upload procedures. Then you just go and verify the uploads, validate, add categories... and they are off for review.

I've been working on other projects so I don't upload five photos a month. I don't even use the keyword feature. The demo version is fully functional within the five files in a 24 hour period limitation. Someone doing more than that a day, should buy the software and make their life easier. You could start it and go to sleep while it sends to all of your agencies.

No I don't work for ProStockMaster and I didn't get paid to write this. 

Brandon,
Thank you for asking.

The best way to submit your suggestions / bug report is by sending us an email to support(at)prostockmaster.com.
We always answer all incoming emails whenever they come from: web forms, chat or by email. Typically, we will answer you just in a few hours, and almost never longer than in 24h. As far as I can see you sent us your inquiry 8 hours ago.

You are also welcome talking to us with our new LiveChat now available on major pages on our web. LiveChat / Technical Support Online feature is typically active during most of the working hours CET time.

I have great program to upload to several sites automatically. It's free and no limits. It's called Filezilla, an open source FTP client that is platform-independent (Windows, Mac, Linux). Use the "site manager" to fill in the site's FTP url, user name and password once, per site... et voila. It works for all sites except SV and IS, but for IS, there is the free MetaData.

For keywording, I use my own (free) script that does spellcheck, ordering, automatic removal of duplicates and more. Use it together with good old Irfanview in batch mode.

Three free tools that give yourself control over your images, not a proprietary database, not a choked down application. And your passwords stay on your own disk.

Thanks, but I actually DO use the filezilla...  Maybe it's my lack of understanding for this program, but I don't how to process the same upload que for several sites automatically..... Automatically meaning selecting several sites from the site manager up front - and then staring the upload for all selected sites....

SmartFTP was better at it, but then it went paying. It could handle concurrent threads. Probably FileZilla can do it too, but I had no time to check it out yet. This year I already uploaded 12 batches to a number of sites and how I do it is to start several instances of FileZilla. The next instance always starts with the folder you're working in, so it's quite easy. One might think that it adds memory overhead but it's not true watching the processes in the Vista process monitor. Each new instance just adds little overhead. Probably most is handled in the DLL's that are only loaded once.

You can set your remote directory too in FileZilla, like is needed with some sites. With ShutterStock and Bigstock, you have to limit your concurrent uploads to one only, in the "Transfer settings" tab.

You could argue that it still takes some clicks more than an integrated automatic uploader, but in the workflow, those extra 2 minutes (maximum) don't really count compared to the work it takes on the sites itself to submit (categorize, mrf attach, agree ad nauseum with their terms, etc...). I don't want to undercut Prostockmaster but as an ex IT pro I prefer transparent solutions with proven mainstream software over a proprietary database that can get corrupted, lost, or be buggy. I just like to be in control and to see what's happening, having witnessed some software disasters in the past (with customers) that relied too much on niche-software.

I paid for it and used it for a while but had serious problems with the software leaving out metadata for about 2 in 10 downloads. In the end I was so pissed off I stopped using it and went back to ftp. Oh, and I downloaded the iStock add-on for iPhoto which works better with iStock than Prostockmaster (PSM seriously screws up disambiguation).