Frequently Asked Questions.

• Q: How do I join fotoLibra to sell pictures?
  A: Just complete the short form on the REGISTER page of our site and submit it. That's it.
• Q: Are there any hidden costs?
  A: No. Membership is free. You can upload up to 12 pictures and we will market them for you, and pay you when they sell. Pro membership to sell and store up to 5GB of pictures is just £6 per month—that's £18 payable quarterly. And Platinum membership—for huge image portfolios—gives a massive 100 GB of selling space for just £15 (£45 quarterly).
• Q: What about quality?
  A: Your images must be of high quality to appeal to professional buyers, and must also meet fotoLibra's minimum pixel dimension, file size and resolution requirements. In order to meet these necessities, download and read fotoLibra's Submission Guidelines.
• Q: How do I upload images?
  A: Once you have registered, sign in to access your Control Centre, where you will find easy to follow step-by-step instructions. And check out the upload suite of pages which will explain in detail different ways of uploading pictures.
• Q: How many pictures can I upload?
  A: As a new member, up to twelve images; as a Pro member, up to 5GB; as a Platinum member, 100 GB.
• Q: Can I download pictures?
  A: If you want to download any pictures from the fotoLibra archive for publication, you first need to register as a Buyer. As a Pro or Platinum Member, of course you can download your own images.
• Q: Will you tell me if a picture has been sold?
  A: Yes, we will send you an email telling you which picture has been sold, to whom and for what purpose. And a note will appear in your Control Centre.
• Q: How do I get paid when one of my pictures is sold?
  A: Once the agreed total on your Control Centre is reached or exceeded you may request payment or trigger an invoice. You will then be sent a cheque by post.
• Q: Can friends and family see my pictures?
  A: Yes. Browsing is free — you don’t have to sign in — and searching by your name will display all your images.
• Q: Can I look at other people's pictures?
  A: Yes.
• Q: Can I buy prints or posters?
  A: Sorry, not in Version 4.0. In Version 4.1, you will be able to click on the grey Frame icon, tell us what you want, pay online by credit card and the print or poster will be sent to you.
• Q: Can I add, change or delete pictures? Can I edit the captions or details?
  A: Yes, when you are a Pro or Platinum Member. It's easy when you follow our simple step-by-step instructions. New members can upload up to twelve pictures, which can't be altered or deleted.
• Q: How do I look at all my pictures?
  A: You sign in, using your email address and password, then click on the Control Centre.
• Q: Can I upload drawings and paintings as well as photos?
  A: Yes. Any image that can be scanned onto your computer and captioned can be uploaded: postcards, paintings, cartoons, line drawings, maps and so on. Be certain that you are the copyright holder.
• Q: How much information should I give about each picture?
  A: As much as possible; the more details you supply, the better chance you'll have of making a sale.
• Q: Why would anyone want to buy my photos?
  A: Publishers are always looking for unseen, unpublished pictures, and somewhere in your family albums may be just the picture they want.
• Q: Is there anything I can't upload?
  A: Yes—pictures for which you do not own the copyright, and pornography; all the images uploaded to fotoLibra are checked for content and anything which is pornographic, racist, sexist, defamatory, obscene or offensive is rejected.
• Q: Can I change my free pictures?
  A: Yes, by signing up for Pro fotoLibra membership.
• Q: How do I get my old pictures scanned?
  A: If you don't have a scanner, you can send your pictures to a scanning house who will scan them for you. You then have a choice: ask us to upload the images straight from the CD or DVD-ROM to fotoLibra, ready for you to add detailed captions and keywords, or be sent the CD/DVD along with your original photographs so that you can make a selection before uploading in the usual way.
• Q: What about copyright?
  A: Basically, if you have taken the picture, you have copyright. But if you've ever wondered why lawyers are so much richer than the rest of us, have a look at copyright law. There's a useful list of FAQs about copyright on the Arts and Humanities Data Site.
• Q: Can I get my stored images back?
  A: You still have your original prints and pictures. fotoLibra stores digital copies of your originals. But if you lose your originals, or if you simply want copies, fotoLibra comes to the rescue—we can put your pictures on to a CD or DVD and mail them to you for just £9.99 per CD or £15 per DVD. To request a copy of your images please click here.
• Q: How much will one of my pictures sell for?
  A: There are 1,447 price points on the site, with costs ranging from a small picture in a stock catalogue (about £10) to a 96 sheet poster worldwide buy-out (about £25,000). To see the prices, you can register on the site as a BUYER (use a different email address). Open your lightbox, search and select a picture and "buy" it, clicking the currency icon. It asks you what you want to use the picture for, then gives you the price for that usage. Customers around the world buy with their credit cards and are billed in their local currency. We split the fee 50/50 with our photographers. 60/40 for Platinum members. The price varies according to a combination of parameters such as image size, print run, territory, length of use etc. Fuller details here. The prices are pitched just below industry averages. We also offer a Platinum Picture Service for exceptional selected images which may demand higher prices. Royalty free images sell for between £30 and £180, according to file size. As with RM, fees are split 50/50.
• Q: What rights are sold? Perpetual? Limited?
  A: We market both limited use (Rights Managed) rights and Royalty Free imagery. The Member has the choice of either method for each photo uploaded. With RM, the sale data is embedded in the file to deter piracy. Members could make between £10 to £15,000 per picture sale. We also offer picture buyouts (exclusive use) for up to two years. These make the photographers LOTS of money. But don't hold your breath. Royalty free means the purchaser can use the image as he wishes, except selling it on to someone else, but the photographer still retains ultimate copyright.
• Q: What image size, format and resolution should I upload?
  A: fotoLibra only accepts JPEG Level 12 and TIFF files. Digital cameras create JPEGs and these should be uploaded at 12 or Maximum resolution. Scanned images can be uploaded as TIFFs or JPEGs, without compression. Please upload RGB images, not CMYK. When scanning transparencies, set the image size to 200% and scan at 1200dpi. Royalty Free images should be 48MB or above.
• Q: How do I market my pictures as Royalty Free?
  A: Firstly, they must have Model Releases and Property Releases, where applicable. The minimum recommended filesize is 48MB. When you upload a picture to one of your Collections, after you have filled in the captions and keywords you'll see two radio buttons marked 'This is a rights managed image' and 'This is a royalty free image'. If you want the picture to be marketed as Royalty Free, check the radio button.
• Q: Can I upload images by CD or DVD?
  A: You can send us your TIFF and JPEG images on CD or DVD for direct upload. An email will advise you when your pictures have been put into a holding bay; you then have 14 days to caption and keyword them before your collection is put onto the market.
  This facility is only available to Pro and Platinum members and a £6 handling charge per CD applies, and £12 for DVDs.
  Please note that DVDs and CDs will not be returned. We accept double-sided DVDs, but we do not accept Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
  Click here to arrange for your CD / DVD uploads.
• Q: I’m not receiving Picture Calls or Newsletters from fotoLibra.
  A: Check the RSS feed on the home page to see the latest news from fotoLibra. If you see items there that you haven’t received by email, it could be that your email client is blocking our messages to you. To make sure emails from fotoLibra always arrive in your inbox and are not treated as junk mail, please add mailman@fotolibra.com to your email address book. Members using aol.com and hotmail.com are particularly susceptible to this.