You can manually run the scheduler by going to Symbiostock > Settings > System and clicking on ‘Run Now’. A window will pop up and this initiates the scheduler. If you prefer manually doing it, you can do that – but it is highly recommended that you tell your system to run this automatically as it just makes things a whole lot easier. On Linux, these jobs are called ‘cron jobs’.

Different systems will implement this differently, but here are some links to some popular control panels:

Cpanel

Plesk

Please note that the script to run is in Symbiostock > Settings > System – copy that entire line into your scheduled task. Also, as control panel versions change, some aspects of setting up the scheduled task may differ from the links above, so search for the best solution for your specific control panel for optimal results.

Once the processor is scheduled, you don’t ever have to look at it again. It will keep checking and adding new images, regenerating thumbnails, and doing all the organization in the background.

If you have any issues with your processor, please post your query in the forums.

The post Setting up the Scheduler/Image Processor appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

• Uploading media using FTP.
• Uploading media through your internet browser.

It is recommended you use FTP for adding most of your media files, especially if you are adding multiple files. FTP is the faster, more efficient method of uploading your media files. Also, at times due to basic WordPress timeouts, if you try to upload a large file (>8MB) it is possible that the web uploader will fail to properly save your new image.

How to Upload Media Using FTP:
This guide proceeds assuming you have a web-host with FTP access and that you are familiar with using FTP.

1. Go to your Symbiostock > Upload Media page to find out where your upload location is.
2. Log into your server using your FTP credentials and navigate to the upload directory as shown on the Upload Media page. Make sure you are logging into the correct server and are navigating to the exact location as per the information provided in WordPress.
3. Upload your image files using your favorite FTP client. We recommend Filezilla.
4. The automatic scheduler will parse your media and add it to to your Symbiostock > Media tab.

How to Upload Media Through Your Browser:

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Symbiostock > Upload Media.
2. Click the ‘Choose Files’ button and select the file(s) that you want upload.
3. Click the ‘Publish’ button.

The speed at which your files are uploaded will vary depending on the speed of your internet connection, how many files you are uploading and the size of the file(s). Once uploaded, the files will go in queue to be parsed by your server’s scheduled maintenance process. Once parsing is complete the new media files will show up in the Symbiostock > Media section. The processor will wait at least a minute before processing any new files.

Media that is processed will automatically have all their thumbnails created, watermarked, and licenses applied as per your license filters. If you have auto-publishing enabled, they will also go live, in which case once an image is uploaded, it will go on for sale automatically without any intervention.

Failed Files

Any files that fail to be processed by Symbiostock will be left in the upload directory with the ‘_ss_failed_’ prefix attached. Files will usually fail because they are an incorrect file type or are corrupted. Examine failed files to determine the cause.

Vectors

When uploading a vector, if you upload an associated JPEG file with the ‘.jpg’ extension along with it that has the exact same name (ie ‘flower.eps’ and ‘flower.jpg’), Symbiostock will automatically associate that JPEG and add it as the alternate JPEG for that vector. This means it will be used for all thumbnailing and customer raster downloads. As well, if you have ‘use alternate JPEG metadata’ enabled in your Symbiostock Settings, Symbiostock will use the metadata from the alternate JPEG to populate your original vector product’s information, such as title, description, keywords, GPS etc. This allows vector artists to, like photographers, do all their prep work before hand and just upload media for a one-step solution to getting all their stuff online and ready for sale.

If you do not have an alternate JPEG, Symbiostock will create a thumbnail using the vector (Imagick required). Sometimes, the color rendition of the resulting thumbnail will not match the original EPS perfectly, and it is generally recommended that vector artists always try to include an alternate JPEG with their vectors. We have noticed a definite increase in sales for Symbiostock vector artists that do this.

The post Adding Media Products appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

How to Edit Media
Find the image you wish to edit and place your cursor over its name. A few action links will appear under the name of the file. Click ‘Edit’. Your screen will change to an ‘Edit Media’ page. Here you have access to editing a variety of file specific attributes. These include:

• The name of the media file
• The slug for the media file
• Product categories
• Product tags
• Indicating whether there is a Model Release / Property Release
• Indicating if the media is Exclusive
• Marking the media as Editorial
• Re-uploading the media file to replace the current file
• Adding / removing licenses
• Altering prices

Once you are finished editing, click ‘Update’ to save the changes.

Using Quick Edits
Find the image you wish to edit and place your cursor over its name. A few action links will appear under the name of the file. Click ‘Quick Edit’. The media listing will expand to give you the access to editing basic details including:

• The name of the media file
• The slug for the media file
• Product description
• Product categories
• Product tags

Once you are finished editing, click ‘Update’ to save the changes.

Updating The Original File
You may upload a new copy of any media using the instructions found under the file uploader on your product edit page. It is recommended you use FTP for updating most of your media files. FTP is the faster, more efficient method of uploading your media files. Also, at times due to basic WordPress timeouts, if you try to upload a large file (>8MB) it is possible that the web uploader will fail to properly save your new image.

Vectors: Adding an Alternate JPEG
If you have an EPS, or any non-JPEG media file, and are not happy with the way Symbiostock renders thumbnails or purchased media files when it is converted to a JPEG, you have the option of uploading an alternate JPEG. This file will then be used for all thumbnails and raster downloads. As this will be used for downloads, you must upload a large file (at least 4000×4000).

Vectors: Alternate JPEG Metadata
If, in your Symbiostock Settings, you have enabled Symbiostock to use the alternate JPEG’s metadata for populating your vector’s title, description and keywords, if and when an alternate file is uploaded, if it has any of those fields filled, it will overwrite your vector’s information as listed in your Symbiostock store.

The post Editing Media Products appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

Although rare, whether they be EPS or raster images, there are circumstances where CMYK files or files with non-standard color profiles can experience minor hue alterations during the thumbnailing process. As Symbiostock is limited by Imagick which cannot replicate the power of Photoshop, it is recommended that you allow Photoshop to perform the conversion for you. As all JPEG images displayed on the web are standardized to sRGB, the software that performs this conversion is up to you: desktop publishing software, or the web-based Imagick.

To convert your color space in Photoshop, open your image and then go to Edit > Convert to Profile:

The current profile is the ‘Source Space’. Click okay after choosing an sRGB profile, and your conversion is complete.

This is a recommended process both inside and out of Symbiostock. Unless your file is going directly to print, in which case you would need to synchronize your end result anyway, it is recommended you save all your files in sRGB format for web display. You can make sRGB the default RGB color profile by going to Edit > Color Settings and under Color Management Policies, have the RGB say ‘Convert to working RGB’.

If you do experience color fluctuations with the thumbnailing process, you can enable advanced color profile conversions within your Symbiostock > Settings page. This may not work on some servers due to the specific version and method of your Imagick install, and is only recommended in the case of severe color changes.

The post Color Modes: sRGB appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

Metadata reading and writing requires that your server support the exec() and shell_exec() functions. These functions are sometimes disabled for security purposes, in which case you may have to alter your Symbiostock settings to use a simplified method or ask your host to enable them. This method will not always work, and cannot be used for writing metadata to media. 

Metadata is used mainly by agencies to auto-populate fields when you submit media to them. This way you don’t have to manually enter keywords and titles with every image as the image itself stores that data within it.

Editing metadata is generally not an easy process as few editors standardize the fields they use. Symbiostock is therefore a great standalone and free meta editor as it populates the EXIF fields in a way that allows agencies to find the exact information they want.

Editing metadata using Symbiostock is easy. All you have to do is edit a product and click ‘Yes’ on the ‘Update Metadata’ option. Then, when you save, the title, description and tags will automatically be saved into the original, raw image.

Note: This is a powerful tool – if you put the wrong data in, it will overwrite your previous metadata.

You can also optionally use the ‘Short/Meta Description’ field on your product edit page for the metadata description. This allows you to have a longer, richer full description for your Symbiostock store, and a cut down version of it for the metadata.

Note:  Symbiostock automatically strips all formatting from your text when entering metadata.

You may optionally change the global settings on metadata updating through your Symbiostock > Settings page. If you enable this, all images will automatically save metadata every time you edit them. This will only apply to images that have the ‘Global Default’ setting checked under their ‘Update Metadata’ option. You may override the global default by manually checking ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for any image.

Note: If you update an image with a new one, the new one will have metadata automatically overridden when it is imported if you have enabled metadata saving for that image.

Fields

Symbiostock Pro reads metadata for the main fields in the following order:

title: Headline, Title, Caption, ObjectName

description: Description, Caption-Abstract, ImageDescription

keywords: Keywords, Subject

Auto-marking

Symbiostock auto-marks images as editorial, exclusive, model released, and property released if those keywords are found in the EXIF tags during import. The tags are: ‘exclusive’, ‘editorial’, ‘model release’, ‘illustration’, and ‘property release’. They are exact – if you misspell, or forget a space, it will not read it correctly.

Categories

Symbiostock will read the ‘SupplementalCategories’, ‘SupplementalCategory’ and ‘Category’ metadata fields to populate the categories within Symbiostock. If a category does not exist, Symbiostock will create it.

Custom fields

If you navigate to your Symbiostock > Settings > Media tab, you will see additional settings relating to how metadata is saved and extracted from media. One option is Read Extra Metadata, which allows you to instruct Symbiostock to extract custom fields from your media and store it in WordPress. You can then use these custom fields for other uses within your plugins or themes.

Forcing fields

If you have a unique field that you use for the titles, descriptions, or keywords for your media, you can arbitrate these via your Symbiostock Settings. Just input the exact (case sensitive) name of the field you wish Symbiostock to use, and it will then try to use that in preference to the regular fields it uses.

If you have any questions or issues with metadata reading and writing through Symbiostock, post your query in our forums.

The post Reading & Writing Metadata appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

• The image is not a supported file type.
• The image is corrupted or unfinished.
• The image is larger than 100 megabytes.

If you keep getting an error and are sure the image does not fall into the reasons above, post a query in our forum.

The post Reasons for Failed Files appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

Please note that this only affects new media and any previously added media will have to be manually edited to remove reviews. You can do this by clicking on the Advanced tab when you edit your product.

The post Disabling Reviews appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.

There are very few reasons this will happen, but this acts as a fail-safe to organize all the problematic images in case this situation should arise. Also note that Symbiostock does not naturally check to see if the images for the products are there – it assumes they are, but if for example, during thumbnail regeneration, finds that one is missing, this fail-safe gets triggered.

The post Pending Products? appeared first on Symbiostock Knowledgebase & Documentation.