How to effectively delete an image off Alamy straight away
Here’s a small tutorial on how to effectively delete an image off Alamy straightaway. If you submit to the Alamy stock library you’ll be aware that when you request an image to be deleted you have to wait a full six months for that image to completely disappear from the Alamy system.
So how can we limit the saleability of an image we no longer want to be on sale?
Here’s how to do it.
Alamy insist that you wait six months before an image is deleted off their system. Why? Because that image might be in someone’s lightbox or in what Alamy refer to as a ’sales path’. It wouldn’t be your interests or that of Alamy to delete the image immediately - and lose a sale. However, with the introduction of Alamy Rank many photographers are wishing to slim down their collections, to avoid too many hits that will not result in sales and damage their positions in the search results.
It could simply be of course, that you shot a much better version of an already existing picture. So how we stop an existing picture from being sold?
First we play safe by adding a worldwide restriction for all industries and all subindustries to restrict the sale of our image. Second we are going to delete all our keywords, so our image will not be returned in any searches. We are also going to create a new pseudonym. This pseudonym is going to house our pseudo-deleted images.
Step one: log into your Alamy account and select My Alamy
Step two: select manage images
Step three: select the set a default license and manage pseudonyms link
Step four: In the create a new pseudonym field, create a new pseudonym for your deleted images and click the create pseudonym button.
OK, now navigate back to the manage my images screen; find the image you want to delete by searching for your file name or Alamy’s reference for your image so that you can bring it up on the screen. Done that?
Step five: underneath the thumbnail of your image that you wish to delete, click the more options link
****************************************
photo credit: hansol
Important: The next steps must be performed in exactly the right order or you will mark your image for deletion or while you still have active keywords. Do not check the box to request deletion yet! We’ll do this as a final step.
****************************************
Step six: scroll down to the bottom of the screen. If your image is licensed or rights protected set a worldwide restriction on sales. In the territory drop-down, choose worldwide. All other fields default to ‘ALL’, so all you need to do now is click the add restriction button.
If your image is licensed or rights protected, you may choose to stop here. You just set a restriction prohibiting all uses. This means your image can’t be sold. However, your image will still be returned instead choose and this will damage your alamy rank. Also, if your image is royalty-free you do not have the option offsetting restrictions, so I recommend you follow the following steps too.
n.b: For a more in depth look at setting restrictions see the tutorial here
Step seven: change the pseudonym drop-down to your new pseudonym that we just created in step four
Step eight: delete all words in the caption field then insert either: the word none, or nothing, or zero, or a single nonsense word.
You must put something in this field, else the caption will return even though you think you have deleted it!
Step nine: delete all words in the essential keywords, main keywords, comprehensive keywords, description, and location fields.
Now Click the Save Changes Button!
Step 10: finally, it is now safe to check or tick the checkbox to request deletion.
Step 11: now save changes again. Your image is now successfully marked for deletion, has restrictions added (if it’s rights managed or rights protected) and will not show up in future searches. If your image is in a sales path or in a lightbox it can still be sold.
I hope this tutorial has showed you how you can set restrictions and delete keywords effectively, to limit the chance of your image being returned in searches and sold when you don’t want it to be while you wait the six months for Alamy to delete it from their system.
PP
