Publishing : FAQ

How do I upload my images and video to Demotix?

You can upload to Demotix multiple ways.

The Website - Clicking ‘Upload News’ on any page will take you to the upload page.

The Desktop Uploader - Downloading the program will speed up your process from your desktop, and is available on Windows, Mac and Linux. Desktop Uploader Link

Post-production suite - Lightroom, Photoshop or Photo Mechanic plugins.

FTP Transfer - For power users, you can transfer your images to us using FTP into your existing media folder. FTP Upload Link

PhotoShelter FTP Transfer - You can transfer your images to us using FTP into your existing media folder. FTP Upload Link

Mobile Upload - Our iPhone App is now live - Download Here.

What file types do you accept for images?

JPG only, we will allow more in the future. Please ensure these are at least 5 megapixels or above to better distribute and sell.

Can I upload video?

Yes of course! For more information please see the How To Upload Video Blog

What video file type do you accept?

Demotix accepts MOV, AVI, MP4, MPEG and WMV video files only. For more information please see the How To Upload Video Blog

How big can the videos be?

They can be any size, but please use the FTP method for anything larger than 60MB before sending - as it may take time online.

How do I change/add an Upload Code!

In order to upload images to Demotix via FTP or our Desktop Uploader, you must create an Upload Code.

The Upload Code is not the same as your user name, email address or password.

To enter a new upload code, click "Settings" at the top of any page when logged into Demotix. Scroll down until you see the area titled "Upload Code" - just below your "Account Information" section.

You can choose any combination of letters and numbers for your upload code. Don't use your Demotix password or any other personal information - when uploading via FTP, this information will not be encrypted.

Once you have entered your chosen upload code, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Save". Your code will now be valid when you try to upload, and your images will automatically appear in the "Existing Media" area when you create a new story.

There are more complete instructions available for our Desktop uploader and other FTP programs elsewhere on the site.

I can’t see my story after uploading?

There is a slight delay, if you are contributor, between sending and your work being published onto the site. FTP and Plugins are much quicker. This delay can be minimised by adding the correct data first ie.: individual captions, keywords.

Review your Dashboard, if it says 'Pending' then your story is being reviewed by a publisher at Demotix.

Once you have uploaded 10 stories, adding the correct details to improve your sales, we can promote you to self-publisher and your work will be seen on the site immediately. The less information you add to a story - the more the publisher has to work on it before publishing and pushing it to clients. Help us, help you. More information on our Demotix Training.

What do you publish on Demotix?

Demotix is a news publisher. We publish breaking news, features, sports, politics, documentary and videos. So, please no corporate logos or fluffy animals please! Have a look around Demotix at the articles we publish - Demotix Home Page

Do you delete any of my images?

Very rarely. We will kindly remove a duplicate or a corrupted image that has found its way in, informing you, but other than that we will not delete images. If you have uploaded a batch of images and some did not appear after saving, please contact support [at] demotix.com with a screenshot of the problem.

Do you edit any of my images?

No. We do not use any editing software, post production software or otherwise on your images. We also do not crop your images. Once your images are purchased, newspapers may want to crop and lighten before publishing. Please try not to upload cropped or heavily processed images - this will limit your ability to sell.

Why has the first image in my set been swapped?

Always start a set with your best landscape image, this is so buyers can quickly see your best shot on the Front Page. We also put your best image at the start in case we decide to put it on the home page carousel.

What IPTC fields are taken by Demotix?

Keywords and captions for each image.

I’ve uploaded images but everything has vanished?

Sometimes when uploading to Demotix your Internet may drop during this process, which may affect sending us images. Even after entering all the events details, you can still re-upload from the same page. Your images will still be within the Existing Images. If you receive an error during captioning - your story will still be sent to us. After sending the story to Demotix - there is a delay on it being published live, due to publishers checking your work. More information here in our Uploading FAQ.

Can I edit my story after it’s been published?

Yes! You can edit your story at any time. Going into your story page and pressing EDIT will take you back into it. Adding more keywords and individual contextual captions to existing sets is encouraged. You can upload a total of 25 images per story, so if you find more a day later, upload them in the previously published story. More information on our Demotix Training.

How do I add more images to a published story?

Clicking EDIT on any of your stories takes you back to the upload process. You can upload a maximum of 25 images per story.

How do I become a Self-Publisher and see my work live straight away on the site?

After uploading 10 stories. Publishers will then review how well you have been uploading. If you meet all the criteria every time you will be given Self-Publishing status. To view the criteria here is our page: Demotix Training.

My images have colours around them, why?

This is to encourage you to upload bigger files. Red 0.5MP - 3MP: These images are too small for distribution. Do you have higher resolution?
Yellow 3MP - 4MP: These images are better and can be pushed out to clients.
Green 5MP - Above: Perfect. These images can be distributed by Demotix and sold through various other channels and news organisations.

Can I upload to Demotix with my watermarks or borders?

No. As an agency of your work, we place a Demotix logo on your images to protect them. If you upload with a watermark, a buyer would be unable to remove when purchasing - ours are automatically removed when purchased.

What are timestamps?

A timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event occurred. We do not allow timestamps on images at Demotix and your set may be rejected due to this. This is because clients and buyers are unable to remove them before publishing in publications.

Can I lose Self-Publishing rights?

Yes. If your submissions are proving to be a lot of work for our publishing team to edit before sending out to clients and buyers, you will be reviewed with the potential to be pushed back to a Pending status. A self-publisher understands the need to send in copy fast with all areas filled out in the correct format. The less time a publisher spends on your content, the quicker we can get it to clients.

I want to upload via FTP, What software do I need?

Demotix works really well with FileZilla - its small to download and you can have your images in your Existing Media file quickly. Here is the download link for FileZilla.

I want to upload via Adobe Lightroom, How do I do that?

Simple. The download ZIP file and How To instructions are here - Follow this Lightroom Plug-In link.

I want to upload via Photo Mechanic, How do I do that?

Simple. The download ZIP file and How To instructions are here - Follow this Photo Mechanic Plug-In link.

My camera date settings are wrong?

Setting your camera date settings is a required process for the industry as it aids in one method of verification for the picture editor, when selecting your images. Always check your camera before shooting a news story. More information on our Setting Your Camera Dates.

I only have a single image to upload?

Please send in as much as you can per-set to Demotix, but if you only have one image then upload and our publishers will review the story. We may also contact you for extra information if its a sensitive subject matter. We encourage more than one image to be uploaded so clients have more to choose from when selecting work. You can upload a total of 25 images per story. More information on our Demotix Training.

What is the Media Summary?

The media summary is a summary of your story. This area is regarded as the prime basics in information-gathering. Who is it about? What happened (what's the story)? Where did it take place? When did it take place? Why did it happen? How did it happen? More information on our Writing a Media Summary or News Introduction page.

What are Keywords?

Keywords help visitors and buyers to locate your work. You can keyword the story or individual images. Phrases like "labour government tony blair” can be added. Imagine you were searching for news, what words or phrases would you enter into a search engine to find your work? Here you can input these - which will increase your visibility on the web and within Demotix. More information on our Keyword Training Page.

What are Individuals?

Individuals are famous or important people within your images. You have a separate text field to input these people within the Advanced Tagging box and are necessary when clients are searching for them. More information on our Demotix Training.

Why do I have to add captions?

Adding individual captions to a set will add extra context to each image. If you do not add them, publishers may step in to add context. You were the best witness for the story you send in, so adding these will aid buyers, journalists and media organisations in selection. If you feel frustrated with captions written by publishers please see Avoiding captioning frustrations.

When clients and buyers receive your work, it is without the main description body. If your images are lacking in captions they will be much less likely to select your work. Picture editors were not there during the event and will not waste time re-writing your piece before selecting. More information on our Demotix Training.

You have put File Images: at the start of my caption?

Editors love images from the day of the event, but sometimes it may not be possible to shoot the subject. It is quite common to upload coverage of the story in other ways - A bank collapse? Maybe you have stock images of the bank sign.

If your stock images are relevant to breaking news that day, date your story from today. The main date.

If you have an archive of stock images on your computer, you can fit them around news stories - provided the main date reflects when the story broke. The file stock images must be newsworthy enough. Do not upload your image of the moon and write an article on moon landings, dating 20 July 1969.

Dating Features

If your content is a feature, with no breaking news value, main date your piece by the last image date. You should not date it based on when you uploaded to us, ever.

At the end of the media summary state the range. Images taken between Jan 2011 - Feb 2012. Images taken through September 2012. Images taken in 2010. All these are acceptable.

Features can be in the public interest, if written differently. You may have photographed a feature on war veterans receiving help in a hospital three years ago, the story surrounding it can be written on a new hospital being opened in another location today, with the word File Image: before every caption.

Note: Newspaper editors always prefer images from the same day, so will be more reluctant to buy.

Can I re-hash an old story I have on Demotix, with current text for a news story?

You can, but we cannot send out the same images again to avoid duplicates in clients libraries. Exceptions to this would be if you had exclusives in the past, or it is a high profile subject that would have been hard to get, we can directly package this. Please email sales[at]demotix.com with a link if you feel you have something of value.

Can I rotate my images on Demotix?

Yes, but please ensure images are correctly rotated before uploading to Demotix. Some cameras self rotate on screen - make sure this is reflected on the computer.

When I try to save my story, the page tells me that "The specified province was not found in the specified country" even though I've entered it correctly. Why does this happen?

At the moment, our location system only recognises the names of states and provinces in the local language. So for example, if you were uploading about the German federal state of Bavaria, you would have to enter it in German - in this case, the correct entry would be Bayern. If you're having problems with the anglicised version of a name, try the local version - that will usually solve the problem.

I can't see the upload button on the Upload News page. How can I get it back?

Our upload system is based on Flash. This means that if you are using certain browser extensions (like NoScript or AdBlock), or if you don't have the Flash plugin installed, it may not be displayed correctly. You will need to set up an exception for demotix.com or turn off these extensions in order to proceed.

Is there a limit on the number of images and videos I can upload?

There is a limit of 25 images per story. Please upload the best edit of your work to Demotix rather than your full collection. Photo editors will not look through all your work if they are too similar.

What file size do I need to upload?

As high as possible. Most cameras have multiple options to set the quality - please review your camera manual. For maximum global distribution, please upload above 5 megapixels / 14MB memory per image. More information on our Demotix Training.

Can I upload my old archive?

Yes! Your old images can still be sold with us and Corbis images, meaning these images can be sold in different markets. More information can be found here on our Distribution Deal with Corbis Blog

A Demotix story is wrong or misleading on the site?

If the issue is with the images of the set, please select 'Report This Story' on the story and submit a complaint. Demotix is a free speech platform and encourages debate.

Can anybody comment on my stories?

Yes. Just sign up to Demotix and away you go! Sign up here.

Can I upload scanned negatives?

Yes. These are images as well. Please make sure you provide enough information for verification though with these as sometimes data can be lost. More information on our Demotix Training.

Why have you changed my title?

Changing your title into a news headline will aid in getting traffic to your site and get photo editors to understand and select images from your set. Be simple! Changing ‘Government wrecks the education system again!!” to “Government releases new austerity measures - Athens’. The new title will lead a viewer into your set - and also add more information for buyers. More information on our Demotix Training.

If you feel frustrated with titles, media summaries or captions written by publishers please see Avoiding captioning frustrations.

Why have you changed the lead image on my story?

A good horizontal lead image for your story boosts traffic interactivity. This image is used as a thumbnail both on the front page of Demotix, and the main carousel at the top of Demotix.com. Also, a good first image is the first seen by clients or buyers searching for content.

Why is my story still pending?

This could be down to a number of reasons. The work a publisher needs to do to your story before it is published and distributed can take time - meeting the criteria can get your story out quickly.

Your work may be shot older than 12 hours, meaning publishers will work on it later as we want to get breaking news into the bigger news organisations first. Uploading your work within a few hours of shooting can help you achieve sales.

Your work may not be suitable for Demotix, or you have a corrupted file - you may have received an email asking you to re-upload.

More information on our Demotix Training.

I’ve received an error in upload?

If you have received any error during upload, or otherwise, please send a screenshot of the error via email to support (at) demotix.com so we can fix this. This is helpful for other people who may be experiencing problems also. More information here in our Uploading FAQ.

I have been logged out!

Contact support [at] demotix.com if you received no error but were logged out during a page load. Screenshot any errors that may have occurred and send to the above email. Alternatively, switching your Facebook accounts while logged into Demotix - will log you out.

I want to unpublish my content!

Should you want to remove one of your own stories you can email us the reasons at info [at] demotix.com with the URL and we will take it down.