"Why's my picture been rejected?"

Has your picture been declined? picturenation try to approve as many pictures as possible but sometimes we have to turn them away because of a variety of reasons. If you have had an unsuccessful submission, you will have been given one of the following five reasons in your email notification.

Each heading is relatively general, so as to cover a number of more specific reasons that may be even more relevant to your picture. Below, we have tried to outline the main issues with a picture that may result in it being an unsuccessful submission.

Technical Requirements

This could cover anything from having left a URL/website address in the metadata to some unsightly dust/debris caught on a scan. All images are examined at 100% which is their 'actual size' and checked for quality. Below is a small list of example problems:

• Too much/little contrast
• Over/Under exposed
• Blurred/Camera shake
• Use of a filter
• Unsatisfactory manipulation/treatment of image
• Dust/debris on the image/scan
• Visible film edge on scan
• Poor composition/framing
• Reflective light flare from scan
• Copyright logo/text
• URL/address in metadata
• Too dark/light
• Out of focus
• Lens/Sun flare Unnecessary
• Digital Noise
• Cantered
• Red Eye
• Colour cast
• Incorrect aspect
• Image distorted
• The image is pixelated

Titles, Descriptions and Tags

It is vital that the text accompanying your picture is clear, concise and relevant. All characters should be in lower case and words should be separated with a space - no hyphens, no commas, no full stops and no "quotation marks."

Title - The title is an opportunity for you to be creative and make your picture stand out to a buyer so be as quirky as you like but, if you choose to title your picture with say, the name of a building, then please ensure this information is correct.

Description - The description is an area for you to put more information about the subject of the picture. For example, perhaps the picture is of a White Tiger, some useful information would be that it is now an endangered species.

Tags - We recommend that you enter a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 30 tags. Please make sure that they are relevant to the picture and that you don't repeat words. Your tags help buyers find your pictures.

Most importantly, check your spelling! Although it is handy to enter commonly miss-spelled words, there should always be the correct spelling as well. Submissions will be unsuccessful if text boxes have been left blank, tags have been repeated, spelt incorrectly and are inappropriate. Please refer to the Uploading Info page in My picturenation for more details on how to tag your pictures.

Permission for Sale

Some images require permission for sale. Often only a release form is required but occasionally the subject matter of a picture can not be sold Royalty Free because of copyright reasons. More in-depth information on copyright is available in your seller's pack but generally if a picture is taken on or of private property you must gain permission from the owner to sell the picture.

Incomplete Release Forms

If you have a release form for the subject of your picture then we need to ensure that it has been completed fully and correctly. You can download release forms from your seller's pack and you can also use your own but the following information must be present:

• Signatures - the photographer and the model or owner of the property in the picture must sign the form. If the picture is of a child (under 16), picturenation also asks for the signing of the form to be witnessed and signed by that witness.
• File Number - you must put the ID number of the picture the form relates to.
• Contact details - you must enter the contact details of the photographer, including name, email address, telephone number and postal address.
• Model details - you must also put the name and address of the model.
• Picture Info - we ask that you also put what the picture is of and where and when it was taken.

Not Required by picturenation

If you have been told that picturenation don't require that particular image, please don't be disheartened. Sometimes images will meet all the above requirements but still be unsuccessful. This could be because we already have enough of that subject matter or because it is very similar to, or a duplicate of, a picture that has already been submitted. It could also be because the subject matter is too controversial or of a compromising nature and picturenation simply choose not to sell it.

You can amend and resubmit your image in all cases unless we say we do not require it. Please ensure that you make any amendments necessary before re-submitting your image. picturenation treat every image individually, so although you may have had an unsuccessful submission please do try again.