News, Views + Info
Practical insights for image libraries, agencies, archives and publishers looking to improve discoverability, collection quality and commercial performance. Topics include image merchandising, sorting, ranking, AI-human metadata and the challenges of managing large visual collections.
The Hidden Cost Of Staff
When weighing up the price of outsourcing, it's easy to miss the hidden costs of existing staff or of ones you're thinking of hiring. The surest way to get those sums wrong is to focus on the hourly pay rate. Whilst the whole cost is included in a quote...
Make Your Hero Images Super
The hero image - the representative first image that customers see when looking through sets - is vital to promoting sales. Here's how to make hero images into superheroes: Make picking hero images a deliberate choice, don't just go with the first image,...
Helping Avoid the Production Squeeze
As the number of images being filed continues to grow, many photo agencies are facing a production squeeze - too many images, not enough time to process them. That means metadata is skimpy, perhaps wrong, there's little or no keywording, and likely there...
The Smart Way To Use AI For Images
There is a wave of enthusiasm for artificial intelligence which is engulfing the image business. All the promos sound incredible - yet the reality is somewhat different - if you don't know how to make the best use of it that is. On a recent trip to meet clients in the...
What Are You Waiting For?
We’ve all heard the saying: “feel the fear, and do it anyway”. But that’s definitely one of those that is easier said than done. Here are some common reasons why photo agency managers/owners tend to put off making necessary changes, and why they might want to look at...
Taxonomy Too Taxing?
Creating a great taxonomy for keywording is a never-ending job. Just when you think you've got your vocab perfect - along comes another word, and another, and another. You'd think that by now there would be plenty of taxonomies with every word in the English...
Candid or Event – Which is Better for Brands?
When looking for brands in celebrity images and videos, which are most likely to make money - Candid or Event? Here are the pros and cons, and a conclusion: Event Images/Videos Available targets? - Given that a red carpet event in particular is like shooting fish in...
The Angel Is In The Detail
Running a successful photo business is seen to be mostly about getting the right photographers, and good marketing. To make the most of those it's important to get all the little things right. The angel (or the devil) is in the detail. Many a business has failed, or...
Putting The Customer First
Getting a reputation for customer service is a great way to keep and build business. It sounds like an easy thing to do, but in the rush to automation and making sales online, it is easy to forget about the basics. Here are some ways you can increase customer focus:...
Re-assess Staffing Every Season to Stay On Top
With the change of season just around the corner, it's a good time to do a thorough assessment of your staff, and staffing generally. Looking at employee performance at the beginning of each new season is a great discipline that stops managers from becoming complacent...
Outsource or Inhouse – What’s Best for Brands?
To identify brand items in celebrity images, it is tempting to make it an extra task that can be added to the duties of existing staff. In practice this almost never works - but outsourcing can solve the problem in a cost effective way. There are multiple reasons why...
Stop Wasting Time With Email
Streams of emails between photo desks, photographers and editors can kill efficiency. Here are some tips to stop burning through the time and money with unnecessary hours spent generating, sending, receiving and responding to email. Engineer email out of your...
FAQs: Picsell Media Keywording Services
What topics do you cover in Insights?
We cover image merchandising, collection sorting, image ranking, AI-human keywording, metadata quality, search performance and the commercial challenges of managing large visual collections.
Who is the content for?
It is written for image libraries, photo agencies, archives, museums, publishers and other organisations that want their collections to be easier to manage, search and buy from.
Will you still cover AI and keywording?
Yes. AI and keywording remain important, but they are only part of the picture. We also look at selection, prioritisation, duplicate-heavy collections, search clutter and the role of human judgement.
How often is Insights updated?
We publish when we have something useful to say, including practical guidance, observations from client work and commentary on changes affecting image collections and metadata.
Can I suggest a topic or question?
Yes. Send your suggestion through the contact form. We are particularly interested in recurring problems faced by image libraries, archives and publishers.
Do you include practical examples?
Where permissions allow, we use anonymised examples, comparisons and case studies to show how changes to selection, ranking and metadata can improve discoverability and commercial value.