Help › Adding Photos
There are a number of ways to make your photos available for sale on ClusterShot:
Uploading Individual Photos
The classic way to post a photo for sale on ClusterShot is to upload a single photo file. Once you’ve created an account, click the Add New Photos button on your account page. From this page, you can upload a single photo file and select your pricing options. After a few minutes (depending on how busy our servers are), your photo will be available for sale on ClusterShot.
While individual uploads are the quickest way to get one photo up for sale, they are also relatively time consuming if you want to sell several photos. For faster and easier ways to upload many photos, read on.
Photo Metadata
If your photos contain metadata (currently IPTC or XMP), your photo descriptions and tags will be set automatically. Tags are set automatically for photos uploaded using the upload page and photos uploaded via WebDAV. The current mapping of metadata used is:
- Photo Description
- Title and whichever one of the following is set: Description or Caption-Abstract
- Photo Tags
- Keywords, City, Province-State, Country, Location, and Sub-Location
If you use a different scheme for the description or tags, please contact us, and we will do our best to update the system.
Uploading a ZIP File
If you want upload more than a few files, you can create a ZIP file that contains many photos. The ZIP file can contain as many photos as you like, up to a maximum of 100MB per file. Depending on your camera and file format, that could be anywhere from 100 to 10 photos (or even fewer if you’ve got a really fancy camera).
To create a ZIP file on a Windows PC, select your photo files (you can see the total file size in the bar at the bottom of your Windows Explorer window - remember to keep it under 100MB). Then, right-click on one of the selected files and choose Send To, then Compressed (zipped) Folder. For Mac OS X users, select your photo files in Finder and choose Compress X Items from the File menu at the top left of the screen. If you’re using Linux, you probably don’t need to be told how to create a ZIP file.
This will create a new “ZIP” file that contains all of the photos you selected. Now, you can upload this one ZIP file and ClusterShot will extract and add each of the photos.
When uploading a ZIP file with multiple photos, do keep in mind that the pricing options and tags that you choose will apply to all of the photos uploaded. You can easily go back and make changes to individual photos once they are added.
RSS/Atom Feeds
The single-file or ZIP file upload is an easy way to get images from your own computer to ClusterShot. However, you might already have your photos in some kind of online gallery or photo-sharing service (see below if it’s Flickr). If so, there is quite likely a “feed” (sometimes called an RSS or Atom feed) of your photos available. A feed of your photos can help us make your photos available on ClusterShot automatically as you add them to your existing gallery. This way, you won’t ever have to worry about uploading your photos to two different places.
If your gallery has a feed available, there will usually be a link to the feed. Look for links that contain the words “RSS” or “Atom”. They may also include an icon like this: 
. Some web browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer (version 7), and Safari also show a feed icon in the location bar if your site has a feed. Head to your gallery, and look over to the right of the location bar (the box with your web address). If there’s a RSS or Feed icon there, click it, and you’ll find your feed address in the location bar.
Once you find your photo feed, copy the link and head over to your ClusterShot account page. Click the Add New Photos button, then the Add RSS/Atom Feed tab. Paste the address of your gallery feed in the Feed URL box. You can then choose default pricing options. Any photos that you add to the gallery site will automatically be made available on ClusterShot with your chosen pricing and tag options. You can always come back and make pricing and other adjustments later.
If you have more than one photo gallery, you can add as many photo feeds as you like.
Flickr
If you use Flickr to post and share your photos, making the photos available for sale on ClusterShot is really easy. Log in to ClusterShot, go to your account page, and click the Add New Photos button. Then, choose the Add Flickr Account tab. Here, you’ll be taken to Flickr and asked to grant ClusterShot access to your Flickr photos. You’ll then be returned to ClusterShot where you can choose any photosets you’d like to sell on ClusterShot, and you can choose default pricing options. Any new photos you add to Flickr will be automatically added to ClusterShot. It couldn’t be easier.
WebDAV
Once set up, WebDAV is the easiest way to upload large quantities of files to ClusterShot. WebDAV is supported by all major operating systems, and allows you to upload photos using your operating system’s built-in file management tools.
Warning: Do not use your ClusterShot WebDAV account as a storage or backup location. After photos are uploaded and processed, they will disappear from your DAV folder.
WebDAV is set up differently depending on the operating system you use. Below you’ll find instructions for the three major operating systems. Depending on the version and flavor of the operating system you’re using, the information below could vary slightly.
Windows
For Windows XP and Vista the instructions are similar. In Windows XP, right-click on My Computer and select Map Network Drive. In Windows Vista, right-click on Network and do the same.
This will open the Map Network Drive screen. On the Map Network Drive screen, you will be asked to select a drive letter and then to specify a folder. Any drive letter is fine as long as it’s not already used for another drive. The folder must be specified as http://www.clustershot.com/dav/.
Click the Finish button. At this point, you will be asked for a username and password. Use your ClusterShot log-in email address and password. After entering your log-in information, you are done. To upload photos to your account, copy them to the drive letter you chose earlier.
OS X
Using Finder
Uploading files using WebDAV can be done using the Finder. Select the Finder icon in the dock, select Go from the menu bar, then Connect to Server…. A New Connection window will open. For the Server Address enter http://www.clustershot.com/dav/ and click Connect. OS X will ask you to enter a username and password. Use your ClusterShot log-in email address and password.
Using Cyberduck
Unfortunately, the Finder’s support for WebDAV is not the best; it will work, but it’s slow. An excellent alternative is the free application Cyberduck. You will require at least version 3.4.2 of Cyberduck to log in correctly.
Download, install, and open Cyberduck. Choose the Open Connection option from the toolbar. This will open the connection window:
In the connection window, select WebDAV from the connection type drop-down, set the Server to www.clustershot.com, enter your ClusterShot login email and password for the Username and Password, and finally, enter /dav for the Path (the leading / is important.) Click Connect and you’re done.
Linux
Linux comes in many different forms and flavors. These instructions are written for Ubuntu Linux, but should be similar for most other distributions.
First, click on the Places menu on the top panel. In the places menu, select Connect to Server…
This will open the Connect to Server dialog. In the dialog, for the Service Type, select WebDAV (HTTP). Specify the Server as www.clustershot.com and the folder as /dav/. You may optionally check the Add bookmark box and enter a bookmark name so your connection info will be saved between login sessions.
Click the Connect button. At this point, you will be asked for a username and password. Use your ClusterShot log-in email and password and click the Connect button. After entering your log-in information, you are done. To upload photos to your account, copy them into the folder.
