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Fyr Ond Isen
Participant
January 25, 2023
Answered

New to community; First uploads rejected for quality - looking for feedback to improve

  • January 25, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 1348 views

Hello everyone,

 

I have just joined the community, and my first round of uploads (13 illustrations) were rejected with a general comment about quality.

 

Could you help me with feedback about where I am going wrong? Are there artifacts in here I just don't see? Is it possibly details in the image that are just not good enough or realistic enough?

 

Given they all were rejected with the same general quality issues tag I am thinking this is something systemic to my process or understanding of community standards and expectations.

 

I did run these through Topaz Gigapixel to upscale as they were all originally smaller than the submission standards require.

 

Thank you for any input you can provide

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Nancy OShea

Upscaling a low res AI in post won't work.  It must be generated at high res (upscale).  Midjourney costs more for high res upscales due to extra bandwidth and server time.  But the image quality is better for selling on Stock. 

 

AI is not perfect.  It doesn't handle details well.  Examine images at 100-300% magnification.  Clean up the imprefections if you can.  Discard the ones you can't.

 

Good luck.

 

3 replies

Nancy OShea
Community Expert
Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 25, 2023

You should never upscale raster images.  If they don't meet submission requirements, upscaling will invariably introduce unwanted artifacts, loss of details and pixelation.  Read the Stock Contributor DOs & DON'Ts section where it specifically mentions this.

 

That said, if you create vector artwork, upscaling is not an issue because math-based vectors are resolution independent.  Vectors can be re-scaled to any size needed without loss of detail.  For this reason, vectors are preferred for illustrations, logos, icons, comics & drawings. Pixel-based rasters, however, are very resolution dependant and will suffer when upscaled.

 

 

Hope that helps.

 

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    F
    Fyr Ond IsenAuthor
    Participant
    January 25, 2023

    Thank you for the input.

     

    These images orginated from work in MidJourney. I edited a couple in Affinity Designer 2, and one actually went through a round in InvokeAI before Affinity Designer 2. All went through Upscale in Topaz.

     

    I did read through the AI submission guidlines, and thought I followed them, but I will revisit the guidlines and see if I missed anything.

     

    Are all of the items you mention generally considered adequate for rejection by themselves, or would it be a cumulative effect of all of these issues together?

     

    Have you ever upscaled? If so, do you find you have to go back and remove artifacts, or do you generally start from a size already adequate to meet the standards?

     

    Thank you again, I appreciate your input.

    George_F
    Community Expert
    George_FCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 25, 2023

    I've never upscaled before, as I've always read it's not recommended.  The photos I submit start in a suitable size so I've never had a need to use this technique.  But in general upscaling tends to degrade the quality and cause jagged edges and compression artefacts from my understanding.

    Yes, in general any quality issue by itself is enough for a rejection.  Some assets with slight quality issues may slip by the reviewers from time to time but in general it tends to be pretty consistent.  The reviewers will always zoom in to 100% - 200% and thoroughly review the details of photos.  The use of a commercial stock asset could be as large as a billboard or wallpaper covering an entire wall so it's important to have a technically perfect asset.  When viewing around 100% is usually where the quality issues show themselves.

    Feel free to reach out with any other questions!

    George F, Photographer & Forum Volunteer
      F
      Fyr Ond IsenAuthor
      Participant
      January 25, 2023

      Thank you again.

       

      It does seem the key here is to avoid upscaling. And probably working with vector images too. I didn't expect this to be an easy effort (a big part of the appeal to me... learn something new, and take on a new challenge), so this is not a deterent, rather an opportunity.

       

      Thank you again.

      George_F
      Community Expert
      George_FCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 25, 2023

      What program did you use to create these illustrations?  Are these AI generated?  If so, did you follow the submission guidelines here

       

      I see several oddities that I believe would be considered technical flaws when zoomed in to between 100% - 200%.  I've circled a few of them.

       

       

      The details look soft on a few when zoomed in.  And the texture seems to change throughout the image in a few of them.

       

      There are also compression artefacts around the edges, possibly from upscaling with Topaz.

       

      I hope this helps 🙂

       

      George F, Photographer & Forum Volunteer
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