Photoshelter Stagnation at the Expense of Libris?
Wondering if anybody else out there feels the way I do about what seems to be the stagnation of PhotoShelter for individual photographers? On August 23, 2013 I sent my first email asking PS CEO Andrew Fingerman if they ever planned to offer the ability for photographers to upload and sell video footage. I've had several additional email interactions since, all of them saying it's coming. But now five years later there is still no suggestion it will ever happen. I'm convinced it's due to PhotoShelter deciding to concentrate on the much more expensive and profitable Libris. PhotoShelter has seen few to no new features or improved backend UI. It seems DEAD! Can't blame them if individuals just don't pay the bills. Just wished they would tell us so we can move on. It' going to be a huge job to move to another service if I decide to do so.
-
I agree
(especially about the amount of work it's going to take to move!)
I'm not so interested in hosting video but the whole platform now seems outdated. There are far better-looking and better-designed platforms out there for photographers to showcase their work and promote their stories.
I will be moving on when my membership is due for renewal. -
I totally agree about it feeling dead. I'm an early adaptor, premium user, and I feel like the platform is totally stagnant. I don't use Libris at all. I use it to store and share files with clients. The uploader is archaic, and the interface is so clunky. It hasn't changed in years, and it makes me worried about the safety of my image storage. This is my main cloud back up of my life's work. Hello? Is anyone paying attention to users like me? (Professional individual photographers). I don't want to move everything - gasp - but will if things don't improve.
-
I was about to email them once again asking about features they have been saying are on the way for YEARS.
I was a beta tester for the new templates and features that we discussed and on the road map for the new setup just haven't arrived. Have you looked at the change log lately? NOTHING new for ages.
The original plan was to have new templates on a regular basis - to add a new search platform - the current one is just the old system re-skinned! The ability to download to devices is a HUGE one for me - I had an email chat with them about a year ago and was told then that it was on the way ... still nothing.
Time to seriously look elsewhere. -
I agree but the Photoshelter team killed off the previous lively version of the forum and don’t monitor this one so sadly the only way to get this feedback to them is to contact support. You will no doubt receive the usual friendly but vague response. I too contacted CEO Andrew Fingerman - for me it was the Lightbox that was in dire need of an overhaul - and I've had similar reassurances as you over a number of years but nothing has actually happened.
The News/Changelog has had hardly any significant entries for years, the latest being last autumn when there was a rather disastrous update of the Lightroom Plugin.Other companies make nice looking portfolio websites but I’ve not yet found one that is truly designed for busy working professionals with photolibraries wanting to upload large quantities of images, maintain a searchable archive and deliver pics to clients as efficiently as possible.At the moment Photoshelter still works ok for me and I've managed to get around some of the frustrations thanks to bespoke customisation, but the deafening silence and lack of communication with their customers is very disquieting and doesn’t bode well for the future. -
I just did another post:
Feel free to comment....
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments