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With almost close to 3800 items in my shop and a sale every once in a while, I noticed alot of people are doing better by using clip art and pubic domain images but I am fighting an inner battle with that and could use some guidance. My main goal is to have my zazzle shop help me pay off my student loans. So if people would rather pay for stuff with public domain images than I have to come to the realization that my stuff sucks big time and go that route instead. I am in classes now so in the future I will be able to add stuff that I create on maya and z brush, but for now, I need more interesting things for customers in my shop.
If I were to use public domain images, are other shop keepers going to be mad if they have the same image in their store? I do not have time to do alot of searching on here to find out. How do you handle it if this happens to you? Are they going to make a complaint? What are the draw backs and the pluses? Sorry for the silly questions but I am torn on this.
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ok i wanna start by saying 5 years ago i did the same thing for my first 9 months i said i will never use clip i can draw and i will....then i watched my friends sales soaring while mine were creeping up slowly...they were adding 100 designs a week i was adding 10...so i said let me just try it ill add some cliparts just as "filler" to make my store bigger and get people into my store where they will buy my unique stuff...yea well it didnt work like that...in the first 3 weeks my sales triple and 90% of it was the clipart!!
that being said i rarely use clipart as it is from the site. i only use clipart sites where i am allowed to modify the images...and then i do so. i change the color the rotation...turn them on an angle...sometimes add text...make them skinnier or fatter....this way while my image is the same one everyone else starts with it will be different before it hits the store!
also be careful with "public domain" - be sure they really are in the public domain realm...and like you said if everyone else is using it...why would you want to use it - UNLESS you can find a way to use it in a new and creative way on your site
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I use purchased clip art (not public domain) for the majority of my products and do reasonably well. There are bound to be similarities in yours and others designs because there are only so many places that offer it for commercial use but the trick is, as shoppa said, to try and use it in a different manner from everyone else to make your designs as unique as possible.
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I rarely use clip art as the center of my work, I will use it for the little extra detail if I need to or don't want to actually draw a tiny seashell or something but lately I try to create my main design elements. For politics I sometimes create and sometimes use public domain.
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I don't think there's a problem with other people using them - there's one wolf photo that's being used by at least 12 different SKs - but that does divide the sales up a bit.
I know what you mean, I'm torn between using PD and not, but then I downloaded some and decided it wasn't worth the finding and downloading effort!
Probably in the future I will use an element that isn't mine, but I shall hate doing it.
I think I would prefer buying it, then at least the original artist gets something back.
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Grupos: ProSeller
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shopaholicchick escreveu:ok i wanna start by saying 5 years ago i did the same thing for my first 9 months i said i will never use clip i can draw and i will....then i watched my friends sales soaring while mine were creeping up slowly...they were adding 100 designs a week i was adding 10...so i said let me just try it ill add some cliparts just as "filler" to make my store bigger and get people into my store where they will buy my unique stuff...yea well it didnt work like that...in the first 3 weeks my sales triple and 90% of it was the clipart!!
that being said i rarely use clipart as it is from the site. i only use clipart sites where i am allowed to modify the images...and then i do so. i change the color the rotation...turn them on an angle...sometimes add text...make them skinnier or fatter....this way while my image is the same one everyone else starts with it will be different before it hits the store!
also be careful with "public domain" - be sure they really are in the public domain realm...and like you said if everyone else is using it...why would you want to use it - UNLESS you can find a way to use it in a new and creative way on your site Thank you shopaholicchick, you have really good ideas. I was looking for filler items and I like how you mentioned changing them a bit. For the public domain, I was browsing wikimedia and found a few things there. I don't know if I can alter those images or not. I guess I better do more browsing. Thanks much 
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ruralfrance escreveu:I don't think there's a problem with other people using them - there's one wolf photo that's being used by at least 12 different SKs - but that does divide the sales up a bit.
I know what you mean, I'm torn between using PD and not, but then I downloaded some and decided it wasn't worth the finding and downloading effort!
Probably in the future I will use an element that isn't mine, but I shall hate doing it.
I think I would prefer buying it, then at least the original artist gets something back. Hi ruralfrance. I have looked at stock sites to purchase images but then when I read their rules, they usually don't allow use on sites like this and you cannot alter the image and other rules like you cannot use it in a way that might be offensive. Not that I would on purpose but my gallery is a little on the dark side. I have to search around some more. Thanks
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I have one store where I only use designs I create, and a couple where I use only public domain images.
Personally, I have no problem seeing other stores using the same images-I understand that being public domain, I have no claim to them and if I can use them, anyone can. My only hope is that the time I spend cropping, colour-correcting and restoring the images will translate in a better image that will lead buyers to choose my products over someone who just uploaded the raw image and slapped it on some products.
So far though, my original designs have far outsold the public domain ones.
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JerryLambert escreveu:I rarely use clip art as the center of my work, I will use it for the little extra detail if I need to or don't want to actually draw a tiny seashell or something but lately I try to create my main design elements. For politics I sometimes create and sometimes use public domain. I have seen some really cool old advertising posters but I dont know whow that could not be the center of the work. I admit i am dumb on this issue and Im not good with politics.
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mousearte escreveu:I use purchased clip art (not public domain) for the majority of my products and do reasonably well. There are bound to be similarities in yours and others designs because there are only so many places that offer it for commercial use but the trick is, as shoppa said, to try and use it in a different manner from everyone else to make your designs as unique as possible. Thank you mousearte I didn't know about purchased clip art before I wrote this thread. I am going on the hunt for some.
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DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA several of our shopkeepers have found their OWN images on wikimedia as public domain!!! ANYONE can load an image to ANY "wiki" and write ANYTHING they want about it - including to claim it is public domain when it is not. so just to repeat
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
PS - also before purchasing clipart read the rules careful - for example www.iclipart.com does NOT allow you to use it on zazzle even if you pay for it.
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TheHopefulRomantic escreveu:JerryLambert escreveu:I rarely use clip art as the center of my work, I will use it for the little extra detail if I need to or don't want to actually draw a tiny seashell or something but lately I try to create my main design elements. For politics I sometimes create and sometimes use public domain. I have seen some really cool old advertising posters but I dont know whow that could not be the center of the work. I admit i am dumb on this issue and Im not good with politics. A lot of that old vintage stuff is PD and many SKers use nothing else. I thought about doing a section just for that type of stuff but I have never gotten around to it. The clipart I have used in the past was bought and came with certification but I probably lost all of that stuff when I switched machines so I stick to my current library or just don't use it if I am not certain where it came from. These days I try to stick to my own creations. And like shopa said, not everything that is being presented is as PD actually is, I have found this to be true by experience.
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Desde: 27/04/2009
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If I see anything I like, be it a photo or clipart, then I download it ONLY if the useage rights allow me to distribute it. Its not a case of simple cut & paste though, I take a lot of time to trace and vectorize and mangle it, using my OWN style. While I realise this may be controversial to some people, if any problems arise I remove it immediately, if there is copyright infringement. I DO NOT subscribe to the copyright involving a celebrity likeness, but do respect the photographer and his rights. Way I see it, the final result that I create, did not exist before , and would have been created REGARDLESS of whether I use an image of a celebrity or not. I myself abhor plagiarism, and I am , in effect, drawing from scratch using vectors. I do, however accept that it is a "fine line" and again, if any copyright issues arise, I have no problem removing the offending design.
If someone is offended by anyone of my designs for "personal" reasons and complains to Zazzle and they remove it, I review the design to make sure it is compliant with Zazzle policy then decide whether to post it again or not. Personal offence has no place in this marketplace in my opinion, as long as it does not violate anyones personal rights. If it is a freedom of speech issue, then my ire will always win. And then I will stand up for my OWN rights.
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Basstard escreveu:If I see anything I like, be it a photo or clipart, then I download it ONLY if the useage rights allow me to distribute it. Its not a case of simple cut & paste though, I take a lot of time to trace and vectorize and mangle it, using my OWN style. While I realise this may be controversial to some people, if any problems arise I remove it immediately, if there is copyright infringement. I DO NOT subscribe to the copyright involving a celebrity likeness, but do respect the photographer and his rights. Way I see it, the final result that I create, did not exist before , and would have been created REGARDLESS of whether I use an image of a celebrity or not. I myself abhor plagiarism, and I am , in effect, drawing from scratch using vectors. I do, however accept that it is a "fine line" and again, if any copyright issues arise, I have no problem removing the offending design.
If someone is offended by anyone of my designs for "personal" reasons and complains to Zazzle and they remove it, I review the design to make sure it is compliant with Zazzle policy then decide whether to post it again or not. Personal offence has no place in this marketplace in my opinion, as long as it does not violate anyones personal rights. If it is a freedom of speech issue, then my ire will always win. And then I will stand up for my OWN rights. ok i have to say the whole "you do not subscribe to copyright involving celebrities"....1st it is not copyright it is intellectual property right - which is separate from copyright - and 2nd it does not matter if "you subscribe" to it or not...it is a matter of the LAW. you need to cite the correct law before you try to claim not to subscribe to it...that would be like going in front of a judge and saying "i can drive without a seatbelt as mucha s i want because i do not subscribe to the speed limit law" the judge will laugh at you -= because it is a different law...and it is a law Laws are mandatory not a choice so you cannot choose to "not subscribe" to them...they are not magazine
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shopaholicchick escreveu:
Laws are mandatory not a choice so you cannot choose to "not subscribe" to them...they are not magazine
oh I dunno 'bout that...cough, ahem, scuse me. whoa pretty colors! what's the name of that magazine...? Willie Nelson gets it too...and Snoop I'm pretty sure.
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shopaholicchick escreveu: Laws are mandatory not a choice so you cannot choose to "not subscribe" to them...they are not magazine Following a law is a choice. Some of the most respected people in history have been those who decided not to follow a law they believed was wrong. BUT Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
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Grupos: ProSeller
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yes well on zazzle it is zazzle who will be "doing the time" since legally THEY are selling it...
and if you read the TOU you agree to pay all their legal fees & so forth if they get sued over your design!
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Grupos: ProSeller
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shopaholicchick escreveu:DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA several of our shopkeepers have found their OWN images on wikimedia as public domain!!! ANYONE can load an image to ANY "wiki" and write ANYTHING they want about it - including to claim it is public domain when it is not. so just to repeat
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
DO NOT TRUST WIKIMEDIA
PS - also before purchasing clipart read the rules careful - for example www.iclipart.com does NOT allow you to use it on zazzle even if you pay for it. wow,I didn't know that and it looks like they know what they are doing there.
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wiki sites are all user driven information site - they do NO research they allow people to make an account and add anything they want to it...
example:
i had a college professor found what appeared to be a very well written article relating to some small insignificant battle of the civil war...it was very well written and had an extraordinary amount of facts like numbers of dead and wounded and therefore appeared well researched...it was even cited to a school website (.edu)....however when you clicked that source website...it was a middle school website and the page cited...was a 6th grade page where the teacher posted all the civics papers on their site...the paper was all about what i did last weekend when i attended the civil war re-enactment....
so this well written article was all based on a paper an 11 year old wrote based on what the re-enactors told her/him....someone just took a kids weekend with dad civics paper and rewrote it using big fancy words and posted it to wikipedia LOL
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I've used public domain stuff here and there but the files are often tiny resolution. I don't know where all the people get big nice pictures of old fruit cartons or whatever because the ones I find are always weak.
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