How To Use

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Photoskill.net is an online store of photo services. It’s a platform that allows you to find the job or hire a specialist in the field of photography. You can be a buyer, a seller or both. You publish services in a Shop to sell and images in a Gallery to participate in community and promote yourself. There are four specialisations in which you can sell your skills: Photoshoot, Review, Retouch, Master Class.

Photoshoot - services of the photographer in deferent photography types;
Review - a written assessment by a professional of your skill on the provided portfolio;
Retouch - editing or retouching provided photos;
Master Class - teaching knowledge in the form of lectures, joint walks, assignments, etc.

FAST ACCESS MENU

This menu is at the top of each page from where you can quickly access one or another page of the site, add images to the Gallery, access personal messages, and so on.

Registration

The registration process is very simple. You can register using your profile on a social network or using an email address. In the first case, you automatically register and activate your account, in the second you will additionally receive a letter to the e-mail box to verify it.

Search Users

Search works by name or email address in the top header on any page. Since the registration is also connected to the social network, you can find your registered friends by their name on the social network or your friends can send you a direct link to their page in the project, so you can find them easier and add to your Contacts.

Upload images

Plus in the menu helps you quickly upload a image to the public Gallery. The maximum size is 20 MB for one image. In public Gallery we do not store uploaded originals and automatically reduce your images to a resolution of 1000 pixels on the longest side with a resolution of 72 dpi. This is enough to consider the details of the image and exclude the risk of copyright infringement. All uploaded images are marked with a watermark of our site.

Private messages

Through the system of private messages in the gallery of an individual user or on a page from a separate image you can send a private message to any user. Later, you can already see the message history on a separate page and receive notifications at the top of each page. A completely shaded white envelope means that you have new messages. In addition, if notifications in the settings are enabled, you can receive notifications to the email address. By clicking on the envelope you will see a list of new messages. After viewing all unread messages disappear and the envelope becomes not shaded.

Notifications

Similar to the personal messaging system, you receive notifications about any actions of other users with your images, images to which you are subscribed or your services for sale. The site notifies when someone left a comment on your image, put a rating on your image, bought one of your services, etc.

Shopping and finance

The menu has several icons, quick links to the pages. The basket leads you to the page with your orders and purchases. The numerical designation of the available balance leads to the page with all your account transactions. Icon with your Avatar to lead to the settings page of your profile.

GALLERY

You just see all the images you and others have published. You can see comments on your images, votes for them, follow and unfollow from images of others, share them through your favourite social networks and compose recipes on images using the "Lighting Setup” tool. If the owner of the image has activated “Full” type of the account, then you can rate his images and leave comments on them. The gallery is not only a means of communicating with like-minded people, but is also actively used to attract potential buyers.

Filters

You can find sorting filters under the main menu in small blue letters. They help sort and find images according to certain criteria.

All - the whole gallery by the latest upload date on top.
Mine - images uploaded by you with the possibility of deleting.
Contacts - images of my contacts, the freshest on top.
Subscriptions - images you are subscribed to or where you left comments.
Active - images, by the date of the last comment.
Popular - the most commented images.
Best - images with high ratings.
Random - random selection of a series of images.

Voting

On the page of each individual image there is a rating scale for your images and for images of other users.

Voting - is an information rating scale for images of other users, where you and others can vote.

Received votes - an information rating scale only on your images to see how others voted, without the possibility of voting for you. The results are visible only to you.

Voting takes place using 6 basic photography characteristics:

Art - This image is a work of art. The author should use it for the exhibition, give it to the museum, hang it on the wall of the house.
Composition - Look at the composition and harmony in this picture before evaluating it.
Color - It can even be black and white, but still, it's the author's choice of that color. This is also a color. Vote intelligently if the color is used cleverly.
Light - This option is not about exposure, but about the quality, direction and path in which the light works to make the picture better.
Creativity - It is a different view of objects, at an unusual angle or a funny moment. Option of the ability to find the unusual in the ordinary.
Quality - Technical quality does not always have to be perfect. Think about how much this used quality is suitable for this image, how much it improves or does not affect the overall impression at all.

You do not need to vote on all of them. Do not hesitate to remain neutral or vote - YES or, if you think that the image needs improvement, vote - NO. In any case, try to be objective and more positive in your judgments. Of course you can not vote for your images. You can change your mind from YES to NO or back, but you can not return to a neutral position once voted.

Comments

The best way to learn something is to exchange opinions and arguments. You see that you just voted NO, but want to know more? Ask to explain your voice, give detailed information, exchange knowledge and argue, but stay positive. The more you comment and vote for others, the more you get back, the more your audience and the network of potential buyers. If you believe that someone's comment is offensive, you can anonymously complain to the other users for the administrator and we will take measures to prevent such comments. We adhere to the generally accepted norms and rules of conduct described in our user agreement. You can delete your comments if you think they are wrong.

Sharing

You can share any image with friends using social networks and / or email. Use this tool to invite friends and others whose opinion is important to you, create your community of like-minded people or potential buyers.

Lighting Setup

This is a tool that allows you to compose a lighting scheme for a particular subject, which helps others to learn more about the image. The tool is intuitively understandable with basic functions and a set of lighting and auxiliary devices. Once you have saved the light scheme for a single image, it becomes visible to others for viewing by the corresponding icon in the image itself, and you for further editing by the light scheme icon on the page of this image. You can also compose a scheme of light for images of other users, but you can attach it only as an attached file in the comments as an alternative.

FIND

This is a general store where you, as a customer, can find one or another service through a search or by using the sort filters on the right of the search bar. When you find something that suits you for price, quality, location, time, read the description, etc., you can add this product to your basket. While you have not paid, you can always change your mind. Also you can ask questions to the author of the product before you buy something directly on the product page, read reviews of other buyers, the author's rating. When you add a product to the cart, its description and other data are saved exactly as you added them, even if the author later corrected the product to avoid misunderstandings in the future.

Our platform is not responsible for the quality of the services received. We just give you the tool as an intermediary between you and the seller. However, we are interested that both buyers and sellers are satisfied and therefore, in case of disputes, we assist in resolving disputes and refunding.

My Orders

This is your basket with selected services, where you can pay for them and track the performance. As mentioned above, you can remove the previously added services from the shopping basket before payment. After payment, you can also opt out, but you need to ask the seller to refund your funds. If the seller is not against refund, then you can receive a partial refund of the amount paid to your account. In this case, the site commission for the use of the service is withheld. If the seller is against a refund, then you ask us to intervene and help resolve your dispute.

SELL

Here you create your products, monitor sales, get payments. This is your personal store.

You can sell your services if you feel that others will buy them. You do not need to be a professional, and this is your decision, if you decide, at some point, what you want to sell and earn. You sell your services through a platform on an individual basis (P2P). You choose the type of sale, set the price, the time of execution, the minimum number of words, etc. You research the market, you advertise your services yourself and with the help of available site tools. You can start selling by activating any of your services. After you activate the PRO mark appears on the avatar icon and the "Store" option appears in your profile, so others know that they can buy from you.

My Sales

Here, paid orders and their performance status are displayed in the table. As soon as the buyer pays for your product, then this or that state of the order appears at the seller, where something can be requested from the buyer or from you, depending on the product. It also starts the countdown of the time you specified when drafting the product, when you must accomplish the job. A simple click on the line with the product takes you to the product page, which only you see as a seller and buyer. There you communicate and work inside this or that product. There you hand over the job and the buyer accepts it.

Refund - After making a payment for the services, the Buyer may request a full or partial refund from the Seller. Also, the Seller can initiate a refund. There can be different reasons for refund on any side. Sides need to agree the refund amount before proceeding. Refund can be initiated by any side, but only Seller has a technical possibility to refund.

Full - Buyer receives back full paid amount, including platform fee.

Partial - Buyer receives back an amount agreed with the Seller, but not more than Sellers’ Net received amount. Platform fee is not refundable in this case to the Buyer.

Transfer of funds (photocoins) to your balance for completed orders occurs after the complete fulfilment of your order, after you press Done button. Please make sure the Buyer is happy before pressing Done.

Services

We have four types of services: Photoshoot, Review, Retouch, Master Class. Click the “Create” button and select one product type. Fill in the required fields, give a detailed description, set the price and if everything suits you, activate the product. From now on, your product is available on the Internet on our website.

Photoshoot is the work of the photographer. It does not matter what you shoot, but any work can be measured in hours. You yourself form a description of your work, so that the buyer can understand what he will get in the end. For example, it can be portrait shooting - 1 hour of such a value or subjective shooting, etc. The name of your service can be anything, like: "Portrait hourly shooting at home", and in the description, the time of performance can be specified already taking into account both the survey and processing and when the buyer will receive the final result, for example 24 hours. The cost you indicate in this case for the final product, not for hours. Execution time, which you put in the project means only guaranteed receipt of the final result by the buyer. All other details you provide in the description of the service and negotiate with the buyer directly through private messages. It all depends on what you are selling and in what form. You form your own product. The first 3-5 (depending on orientation), uploaded images when compiling the product will be displayed in the final store as an example of what you are offering. The final result you post on the order page and the buyer accepts it.

Retouch is a work for those who are engaged in image retouching. It can be the restoration of old images, color correction, any other kind of image work that you know how to do and suggest. Obviously, the buyer needs to upload images for you to process. A detailed description of what is required and in what capacity, format, etc. from the buyer and what he will get in the end, will reduce the differences. For example, it can be processing 3-images or a different number. You can create several variants with different quantity and cost. You form your own products. The first 3-5 (depending on orientation), uploaded images when compiling the product will be displayed in the final store as an example of what you are offering.

Review - Your customers upload a series of images taken by them (up to 12). The review consists of a written text that describes the portfolio as a whole using 6 basic photographic characteristics: Art, Composition, Color, Lighting, Creativity, Quality. In addition, it will include recommendations at the end. In the end, the buyer leaves the feedback in a special form and puts the rating.

Master Class - you create your class. You describe and promise the service that you provide with the tools built into this sale: image and file download, job description, comments, lighting scheme. It is entirely your responsibility to adhere to the description of your service and fulfil the expectations of the customers by playing "honestly". Example: A student is asked to take a few pictures with a specific task and the wizard leaves his feedback on the completed task, pointing out mistakes and tells how to do it correctly, explains the technique of shooting, the features of the shooting, etc. They can discuss the task within the minimum specified limit of words or more, if the Master does not mind. At the end, the student leaves the feedback in a special form and puts the rating.

Billing

All your account movements are shown here: balance top-ups, payment for your products, payment for your products, withdrawal from the account, etc. - everything that is connected with money. Here you can refill your balance, request a refund or payment. We use Photocoins as a bargaining chip to pay for services. 1 (One) Photocoin is equal to 1 (One) Pound Sterling UK (GBP).

Deposit - To top-up balance with Photocoins simply use your bank card or other method we provide on payment page like in any other store. You can top-up your balance in advance, or you can directly pay for the products, but still it will pass through the balance and will be displayed in the billing table.

Refund - You can request full refund of deposited funds if certain conditions are met: 1. The amount deposited is available in full on your balance. 2. The amount was deposited no later than 30 days ago. Partial refund is difficult and this is due to the terms of the payment system we work with, as well as the commission that we pay for receiving payment from you and transferring funds to you.

Payout - Once you choose the route and provided details we will be able to send payouts. It could take up to 7 days in some certain circumstances, but usually takes 2-3 business days. You can request a payout only when the threshold of the Available Payout balance is 60.00 Photocoins or above. After you request a payment, the transfer goes to the account of the selected payment system. The payment is made in Pounds Sterling UK in the equivalent of 1 (one) Photocoin = 1 (one) Pound Sterling UK (GBP). If your local currency is different from GBP (£) then your bank or payment system will add an additional fee for conversion funds when you make a payment or receive it. It depends on your bank and is not controlled by us. We work nearly with all countries in the world.

Only funds received from others (earned) are available for the payout. To make a payout we may ask your bank account details, email and your full name. We have 2(two) routes to withdraw funds depending on the currency of the bank account.

GBP route. If you have a bank account in British pounds, we use bank to bank wire transfer without conversion involved.

Non GBP route. If you don’t have an account in GBP, we use Transferwise.com payment service to send money in your local currency directly to your bank account with decent mid market conversion rate. Most countries are supported, but please check it here to make sure you can receive money from us to your bank account.

We recommend to sign up with Transferwise.com to automate the process in the future and open a borderless GBP account. Thus you can use the first GBP route with guaranteed no conversions. So you can choose and control when convert and what to do with your money later.

CONTACTS

You see the profiles of those who you added to your contacts. On the personal pages of any user there is a button that allows you to add / remove someone to / from your contacts.

SETTINGS

Progress - This is your overall progress on all your published images. You see a generalised number of votes, so you see your strengths and weaknesses.

News - here you can see the news and the history of all news and announcements on the site, if you suddenly missed a letter to your mail.

Notifications - you control what notifications you send to your email. If you have not logged in for more than a day and you have notifications, the system sends 1 time a day notification of the presence of activity on your images or images to which you follow. If there are private messages, the system notifies you instantly.

Profile - here you can choose or change your avatar, account type, name, surname, location, create or change the password.

About account types. Regardless of whether you want to sell anything on the site or not, you can choose the degree of participation in the project. There are 2 types of account: Portfolio and Full.

Portfolio - it is useful to use only as your portfolio on a website where your images can not be evaluated or commented on in others in the Gallery section. This account type is not included in the rating. You can still rate and comment on images of others. You can be contacted through the internal system of private messages. You can also sell your services by combining this type of account with Pro features.

Full (by default) - allows you to use the full functionality of the platform. Your images can be rated or commented on by others in the Gallery section. Your profile participates in the rankings. You can be contacted through the internal system of private messages. You can also sell your services by combining this type with Pro features.

Language - the system, depending on the location and other data itself, will determine which language to install, but you can always change it manually to a more convenient one.