I have a link saved on my PC to the Folksy Press Office page on Press Loft. But when I’ve tried it the last couple of days, it’s no longer there. Does anyone know whether Folksy has now stopped doiing this?
https://www.pressloft.com/app/press-office/18652
Oh blimey, I hope not! 
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I was surprised to see Folksy things there as I know how expensive Press Loft is…
I can only assume they were using a free trial 
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It is pricey, but it feels like it’s pretty vital - especially with a view to raising the profile of the site 
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£3,360 for a thousand images. Not really that expensive when you consider how many sellers are on here, and the price hike. I’m on there with the basic package and it’s been invaluable as I’ve already been featured in some mags and newspapers and had a good few downloads by journalists, so it definitely works. The only thing is that Folksy would have to update the images to rotate fairly, and cut outs are the most popular download by journalists. That would be time consuming.
But you know, the Big E are on there along with a few other smaller selling sites similar to Folksy.
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We have indeed cancelled our Press Loft subscription. We tried the service for almost a year to give us a good idea about the coverage we could expect, but were disappointed with the results. There were very few high-quality magazine features, with the majority of placements being in either free locally-distributed magazines or bloggers just using our images for free. There were some exceptions (such as features in The Sun, Yorkshire Post, Best and Bella magazines) but most publications were looking for white-background cut-out images, and there are not many of those on Folksy.
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Thanks Camilla. I sometimes looked at the site to see what the new trends were, and will continue to do so. It’s good for signing up for newsletters about interior design etc too, so a good info source even if Folksy isn’t on it anymore!
All my downloads and those that got featured were cut outs. Perhaps sellers all need to get at least one of their images as a high res cut out if they want to be picked up journalists who I’m sure trawl sites like this outside of Press Loft. You need at least a 1MB image to be chosen. Did you advertise that fact to the sellers? I don’t remember any info on here regarding PL at all.
We did. We even put together a blog post with advice for free apps sellers could use to create white-background cut-out shots: How to create white background cut-out shots - and why you need them in your shop | Folksy Blog
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Then it’s a shame not many sellers have taken this on board. Can you tell us exactly what plans you now have to promote Folksy in order to gain a higher profile? Are there are any future plans for more high end advertising?
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I do remember the advice about the cut-out shots. I took that on board and have recently been including a cut-out shot as one of my photos for each listing. Luckily I discovered just one click on my phone can remove the background from my photos, so it’s easy for me to do now. They may not magazine quality photos, but I’m fairly pleased with them.
The other thing is I’m not sure this is really much use to anyone since you changed to AVIF format. The images won’t convert on Photoshop unless you get the plug in, and even then will journalists download direct from Folksy if the image is not high enough res? It’s more logical for them to use Press Loft to ensure they get the high quality images. Doesn’t PL give Folksy a higher profile, even if no images get downloaded and used? All your serious competitors in the UK are using PL. How does it make sense for you not to?
Would you share the secret please?
Im stumped, but maybe im on a diff operating system. Im on android…
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I don’t know if there’s a similar function on Android as mine is an iPhone. I press and hold on my item in the photo, and a white line starts moving around it to show the section that’ll be cut out. Then it gives me the option to either copy or share. I choose share, to email it to my laptop where I do my editing. Once, I’ve edited it, I use Pic Collage to add it to a white background. There’s probably an easier way to do it but it works for me.
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Thank you. I shall mess about and see if something similar works on android. I was looking for an edit setting.
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I use an app called photo room. I have the paid version but you can add a plain background on the free version.
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Thank you. Ill have a proper poke round later
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