Software and Tools For New Artists on a Tight Budget

Are you and or artist and photographer who is wanting to promote your work but are on a limited budget?   Here are some tips and suggestions.
First of if you cant afford a new DSLR camera, go for a high end point and shoot camera such as Canon.  Some of the high end point and shoots are better than the lowest price DSLR cameras.  You can find a high end point and shoot for around 3 or 4 hundred dollars and perhaps even cheaper.  You will also need a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop or the Gimp.  The latest version of Photoshop CS5 is very expensive but there is an alternative if you prefer Photoshop over the Gimp.  You can still buy an older version of photoshop 7 from Ebay for much cheaper.  It does run on Vista if you set your compatibility mode correctly.  This version of photoshop does not require the annoying activation that the newer versions require.  There are tons and tons of free filters that run well on Photoshop 7.  Just Google it.  Photoshop 7 has all the basic photo editing needs you can want.  I have found that the only difference between this version of Photoshop and the newer version of Photoshop is that there are a few more features such as content aware and 3D tools.  However, you will pay much more for the latest version of Photoshop just to get these features which is really not necessary if you only need to do simple image editing to prepare your photos for the market.
There are many photo stock sites where you can sell your photos.  Many of these sites have a strict criteria for the photos that you submit which can be somewhat discouraging.  Photos can be rejected often and it is very time consuming.  There are sites where you have much more control over the photos you submit.  One such photo site is Clustershot.  You can upload your photos for free and set your own prices.  If you have your own website or blog, you can sell prints, cards and downloads with FotoMoto.  All one has to do is sign up for a free account with FotoMoto.  They give you a script and you paste it into your website.  It grabs your photos that you want to sell and adds them to your secure online store with FotoMoto.  The FotoMoto script then adds buy buttons automatically underneath all your photos located on your website.  One can also have many websites registered with Fotomoto to sell photos.  People can then choose to buy your photos from your website.  Once they have selected their order it takes them to the secure checkout with Fotomoto.  This is a super idea especially if your site does not have SSL which is required to accept credit cards.  Both Clustershot and Fotomoto take approximately 15 percent from your photo sales.  This is acceptable considering selling photos on one of the major stock sites may only give you a few dollars each or less for your photos.
It is never easy one way or the other to sell photos and artwork.  It is a lot of work, time and effort on the part of the individual.  Most will not make any money overnight because there are factors such as the bigger competitors, search engine optimization, setting up a website and many other things.  It definitely can be a  24/7 job.  However, if you love photography and art time will have no meaning.  

Clustershot Saved

The photo site Clustershot will not be closing down.  Thanks to a successful auction, the new owners will keep Clustershot alive.  This is good news for its members and other artists and photographers who use this site.  Way to go! 

Unfortunately, I would hoped that Clustershot would return but it did not happen. It was sad to see it go because it was such a good starting point for those who wanted to sell photos online.

Bye Bye Clustershot

I have mentioned previously about Clustershot.  Clustershot is a website where one could sell and buy photos.  The uniqueness of this site is that there were no heavy restrictions on submitted photos such as the more well know stock photography sites.  This was an advantage for those trying to break into the business of selling their art and photos for a little extra income. 
Clustershot has acknowledged on their website that they will be closing down sometime in February 2011.  This is such a shame because it is a nicely layed out and attractive website.  Being a member myself, I will have to find alternatives for selling my artwork and photos.  I found one such site, FotoMoto.  Perhaps I will give these guys a try.  It is free to join and they only take a small percentage of your earnings.  There is really nothing to lose here.  There is also FotoTime which has a free and paid account.
Clustershot has also mentioned that they will take a reasonable offer for the site.  So maybe, there is still some hope that Clustershot will have a saviour.  We will just have to wait and see.