You may be a designer or a publisher, but when using top-class images is an important part of your work, then their source is a matter of great importance. I have put together a list of 10 outstanding stock websites, to help you achieve a better understanding of the present-day stock photo market.
Fotolia is the rock star of this list, and their 4 million members would be happy to testify to how affordable, convenient, and rewarding Fotolia’s services really are. Since 2004, the company managed to assimilate a daunting amount of 24 million stock files, which probably makes it one of the most abundant stock image providers in the industry.
You can peruse their image collections at any time, no registration required. And when you visit, be sure to keep an eye out for free image giveaways, or comps for planning projects to try in your designs; the agency stages this kind of pleasant surprises all the time. On signing up to buy images from Fotolia, you can purchase vectors, photos, and videos in your method of choice: either by using credits, or by applying for a subscription.
Fotolia’s On-Demand credit packages are very flexible and made up of credits which cost only $0.74 each. Buying with credits means that the user has full disclosure to images with Extended Royalty-Free Licenses, and most importantly, to the premium images encased in the Infinite Collection. What is more, if you’re forced to work within a limited budget, 12 million multiple-sized images are ready to be snatched from the Low Cost collection at a price ranging from 1 to 6 credits (depending on the download size).
On the other hand, you may start an Individual or Multiple Membership for a Daily or Monthly Subscription. As such, you need to know that a daily subscription attaches only $0.19 to every image, and sets a limit for anywhere between 25 and 250 downloads in a single day. By contrast, Monthly Subscriptions require that the user decides on a monthly limit from 5 to 5000, and at the end of a month, all unused downloads simply Rollover to the next. In addition, Fotolia’s current BOGO offer gift-wraps the second month of a monthly subscription of 5 images and 25$ (as you can see for yourself from the link in subheading ‘Fotolia’).
iStock is one of my favorite image providers in the world, and it dominates the stock image market – which is understandable, considering the fact that iStock was the first ever royalty-free stock image agency on the web. It launched in 2000, and has come to host 6 million exclusive vector illustrations, photos, Flash media, video and audio files.
Currently, iStock’s homepage shouts out an amazing offer, namely that half of their exclusive imagery is available at half the standard price when buying with credits. iStock’s finest content ranges freely from the elite recommendations of Editor’s Picks section, to the Lightbox which assigns free stock images for download each and every week. Whenever the user is searching for something in particular, iStock has all it takes to conduct a thorough quest by engaging a vast set of filters, including category, price, keywords, color, resolution, license type, etc. Therefore, nothing relevant to your quarry ever eludes an iStock search.
In terms of pricing, the iStock credit system is immensely appealing, seeing as 15 to 30.000 credits can be purchased online, and they entail discounts of up to 25%. As far as subscriptions are concerned, customers are free to calibrate their agreement according to three principal options: duration (3, 6, or 12 months), daily subscription credits (ranging from 20 to 240/day), and the plan price adapted to the designated requirements. Finally, inserting the code ISTOCK14 at checkout when you buy with credits would enact a discount of 14% to that purchase (see the link in subheading ‘iStock’).
When it comes to the finest image merchants, 123RF secures a well-deserved place among the top three. The agency’s total count reaches 22 million royalty-free stock files to choose from, and the average daily income of fresh additions amounts to 35.000. It’s interesting that, in part, those novelties are being uploaded via an unconventional channel labeled 123RF On-The-Go. In reality, On-The-Go is a mobile application which makes it very convenient for photographers to contribute their high-resolution content. A potentially positive side effect of this upload option is the fact that images captured in this manner look natural, spontaneous, and authentic.
123RF gives away free treats to all registered members. To be specific, the agency created a separate section with 30.000 free photos, digital and audio files, and graphics at the service of all designer or publisher clients. Not only is this free collection one of the largest I’ve encountered so far, but it presents contributors with the opportunity to showcase their work in the most effective of ways: by making samples of it freely available.
123RF instated the classic practices of subscription or credit payments in order to buy from their vaults. The On Demand credit option does not require fixing a daily limit to all downloads, while the Basic and Premium subscriptions enact larger discounts per image and raise the daily rate sky-high as longer periods of time are employed. What is more, I have proof that 123RF make a priority out of keeping their customers satisfied: the provider has a 100% money-back guarantee for when users regret a recent purchase and signal this out within 72 hours.
Cutcaster sorted out its exclusive content into various collections diligently arranged by topic. The ones which really sparked my interest were Cutcaster’s rich picture collections and the gorgeous Crescendo Collection with its 920 astute stock images. If you’re not a client and you see something that you like, note that registration is not required in order to make a purchase: pay-as-you-go with your credit card or paypal. Alternatively, one prepaid credit is just $0.89, and following this route can entail discounts of up to 49% per item; not to mention the fact that investing in a credit package would be an inspired thing to do, because each of the three plans are subject to various discounts: 19% off the Bronze option, 31% off Silver, and 39% off Gold.
Stockfresh is a valuable addition to my selection of 10 most impressive stock image providers on the market. It was launched as the brainchild of those who also founded stockxpert and stock.xchng. The section comprised of 300.000 vectors, illustrations, and clipart really took my breath away. All in all, over 2.7 million royalty-free photos and vectors await creative professionals in the realm of top-class images from Stockfresh, and the agency’s interface for users was specifically designed to help members find what they’re looking for, as simply and as rapidly possible. In order to buy anything from Stockfresh, you need to get credits in advance (5 at the price of $4.99, and as many as 500 in a single instance), or subscribe for $99-a-month.
Bigstock is a noteworthy stock image agency with more than 15 million stock illustration, vectors, and photos to offer. Whether you pay with credits, or if you sign for a subscription, you’ll find that Bigstock has a cost-effective system. What is more, images acquired via a daily subscription cost only $0.35. Before making a decisive leap with Bigstock, however, know that the provider offers a free trial so you can experiment membership for an entire week. Throughout these gift-wrapped 7 days, you can download as many as 35 images at a rate of 5/day, and re-download at leisure. Naturally, the trial can be terminated anytime, but why on earth would anyone pass down this opportunity?
Dreamstime was founded 13 years ago, and since then 18 million royalty-free vector images and photos have found their way into the agency’s welcoming vaults. If you go to Dreamstime’s homepage for the first time right now, an enticing offer is standing by to greet you; I’m referring to the 60% discount that Dreamstime allows for any and all acquisitions during the first 24 hours after first signing up (the catch is that you need to sign up as soon as possible). It’s pretty amazing. Moreover, Dreamstime makes a great choice for designers in particular, as it delegated an entire section with illustrations, photos, and web design graphics for their free use.
PhotoSpin is more than qualified to claim a position in my top 10 state-of-the-art stock image providers. What draws PhotoSpin apart from all the other agencies presented here is the way that those 4 million EPS and JPEG files are disclosed. To put it simply, everything is stacked in two collections of uneven dimensions. There are 1.5 million royalty-free images placed in the Premium Collection, and a user needs to select a Plus or a Super Plus plan from the beginning (which sets the size for all downloads thenceforward). The Expanded Collection is comparatively larger (2.4 million files), and as far as it’s concerned the user has to create her/his own subscription from 4 categories, 4 time frames, and 16 different subscription plans.
Thinkstock upends the traditional framework of established stock image agencies. A brand of Getty Images, Thinkstock partnered with 40 providers (Jupiterimages and iStock, among others) to put together a collection of large proportions. I would like to point out a positive detail about the way Thinkstock makes its content available to clients, namely the fact that the price of an image stays the same, regardless of its designated download size. Thus, a size L image is just as affordable as its S version. Moreover, Thinkstock enables significant discounts by use of codes whenever a subscription is ordered: GTDPC46N takes 60% off monthly subscriptions, while R4HPC46N drops the price of a yearlong Pro subscription by 20%.
Depositphotos concludes my topmost microstock agencies odyssey. Its credit-based pay-as-you-go system attaches $50 to 50 credits, and using these to pay makes it possible to acquire Extended Royalty-Free Licenses. With a daily or a monthly subscription, though, you can buy images at $0.15 each. Depositphotos’ total count reaches 17 million photos, vector images, and videos. Some of the most imposing items from that multitude are the 2 million EPS and AI files from Depositphotos’ vector illustrations section, and several of those beauties are given away for free every week. I also need to highlight the Sales Lightboxes, which summon season-related stock files and puts them on sale. In this instant, the Discounted Lightbox features 314 Harvest Time photographs and dozens of vectors at a 20% lower price.