What is iStockphoto?
iStockphoto is an online stock photography marketplace that provides royalty free stock images. iStockphoto was founded in May of 2000 and was a free stock image provider in its infancy. In 2001, the images were no longer free and iStockphoto was now operating on a micropayment system.
How Does iStockphoto Work?
iStockphoto has photography contributors, that after agreeing to terms and conditions, may upload their images to the site. Photographers must tag photos with keywords and relevant categories and iStockphoto will review these images. After iStockphoto has approved the images quality, relevance, and category, they are ready to be sold on the site in the relevant categories and according to the keywords that have been assigned to the images. Many people wonder how a contributing photographer makes money on these images. A commission of 15% to 40% of each sale is given to the contributing photographer, depending on the category and other criteria set forth by iStockphoto. Contributing photographers that have success in selling their images may be asked by iStockphoto to sell exclusively with them, offering a bonus for images sold on top of commission.
Consumers and iStockphoto
Stock photos are a vital part of businesses. Most businesses are looking for stock images for websites, billboards, mailers, flyers, signs, logos, publications, and many other uses. Stock image websites have become very competitive over the past 10 years. There are some free stock image websites, but like most things in life, you get what you pay for. The stock images on the free sites are quite generic, and overused. iStockphoto sells images based on credits, and those credits range anywhere from $.92 cents to 1.62
Pros of iStockphotos
- No royalty fees like other stock photo sites.
- High resolution images
- Endless selection of stock photos
Cons of iStockphotos
- Fees seem to increase and images have become much more expensive over the past few years
- Ownership of photos obtained from iStockphoto can be sticky if the photographer has not properly obtained permission to photograph the subject.
Graphic Design and iStockphoto
iStockphotos are a great option for your stock image needs. Even though stock images should not be used in logo design, there are still many occasions to use stock images when designing publications, billboards, flyers and many other things. It is important when designing a logo to have one customized for your business, and to create the uniqueness that is vital in branding your business. iStockphoto also sells vector and raster images, so graphic designers may upload their work and get paid a commission on designs they create. It is a great option for graphic designers. You can find iStockphoto by searching on the internet. Many people will search i stock photo or i stock photos, and you may have more relevant luck searching for istockphoto.