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Who needs a stock photo, and why don't I just use an image I've 'found' on the net?
If you are designing some material for in-house use, a Powerpoint slide presentation for instance, then the above is not an issue. Where problems can arise is if you are working on a project where the final artwork will be professionally printed, e.g. brochure, flyer or any other marketing material.
Most images you find on the web, or possibly in your existing clip-art photo section supplied with your software, usually have a resolution of 72dpi (dots per square inch). The monitor you are reading these words on will probably have a similar resolution. This means that viewing a 72dpi image onscreen will usually give great results.
However, if you need to have your image printed professionally, then a higher resolution will need to be supplied. I won't bore you with the technical explanation of why this is, suffice to say that whoever prints your image will probably need an image of at least 300dpi. An easy way to 'visualise' this is to load any 72dpi picture into your favourite picture editor. Set the view at 100%. The picture looks great, unless you've used a poorly-taken one to begin with. Now, set the view to 150% or 200%. You'll now notice the picture is not looking so good and is beginning to 'break up' and becoming blurry.
This is the same that happens when trying to print a low-res image on a high-res system. (The imagesetter that produces the film can often have a resolution way in excess of 2000 dpi!).
The only way you are going to get great results when sourcing your pictures is to choose a high resolution image!
How do I find a suitable hi-res image? We've included the resources on this page to help you source that must-have image for your project. We are sure you won't be disappointed.
Stock
Photos for Designers & Desktop Publishers
We've lost count the number of times we've been asked whether we supply stock photos. Unfortunately we don't, but decided it might be helpful to list one of the UK's largest stock photo sites - Fotolia.
What is Stock Photography?
A stock photograph is an image, usually supplied in a digital format, that can be used for commercial and non-commercial use.
Prior to the 'digital age' and the internet anyone requiring a hi-resolution photograph for a project would need to select an image from a printed catalogue, arrange payment and then wait for the image to be saved to CD and sent via post/courier. Many design agencies, commercial printers etc. usually purchased 'themed' CD's with a 100 or so quality images. This had its drawbacks as many of the images were never used in projects, but still had to be paid for. These days, with high-end digital photography available to the masses, finding and purchasing that ideal picture is far easier, and much more affordable!
Many non-professional photographers are now offering their 'best shots' for sale on sites such as Fotolia. Images stored at Fotolia are licensed on behalf of the submitting photographer and prices start at £1.00.
Stock photography is commonly sold as either rights managed or royalty free, (see side boxes, bottom right).
Click on this logo:
to visit the Fotolia site.
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Stunning images for your website from just £1.
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Up to 100 times cheaper than other top image providers.
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Quality assured by Fotolia's team of professional photographers & designers.
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International database - millions of images from over a hundred countries
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Large range of categories including business, concept, lifestyle, sport & travel.
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Powerful search engine to help you find the ideal photography for your website.
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Flexible royalty free licences - no limits on image usage.
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Instant free account signup.
Free Photos
Fotolia also provide some hi-res royalty-free photos completely
free of charge, as per the images below. New ones are available every day.
Royalty-Free licensing , also known as "RF", is a very broad-use license that does not require additional payments for additional uses.
The amount of time an image may be used is generally unlimited.
There are almost always restrictions to use; these vary but the most common limitation is on re--licensing the image.
Price is almost always based on the pixel-size of the image.
Rights-Managed licensing , or "RM", is priced for a specific use based on factors such as length of use; type of use; number of insertions; size; number of impressions or displays; geographic region; etc.
This type of licensing allows stricter control over an image's use.
For some photos lacking a model or property release rights-managed licensing is needed to make sure it is not used for advertising because the image lacks a model release or property release.
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