Stock Photography, Clip Art, and Illustrations

What are Stock Images?

Stock images are photographs, illustrations and multimedia clips that have been created by professional photographers/designers for use in a variety of media. Stock photography consists of existing photographs that can be licensed for specific uses. Book publishers, specialty publishers, magazines, advertising agencies, filmmakers, web designers, graphic artists, interior decor firms, corporate creative groups, and other organizations utilize stock photography to fulfill the needs of their creative assignments. By using stock photography instead of hiring a photographer to perform on-location shooting, customers can save valuable time and stay well within budget. With a wealth of images, the stock photography databases that may be searched online save you valuable time when looking for just the right image. With Our Partners and today's digital delivery methods, images may be purchased online and delivered via email or downloaded right away.

Stock photos (stock photography) are professional photographs of common places, landmarks, nature, events or people that are bought and sold on a variety of different licensing agreements. The photographer (or stock photography distributor) has ownership to the images, and the commercial designer has some limited usage of the photo (which is set out in the Terms of Service by the company you purchase the stock photos from). Some conditions of use may include things such as: use of the images is licensed, not sold, or in case of a stock photo being used in a magazine, there may be a maximum number of copies of the image allowed to be printed under the agreement. Terms of Service policies will differ between stock photography distributors.

Stock photography is a cost-effective method for designers to obtain professional photos and images without the costs of hiring a photographer directly. Stock photos and stock photography refer to the images purchased under this distribution method and may be photos, computer generated graphics, clip-art, vectors, and other form of imagery.