Stock Photos - Spruce Up Your Site

Stock photos range from free, to pay-per-image, to subscription based downloads.

Buying stock photos from some agencies can be very expensive. Too expensive for most small Web publishers.

So what are the best options for web designers to get quality images at a reasonable price?

Quality Plus Affordability

A simple solution is to use an independent library of royalty-free images, like iStockphoto.com. Besides photos, iStock also offers Vector artwork, videos, and Flash files.

Find Suitable Images Quickly
Use one of the search functions to find appropriate images for your Web project.

• Search by keyword - use the search box in the top, left corner to start your search.
  
  
• Search by color - once you're on the search results page, you'll be presented with the "Find by Color" and "CopySpace" (see below) features.
  
  
• Search by copy space requirements - When you're adding a caption or advertising text to your image, you need some space to fit it in. This feature will find photos which can accommodate your text.

After your results show up, you can further refine your search using the "Search Options" menu on the left (mid-page).

Lightboxes
Create a lightbox for a specific project and store images that you are interested in as you search. Then you can go to your lightbox to compare the images and make the best choice.

Read the terms of use
You can purchase different licenses, depending on the way you plan to use the image. The license you need is generally based on how many times the image will be viewed. For general, on-page Web use, a Standard License Agreement should suffice.

Sign up for their newsletter for tips on using their site and dealing with graphics.

It's surprising the quality of image you can get for $1! Go to the iStockphoto Store to purchase photo credits.

Other Stock Photo Sites

Dreamstime

BigStock Photo

Stockxpert

Stock Photos By Subscription

Photos.com allows you to download as many images as you need within your subscription period. If you use a lot of Web graphics, this sort of arrangement may actually save you money in the end.

Free Web Images

 

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