Stock Photos

[jade - portia]

Hey peeps

I've been looking for stock photographs for a website I'm having developed and the cost is ridiculous (check out getty images - i think i'll become a photographer lol)

After scouring the web I've found that bigstockphoto.com is the cheapest by far.

I've seen images on their site that I saw on one of the other sites and it was substantially cheaper. So definately worth checking out if you're looking for artwork for a website or promo materials

 

[Ruth Mills]

I usually use the following myself:

Royalty-Free Stock Photos at Fotolia.com
iStock Photo: Royalty Free Stock Photography, Vector Art Images, Music & Video Stock Footage | iStock
Stock Photography: Download Free Stock Photos & Royalty Free Images

You can get many images on these sites for a quid or two each for the lowest resolution (you only need the "extra small" images for web use - but go for the highest resolution image you can if you are using them for print).

By the way - never be tempted to use images from someone else's site - or from a Google image search - etc - on your own site without permission. Companies like Getty Images use a company called "PicScout" to crawl the web looking for images used without a licence - and if they find one of their images on your site without a licence, you will probably receive a big bill for hundreds of pounds from a big London law firm - threatening court action if you don't pay up! So really it's not worth it - much better being safe rather than sorry and paying a few quid for proper "kosher" stock photos...

 

[sammi_xxx]

I usually use the following myself:

Royalty-Free Stock Photos at Fotolia.com
iStock Photo: Royalty Free Stock Photography, Vector Art Images, Music & Video Stock Footage | iStock
Stock Photography: Download Free Stock Photos & Royalty Free Images

You can get many images on these sites for a quid or two each for the lowest resolution (you only need the "extra small" images for web use - but go for the highest resolution image you can if you are using them for print).

By the way - never be tempted to use images from someone else's site - or from a Google image search - etc - on your own site without permission. Companies like Getty Images use a company called "PicScout" to crawl the web looking for images used without a licence - and if they find one of their images on your site without a licence, you will probably receive a big bill for hundreds of pounds from a big London law firm - threatening court action if you don't pay up! So really it's not worth it - much better being safe rather than sorry and paying a few quid for proper "kosher" stock photos...

Really? Woops! Didn't know that! Thanks for that

 

[Ruth Mills]

Really? Woops! Didn't know that! Thanks for that

Yep - I know a few people on SG who were caught out in the past when they'd used images owned by companies like Getty Images and Corbis Images without a licence.

In my opinion, big companies like that are complete and total fascists in the way that they just demand hundreds of pounds off people out of the blue like that - without giving them a chance to take the offending images down (like any reasonable person would). To be frank, it's extortion!

 

[sammi_xxx]

Yep - I know a few people on SG who were caught out in the past when they'd used images owned by companies like Getty Images and Corbis Images without a licence.

In my opinion, big companies like that are complete and total fascists in the way that they just demand hundreds of pounds off people out of the blue like that - without giving them a chance to take the offending images down (like any reasonable person would). To be frank, it's extortion!

Well tbh, I'm looking at the websites you have given and I've seen images I have used that I found on google

 

[Ruth Mills]

Well tbh, I'm looking at the websites you have given and I've seen images I have used that I found on google

Ah - you'd be best to take them off your site then - or buy legitimate copies of them from the stock photo websites... you don't want to be caught out by the copyright Gestapo!

 

[sammi_xxx]

Ah - you'd be best to take them off your site then - or buy legitimate copies of them from the stock photo websites... you don't want to be caught out by the copyright Gestapo!

True true, I'll do that ASAP.
Do you need permission off CND etc.. to use their images?

 

[Ruth Mills]

True true, I'll do that ASAP.
Do you need permission off CND etc.. to use their images?

Yes - you should ask Sweet Squared for permission to use CND images. They will give you some text that you have to include on your site, e.g. "Images courtesy of Creative Nail Design Inc"

 

[sammi_xxx]

Yes - you should ask Sweet Squared for permission to use CND images. They will give you some text that you have to include on your site, e.g. "Images courtesy of Creative Nail Design Inc"

Okay thankyou

 

[Ruth Mills]

Okay thankyou

It's always good courtesy to ask any other product suppliers if you can use their images too. Some companies (e.g. Nouveau) are very specific about which images you can and can't use. So it's always best to ask.

 

[sammi_xxx]

It's always good courtesy to ask any other product suppliers if you can use their images too. Some companies (e.g. Nouveau) are very specific about which images you can and can't use. So it's always best to ask.

Okay thanks for the info

 

[jade - portia]

Someone I know used a Getty image on their website and ended up with a bill for £2,500 or else! Needless to say he paid the £2,500.

When I was on the Getty site I couldn't get my head round the licencing costs - like £361!!!!!!! for what?

photoxpress.com have a quite a few images that you can download for free but to be honest I couldn't find what I was looking for there. Whereas on Bigstock I found exactly what I was looking for, for literally a couple of quid - result

 

[sammi_xxx]

Someone I know used a Getty image on their website and ended up with a bill for £2,500 or else! Needless to say he paid the £2,500.

When I was on the Getty site I couldn't get my head round the licencing costs - like £361!!!!!!! for what?

photoxpress.com have a quite a few images that you can download for free but to be honest I couldn't find what I was looking for there. Whereas on Bigstock I found exactly what I was looking for, for literally a couple of quid - result

What! Thats an outrageous amount of money :O

 

[snlynn]

Being very naive, a while ago I thought Royalty-Free meant you could use a photo on my website and I received a bill for £650+ from Getty images for unauthorised usage! They had Print Screened my website for proof and enclosed this in the letter advising me they were taking me to court - major panic! The annoying part was that promotion hadn't even brought in a single client, was something I offered on a whim 6 months previously and hadn't taken off my website! Serves me right for not keeping my website upto date and for not reading the small print I suppose! :Scared:.

After much negotiating and them deciding as I was actually a one-man band, providing proof of monthly income and making me feel completely useless, they finally agreed to a settlement fee of £400!

So definately worth paying the $10 or so on the many photo websites out there! Please learn from my mistakes (lots of them to choose from!!)

 

[Helen v]

we used shutter stock and paid for a monthly subscription for 1 month to download 700 pics this worked out so cheap we literally thought of everything we might want a pic of in the future and downloaded it.

 

[abbadabbadoo]

What about pattens or background images, are they the same as pictures?

 

[Ruth Mills]

What about pattens or background images, are they the same as pictures?

They will still be subject to copyright. Haven't heard of anyone getting sued by the Getty Gestapo for using a pattern or background image on their site (yet) - but you can bet your bottom dollar that they would if they could!

 

[Verve Designs]

What about pattens or background images, are they the same as pictures?

If you've not paid someone to design it, paid to download it (and checked the usage rights) or designed it yourself. Dont use it!

If a picture or design exists then someone, somewhere, has designed it and will own the rights to it. There is nothing for free on the web!

 

[Leely]

So glad I have seen this tread, I've been busy designing my website for
My mobile business and had help from my other half, he informed me my site needed some images so googled the products I used and he has added them.
I can now tell him I was right and we can't just download images and use them
I will be looking forward to showing him this thread later on x

 

[Leely]

I just wanted to say I have emailed four of the company's who's products I use, and I have had an email back from three of them so far who have given me logo's etc to add onto my website.

Try it ladies you never know what the out come will be xx