Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Understand stock photo rights

The two most commonly used stock photography terms related to rights are 'rights-managed' and 'royalty-free.' The first refers to any image with terms defined by type of use and exclusivity. The latter refers to images with a one-time usage fee. Other important terms include 'buy-out' (meaning the copyright holder sells all an image's rights to an individual or business), 'comp' (a low-resolution image that's free or reduced in price) and 'rights protected' (where you can buy assurance that a rights-managed image will not appear anywhere else in the future).

I recommend: Stock Asylum offers a useful, free stock photo glossary that includes many terms related to rights. Connect 2 the Net Web Talk features a good article on understanding the differences between rights-managed and royalty-free images.

Use stock photography image terms

There are a vast number of industry-specific terms used to describe stock photos. Among the most commonly used are 'DPI' ('dots per inch,' which speaks to the resolution or quality of the image), 'lo-res' (short for 'low resolution'), 'PICT' (a low-resolution format developed by Apple Computer, used on Macintoshes) and 'pixelated' (meaning a low-quality image where the many small dots that make up the image are obvious to the naked eye).

I recommend: Alamy provides a free glossary of terms, including many words used to describe digital and analog stock images. Grantastic Designs also has a comprehensive glossary of terms related to graphic design and stock images.

Learn miscellaneous stock image terms

Among the more common stock photography agency terms you may run across are 'digital watermark' (a drawing, word or phrase imprinted onto an image to protect it from being stolen), 'interpolation' (improving the resolution of an image), 'model release' (a contract signed by any person shown in an image, giving consent to use his or her image for commercial purposes) and 'property release' (like a model release, but for inanimate objects).

I recommend: Buying Pictures Online offers a short but useful glossary with miscellaneous terms for those using stock images. Diving in Fiji also provides a good stock photography glossary.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Some stock photo agencies use alternative or less-well-known definitions, so it's wise to always carefully read all agreements, FAQ pages, and glossaries or dictionaries that your stock photography agencies provide.

The best photos and graphics come from professional photographers and graphic designers who create exactly what you need. But hiring professionals to create custom work is prohibitively expensive for most small businesses.

Now there’s a solution: Web-based stock photo services that offer millions of high quality, royalty-free stock images (photos and other graphics) that you can download to your heart’s content for a modest subscription fee, or in some cases for free. High quality, royalty-free photos that can literally cost just pennies at online subscription services can be used for all kinds of purposes, including these:

1. Web sites
2. Multimedia presentations
3. Trade show displays
4. Billboards and banners
5. Packaging and labels
6. Broadcast video
7. Business cards and letterhead
8. Brochures
9. Office, store or restaurant decoration
10. Public areas

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find free photos on the Web

There are innumerable sites on the Internet that offer free photos for public use. Why free? Many sites try to attract customers with free images in the hope that they will purchase additional materials.

I recommend: Sites that offer free stock photos abound. Check out ImageAfter for completely free photos. Try Dreamstime for photos as inexpensive as $1 apiece, or browse About.com and its lists of free or inexpensive photos.

Download high quality, royalty-free photos and other graphics by subscription

Simply sign up for a plan, pay one low fee and download hundreds of royalty-free stock photos per month.

I recommend: Need photos on a regular basis? Consider subscribing to a stock photo service like the one at 123RF. Subscriptions generally provide a certain number of photos monthly. Shutterstock has a download service you should consider.

Know the difference between 'free' and 'royalty-free.'

Free photos are just that — they cost nothing, but may be limited in what you're allowed to do with them (for instance, some are not free for commercial use). Read the fine print. Royalty-free photos, on the other hand, aren't free — they just don't generate fees every time you use them, as rights-managed photos do.

I recommend: Learn the definitions of royalty-free, rights-ready and rights-managed photos at Getty Images, which offers a multitude of stock photos in all categories. A few other popular sites for finding royalty-free (as well as rights-managed photos) are Fotosearch and Photostogo.

Find free clip art on the Web

Clip art is the term for stock graphic elements that you can use to jazz up the document you're designing. Whether it's an American flag or a bullfrog, you can probably find an illustration that suits your taste.

I recommend: There's also a plethora of sites offering free clip art. For instance, see GalaxyGauge's nifty Graphic Type Library for artistic drop caps, ABitBetter's funny 'Screen Beans' or register on Freeze.com to access a large database of free clip art. Find more free clip art Web sites at About.com.

Consider licensing artwork for limited use

If you can't find what you need free, consider licensing what you need; you won't have to buy the work outright, as you're just paying to use it for a certain amount of time.

I recommend: See Sarno Photography and Web Design for information on the benefits of licensing. To search for artwork available for license, check out Photographer's Direct, Fotosearch and Photostogo.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Just because a photo doesn't have a copyright notice doesn't mean it's not copyrighted.
• •  Keep in mind the resolution of the photos you're considering. If you only plan to use a small piece of it, and you plan to blow it up larger, the photo may wind up being too grainy.
• •  Consider contacting local design schools to see if any photography or illustration students might be willing to work inexpensively for the experience — and a credit line.
• •  Royalty-free photos are generally yours for unlimited use; the price is determined by the size of the photo, not its usage. (Prices vary from very low — less than a dollar, depending upon the account you have with the vendor, the size of the image, etc. — to quite a bit.)
• •  If you're a heavy user, consider buying CDs of royalty-free photos, which can keep prices down.

Action Steps
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Buy rights-managed images from a stock photography agency

Often the highest-quality images are sold on a 'rights-managed' basis. This means the stock photo agency carefully controls how the images are used. This licensing is usually based on the type of usage (editorial or advertising, for example); specific use (a nationally distributed magazine or a regional one, for instance); the duration of use; territory (for example, the United States or the United Kingdom); size of image and exclusivity. One of the biggest benefits of using rights-managed images is you can buy the rights to be the only business using them.

I recommend: Fotosearch is one of the best known stock photo agencies. In their vast collection, you can choose from a wide variety of rights managed photos; use the image search (near the top of the page) and click "rights managed" to find suitable images for your business. Corbis also offers an impressive collection; use the search feature (at the top left of the page) and click "rights managed."

Use royalty-free images from stock image agencies

Images that are 'royalty-free' aren't free to use. However, such images do not require that you pay a royalty each time you use them. Simply pay a one-time fee for the image; then, you may use that image whenever you like. A downside to this type of arrangement is that your business will not have exclusive use of the photo.

I recommend: Dreamstime has a fine collection of royalty-free images for your business needs; use the search feature (at the top right of the page) to find just what you're looking for. The Stock Solution also has a great collection of royalty-free images; their search feature may be found at the very top of the page.

Find more stock image agencies

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of stock photo agencies in business in the United States. To help determine which ones provide the highest quality and most reliable service, check out professional photographer and designer recommendations, which are abundant on the web.

I recommend: The American Society of Picture Professionals is an organization of professional photographs offering a list of quality stock photo agencies on their website. Presentation Zen offers a notated list of stock photography agencies with general information about costs. For a list of quality stock photo agencies divided up by categories (such as "Celebrity Images" and "Art"), see A Photo Editor.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Remember that even with royalty-free images, you typically can only use the image so many times before paying another fee. Read the agency's agreement carefully before buying and using any stock photos.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Avoid stock photo service membership fees

Some stock photography agencies charge a monthly or yearly fee for the privilege of browsing through their images, then charge additional fees for the actual use of their photographs. There's little reason to pay for 'membership' to a stock photo site, however, since there are hundreds of sites that allow you to browse their photos for free. An exception may be an agency that allows you to download a certain number of images per year for free if you pay for membership -- but be sure the membership fee isn't higher than the cost of paying for individual images elsewhere.

I recommend: TamingTheBeast.net offers advice on using stock photographs and finding membership-free sources. Scroll down to "Cutting the costs of stock photography" for more information. WebPlaces.com provides a short list of stock photo agencies that don't charge membership fees.

Limit the use of 'limited use' photography agencies

Stock photos listed as 'rights-managed' may be purchased with a level of exclusivity. For example, a corporation might buy 100 percent exclusive rights to use a photo, or a book publisher might buy the right to be the only book publisher using the image. Unless you really need such an agreement, you'll save a bundle by avoiding rights-managed photos.

I recommend: StockPhotography.com explains the difference between rights-managed images and royalty-free images. Click on the links (for example, "The Basics" or "Definitions") for detailed information. For information about when it is and is not appropriate to use rights-managed images, see the American Society of Media Photographers' website.

Use stock image agencies' free or royalty-free products

Truly free photos (often called 'public domain' photos) are available on the Internet. You may generally use them any way you like and you don't need to pay for them. For a greater variety of images (and sometimes higher quality images), try royalty-free photos. For these, you pay a small fee (often a few dollars) and may use the image nearly any way you like. Each stock photo agency has different terms, so read them carefully before buying and using images.

I recommend: First Point Marketing explains exactly what royalty-free photographs are. For a list of online stock photo agencies, including those with royalty-free images, see Photo Secrets.