Stock FAQs

shutter stock what is it

by Trudie Rolfson Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Shutterstock is a global provider of stock photography, stock footage and stock music, headquartered in New York.

Full Answer

How to earn money on Shutterstock?

How to Make the Most of Being on Shutterstock

  • Take Photos that Resonate with Sellable Keywords. ...
  • Travel to Find Inspiration. ...
  • Get Inspiration from Other Photographers. ...
  • Stay Loyal to Your Style. ...
  • Follow Your Niche. ...
  • Remember Your Passion for Photography. ...
  • Research on Content Marketing Trends. ...
  • Uploading High-quality Content. ...
  • Choose Themes According to Customers you Intend to Attract. ...
  • Keep it Authentic. ...

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How much does Shutterstock pay contributors?

Expanded detail of how much is payable for each contract. However all this is based on conjecture and very limited data. Exclusive contributors can earn between 25 and 45. . On average users around the web make 50-100 per month per photo. HOW MUCH CAN I EARN. A great feature is that these packs never expire so its a long-term investment.

Does Shutterstock cost money?

Uploading images to a stock photography house like Shutterstock is easy, free, and can be quite profitable over time. When you contribute to Shutterstock, you still retain the copyright to your creations, and you receive a royalty whenever a subscriber downloads one of your photos.

What is Shutterstock used for?

Shutterstock licenses media for online download on behalf of photographers, designers, illustrators, videographers and musicians, maintaining a library of almost 200 million royalty-free stock photos, vector graphics, and illustrations. Shutterstock also has 10 million video clips and music clips in its portfolio.

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What is Shutterstock and how does it work?

Shutterstock helps inspire graphic designers, creative directors, video editors, filmmakers, web developers, and other creative professionals by providing diverse content to businesses, marketing agencies and media organizations around the world.

What is Shutterstock known for?

The Shutterstock collection offers photos, illustrations, vectors, video, and music for download by businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations. We work closely with over 80,000 contributing artists to license their content—they're photographers, videographers, and illustrators from around the world.

Are images on Shutterstock free?

Shutterstock's entire collection of imagery and video is royalty-free, which means that buyers have wide leeway in how they use the images, subject to the limitations in our Terms of Service.

Is it OK to use Shutterstock images?

A: Yes! If you subscribe to one of our popular Standard License plans, you can use images on almost any print product, with a limit of 500,000 copies. A Standard License allows image usage on: Editorial or advertising in magazines, newspapers, books, book covers, textbooks, editorials and directories.

What can I sell on Shutterstock?

You can sell photos, videos, illustrations, 3D images, and vector illustrations on Shutterstock. The upload process is relatively simple. However, bear in mind that they do have submission guidelines in place for each type of content as well as a review process which we will talk about more below.

How do you make money on Shutterstock?

Become a Contributor Produce high-quality images and videos for our customers to download. Upload your content with our easy-to-use platform, and get tips for success. Make money every time your content is downloaded by one of our worldwide customers. Earn even more by referring new contributors and customers.

Can you get sued for using stock photos?

Most stock websites charge a premium for indemnification. This is imperative in case either the creator of the asset or the people in the asset (say a photo or video) decided to sue you because they never authorized use of the image.

Is Shutterstock legal?

Stock photos, like those from Shutterstock, can be purchased and licensed for business use, and many businesses opt for enhanced legal protection to ensure there is no copyright infringement or problem with the licensing agreement.

Can I just buy one image on Shutterstock?

Shutterstock Image Payment Information You can only purchase one Shutterstock image at a time. Each time you purchase, you have to enter your payment details. Payments are one-time only, meaning that there are no recurring or subscription payments. You cannot purchase the same image twice.

Can you trust Shutterstock?

However, when it comes to Shutterstock you do not have to worry. It is one of the biggest and most popular platforms, and it is 100% legit and safe to use.

How much is a single image on Shutterstock?

You will pay each photo between $2.90 and $4.90 depending on the extension you choose. The other small plan is for 50 downloads a month. Priced at $125 monthly and $99 a month with an annual subscription, it's a great way to get a considerable amount of photos, paying between $1.98 and $2.50 per image.

Is Shutterstock a good website?

Shutterstock has a consumer rating of 1.21 stars from 420 reviews indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Consumers complaining about Shutterstock most frequently mention customer service, credit card and free trial problems. Shutterstock ranks 220th among Graphic Design sites.

What is Shutterstock license?

Shutterstock Standard License gives you right to use the images for various commercial, promotional and personal purposes, such as marketing and advertising, graphic design, personal decoration or artwork, etc.

How many images are there in Shutterstock?

Shutterstock built one of the largest stock imagery libraries within microstock, with over 95 million images, and adding an average of 800,000 new files every week. Checking submissions for technical standards, they are able to offer wide variety in content and high quality images to use in various projects, granted by the Royalty Free license.

How much does a Shutterstock coupon save you?

This verified exclusive coupon will save you 15% on any image subscription and any prepaid image packages at Shutterstock!

What does "free royalty" mean on Shutterstock?

Royalty Free means you don't have to pay any further royalties for the use of the image once you've paid for the license. If you wonde if is Shutterstock copyright free, the answer is no: the images are not free to use, you must pay for them, but only once. After you pay for the licensing fee, you're allowed to use the image forever, in multiple accepted uses.

Is Shutterstock a good website?

Pushing tech development constantly, Shutterstock has one of the most user-friendly websites. Some of their latest additions include mobile platform and apps, free online media editors, and a very advanced reverse image search and content suggestion tool, based in computer vision technology.

Is Shutterstock commercial safe?

Using Shutterstock for commercial content is a smart choice, because they check all the images for model and property releases. If they list them as commercial, you know they've been revised and are safe to use.

Is Shutterstock a piooner?

At the time there was already another company, iStock, exploring this model. But Shutterstock was a piooner itself with innovation in the selling method: stock photo subscription. They offered a determined number of downloads per day, for a fixed monthly fee. It was a huge success, to the point that iStock and all the other agencies in the industry adopted the method.

How many photos are there in Shutterstock?

Need images for your project? Shutterstock’s impressive collection of more than 300 million images can help! See what our library has to offer. You can try our library for free with Shutterstock free trial. Get 10 stock photos without any upfront cost.

What is stock photo?

Stock photos are images that anyone can license for creative use. Rather than hire a photographer, designers can search a large database of photos and quickly find one that works for their project. Some of the most popular stock photos include people, travel destinations, animals, and food. This system also allows photographers to earn ...

When did stock photography start?

Although it’s not quite clear how the term “stock photography” came about, agencies began selling stock photos in the early 1920s. Many of these images were outtakes from commercial photo shoots, which provided a more affordable alternative for creative projects.

How much does Shutterstock pay for royalty?

The royalties range from a low of 25 cents per photo to a high of $120. However, that $120 payment was for an “enhanced” license that gives the buyer the right to use your image often and into perpetuity. By and large, the site pays a lower royalty rate than Adobe Stock. And it also sells photos via package plans that are likely to keep royalty rates low, except in unusual circumstances.

How much do you have to be to get paid on Shutterstock?

The site also only pays contributors when they have accumulated at least $35. (If you want to be paid by check, you need to build up $500 to get paid.) If you get booted from the site before you get paid, any accumulated earnings in your account can be seized by Shutterstock.

How much do photographers make on each sale?

Specifically, photographers earn just 15% commission on each sale for up to 100 photos sold; 20% on the next 150 sales; and so on, until — at 25,000 photo sales — you earn 40% of the purchase price.

Does Shutterstock allow royalty?

What: Shutterstock encourages photographers to upload their stock photos for resale, which can generate royalties

Can you restrict a Shutterstock site from selling your image?

If you want to stop the site from selling your image for “sensitive use” you also have to opt out. What is sensitive use? To use Shutterstock’s description: “Sensitive Uses are those uses that depict a person in a manner that a reasonable person might consider offensive, controversial or unflattering.”

Is Shutterstock a good site?

The site gets 70- 80 million web visits a month making it the most frequently visited photo site in the world, according to SimilarWeb. Shutterstock is also good about keeping its contributors on top of the latest trends, encouraging them to submit photos that have a good likelihood of getting purchased. By signing up with Shutterstock, you also are registered for its sister sites that sell news photos and art photography. However, the rights you pass to Shutterstock are non-exclusive, meaning you also can sell your photos elsewhere.

How does Shutterstock work?

Shutterstock works by accepting contributors’ content via its so-called “ Shutterstock Contributor program ” and then offering it to customers that pay for the licenses. Shutterstock and the contributors then split the earnings.

How to purchase Shutterstock images?

There are two ways to get Shutterstock images: for free and by paying for them.

How much does a Shutterstock license cost?

Shutterstock Standard License is a form of a royalty-free license. It’s the most basic Shutterstock license that costs between $0.22/image with subscriptions and up to $14.50/image with on-demand packs. It allows for up to 500,000 copies and covers legal indemnification up to $10,000.

Why are Shutterstock videos so expensive?

Shutterstock stock images and videos are expensive because you pay for quality instead of quantity. All the content is carefully curated by Shutterstock review team that makes sure every image is valuable.

How long is Shutterstock free trial?

Shutterstock Free Trial. Shutterstock offers a 30-day free trial during which you can download 10 free stock images. The trial comes with zero commitment, and you won’t be charged up until 4 days before the trial expiration. But be careful. If you don’t cancel in time, you will be charged a monthly fee.

What is Shutterstock royalty free?

Shutterstock is a renowned stock photo agency that provides stock images, videos, music, and fonts with a royalty-free (Standard) and rights-managed (Enhanced) licenses. Shutterstock works by accepting contributors’ content via its so-called “ Shutterstock Contributor program ” and then offering it to customers that pay for the licenses.

Why didn't Shutterstock change back?

Shutterstock for sure did not change it back because it would be a major violation. Most probably, the customer forgot to click the “Save settings” button.

What is Shutterstock like?

Shutterstock is like a broker or middleman that deals with buyers on one side and contributors on the other side.

What is Shutterstock photography?

Photographers take stock photos, such as the cheesy images of attractive men and women in suits shaking hands and smiling with perfect teeth. These images are then uploaded to Shutterstock, where customers browse for an image that fits their needs. The customer selects the image, the photographer receives some of the profit, but the majority goes to shutterstock.

What are the key groups of Shutterstock audience?

The key 2 groups of Shutterstock’s audience are contributors and customers, so we shall figure out the two approaches for each of those groups.

Does Shutterstock pay photographers?

Shutterstock pays a set fee to photographers for each image that is licensed. This is established in the contract that the photographer signs prior to uploading images. Other microstocks pay based on the size of the image licensed or on a photographer ranking system (higher level photographers are paid more etc.)

Does Shutterstock take a huge portion of the sale?

Shutterstock stores, organizes and promotes these products, therefore they take a huge portion of the sale, like most of it! You of course could create your own stock site but very few buyers would find you.

Does Shutterstock accept photos?

Contributors have to pass a basic test in order to submit their work for sale - Shutterstock has their own standards on quality, so they may accept or DECLINE your images.

Does Shutterstock require an international ID?

Get registered. Certain personal info has to be provided. The rules are kind of strict, and Shutterstock demands the authors to give international ID.

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Overview

Shutterstock is an American provider of stock photography, stock footage, stock music, and editing tools; it is headquartered in New York. Founded in 2003 by programmer and photographer Jon Oringer, Shutterstock maintains a library of around 200 million royalty-free stock photos, vector graphics, and illustrations, with around 10 million video clips and music tracks available for licensing. Origi…

History

Shutterstock was founded in 2003 by American entrepreneur and computer programmer Jon Oringer. Creating his own online marketplace, Oringer initially uploaded 30,000 of his own stock photos and made them available via subscription, with unlimited downloads and a monthly starting fee of US$49. When demand exceeded his photo supply, he began hiring additional contributors. In 2006, the firm claimed that it was the "largest subscription-based stock photo ag…

Facilities and staff

Shutterstock is headquartered in New York. In October 2013 Shutterstock opened its new European headquarters in Berlin, Germany and by March 2014, Shutterstock had additional offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Denver, London, Montréal, Paris and San Francisco. After maintaining its New York headquarters for years in a Wall Street office, in March 2014 Shutterstock relocated into the Empire State Building. According to Inc., the office was selected with the goal of decreasing c…

Business model

Shutterstock licenses media for online download on behalf of photographers, designers, illustrators, videographers and musicians, maintaining a library of almost 200 million royalty-free stock photos, vector graphics, and illustrations. Shutterstock also has 10 million video clips and music clips in its portfolio. While Shutterstock currently has several payment models, The Atlantic wrote in 2012 that Shutterstock "pioneered the subscription approach to stock photo sales, allo…

Censorship of results in China

In September 2019, engineers at Shutterstock began designing a system to censor results displayed to users with IP addresses in China, with the system being implemented in October 2019. The system returns no results in response to queries such as "Xi Jinping", "Mao Zedong", "Taiwan flag", "dictator" or "yellow umbrella".

Copyright theft

In July 2020, Users at Wikimedia Commons reported widespread copyright theft at Shutterstock. Images from many Wikimedia contributors were hosted on the site. Shutterstock were first made aware of the problem in April 2020, but no action has been taken to remove the images nor any compensation offered. The copyright theft has continued into 2022.

Products

Shutterstock began licensing stock video in February 2006. Shutterstock Footage operates similarly to their image library, offering video clips by subscription or on a per-clip basis. As of 2014, Shutterstock Footage contained around 2 million royalty-free video clips. Shutterstock Music debuted later, with new content submittable by contributors.
Shutterstock for iPad was launched in November 2011, and in May 2012 the app received a Web…

See also

• Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (S)
• List of companies based in New York City
• List of stock footage libraries
• List of online image archives

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