A Comprehensive Guide on Royalty Free Images

A Comprehensive Guide on Royalty Free Images

Pretty pictures do not just inspire people. They motivate them to take action, too. Posts with images increase engagement in websites and social media. This growing trend means we need more images to do the talking for us. However, not all of us are professional photographers and Photoshop experts. Creating powerful images is not that easy, but there are ways to get them.

Conducting your own photoshoot can be expensive and time-consuming. If you are running a small business, this could take up much of your budget. Fortunately, you can now purchase images from stock photo agencies. You might be thinking why you should buy images if you can download them for free, right? Well, stock photos come with the right license to protect you against copyright infringement. Vast majority of images from stock photo websites come with a Royalty Free license.

What does Royalty Free mean?
Royalty free refers to a type of license that allows you to use stock images for almost all purposes at a flat rate. It became popular with the rise of digital photo distribution as it offers both flexibility and affordability. You only pay for the images once, but you can use them forever within the terms and conditions of the site.

Royalty free images engages and inspires your readers without breaking your bank. They are not difficult to find, too. Many websites, such as Shutterstock and Stock Photo Secrets, offer high quality royalty free images at very affordable prices. You can use them in virtually any application in as many projects as you like. As long as you comply with the terms of the license agreement, you keep and use the images for as long as you like.

Take note that a royalty free license is paid. It does not mean you can use the images for free. It only means you can them as many times as you like without paying additional fees. The initial license is meant to protect yourself and your clients from copyright issues that may arise down the road. The price of royalty free images are often based on file size, number of permitted users and many other factors. For instance, iStock price their royalty free images by collection.

What are the allowed uses for Royalty Free Images?
Royalty free images can be used for personal, editorial and commercial purposes. Personal use refers to the use of images not for commercial gain. Examples might include use of images on wedding announcements and social newsletters. Commercial use, on the other hand, may be commonly defined as intended for promotional, merchandising and endorsement purposes. This could include use of images on company websites, brochures, presentations and products.

Editorial use of royalty free images is more restrictive. While you only pay for the images once, you get to use it forever for editorial purposes only. For instance, you can them to illustrate or enhance text in print and digital publications. The distribution allowance is also limited by most stock photo agencies. Some out the reproduction or print run limit to 500,000 copies, but others put it at only 250,000. So, be sure to read the license agreement to avoid issues in the future.

What is the best source for buying Royalty Free Images?
With several great choices in the market, finding your primary source of stock images can be time consuming. You can use the extra time to enhance your creative project. To help you save time for that, here are some of the best sources for buying royalty free images.

  • Stock Photo Secrets. SPS is a one-stop shop for all your royalty free images needs. Whether you are looking for information about the industry or buying stock photos, this is the stock photo agency for you. They have over 5 million handpicked premium stock images in their collection, available for personal and commercial purposes. You can also find free photos and vectors, and COUPONS in the website.
  • Boasting the largest royalty free image collection, Shutterstock offers amazing content for your next project. They have very straightforward prices, too. You will surely find a plan that suits your creative needs and budget. The stock site also has an integrated editor that you can use to make fast and easy edits. By signing up, you can get access to their curated collection, and some free content every week.
  • Adobe Stock. A must-have stock site for Creative Cloud users, Adobe Stock offers variety and convenience. They have over 60 million high quality, royalty free images in their collection that you can access, license and manage directly from your favorite Adobe software. Images are available with subscription plans and credits packs. Choose whichever works for your creative needs and budget.
  • iStock by Getty Images offers royalty free images that will make stand out. With a large high quality collection and affordable prices, you will find the right image while giving your budget a break. All files belong to one of their two collections: Signature and Essentials. The Signature collection offers the best quality, while the Essentials collection has the lowest price. The stock site also offers free stock files every week.

The quality of free images from the Internet can be lower than paid images from the stock photo agencies. The better quality ones can be overused, which means their effectiveness may be diluted. Sources of these free images are also unlikely to have inspection process, which increases the risk of a dispute down the road. If you want to enhance your creative project and make it successful, purchase and download royalty free images.

Images are just as important as a well-written content. Instead of telling, you can show your readers what you are referring to. For visual content that engages and inspires, purchase royalty free images. For a one-time fee, you can use the in any project for as long as you like. Just be sure to read the license agreement of the stock site you are buying them from. They are also a great component for commerce-related content strategy as they spark the interest of your readers and motivate them to take action.