A Guide to Stock Photo Agencies by Stephen Finn

Micro Stock Photo Agency Guide by Stephen Finn download two free spreadsheets Monthly earning breakdown Shutterstock stats Partially updated January 2011 Micro Stock Footage Guide Bookmarks to further down the page or scroll down
Photos	Lighting	Copyright	Size	Submitting	Keywords	Image prices
Earnings	Payment methods	Referrals	Comparison chart		Exclusivity	Strategy
The Photos Top
- YOU DON'T PAY TO HAVE YOUR PHOTOS HOSTED HOWEVER SOME SITES HAVE THE SAME SIGN UP PROCEDURE FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS SO YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO BUY CREDITS. But for Dreamstime there is the option not to buy credits that's the one you want. - have to be taken by you so you own the copyright. - must be at least 4 mp for most sites see the table for variation between the agencies - must not contain any copyrighted material, company names and logos but also some buildings and most recent works of art statues, paintings etc. -identifiable marks such licence plates and advertising should be cloned or out. No recognizable faces without a model's release form (which needs to be signed by the model and a witness) Most sites don't like blurred faces in the background none will accept a blurred face in the foreground. If a person is the principle subject you need a model release now for some sites regardless of whether they are recognizable. Care must be taken with digital noise and the compression setting on your camera. The later should be set to the fine or superfine. What is Digital noise? It is the slight variations in colour seen in digital photos use neat image. After any manipulations remember to save at JPEG setting 12 to ensure maximum quality.
Lighting, Composition and Colour Top
Most of the agencies have their own help pages on these subject so I won't go into too much detail but the points to watch out for Under and over exposure If its only slight you can alter this yourself using the brightness/contrast bar or better yet the curves feature on adjustments on Photoshop it gives you more control.. Hard Shadows The Agencies don't like them so try to avoid them. Blown out highlights Areas which are just white and have no detail, unfortunately the camera doesn't record anything other than white so adjusting the brightness won't solve it. Best to find another photo unless you can crop out that area Composition + Size Composition - Books have been written on this subject, all I will say is don't be afraid to crop if you can spare the pixels if they is something distracting near the edge of the photo. I tend to find that having people doing something is always a plus point (especially in natural landscapes) also make sure the subject really is the subject and its not lost in the background. Keep the horizon absolutely level - 1-2 degrees off will be noticed and the photo will be rejected. Don't over crop as remember the bigger the photo the more money it can earn as some agencies have a tiered pricing structure depending on the image size. Don't be tempted to oversize, (resizing your 1024x768 photo to 1200 x 1600) as when viewed at 100% they will notice and it will be rejected and they will be sceptical about your subsequent uploads. Colour I do know the Agencies don't like over saturation of colour I know its tempting to tweak the colours but keep it natural its not pop art. Blurred, out of focus, or lens flare Are all unacceptable so don't waste your time and theirs
Copyright issues Top
Potentially any modern building, I personally have had problems with The Gherkin in London, The Louvre pyramid, the Pompidou Centre and the Eiffel Tower at night. Some agencies with allow photos if the building is part of a larger skyline. In the same theme any gadget with a recognizable shape such as an iPod is also off limits for photographs.
Size of photos + timing of submitting Top
I have recently changed my mind on this subject I now submit full size photos to all agencies apart from Shutterstock as they upsize the images anyway. Downsizing will sharpen a photo but microstock is a volatile market fortunately with prices on the increase as of May 2008, even 123RF will reward photographers for submitting larger images. Some of the most successful photographers will upload their photos to the higher paying sites first then wait a few months before submitting to the others. Unfortunately a common rejection now is "too many on site" so best not to wait too long.
Submitting/uploading Top
So you have your photos and are ready to submit, Broadband is essential but note uploading is slower than downloading. In the UK a 10 meg and a 2 meg connection have the same upload speed 384k (about 20-30k per second or 100 meg/hour). Shutterstock, iStockphoto, Can Stock Photo and 123RF all want you to send samples of your work before you can submit so best to wait until you know your photos are up to standard. Plus the Istock, Big Stock and Can Stock make you sit a little test regarding model release forms and copyright before you can even send your sample photos. If you thought uploading took a long time wait until you have to start categorizing your photos this is a very important step as without the correct keywords how is anyone ever going to find yours amongst the hundreds of thousands of images? All sites apart from 123Royalty free have a category system which is worth exploring before you start any serious uploads as useful categories can be in some rather unlikely places. For example for Big Stock Photo both beaches and winter are subcategories of places.
Keywords Top
Every site seems to have different categories but they all have keywords before submitting any photo it is always a good idea to check out the competition. If there are a huge number of results reconsider uploading unless you have a unique angle or strange shot. Forget about uploading photos of flowers, pets and sunsets. Most sites are full to the brim you are just going to annoy the reviewers and frustrate yourself when the rejections arrive in your inbox. If there are absolute no results of a well known landmark or object (especially if it is a modern building or recognizable gadget) they may be copyright issues so perhaps think again or just send one photo. But hopefully its is somewhere in between so you can try submit. I am fairly lazy so if it is a picture of the Eiffel Tower I would use that in the title, description and as the first key words. I usually just expand the title in the description. Most agencies want at least 7-10 keywords. Big Stock want seven words and Dreamstime want five words in their description Don't use irrelevant keywords it will annoy both the reviewers and those looking for photos. For Example if you had a picture of the Eiffel Tower from the Montparnasse Tower you might write
Title - Eiffel Tower Description - Eiffel Tower viewed from the Montparnasse Tower,Paris Keywords - eiffel tower, eiffel, tower, montparnasse, view, iron, metal, tall, structure, monument, paris, tourism, attraction, landmark, france, french, I usually enter in eiffel, tower and eiffel tower
If you are uploading to multiple sites it is best to write your title, description and keywords (with commas between the words) on notepad then using Microsoft Photo Info copy and paste these details into the IPTC fields. Save the text file in the folder with the photos. All the agencies can read the IPTC details filling in the fields but sometimes they don't so then the txt file handy is very useful. Microsoft Photo Info has advantages that can give the same information to more than one photo at a time and it doesn't automatically alphabetize your keywords useful for Fotolia whether the keyword order does matter. Unfortunately it doesn't check for duplications. Of note sometimes shutterstock appears to missread the IPTC details before you start copy and pasting wait for a few minutes and try clicking on submit and sometimes it will read the IPTC details and fill in all those boxes. Shutterstock and Fotolia version 2 have a compulsory spellchecker so be prepared for it picking up place names and UK spelling. It also deletes purals I usually submit to them first and then correct my IPTC tags before submitting to the other sites. Some of the sites won't let you alter your keywords after they are accepted but Fotolia and Featurepics won't let you alter them after you submit for approval, so watch out for typos. 123RF don't allow alterations to keywords after acceptance Istock, Shutterstock Dreamstime and SXP will let you alter your keywords after acceptance (DT will even let other people suggest keywords) You can alter your keywords at Big Stock Photos but they require approval

Image sizes and prices Top
Approximate sizes											Minimum amount needed to convert
	300 x 400	600 x 800	2mp	4mp	5mp	8mp	12mp	15mp	30mp	eps	Chq US$	PayPal	Money bookers	Notes
	21c	63c		84c		$1.26		$1.47		>$5*	$100	$100	$100	also 25c or 30c from subscription sales see DT page for more details
	40c							$5
	35 c -50c	70c -$1		$1.05 -$1.40		$1.40 -$2.00	$1.75 -$2.50			36c or $1.75 -$2.50	$200	$50	$100	36c from subscriptions You have to wait a 2 weeks for the payment. eps files 36c for subscription or $1.12 - $1.50 for credit downloads
	20c	60c	$1.00	$1.40		2.00		$2	$2	90c - $2.10		$2	$2	Payments of $2-$49 incur a $1 surcharge 32c from subscription sales New prices March 2009
		50c	$1		$2		$3 #			$3	$50	$30	$30	# actually 11mp
	26c	78c	$1.30	$1.30	$2.60	$2.60	$3.90	$5.20		#	$100	$100	$100	the maximum payout per image istock for more info bulk purchases credits earn much lower # illustration prices depend on complexity
		25c (higher rates for higher earners)									$300	$75	$75	Payments at beginning of the month only
		50c	75c	$1			$1.25			NA	$100	$50	$100	25c from subscriptions, guest are charged double. $1.25 for 10 mp images.

Earnings Top
	Feb'09	Jan'09	2008	2007	Dec'07	May '07	Mar'07	Feb '07	Jan '07
Shutterstock	40.0%	43.1%	44.7%	46.2%	49.6%	40.2%	38.3%	43.6%	41.7%
Dreamstime	18.1%	15.8%	15.8%	15.0%	15.3%	16.7%	20.5%	16.3%	10.4%
Fotolia	12.6%	13.4%	13.4%	10.8%	7.8%	20.6%	11.7%	9.7%	13.9%
StockXpert	7.8%	6.0%	6.6%	7.9%	8.3%	6.1%	10.6%	5.6%	5.2%
istock	7.1%	7.9%	6.5%	7.2%	5.8%	6.9%	8.4%	11.1%	12.2%
Big Stock photo	5.5%	5.8%	6.3%	5.8%	6.0%	4.8%	4.2%	5.9%	4.2%
123 Royalty free	5.2%	6.1%	5.9%	4.9%	4.8%	3.3%	3.6%	5.5%	7.7%
Featurepics	2.4%	0.6%	1.6%	1.4%	2.3%	0.8%	0.6%	0.9%	3.6%
Can Stock Photo	1.3%	1.2%	0.2%	0.5%	0	0.5%	0.8%	0.7%	1.0%
Stockphotomedia	0	0		0.4%	0	0.2%	1.3%	0.8%	0.1%

Payment methods Top

Microstock sites pay by three methods

Cheque in US Dollars (usually a larger minimum amount)

Paypal

Moneybookers

The latter two methods are more useful if you are based outside of the USA all amounts are in British pounds.

Paypal wouldn't charge for withdrawals to your bank account if the amount if over £50. There is a 25p charge for amounts less than £50

Moneybookers charge about £1.28 for all withdraws to a bank account but have a better exchange rate so if you are a higher earner over $1,000 per month you would be better off with Moneybookers.

If you have a unverified Paypal personal account

you can receive £250 /month
you can withdraw £500/month

until you withdraw a total of £1,500 then you HAVE to get verified to withdraw any more money

Verification is a three step process

1 - provide your bank account details (if you have been withdrawing money they have that anyway) they deposit two small amounts in your account and you have to enter those on the paypal site.

2 - provide credit card details *

3 - provide your landline phone number you receive an automated call and you have to enter a number on your telephone.

* I eventually received a letter with a six digit code at the address my credit card bills go to which I had to enter on the site.

Then you are verified and you can withdraw with no limits any withdraws less than £50 incur a 25p fee over £50 no fee.

HOWEVER you still have the £250/month receiving limit. This limit resets on a particularly day each month (the anniversary of the day you opened the PayPal account).

If you want to receive more than £250/month then you will have to upgrade to a premier or business account, where you may incur fees.

You won't have any paypal fees iS, SS, DT, FT, SXP, BSP, FP,123 pay the paypal fee

CSP do not pay the fee so I had a $2.25 charge on a $50 payment

Referrals / Affiliation programs Top
	Buyers	Sellers (photographers)	Other
	10% of all their purchases for 3 years after they opened a new account from your referral	10% of all their sales for 3 years (3c to 20c) used to be 6 months	Earn $5 for displaying Dreamstime badge. Dynamic badge available for latest or most popular uploads

	15% of every purchase of credits 5% of every renewal	3c - $2 per sale depending on sale for first 6 months	Dynamic badge available for latest or most popular uploads + search box
	15%	10% of all sales even extended licence (for 5 years!!)	Dynamic badge available scrolling slide of your favourite photos
	earn 35% of first purchase of credits but nothing for future credit purchases	When new referred photographer has 75 approved photos you earn $5
	$10 for each a new buyer (with ID check)
	20% of subscriptions	3c for every download forever
	1.5%	1.5%
	10% of credit purchases only for the first six months.	$5 for every 50 photos your referred photographer sells, (only for the first six months). Never received a payment	Dynamic badge available 3 photos scrolling slide

Comparison chart Top

Imagebase	size	Sample	my portfolio	Upload limits	Sub/ Size	Advantages XL =extended license	Disadvantages
6,092,725	4 MP	10	11,424	None	sub	Large payouts as subscription system. Quick review times easy categories FTP IPTC XL ED	Just switched from 2.5 mp to 4mp minimum for newbies. 1 month wait if you fail test
5,153,352	4 MP	N/A	8,540	None	size sub	reasonable acceptance rate IPTC FTP XL	@ Can't alter keywords after acceptance. Vague rejections.
5,087,828	1500 x 2000 3 MP	N/A	7,204	15/ day but varies with acceptance rate	sub size	indication of review time when you upload. autopopulate keywords and categories from other photos or pay 40c to have someone else do it IPTC FTP XL ED	Need 3 mega pixels. Have got really fussy in last 3 months.
2,945,000	1200 x 1600 (600 x 800)	N/A	9,805	20 before initial review #	size	Accept small 600 x 800 photos but prefer 2 MP IPTC FTP	Can't alter keywords after submitting photos stuck online for 90 days

4,418,942	1200 x 1600 2 MP	3	1,179	15-30 photos/ week	sub size	The most popular site, maximum exposure IPTC XL	only 20% of sales * 15-30 uploads per week
4,000,000+	1700x2200 4MP	N/A	10,013	None	sub size	very simple uploading and categories just a title and 7 keywords. High acceptance rate FTP IPTC XL	Can't alter keywords after acceptance Need 4 megapixels
834,150	600x 800	N/A	10,498	None		You set the price and receive 70% Accept 600 x 800 FTP IPTC XL	low sales Can't alter keywords after acceptance need to e-mail them to delete a photo

1,000,000+	1500 x 2000 3 MP	3	1,673 82%	varies with acceptance rate 3-70 / day	sub size	Series wizard to arrange your photos auto category FTP IPTC	Need 3 megapixels very Slow sales & Always need model release form.

The bigger the image database the more the competition but the more popular the site.

The idea of stating the number of photos I have had accepted and acceptance rate is to show you the variation in the quality threshold, I tend to send batches of photos to four of more agencies at a time and they never seem to accept the same photos.

sub - the site offers a subscription program which means more downloads but smaller fees

size - the bigger the image the more it will cost to download so greater earnings.

IPTC are text tags on a file which are read by all the agencies so you only have to enter your title, description and keywords once. I use either photoshop or Pixvue. The former allows you to enter the details under file info, keywords have to be entered individually but you can save a template. Pixvue allows you to enter a string of keywords separated by commas but you can't save a template.

FTP File transfer Protocol - allows you to drag and drop and upload many files (can't see thumbnails so need to have files arranged appropriately).

ED -editorial/news related photo release forms not necessary only really at SS

90 day minimum if you upload photos to Big Stock they have to remain online for 90 days in the former case you have to give them three months notice if you want to delete a file. This is an important factor if you are thinking of going exclusive with one agency or are hoping to sell special licences for a photo which requires you to remove it from all other sites.

Most sites have a forum but you can't talk about other sites one excellent independent forum

Exclusivity Top

You can upload all your non-exclusive royalty free images to all the listed Microstock agencies with no restrictions unless you choose to go exclusive

You can't have that image at another site but you can have different images at other sites

At Dreamstime an exclusive photographer earns 60% of each sale and receives 20c for every image uploaded and accepted

At Fotolia an exclusive photographer earns 47% but more with increased downloads.

At iStock only photographers can be exclusive once you have 250 downloads you can be exclusive.

This only makes sense if you have over 25,000 downloads at iStock and make nearly 50% of your microstock income there as your cut of sales doubles from 20% to 40%

Pick one of the agencies that allow a lot of uploads such as Dreamstime select up to 30 good pictures over a range of subjects address all issues regarding copyright and noise, check them against their existing database. To save time, type your keywords into a text file save that in the folder with your images then enter these details into the IPTC data fields on the file, this will save a lot of time as all sites will read these data so you should have to do this only once.

Popular buildings or objects from unusual perspectives are a good bet or good shots from under represented countries.

Submit them, then whilst you are waiting either forget about it or have a look through their image base to see what they are lacking (you would be surprised regarding some of the gaps) to prepare for subsequent uploads.

Once you have got some accepted photos you can try them with other agencies though sometimes they will be rejected but they have a better chance.

When you have got ten accepted photos of a variety of subjects you might want to consider trying Stockxpert, iStockphoto or Shutterstock. I made the mistake of trying Shutterstock too early and was refused and told to come back in three months due to ignorance about digital noise. Unfortunately the three month wait is non negotiable (but has now been reduced to 1 month). Stockxpert were more sympathetic they asked for another 5 photos before making their decision, they send their decision to your SXP site mail NOT your e-mail account..

IStock have recently started a 15 photo/week upload limit for newbies so if you have a lot of photos it would be best to test your photos with Dreamtime first and then upload to iStock.

It is very important for every agency to keep a careful track of what you have uploaded put all the files into a folder with the company name and date on as its easy to lose track and you will get yourself in trouble if you uploaded the same image. Though all sites have pages where you can see what you have uploaded though sometimes this can be hidden.

So explore each website just as the categories aren't very logical also the sites themselves can be rather confusing with useful features hidden away. The "management area" link of Dreamstime opens up a page with links to show what has been uploaded, accepted rejected and even why?

Keep an eye on the forum regarding news about special offers or uploading problems, just because a site has a ftp option doesn't mean it always works. I have included a link above for free speech forum regarding micro stock agencies which is actually much better as it is uncensored you can discuss all the sites .