Frequently Asked Questions

Microstock is a huge reservoir of media relay offering options to acquire images for designing, advertising in magazines, websites and so on. The pictures are sold primarily for professional use. All Microstock websites reveal variety of images to its buyers. Websites accepts vast variety of images from different photographers present all around the world and also illustrations from graphic designers to sell it further to interested buyers.

The term “Royalty Free” image targets the same price index. Buying a picture under the Royalty Free license allows the use of the image without limiting the number of repetitions unless it is a big advertising campaign that calls for buying an extended license. Always remember! The picture that you purchase does not belong only to you; instead it can be sold at the same time to different buyers for unlimited number of times.

Credits in Microstock industry are used in the form of payments. Credit method is mainly intended for those who wish to purchase a limited number of images without the commitment of time.

Note: Some Microstock websites limit the time period up to one year for utilization of credits.

The cost of credit varies in every Microstock website yet majority of them ensure 1 credit for each dollar but sometimes it can be little more than the mentioned amount. The buyer pays in dollars as per the plan that suits him and in exchange the number of credits are credited to his account. The buyer further purchases the picture from the website he is looking for and instead of currency he exchanges those credits which he has in his account. The price of every image is based on several factors which are included while accumulating cost of image and then the numbers of credits are assigned to every image in the database.

Subscription is another form of payment under which buyer can download certain number of pictures every 24 hours till subscription period lasts. Subscription period can be a week / month / three months / year and so on. Click here to read about Extended Subscription.

Unlike extended license, standard license has restrictions as to number of times the client may use a picture. Average limitation is 500,000 times but it varies in every Microstock websites because all carry different policies, terms and conditions. You should always go over the terms of the license to see that it fits your needs.

Extended license allows unlimited usage of purchased images and not regular license which restricts the use of images up to tens of thousands of times, depending on website policy. The extended license must match the needs of buyer and in return buyer should satisfy the terms of the website he is subscribing with. Basically extended license are put in action when work like printing on shirts, TV commercials or billboards are required. Buyer can purchase extended license to print unlimited number of posters or put the picture an unlimited number of DVDs etc… But we strongly recommend you to read the terms and conditions of websites especially if you plan to use non-standard pictures.

The interested buyers can open free accounts on Microstock websites. Once the account opening and verification is success, it’s ready for operations. Next is the form of payment buyer prefers – it can be either through acquisition of credits or by subscription. Once the buyer is assured of payment method he has to choose means of payment: Credit card, PayPal, Bank transfer, Money bookers… just to name few.

The final step is to select the desired images, add them to shopping cart and select the appropriate license. Once you are done, you are ready to download the photos onto your computer or send them directly to your email.

There are three simple ways to search images: insert keyword search box, search for images based on a particular category, or search for images according to the distribution site offers you
Click here for the article detailed how to search for images smarter.

Type of license you need depends on important factor as to how you plan to use images you shall purchase. If pictures are to be used as part of the design of the catalog, banners, website design, professional document then you can always go for standard royalty-free license. Secondly, size of the project you are dealing in can also make big difference in choosing license that suits you. If the images are combined in the posters, and templates for building sites, etc. then you must to go for extended license as standard license will not fulfill your needs.

Of course, the moment your picture is approved after purchase, a copy receipt is send to your account.

The purchased images can be directly downloaded and saved on computer. Irrespective you are windows or Mac user, images can easily be downloaded and saved in JPG format. Alternatively the selected files that buyer has purchased can also be send directly to email instead of downloading them on computer.

Majority of the Microstock websites offer 1 year validity of credits, but this is not a standard tenure. It varies from site to site.

Available images on Microstock websites are placed under wide variety of categories in JPG format such as landscape, architecture, people, objects, transportation, backgrounds, textures, and abstract. Images associated with a particular concept such as emotions, business, lifestyle, welfare, science, travel and more can also be easily found. In addition, images can also be downloaded as illustrations, vector files and video clips.

The cost of images is mainly derived from the size of the images as it affects the image quality. The better the quality of picture the more will be its cost. XS image size on Fotolia website costs around one credit, S-Size Image costs 3 credits, medium size image costs 5 credits, image size L up to 7 credits and so on. The cost varies between Microstock sites and pictures. Compare Prices and save money

Amount of pictures on Microstock websites are enormous and can easily get lost due to immense diversity. It’s important to remember that there are websites that approve only high-quality images and decline the rest. Declined images should never demoralize you as every website has its own terms and conditions; hence, if certain images do not get approved on specific website you can give a shot with them on other Microstock website. The reason for approval or non-approval of the pictures is mainly a question of quality and legitimate demand.

You can buy minimum number of credits by paying average amount of $10-$12. This amount varies in every Microstock website and differs from one another.

No, Not at all, opening an account is completely free…

You are free and permitted to use the images for designing any format you want, but you are not permitted to sell the images or share them with others for free.

Tagged Image File Format (abbreviated TIFF) was originally created by the company Aldus but is now under control of Adobe systems since 2009. This file format is popular among Apple Macintosh owners, graphic artists, the publishing industry and both amateur and professional photographers in general. TIFF format is widely supported by image-manipulation applications, by publishing and page layout applications, by scanning, faxing, word processing, optical character recognition and other applications. Adobe systems, which acquired Aldus, now holds the copyright to the TIFF specification.

Lightboxes are common in Stockphoto industry. The term Lightbox refers to a folder that allows users to organize their digital photos. Photos can be assigned to a viewable Lightbox folder by subject, for later convenience, or used to compile unrelated photos for a specific project layout. Lightboxes also allow graphic designers to show clients options for a project in one simple uncluttered folder. Users registered with various Microstock websites can store images under Lightbox of every website respectively until they are ready to download them.