We live in a world where a lot is happening virtually without leaving home. With the help of the Internet, you can not only buy some thing, but also receive educational services, build a business, and earn money. Therefore, to promote their business, more and more people make sites, pages, blogs that need to be properly designed to attract the attention of the audience - you need not only high-quality content, but also excellent visual support. In order to avoid problems with the law on copyright infringement and to acquire unique files, there is a direct road to special resources - photo banks, where you can find high-quality content and apply it in a legal way, sometimes for free. The editors of the site "bestx.htgetrid.com/en/" will acquaint you with the rating of the best photobanks for 2020.
Content
What is it and what are the photobanks
The concept itself, like the phenomenon of photobank, or photo stock, arose in the middle of the 20th century, when the Internet had not yet been invented. It was a base of photographs, the buyers and consumers of which were various publishing houses of printed materials. Buying the necessary picture on a similar basis was more profitable from the buyer's point of view: professional photographers and filming were more expensive. An intermediary who bought photographs from one side, formed a base and sold them to the other side, became known as a photobank.
With the development and globalization of the Internet, this structure has moved to the Internet. But there is a slight difference - now there is a sale not of a specific photo to an individual buyer, but the right to use it. That is, several users may have a license to use the same content - those who paid for this right, although this file will still be less replicated than, for example, taken from a Google search. On these specialized resources, you can purchase not only photos, but also drawings, illustrations, video and audio files, excellent quality 3D models on any topic.
Types of drains
The division of photo banks is based on the scale of turnover and the exclusivity of the content:
- micropayment (microstock, photostock);
- traditional (macrostocks).
Microstocks are sites with huge content, where work takes place under simplified licenses, and the same content can be sold several times, which makes it not entirely exclusive, although the circulation is limited, compared to Google or Yandex or other search engines. Their cost is low, so buyers - representatives of the web and print industry - willingly use these resources, ensuring a continuous stream of sales and profits for microstock. In addition, the buyer has the right to use the material to which he acquired the rights repeatedly. The most famous sites of this type are Shutterstock, iStock and Adobe Stock.
Many microstocks offer to choose the tariff plan that is most suitable for the client by making a prepayment, which is very beneficial, since the cost of one picture will be very low.
Macrostocks are large enterprises with exclusive and expensive premium content supplied by professional illustrators and photographers. Larger organizations cooperate with such platforms - entire publishing houses, agencies, magazines.Terms of sale are subject to special conditions and at a high cost of the product - sometimes for several thousand dollars. In addition, photobanks can redeem copyright for a photograph. GettyImages is an example of a large photo bank.
What are they needed for
Since stocks are intermediaries, there are two parties interested in this phenomenon: buyers and sellers. The first are interested in high-quality content, the second - the source of income.
In modern society, business thrives on the Internet, for the successful conduct of which you must have a website or blog. These sites, from which sales of goods or services are carried out, must have high-quality content and material for design. Pictures from Google or Yandex are too replicated and do not fit into the concept of uniqueness. In addition, their use in their own interests is not entirely legitimate due to the violation of the copyright of the owner of the picture. Taking photos yourself is a solution, but they must be professional and of high quality if you want to be successful. In this case, you can and should turn to photo banks for help and, having paid a certain amount, purchase material for a decent design of your selling platform. The main buyers are designers, editors, journalists, website designers. Using content purchased from stocks, they create postcards, posters, original T-shirts and much more.
On the other hand, photo banks are an area of income for professional photographers or illustrators and additional income for amateurs. Ordinary people who like to shoot or paint collaborate with microstocks, offering their drawings, photos or 3D models. In the future, their hobby can turn into a main job.
The requirements of traditional photo banks for suppliers of all kinds of files are more stringent - the applicant needs professionalism, experience, creativity and the ability to understand the development trends of the modern photography market.
Rating of the best photobanks
Reputable and well-known companies can afford to make purchases of exclusive content on the most popular and expensive stocks, but not always start-up companies have the budget for such a purchase. In this case, you can use the services of free photo stocks that offer excellent quality material on favorable terms for the buyer.
Free drains
Pixabay
The site contains about 20 sections, where more than one and a half million high quality content is collected. More than 20 languages serving stock, including Russian, provide a comfortable search for the desired material. You can find a picture or photo manually by typing a word or phrase into the search bar. By registering, you can leave comments and reviews under the photo, download it in any size. In addition, you can subscribe to certain authors in order to keep track of new products. The stock is licensed by СC0.
Advantages:
- high resolution photos;
- service in Russian is available;
- categories make it easier to find;
- size selection when downloading;
- authorization via social networks is possible;
- no spam from the resource;
- video and vector files are available.
Disadvantages:
- registration is required to download the material in high quality.
Pexels
A license under the auspices of Zero allows you to legally use the resources of this stock photo. The languages are German and English, but a Russian version has also appeared. Daily replenishment of the existing 150 collections. The search can be carried out by author, heading or word, in addition, it is simplified due to the division by topic, color, popularity of pictures.
Advantages:
- convenient navigation;
- many headings;
- availability of free videos;
- choice of size;
- you can download content without registration.
Disadvantages:
- absent.
Burst
With a license, this site makes it safe to use high-quality images without copyright. The 28 most popular headings - nature, business, music and others - allow you to select the desired photo and download it in a couple of clicks.There is a choice of high or low resolution. User-friendly site with great content.
Advantages:
- possible without registration;
- simple navigation;
- big choice.
Disadvantages:
- lack of support in Russian.
Unsplash
Thanks to young creative authors who are adding to the stock collection, there are truly unique premium photos. Constant updates, a simple interface and the ability to download high-quality pictures for free without registration - that's what makes the English-language resource popular. Legal protection. Search by authors, collections, tags. Contains about 550,000 works.
Advantages:
- the presence of photos that are not in other photo banks;
- sorting by categories;
- the ability to use pictures for commercial purposes;
- the most common headings and topics.
Disadvantages:
- English version only;
- download is possible only in the maximum size;
- advertising banner when downloading.
Foodiesfeed
Licensed site with a small collection of images (1200), limited to one topic - food and drinks. Great help in designing a website or blog for food or cooking. You can find the file you need by the relevance, novelty and popularity of the product. Only English version available. By subscribing to the newsletter, you will not miss the monthly updates. You can purchase the entire content archive for free.
Advantages:
- high quality and exclusive photos;
- really delicious work;
- without registering;
- a good base for thematic sites.
Disadvantages:
- search requires entering words in English;
- translation is carried out by a translation robot;
- long download process without registration;
- long registration form.
Styled Stock
A selection of photos related to women's themes: fashion, beauty. The main advantage is the quality of the content: in the free access you can get exclusive premium images, the average price of which can be from $ 10. Sorted by category and color.
Advantages:
- the possibility of free use of high-quality images for commercial purposes.
Disadvantages:
- small collection with little or no updates.
Gratisography
Shown here are works by one author, Ryan McGuire. The popularity of the stock is due to the originality of the photographs collected here. They are unusual, eye-catching and very different from the usual work. "The most unusual collection in the world" - this is how the author of the project himself characterizes this resource. There is no registration.
Advantages:
- expressive work of a professional photographer;
- unusual unique content;
- search is facilitated by categorization;
- replenishment of the collection.
Disadvantages:
- only in English;
- not everyone understands photography of this genre;
- small collection.
Picjubmo
Another stock of one creator and author - designer and photographer Viktor Hanacek. The original images, which were not recognized by photo banks and were once called of poor quality, were posted on the founder's own resource and suddenly gained popularity among the audience - over 2,000,000 downloads. Instead of searching, it is suggested to use collections and categories to find the desired product. There is no prohibition on the use of high quality content for commercial purposes.
Advantages:
- exclusive works;
- can be downloaded without registration;
- constant updating.
Disadvantages:
- limited number of images.
Paid
Shutterstock
One of the world's largest popular photobanks. Here you can always choose suitable high-quality material from a large number of thematic collections: nature, sea, city, industry, fashion, etc. The resource supports the Russian language, the number of works is more than 227 million, which include video and audio files. A large purchase from a batch of files is beneficial. You can subscribe to an annual subscription, which involves payment of $ 29 for 10 images per month. In addition, there are weekly offers of free downloads of one photo and one vector image.
Advantages:
- unique pictures of excellent quality;
- interesting library of works;
- Russian language;
- convenient navigation,
- an ideal platform for wholesale buyers;
- constant replenishment of collections;
- profitable offer.
Disadvantages:
- not suitable for single downloads.
Gettyimages
Another well-known platform both for buyers and for making money, on which the Royalty-Free license is valid. Service - in English, the library has a lot of up-to-date photographs on social and sports topics. An ideal place to find media material. There are also sections that are always in demand: animals and plants, famous and media figures, music, sports, cinema. There are also free files available. Download options are possible - one from $ 175 or, which will cost less, uploading 10 images and a single download - from $ 150.
Advantages:
- actual pictures;
- premium collection;
- legal protection;
- stock free photos.
Disadvantages:
- not found.
iStock
The English-language photobank, founded in 2000, has the largest thematic high-quality collections: images, video and audio files. Standard and extended licensing are available, and flexible purchasing systems are available using two types of payment: a subscription for a year or a month, or a credit that allows you to download files at any time. Video content is available only for payment by credit. You can choose from two collections: Signature, where an image costs 3 credits, and a video - 18 credits, but the quality is the best, or a more budget option with a photo and video cost - 1 and 6, respectively. An ideal platform for wholesale buyers - by subscription, 1 picture will cost only $ 0.21. Every week, there is a free download of a picture, video file or vector image in the amount of 1 piece. A convenient search that can be narrowed down to the color shades of a photo or other small details.
Advantages:
- user-friendly interface;
- exact search;
- great option for those who need a lot of material;
- profitable terms;
- wide choose;
- flexible terms;
- profitable offer.
Disadvantages:
- payment for video is available only by credit.
Adobe stock
This English-language resource was formed when the company bought an older photo bank Fotolia, the entire base of which was included in the new project. The works are presented on both sites, and the authors are invited to receive income from both sites by synchronizing their accounts. The huge library contains about 100 million files. Sorting by catalog makes it very easy to find the materials you need.
You can buy content by subscription or pay by credit. A yearly subscription is cheaper than a month, but billing is still done monthly. A monthly subscription will cost about $ 29. One of the nice bonuses is a test demo period. Budget package of monthly subscription from $ 29.99 Assumes 3 downloads monthly, but does not include premium content, editorial and premium content. An annual subscription is more profitable, because for the same payment amount it gives permission to download 10 units, and unused downloads can be carried over to the next month. The advantages of the credit system are that all materials are available: videos, vectors, 3D models, templates. The more credits a purchase includes, the cheaper each of them becomes. Initially, you need to pay at least 8 credits for one video, and at least 5 credits for high quality images. Credits are valid for a year from the date of purchase.
Advantages:
- flexible tariffs and convenient navigation;
- simple search;
- integration of materials with the Fotolia photo bank;
- very rich library with many headings;
- developed subscription plans for groups of people;
- option "search for a similar image".
Disadvantages:
- search in Russian is less effective than in English.
The editors of the site "bestx.htgetrid.com/en/" presented their readers with a rating of the best photobanks, compiled in the opinion of buyers. We hope the information was useful and you can share your impressions of the tested resources.