You know about stock photos, licensing, pricing… the whole shebang. But have you ever thought about what a perfect stock photo library is really about? Even more important, what is the perfect stock photo library for you?
There is a lot more to this than just a plan that fits your budget and a license that covers your intended use. After all, the core value in stock images is that they can really boost up your business through conversions, engagement, visibility, etc.
Today we’ll talk about stock photo libraries, and we’ll help you find the one that’s best for your endeavors!
What is a Stock Photo Library?
While sometimes you can see this term being used as a synonym of stock photo agency when we say “stock photo library” we are referring specifically to an image catalog, a collection of stock images built following certain criteria.
This is the core value of any stock photo agency.
Is a Royalty-Free Stock Photo Library Better than a Free One?
Yes. Royalty-free image libraries are offered by professional, serious agencies that take pride in their curation process and their content, which results in an overall better quality of images.
Free photo collections tend to focus on the “free to use” parameter and quality tend to be subpar. There are exceptions, some sites with great free stock photos such as Unsplash or Pexels. But they still can’t beat royalty-free images in terms of legal safety.
Royalty Free license is commercial-ready and cost-effective. Free use licenses leave a lot of the verification process up to the user and can’t fully grant that the pictures are ok for commercial use, making them legally murky.
If you intend to use your photos for a commercial-oriented design –like anything marketing–, you’re way better off with a royalty-free stock photo library.
Why Bother Finding My Match in a Stock Photo Library?
Taking time to review different stock photo libraries and selecting one that truly matches your style and needs makes sense for many reasons, but the main ones are:
- You ensure your visuals will be consistent with your brand, a key for successful branding
- You get all your marketing images from one place, saving time and effort in surfing the web and downloading from multiple sites
- You benefit from a stock photo subscription, which gives you the lowest possible prices for images, freeing your budget from restraints
The Top Stock Photo Libraries Analyzed
We analyzed the style, intention, and core value in the libraries of the main stock photo sites in the industry to give you an insightful walkthrough.
Read on, and find your match!
Photocase – Non-Stock Photography
When the German agency Photocase launched 20 years ago, they were disruptive. But time would prove they were ahead of their times, as they have always specialized in what is the hottest visual style today: authentic, artistic imagery. Their photos are artsier, some of them weird even, funny, candid, food-for-thought pictures with optimal technical quality
Photocase’s library is purposely small, and they have a very tight curation process. But what sets it aside is that here you find images you won’t find anywhere else.
Shutterstock – A Commercial Dream
Shutterstock is one of the biggest names in stock images, because they are, well, one of the biggest. Their catalog has over 240 million files, and they feed it hundreds of thousands of new images daily. Their style is 100% commercial: all their photos look like an ad about to happen.
They emphasize technical quality, and reviewers nitpick all submissions to meet high technical standards. They are strongly trend-oriented –though you can still find very dated pictures, they’re buried deep in search results–, and they thrive to give customers variety – you can find millions of options for every search.
iStock – High-End Meets Budget
iStock is renowned as one of the pioneers in selling stock photos online in the early 2000s, and for years backed by the prestigious Getty Images. But what really sets them apart is their stock image library that is carefully curated into two main categories, balancing budget and high-end options.
Their catalog is made of Essentials, a budget-friendly selection, and Signature, a high-value and exclusive collection at a slightly higher price point. Technical standards are strict for both, and low-cost images are still high resolution and suitable for professional use. Their goal is to offer quality photography for every buyer’s needs, within the same library.
Adobe Stock – A Trendy Hub for Creatives
Adobe Stock is a stock photo service by Adobe, built on the base of the library of former top agency Fotolia, and fully integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Being Adobe, it comes as no surprise this is a very creative-oriented stock image library.
Adobe Stock pictures are super trendy, and trend-setters too. Their staff is always after the next big thing in visuals, and they value in-the-now content as much as technically perfect work. As a result, this is one of the most visually inspiring and up-to-date libraries around.
Stock Photo Secrets – Low-Cost with Commercial Look
The Stock Photo Secrets Shop was born and lives to fulfill the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. This means its stock photo library looks to cover as wide a range of marketing-ready images at the most budget-friendly cost.
While modest in size, this collection spans all the classic and modern popular photography topics. You might still spot some “stocky” looking images, but every day more and more fresh-looking photos are added, making for a very versatile library. All images are high resolution and have remarkable commercial value.
The ABC of Stock Photo Libraries
Let’s have a quick look at the basics of a stock photo library, to fully understand them.
The Building
Agencies build their catalogs through different methods, the main ones being:
- Direct contributions: photographers and artists submit their work to be included in a library
- Distribution partnerships: agencies make deals with relevant content creators/managers (like Associated Press and similar) to include their files
- In-house production: some companies have photographer staff to create images for their library
The Selecting
All reputable stock photo libraries have a selection process behind, where dedicated staff reviews all submitted images and approves only those that meet the company’s specific standards, which usually involve both technical and artistic aspects.
Furthermore, editors are constantly curating images into categories, galleries, and collections around themes they deem valuable for buyers, such as the most sought-after or upcoming subjects and styles.
The Searching
All serious stock photo sites offer a search tool –usually a search bar/empty field to enter text– to navigate their library. Conjointly, they have very a detailed tagging/keywording process done on all their images, to make sure they are properly indexed and thus the search engine works accurately.
Such a search tool and tagging system can be from modest to really advanced, incorporating filters (for file type, time of upload, and even color or number of people depicted), image recognition, and even AI technology to improve results and get you what you’re searching for in less time.
The Customizing
Another feature some agencies offer –all top ones we listed do– is to let you do your own curation of their catalog: upon sign-up for a member account (this is free) you can create your own “lightboxes”, digital boards to pin/store photos from the library according to your own criteria (a theme, a style, etc.).
These lightboxes are stored on your account and are shareable via a link, sometimes also direct emailing with one click, making them a great tool to collab with others in your creative workflow. And if/when you decide on an image, you can simply download it from the lightbox to your computer.
Elevate your Visual Work with the Ideal Stock Photo Library
As you can see, not all stock photo agencies have the same libraries, and not all the libraries work for the same people.
Choosing the ideal one can do a lot for your workflow and your business! From boosting up your brand image and designs, to help you reduce your production costs, to improve your workflow, all can be done just by subscribing to the right agency.
Tell us, which one is the perfect match for you?
