Traditional Stock Agencies
Traditional stock agencies sell Rights Managed or Royalty Free Images, some still sell packages or 'virtual cds'. Since the term microstock was coined you might also come across these agencies being called macrostock, and in some cases those offering lower cost images (~$50 per image) are described a 'midstock' (although this term tends to describe microstock sites that offer premium images).
We have listed a few of the bigger agencies here, despite the inroads that microstock has made the vast majority of images available today are licensed by the full price agencies, if you can afford the price this is where you will find, with enough research, an image of ANYTHING; including flowers growing on the Moon!
| Alamy.com |
|
 Individual Image |
 $190 |
| |
|
 RM & RF |
 16.5 Million |
| Alamy was a pioneer of internet photography, they were one of the first to accept and resell digital images from any photographer who's work was good enough to meet their guidelines. |
| Getty Images |
|
Individual Image |
$525 |
| |
|
RM & RF |
70 Million |
| One of the worlds largest stock agency, featuring aa vast array of brands and licensing options. |
| Corbis |
|
Individual Image |
$400 |
| |
|
RM & RF |
100 Million |
| Similar to Getty in terms of selection, price and quality, you might also visit veer.com one of their satellite brands. |
| Superstock |
|
individual Image |
$329 |
| |
|
RM & RF |
? |
| A selection of images from the corbis brands at better rates, with various discount and promotional offers thrown in. |
Jupiter Images / Jupiter Unlimited |
|
Individual + Sub |
$350 |
| |
|
RM & RF |
Millions?
|
| New simplified website, subscriptions to access 700,000 RF images from $1249 Yearly for the access to some well known full price collections including bananastock, thinkstock and comstock |
| Photos.com |
|
Subscription |
$99-$249/Month |
| |
|
RF |
2 Million
|
| One monthly free for approx 400,000 images for $99. Access millions of images from jupiter images collection for for $249/Month $1,199/Year. |
| iCLIPART.com |
|
individual + Sub |
$295/year |
| |
|
RF |
7.8 Million |
| Clipart, but professional quality, fonts and photos, low cost weekly subscriptions for casual users start at $12.95. |
Clipart.com |
|
Subscription |
$159/year |
| |
|
RF |
10 Million* |
| A one stop web design shop: Clipart, fonts, illustrations, photos, sounds, vinyl ready image. low cost one week subscription for casual users start at $14.95 allows you to trial the service without risk. Approx 100,000 of each photos and clipart, the majority of the 10 Million comes from 5 Million web graphics/buttons, NOTE: photos are only available in web resolutions. |
| punchstock.com |
|
Individual |
$350 |
| |
|
RF |
2 Million* |
| Over 2 million royalty-free photos and illustrations from Jupiterimages, Getty Images, Corbis and over 50 other brands, all in one convenient search |
| inmagine.com |
|
Individual |
$349 |
| |
|
RF+RM |
3.5 Million* |
| Source of rights managed and royalty free from 100 top selling image collections |
| masterfile.com |
|
Individual |
$apply |
| |
|
RF+RM |
? |
| nice looking collection, and good site functionality allowing easy search of both RM and RF collections and filtering between the two. |
| tipsimages.co.uk |
|
Individual+CD |
$399 |
| |
|
RF+RM |
? |
| 41 sales offiffices around the word, individual images and CD sales of various brands |
| Robert Harding |
|
Individual |
$236 |
| |
|
RF+RM |
5 Million |
| leading independent travel image specialist |
| agefotostock.com |
|
Individual+CD |
$apply |
| |
|
RF+RM |
? |
| Combining both RM and RF with low budget rf (micro) offering from easyFotostock |
| firstlight.com |
|
Individual |
$355 (varies) |
| |
|
RF+RM |
? |
| Representing canadian stock photographers and major worldwide collections |
| luckypix.com |
|
Individual |
$apply |
| |
|
RF+RM |
? |
| highly edited collection of unique images |
| worldofstock.com |
|
Individual |
$149 |
| |
|
RF+RM |
200k |
| representing 120+ photographers under a strict fair trade ethic |
| fotosearch.com |
|
Individual |
$99+ |
| |
|
RF+RM |
5.6 Million |
| searching 5.6 million images from more than 100 images collections and well as a range of image CDs |
| imagesource.com |
|
Individual |
$199+ (varies) |
| |
|
RF |
5.6 Million |
| london based premium royalty free |
| imagestate.com |
|
Individual+CD |
$299+ (varies) |
| |
|
RF+RM |
5.6 Million |
| another uk based agency offering regular promotions and personalised service |
| acclaimimages.com |
|
Individual |
$252.95 (varies) |
| |
|
RF+RM |
225,000 |
| acclaim Images offers over 200,000 images by hundreds of professional photographers covering all major topics. |
Notes:
All prices are approximate, in US Dollars and subject to change, see each agency for full details and license details.
What is RM & RF? - See our glossary of terms.
All our single image prices are based on a typical RF license for an image of at least 1000x1000 pixels, in some cases cheaper licenses can be obtained for web/online use, lower resolutions or by subscription program.
Shocked by the price? Remember the price gets you quality, wider choice and a level of exclusivity not found with microstock images, but of many people microstock offers a better value solution.
