iStockphoto Creates a Collection of Free Stock Images for Google’s Blogger Template Designer

CALGARY, Alberta -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- iStockphoto®, the world’s busiest online stock image marketplace, today announced a new collection of images and illustrations available free of charge to Google Blogger users as part of the new Blogger™ Template Designer.

Blogger is the leading blogging product in the world with hundreds of millions of page views per day and millions of active bloggers. The Blogger Template Designer makes it simple for bloggers to express themselves through unique and beautiful web design. It's easy to choose a base template, customize the background image, and modify the layout to create a professional site on the web. Users can access the iStock image collection directly from the Blogger Template Designer. There they will find a diverse collection of free images from iStockphoto. With just a few clicks, people can add punch and personality to their blogs.

“The Blogger Template designer empowers everyone to create a truly unique and beautiful blog, letting people express themselves in style on the web,” said Blogger Product Manager Siobhan Quinn. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with iStock, the market leader in the global microstock industry, to bring quality imagery to bloggers and help them create compelling designs for their content.”

Blogger makes it easy for bloggers to choose iStock images from the Blogger interface. Users seeking higher quality images or more options can easily click through from Blogger to iStockphoto where they can browse and purchase additional images. iStockphoto offers millions of photos, illustrations and videos to choose from at prices as low as one dollar.

“Being a content provider for Blogger will excite iStockphoto contributors and raise iStock’s profile with several new types of users, many of whom have not used micropayment stock images before,” said Danny Martin, iStockphoto's director of business development.

About iStockphoto
iStockphoto offers easy, affordable inspiration with millions of vetted, royalty-free photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash® files. Using the most advanced search in the business, customers download a file every second from a collection of more than six million files for business, marketing and personal projects. iStockphoto started in 2000, pioneering the micropayment photography business model, and has become one of the most successful and profitable user-generated content sites in the world. iStockphoto pays out more than $1.6 million weekly in artist royalties. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images.

New Shutterstock Facebook App

Last August Shutterstock introduced Shuttertweet, https://submit.shutterstock.com/admin.mhtml#shuttertweet a program for Shutterstock submitters that sends a tweet when your images are accepted and sold on Shutterstock.

It’s been such a hit that Shutterstock decided to build a similar app for Facebook. It’s simple. Visit your Shutterstock submitter account page https://submit.shutterstock.com/admin.mhtml#facebook_connect, follow the instructions, and you’ll be able to make posts on your Wall sharing your successes at Shutterstock.

You can set it to post a daily summary when your images or videos are accepted to Shutterstock, a daily summary of your Shutterstock sales stats, or both. It works with both images and footage, and you can set it to make posts automatically, or you can make them manually. And as a bonus, you’ll earn referral fees when your posts lead to subscription sales (under the terms of the Shutterstock Referral Program http://submit.shutterstock.com/reforder.mhtml.)

Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to visit the Shutterstock Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Shutterstock and become a fan.

Shutterstock is looking forward to seeing you on Facebook!

 

Fotolia and AudioMicro Team Up on Flixtime - Transforming web users into video producers

NEW YORK, NY, February 22, 2010 – Flixtime debuts a free site where users create custom, production-quality videos. Anyone with images, videos, and text can use Flixtime’s software to create, share, and download free 60-second videos on www.flixtime.com. Nearly two years in the making, Flixtime launches worldwide February 22, 2010.

Users create high-resolution videos on www.flixtime.com using their own photos and videos, or by choosing from a library of royalty-free stock images provided by Fotolia. AudioMicro also provides users with a selection of award-winning tracks, sound effects, and stock music. Flixtime videos are easy to produce with state-of-the-art technology that integrates the user’s choice of music, text, images, and videos. All Flixtime video productions can be used both for personal or independent commercial use.

“We have been getting more and more demand from users who want a tool that easily creates stunning videos by using images and text. Companies from all over the world have video needs, whether for websites, projects, or presentations. Until now, production costs were very high,” says Fotolia and Flixtime CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff. “Just like we democratized stock images on Fotolia by offering images for under $1 USD, we have made videos accessible and affordable to countless companies. Instead of investing tons of money in equipment, talent, and a location to produce videos, our users can simply use their content, or the images and music provided by Flixtime, to create the videos they envision.”

Visitors to www.flixtime.com create a free account and then follow three simple steps to create custom videos.

Ryan Born, CEO of AudioMicro says, “We are very pleased to partner with Flixtime to provide the music for such an amazing technology. With just one click, Flixtime users can bring energy and emotion to their videos by adding music. We've supplied a handpicked selection, spanning nearly every musical genre and style. With tracks for everyone, Flixtime users are sure to have the perfect soundtrack and take their videos to the next level."

About Fotolia
Over 1.5 million people prefer Fotolia, LLC for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and offices in 12 countries. With over 8,000,000 images to choose from, find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com

About AudioMicro
AudioMicro offers advertisers, music supervisors, creative directors, webmasters, filmmakers, and “YouTubers” an affordable, high-quality solution for obtaining stock music and royalty free sound effects for use in creative projects. With content purchased from AudioMicro, a movie or webisode can be scored at a fraction of the cost of a traditional music library. AudioMicro offers the largest micro stock music library, with over 200,000 tracks from songwriters, publishers, composers, record labels, and sound designers worldwide. www.audiomicro.com

Shutterstock Image Library Hits 10 Million Images

With over 125 million image downloads since 2003, Shutterstock is the leader in subscription royalty-free imagery

February 15, 2009, New York - Today Shutterstock® announced the addition of its 10 millionth image, a milestone that underscores the company’s rapid growth and commitment to high quality, crowdsourced visual media.

In a typical week, Shutterstock adds 80,000 new images – a rate of nearly eight images every minute – and provides designers, bloggers, advertisers, publications and marketers with a continuous stream of fresh new content.Shutterstock crowdsources the talents of more than 200,000 digital photographers and illustrators around the world who collect earnings when customers download their images. Shutterstock’s review team screens every image for quality and compliance, enforcing some of the highest standards in the imagery business. Just 40 percent of the images submitted by approved artists are accepted.

Shutterstock’s 10 millionth image is by Matthew Jacques of Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada. Jacques submitted a dramatic image of two male Dall Sheep locking horns against a snowy background, photographed at a wildlife park in Nova Scotia. Jacques has been aShutterstock submitter since 2006. Though he started taking pictures as a hobby, Jacques recently used his Shutterstock earnings to invest in a professional-quality DSLR camera and has branched out to shoot motor sports, weddings and portraits. “My hobby’s paying for itself,” said Jacques. “That’s whatShutterstock and online stock sales have done for me.”

As the leader in subscription-based stock photography and illustration, Shutterstock has delivered over 125 million image downloads to customers since its founding in 2003. Shutterstock remains the largest online subscription image library in the world.

Graphic designers have come to regard their subscription service with Shutterstock as an invaluable business tool. Every subscription provides instant access to an ever-growing library with the convenience of high-resolution files, watermark-free images, and a simple pricing structure that fits every budget.Customers have nearly limitless creative options in using Shutterstock images, which are provided under a royalty-free license. Shutterstock guarantees the legal integrity of every image with $10,000 in indemnification.

Shutterstock's pioneering strategy has helped it dominate the image subscription market amid an industry of imitators. “We have earned our spot as the number one subscription imagery site by being inventive and by building our own successful business model,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “Others try to copy our 25-A-Day subscription, but customers are not fooled. They come to Shutterstock expecting the most innovative solutions to their image needs, and we work hard to exceed their expectations.”

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has madeShutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=169666.

Mostphotos.com Website Update

The new version of Mostphotos.com is now online and here are the new features or enhancements:

New design
The new version has a lot of design updates. The biggest update is on the front page and the profile pages but we have made small design tweaks across the entire site.

Performance
The biggest change in this version is the performance, the new site should be a lot faster for users outside of Sweden.

Profile Pages
We have also made some changes to the profile pages by adding more information fields in the presentation and changed the avatar size along with some new design. So please update your presentation and upload a new avatar to make full use ofthe new layout.

Batch Edit Photos
You can now batch edit and move your photos in your albums, simply hover over a photo and check the select box to display the batch edit options. This feature is still in beta but please try it out and report any bugs you might come across.

More Information
You can find more information about the new version in this form thread. Mostphotos 3.2

The3dStudio.com Offers 750,000 Royalty-Free 2D and 3D Resources

Mesa, AZ—January 19, 2010: The3dStudio.com, Inc. announces their collection has reached a new growth milestone—750,000 royalty-free 2D and 3D resources are now available on the web site, and more are added each day.

The3dStudio.com is a one-stop shop for a wide range of free and priced resources including 3D models, textures, tutorials, plug-ins, software, and stock photos and images. The large collection of 3D models includes vehicles, weapons, architectural elements and much more, for use by architects, game designers, ad agencies, graphic designers, etc. Expert custom work and free file conversion are available.

President Matt Anderson says: “The3dStudio.com is one of the oldest and largest 2D and 3D resource sites on the Internet. We provide the best customer service around, seven days a week and you will always get a fast personal response from us, not an automatic or canned reply. We strongly believe in operating our business in a fair and ethical manner and we treat all buyers and sellers as we would like to be treated. Our 60-70% royalty rate for 2D and 3D sellers is one of the highest in the industry. There is no cost to become a member or to sell resources at www.The3dStudio.com and there are many benefits—see our Help page.”

The3dStudio.com is changing the way stock photos and images are sold. The category was added in July 2009 and the library is growing fast. Products are available for instant download after payment is made using a major credit card or PayPal—no prepaying for credits or subscriptions.

DepositPhotos Now With Affiliate Program

DepositPhotos has already a excellent Promo for contributors. DepositPhotos is paying $0.20 for each accepted image up to $100. Now DepositPhotos also has an affiliate program. The DepositPhotos affiliate program is a web based system that lets members earn rewards by promoting DepositPhotos to their friends, families and clients. Once you refer a new Seller or Buyer to DepositPhotos using a custom link through theaffiliate program, you will receive rewards into your DepositPhotos account!

 

Here is my referral link if anyone is interested:

http://submit.depositphotos.com?ref=1001442

Commissions for attracting Photographers:

• $0.05 for each original photo your referral uploads for sale up to 1000 images
• $0.03 for each sale that your referral makes through a subscription

Commissions for attracting Buyers:

• 15% commission for each Pay-By-Credit purchase your referral makes
• You get the percent shown for each Subscription Plan purchased by your referral
  ( 10% - 1 month, 8% - 3 months, 6% - 6 months, 4% - 12 months )
• You earn the amount shown for each SMS package purchased by your referral
  ( $0.05 - SMS1, $0.10 - SMS2, $0.15 - SMS3, $0.20 - SMS4 )

Banners:

• $10 for placing a banner ad on your site (minimum three month)

 

Fotolia Celebrates Fifth Birthday - Online image company Fotolia thrives through Global Recession

NEW YORK, NY, December 22, 2009 – Fotolia is part of a handful of companies that grew during the global recession, and this month, the online image provider celebrates its fifth anniversary. During 2009, the company saw its online library double to over 8,000,000 images and nearly 2 million images were downloaded every month. Since December 2006, membership increased nearly 10-fold, with over 1.5 million people worldwide now signed up to the site.

CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff explains the secret to Fotolia’s success: “Sourcing photos, vectors, and videos that are legal for commercial and promotional use from the most talented artists around the world has enabled Fotolia to provide incredible value. Designers, marketing, and creative professionals traditionally paid upwards of $500 per image in the past. Fotolia offers the same quality and usage rights starting at $1.”

Also contributing to the company’s success is an aggressive geographical expansion plan. Attention has returned to the North American market after success throughout Europe during the company’s initial years. Fotolia hired North American President Patrick Lor and Executive Vice President Garth Johnson, who were instrumental in the development of a major competitor. More recently, Fotolia set up shop in Turkey using its signature localization strategy.

As for where the company is headed, Tscheltzoff says, “As the economy continues to rebound, we will ramp up our global marketing efforts and continue to pursue our geographical expansion plans. Another key area is our video collection - it is the next wave of microstock. There is a real opportunity for contributors to set a precedence in this market and earn a significant income.”

For more information on Fotolia, visit www.fotolia.com

About Fotolia:
Over 1.5 million people prefer Fotolia, LLC for affordable, royalty-free photos, vectors, and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and offices in 12 countries. With over 8,000,000 images to choose from, find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com

The3dStudio.com Announces Website Upgrade

Mesa, AZ—December 7, 2009: The3dStudio.com has updated the design and added new features to their 3D model and stock photo/image website. The new design is cleaner and pages load much faster. Visitors to www.the3dstudio.com will find larger and better quality thumbnails and an improved and streamlined search process that provides faster more accurate search results and requires less scrolling.

The3dStudio.com has been in business over 13 years and continues to lead the pack as a one-stop shop for royalty-free products including 3D models, textures, tutorials, plug-ins, blueprints, and software and stock photos and images. The resource count is currently 650,000 and more items are added each day.

3D model categories include vehicles, technical objects, furniture, lighting, city and public works elements, silhouettes, humans and characters, landscape materials, nature and animals, and skies and other environmental imagery, and much more. 3D models are used by architects, advertising agencies, graphic designers, game designers, film makers, publishers, and others. Expert custom work and free file conversion are available.

Ad agencies, graphic designers and others who use stock photos and images see that The3dStudio.com is changing the way these products are bought and sold: It’s fast and easy with no minimum purchase requirement, and no “credits” or subscriptions are needed. After payment with a major credit card or PayPal, resources are available for instant download. Extended Licenses are available to give customers more options without confusing licensing choices or “add-ons” found at other stock photo sites. With an Extended License, the buyer can use an image in many ways with no limits on the number of copies and/or number of times an image is seen: unlimited use in print or in a physical item for resale (such as in T-shirts, calendars, greeting cards, mugs, etc.) or electronically (in website templates, software products, wallpapers, screensavers, e-cards, etc.)

Products can be found at: http://www.the3dstudio.com/product.aspx or by using the Search feature.

President Matt Anderson says: “We will continue to upgrade our website but one thing that will never change is our commitment to provide the world’s best customer service seven days a week. You will never get an automatic or canned reply from The3dStudio.com. We operate our business by the Golden Rule, and we treat everyone the way we’d like to be treated. Our sellers receive one of the highest royalty rates in the industry. There is no cost to become a member or to sell resources at The3dStudio.com and there are many benefits.”

Alaska Stock Increases Agent Network within Europe

Anchorage, AK (USA). NOVEMBER 2009 - (CEPIC) - Alaska's premier photo agency, Alaska Stock Images has signed distribution agreements with two prominent European distributors: Tips Italia SRL www.tipsimages.com and Profimedia.CZ s.r.o. www.profimedia.cz for its rights managed image collection and extended its reach accordingly within Italy and the Czech Republic.

Both distributors are well established in their respective territories with penetration into both editorial and commercial sectors. Alaska Stock is delighted to be a part of each of these distributors' product offerings, proactive marketing activities and excellent client service. Alaska Stock owner Jeff Schultz enthusiastically remarked, "I am excited that we have our images represented in Italy by Guido Rossi and his TIPS team. Their long-term experience in the Italian market is a great asset to us and we are happy for our new relationship." He also noted, "I am happy to see our images represented in the Czech Republic by Profimedia and feel they will do very well for us."

It is not only Alaska Stock's diverse, and often cute wildlife imagery, and striking natural landscapes that are of appeal to commercial image buyers throughout Europe but its collection covers major aspects of increasing international relevance and prominence in the media: climate change and global warming. Alaska is on the front line. Nowhere else are the effects of global warming thrown into such stark relief by the possible causes. Alaska Stock's extensive online archive chronicles the melting glaciers and disappearing habitats alongside the pipelines and drilling.

About Alaska Stock:
Alaska Stock Images, founded in 1990 by Jeff Schultz, is a specialty photo agency with an offering of over 400,000 Rights-Managed and Royalty-Free images of Alaska tourism, summer and winter lifestyles, outdoor recreation, adventure, historic, wildlife, global warming and climate change, majestic landscapes, and photos from Antarctica and Canada. This collection continues to grow on a regular basis with over 50,000 images available online at www.alaskastock.com with in excess of 150 contributing photographers of the highest calibre. The full collection is available for sale directly from Alaska Stock's sales team and around 15,000 Rights Managed images have been especially selected for their Alaskan speciality and international relevance and are sold worldwide via its international distribution network.

Shutterstock On The Red Carpet Captures the Hottest Events in 2009

Program sees blockbuster growth – talented photographers cover top film premieres, fashion shows, sporting events, political appearances and concerts around the world

New York, November 18, 2009 - It has been an exciting year for Shutterstock, the world's largest subscription-based stock photo agency, thanks to the rapid growth of its innovative editorial photo program: Shutterstock On The Red Carpet.

In 2009, Shutterstock On The Red Carpet covered many notable events worldwide, including Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour, The Black Crowes Tour, the Major League Soccer Semifinal match between Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy, and the Tribeca Film Festival. This year, Shutterstock photographers also captured public appearances by President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Senator John McCain.

Shutterstock is the only online stock image agency to offer this unique service, which assists its global network of photographers in securing press passes to the hottest events in the world of news, sports, and entertainment. Thanks to the tremendous success of the program, the amount of photographers and event organizers who participate continues to rapidly expand. In fact, since Shutterstock On The Red Carpet launched, the number of covered events has grown from two in 2007 to 127 so far in 2009. Based on the number of exciting events in the pipeline, Shutterstock projects covering a total of 175 events this year.

The program, which is open to Shutterstock's submitter base of more than 200,000 talented photographers, has produced high quality editorial photos that set Shutterstock apart in the highly competitive online stock photo marketplace.

"Given that Shutterstock On The Red Carpet is the only program of its kind, it's a key differentiator for buyers who seek premium stock photos of newsworthy events at a great value," said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock.

To learn more about Shutterstock On The Red Carpet, Shutterstock photographers can contact a representative at ontheredcarpet@shutterstock.com.

On The Red Carpet is a service mark of Shutterstock Images LLC.

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit www.Shutterstock.com.

MicroFoto Launches Micro Payment Stock Photography Website

Royalty Free Digital Images Available Online for FREE or as Low as $1

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – November 1ST., 2009 – Microfoto launched today the largest Brazilian based stock photography website for creative digital stock images in three languages, where buyers can have access to over 7 million images, illustrations and vectors. Microfoto’s free membership allows graphics artists, web designers, art directors, and consumers to obtain legal royalty free stock images for use in electronic and print materials for free or starting as low as $1.

“The Microfoto website for digital stock images encourage consumers worldwide to access legal images at the lowest price. This business model is poised to help fight image piracy on the internet and also allow all type of consumers to access low budget but quality royalty-free images, said Gianfranco Coppola, Microfoto CEO. “Microfoto is designed to be a legal source of inspiration where the creative visual arts community can benefit from a global image library of quality and originality at an affordable price or even for free.”

Microfoto’s digital image website is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish and has already over 7,000.000 images in its database.

About Microfoto
Microfoto is a global digital photography website in which designers come to find free from traditional royalties and rights management. The web site allows graphic artists, web designers, arts directors, marketing professionals, and consumers to obtain high quality, legal digital stock images for free or as low as $1. Pricing is based on a ranking system, which provides photographers and designers the freedom to set their own prices as well as increase revenue potential based on purchases. For more information about the company and to access the website, visit http://www.microfoto.com

PhotoAsia.Com.My Adds Age Fotostock, ChromaZone Flowers, easyFotostock, ImageDJ and ImageMore to Website

NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 11/11/2009 - PhotoAsia, Malaysia's pioneer stock photo library, today announced the addition of five image collections incorporating over 3.4 million Rights-Managed (RM) and Royalty-Free (RF) images which can now be browsed and licensed through PhotoAsia.

"We are delighted to add these five new exciting collections to our website to further expand the creative choices for our clients," said Ms Doreen Lau, PhotoAsia's Managing Director.

Age Fotostock
Age Fotostock brings together carefully edited work supplied by over 1,300 international photographers, making it one of the most comprehensive RM collections in the world with over 1.3 million images. The large diversity and high quality of its images, and the broad range of themes, turn this collection into a very functional and reliable solution for busy art directors, while being a great source of inspiration for any project.

ChromaZone Flowers
ChromaZone Flowers is a Rights-Managed collection of flower images for the international stock photo market. This collection contains over 9,000 high quality images from more than 300 photographers and flower artists from 25 countries.

easyFotostock
easyFotostock collects the work of international professional photographers with very diverse views and styles, to create an exhaustive collection of contemporary lifestyles, concepts, business, travel, nature, and creative and conceptual photography. This Low Budget Royalty Free collection contains high quality images at a reduced price and offers creative and illustrative solutions for art directors, graphic designers, publishers and other creative and communications professionals.

IMAGEMORE
IMAGEMORE offers premium-quality digital images that feature lifestyle and conceptual aspects of the modern and traditional culture of Greater China and other Asian countries. This collection contains over 30,000 images and over 450 virtual CDs, which can be licensed online with high resolution images of up to 45MB.

ImageDJ
ImageDJ has published over 250 CDs covering a wide variety of subjects ranging from Artists’ Tools, Beauty, Family Life to Yoga and Zen Life. With over 20,000 images in total you will be spoilt for choice.

About PhotoAsia
PhotoAsia (photoasia.com.my), based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, is a stock photo library that specializes in the marketing of Asian and Malaysian imagery. The PhotoAsia collection, which currently offers over 16,000 images online, including Rights-Managed and Royalty-Free images, is one of the largest collection of pictures of Malaysia. PhotoAsia is represented in over 30 countries through local agencies worldwide.

Alaska Stock Images Expands Reach within Asia

Anchorage, (ALSAKA), 5 NOVEMBER 2009 (CEPIC) - Alaska’s premier photo agency, Alaska Stock Images, has signed agreements with two major Asian distributors of digital image content: Panorama Media Ltd and IPS Japan.

Established in 1993, Panorama Media (www.panoramastock.com) has grown to become the largest online stock photo operation in China with headquarters located in Beijing. Panorama Stock is the Hong Kong and international hub, offering a library of over 1 million creative and editorial images. As a major provider of Rights Managed content, Alaska Stock sees its expansion within the Chinese market as a major step and huge growth area: China now being the third largest economy in the world after the US and Japan.

Alaska Stock Images is very pleased to further extend its Asian distribution reach by adding IPS (http://ipsnet.jp), one of Japan’s most long established Rights Managed distributors. Alaska Stock owner, Jeff Schultz, remarked, “We are delighted to have our Alaska images represented in China by Panorama Stock and feel they are positioned very well to market our unique set of images in the Chinese marketplace.“

Yasuko Kimura, the International Manager at IPS speaks very enthusiastically of the Alaska Stock imagery, citing in particular the relevance of the landscape material to their advertising and poster clients. A positive by-product of greater distribution of Alaskan scenic and striking wildlife imagery within the Japanese market could also be an increase in Japanese tourism to Alaska.

About Alaska Stock:
About Alaska Stock Images: Alaska Stock Images, founded in 1990 by Jeff Schultz, is a specialty photo agency with an offering of over 400,000 Rights-Managed and Royalty-Free images of Alaska tourism, summer and winter lifestyles, outdoor recreation, adventure, historic, wildlife, global warming and climate change, majestic landscapes, and photos from Antarctica and Canada. This collection continues to grow on a regular basis with over 50,000 images available online at www.alaskastock.com with in excess of 150 contributing photographers of the highest calibre. The full collection is available for sale directly from Alaska Stock’s sales team and around 15,000 Rights Managed images have been especially selected for their Alaskan speciality and international relevance and are sold worldwide via its international distribution network.

Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock

New York, NY, November 3, 2009 – The next wave of microstock continues as Fotolia becomes the first major microstock agency to launch localized web service in Turkey. www.fotolia.com.tr has affordable high-resolution stock photographs, illustrations, vectors, and HD videos. Fotolia is the leading European resource for corporations, designers, editors, and not-for-profit organizations looking for high-quality images for projects such as website design, brochures, promotional materials and products, as well as print, billboard, and television advertising.

“As the number one image provider in Europe, Fotolia is proud to be the first major microstock in Turkey”, says Oleg Tscheltzoff, CEO of Fotolia, LLC. “Our strong worldwide reputation will serve us well in this emerging market. Turkish corporations, designers, and entrepreneurs will benefit by saving on production costs with Fotolia’s images and videos.”

Images on www.fotolia.com.tr start at $1 USD. Fotolia’s royalty-free collection of over 7-million images come with standard royalty-free licensing, which means buyers are protected when they use an image within the terms and conditions of the site.

Akin Külhanbey, General Manager of Fotolia Turkey says, “Fotolia provides a secure platform for artists and consumers to exchange high-quality, royalty-free images. Artists are able to earn high commissions every time their stock images are downloaded from the site, whereas consumers can confidently make affordable purchases.”

When it comes to purchasing royalty-free images from Fotolia, buyers have flexibility with credit or subscription options. Images are sold by a credit value and start at one credit. On the Fotolia Turkey site, one credit holds a value of $1 USD.

Subscription plans are available in monthly and yearly packages, with up to 250 images a day for an unlimited number of users. Subscription plans start at $199 USD, and images can be purchased for as low as $0.14 per image. More information is available through www.fotolia.com.tr

Fotolia has shown steady growth since its inception nearly five years ago. Turkey marks the 12th region to join the Fotolia enterprise.

Over 1.4 million people prefer Fotolia, LLC for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics, and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2005, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and websites in 12 regions. With over 7,000,000 images to choose from: Find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com/a>.

The3dStudio.com Announces New Features for Stock Photos/Images

Mesa, AZ—November 3, 2009: The3dStudio.com has added two new features to their stock image department. In response to members’ suggestions, a new “extra small” stock image size has been added for a minimum price of $2.00. Bloggers in particular will find this new size useful.

An Extended License option has been added for those whose needs exceed the standard Royalty Free License terms. The Extended License is designed to give customers more options without confusing licensing choices or “add-ons”. With an Extended License, the buyer can use an image in many ways with no limits on the number of copies and/or number of times an image is seen: unlimited use in print or in a physical item for resale (such as in T-shirts, calendars, greeting cards, mugs, etc.) or electronically (in website templates, software products, wallpapers, screensavers, e-cards, etc.)

Both features will benefit those who use stock images, including ad agencies and graphic designers. Buying stock images or other resources at The3dStudio.com is quick and easy. There is no minimum purchase requirement. Payment is made with a major credit card or PayPal payment. This is particularly beneficial to smaller businesses since they don’t have to pay for subscriptions or credits they may never use. Digital resources are available for instant download after purchase.

The3dStudio.com began over 13 years ago as a website that offered free 3D models. The business has expanded over the years to meet the needs of its members, both buyers and sellers. The website currently offers over 573,000 free and priced 2D and 3D resources, making it one of the oldest and largest resource sites on the internet. The3dStudio.com is a one-stop-shop for all types of royalty-free resources, including 3D models, textures, tutorials, plug-ins, blueprints, software, and stock images.

3D model categories include vehicles, technical objects, furniture, lighting, city and public works elements, silhouettes, humans and characters, landscape materials, nature and animals, and skies and other environmental imagery, and much more. 3D models are used by architects, advertising agencies, graphic designers, game designers, film makers, publishers, and others. Products can be found at: http://www.the3dstudio.com/product.aspx or by using the Search feature. Expert custom work and free file conversion are available.

President Matt Anderson says: “We are committed to continuing to change and improve the way stock images are bought and sold. We added the stock photo/image category in July; our library has shown amazing growth and more images are added each day. We provide the best customer service around, seven days a week. It’s fast and personal--you will never get an automatic or canned reply from us. We operate our business by the Golden Rule, treating everyone the way we’d like to be treated. Our sellers receive one of the highest royalty rates in the industry. There is no cost to become a member or to sell resources at The3dStudio.com and there are many benefits.”

Microstock Agency PantherMedia Announces Expansion To Poland, Launches Localized Website

Munich (GERMANY) / Warsaw (POLAND), 20 OCTOBER 2009 - PantherMedia, the leading and rapidly growing marketplace for Royalty-Free photography with over one million images, illustrations and a vibrant photocommunity, today announces the opening of its new office in Warsaw, Poland, and the launch of its new dedicated polish website.

PantherMedia Poland (http://www.panthermedia.pl) is led by industry expert Wieslaw Kubajka who will apply his extensive industry knowledge to enhance the international exposure for PantherMedia´s collection of stock photos and illustrations. Mr. Kubajka, who holds an university degree in Economy/International Finance, was formerly the long-time Head of the Photo Department of the Bauer Publishing House Poland and previously the President of KAPA Press Agency.

"I´m delighted to spearhead PantherMedia´s business expansion to Poland", said Wieslaw Kubajka. "Poland is a very valuable market for PantherMedia´s products and services, and its recently launched new subscription plans", he added. "We are creating new possibilities for image buyers and photographers in this market. We do not only start with a localized website for photo buyers, but also with a fully translated photocommunity for photographers. For the first time Polish visitors are now able to buy and sell images on PantherMedia in our native language."

PantherMedia has received many images from international contributors around the world and will continue to expand its sales activities into new international markets with direct customer contact in the particular foreign language as well as local marketing and advertising campaigns in the foreign countries. "Expanding our microstock business to Poland is a logical extension of our strategy to grow our microstock business internationally", added Robert Walters, CEO and co-founder of PantherMedia, "PantherMedia Poland is the first step in this direction." To celebrate the launch, PantherMedia Poland offers a wide range of introductory offers which can be found at http://panthermedia.net/?polska.

Contact details for PantherMedia Poland:

Panther Media Polska
Wiesław Kubajka
ul. Warszawska 55/97
05-075 Warszawa
Polska
Tel: + 48 (0)22 389 77 13
+ 48 (0)22 389 77 14
Fax: + 48 22 489 72 95
Web: http://www.panthermedia.pl
Email: biuro@panthermedia.net

About PantherMedia:
PantherMedia is a marketplace for Royalty Free (RF) photography. Suppliers as well as buyers of commercial and editorial imagery meet on one shared platform consisting of a photocommunity for photographers and a stock agency for image buyers. The photocommunity serves as the creative heart of the image marketplace. Professional photographers and shutterbugs from all over the world can upload, rate and comment on images. They can share their experience, further develop their photographic skills and showcase their artistic potential.

After a legal and qualitative check through PantherMedia, picture editors chose adequate images for the stock agency. Agencies, publishing houses and enterprises which need images can license photographs for their individual purposes - either as single images or through a flexible subscription plan. The revenues will be shared with photographers. This novel business model allows through so-called „User Generated Content“, provided by over 20,000 photographers worldwide, to keep the offer of RF-images far below the average market price. PanterMedia.net is an enterprise of PantherMedia GmbH with headquarters in Munich, Germany and was founded in October 2004. At present, PantherMedia offers more than 1 million images worldwide directly and via an international network of over 90 distribution partners in 36 countries. During the FounderChampions competition of the 25th German Days of Founders and Entrepreneurs PantherMedia represented the Federal State of Bavaria as the best Bavarian Start-up.

Shutterstock Announces New Plan to Protect Each Image and Footage Purchase

Largest subscription stock image site guarantees its entire library of more than 8.5 million images and 140,000 footage clips

New York, October 20, 2009 - Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced today that it will legally guarantee every file in its vast library by providing up to $10,000 to cover legal costs and direct damages for claims arising from the use of an image or footage clip licensed through Shutterstock.

Thanks to Shutterstock’s thorough and selective review process, the agency has become a global leader in providing affordable, high quality images that comply with the highest legal and ethical standards in the industry.

Shutterstock has now gone a step further by covering key areas of liability, including copyrights, trademarks and rights of privacy and publicity. Under the new plan, which begins today, every file in Shutterstock’s expansive library – which consists of more than 8.5 million images and 140,000 footage clips – will be guaranteed.

“We’ve become an industry leader by earning the trust of stock image and footage buyers worldwide,” said Jon Oringer, CEO and founder of Shutterstock. “Although claims involving our content are extremely rare, we wanted to give our customers an even higher level of comfort by providing up to $10,000 in indemnification.”

Shutterstock’s protection plan, along with its uncompromising commitment to the integrity and quality of its images, solidifies the company’s reputation as a trusted resource for image and footage buyers worldwide.

Please see Shutterstock’s Terms of Service for complete details.

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit www.Shutterstock.com.

Pixmac Reaches 7 Million Of Stock Photos In Just A Year!

The Pixmac microstock agency is proud to announce that we now offer 7 million stock photos for our customers. Only a few competitors can say the same. Our collection consists of 3 sources. Two are creative and one editorial called “Celebrity”.

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 24, 2009 – Pixmac is the fastest way to get a stock photo or illustration for your design for a price that might surprise you.

When the pink company launched its marketplace in September 2008 it might have seemed like just another microstock company that is trying to make it. But look how much we have grown in a year! Pixmac has partners in 9 major markets and its sales are growing faster than expected.

Our company is growing faster than other competitors in the microstock market according to respected site Alexa.com and the amount of pictures grows with it. Not only that, Pixmac invented the “One Stop Shopping” way to get inexpensive quality photos in a matter of seconds without need of registration. Lee Torrens, a well known microstock blogger, says: “I LOVE your one-stop-shopping idea! It has always been a missing element of microstock agencies...” Yes, Pixmac focuses on speed and user friendliness.

Pixmac offers a lot now and has more in the oven to offer our customers. For example, Pixmac is working with a University on a project that will change your searching abilities and will make searching quicker and easier. We are also adding another few million photos to the database soon and working on some nice stock photo searching tweaks.

This week we're launching a new updated website together with features such as Moneybookers payment method which added with payments by PayPal and/or Credit Card. Also we have included a popular feature that sorts search results by downloads or date.

Vitezslav Valka (CEO) comments: “I’m always thrilled to see our customers happy with the user interface. Everybody deserves an easy tool that just works. I’m watching everything that happens in the company and believe me, it’s better than Red Bull and Duracell together!”

And one last thing for insiders. Watch our Twitter for special offers!

Categories: Microstock, Pixmac, Photography
Tags: stock photo, royalty free pictures, pixmac, microstock

Shutterstock Announces Acquisition of BigStockPhoto

Move signals Shutterstock’s expansion into the credit-based stock photo market

New York, September 23, 2009 – Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced that it has acquired BigStockPhoto, a leading credit-based stock photo agency, headquartered in Davis, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“BigStockPhoto is a leader in the stock photo industry, and an excellent fit for Shutterstock as we expand into the credit-based market,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “This addition will enable Shutterstock to better satisfy the diverse payment preferences of stock photo buyers worldwide.”

According to the deal, BigStockPhoto will remain a separate entity, and Shutterstock plans to grow the company’s global presence by investing heavily in marketing, infrastructure and user experience.

BigStockPhoto was founded in 2004 to provide an alternative to high-priced stock photography, and to create a marketplace for photographers to sell their work. In addition to its diverse library of 3.7 Million royalty-free photos and vectors, the agency has created a vibrant community of image buyers and submitters from around the world.

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit www.Shutterstock.com.

Shutterstock Launches Shuttertweet: A New Way for Submitters to Showcase their Stock Images and Footage on Twitter

Shuttertweet instantly sends out tweets when new images and footage have been added to submitters' portfolios

New York, August 19, 2009 – Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced today the launch of Shuttertweet, a new tool for Twitter that empowers stock image and stock footage submitters by instantly sending out messages (or “tweets”) announcing when new images and footage clips have been added to their Shutterstock portfolios.

Shuttertweet also enables submitters to monetize their use of Twitter. Submitters earn a referral commission from anyone who makes a purchase after clicking on the link to their Shutterstock gallery in one of their Shuttertweet messages.

In addition, Shuttertweet sends an update regarding submitters’ download counts on a daily basis to share the success of their portfolios with people that follow them on Twitter.

“Shuttertweet is truly a win-win for our submitters because it both automatically showcases their work and allows them to make money via our affiliate marketing program using Twitter,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock.

To sign up, submitters login to the submit site and click the option under "Make Money" or visit: http://bit.ly/2izTPy to enable Shutterstock to send tweets on their behalf. Submitters can deactivate Shuttertweet at any time.

“Shuttertweet is a great way to advertise my work,” said Jake Hellbach (Shutterstock submitter name: JHDT Stock Images LLC), a successful Shutterstock photographer and videographer based in Sugarland, Texas. “I used to post links to my images and footage clips manually on Twitter when I had the time, but with this tool, I know my name is getting out to stock photo and stock footage buyers each day, so I can get back to shooting.”

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit www.Shutterstock.com.