Make Money Online with 5 Stock Photo Sites
There are many sites nowadays that showcase the art of photography by amateur photographers. Sites that allow you to express yourself through photographs and in the process earn money for your photos.
How is this made possible? Simple, sites allow you to show off your skills in the field of photography by letting you have a space in their site for your photos and then buyers are allowed to choose from the several photographs showcased on their sites. This will allow you to have prospective buyers for your own photos and you never know if you will have a buyer sooner or later. There are various schemes on how each site would pay for your photos but there are almost the same requirements for the file type that they would want your photos to have. That are usually, JPG, EPS, AI or PSD depending on the site that you wish to sell your photos.
So if you have those photos there stored in your PC and just sitting to be explored for a possible work of art, why don’t you try these sites for your photographic explorations. You might be an artist after all.
Below are a five of the stock photography sites where you could showcase your art. And you might like to take a look at the packages that they offer photograph sellers, if you intend to sell your photos online. Some have very interesting offers (commissions *wink).
1. *BigStockPhoto
BigStockPhoto requires a photo seller to take the Photographer Test after studying the Tutorial pages. If you pass you’ll be able to upload photos, which will be reviewed by the editors. When users download them, you earn fifty cents each time (or up to $60 for some downloads if you have elected to also sell photos under our Special Licensing agreements). BigStockPhoto mail checks or make payment to you via Paypal or MoneyBookers.
2. Dreamstime
Dreamstime requires that the image must be at least 3MP in size or more; it must be RGB saved at highest JPG quality 12. You should also have a model release on all people recognizeable in your image. Sellers get 50-80% from each sale made. Payment is via bank check, Paypal, and MoneyBookers.
3. Fotolia
Landscape, Architecture, People, Fauna & Flora, Objects, Transport, Food & Drink to Social Issues and Travel are the most in-demand image subjects that Fotolia suggest to those who want to upload photos using their site. Requires minimum of 1600 x 1200 pixels for web use and 2272 x 1704 pixels or greater for print use
The preferred files are with atleast 2000 x 3000 pxels. Fotolia pays an average of 52% commission to its contributors.
4. iStockPhoto
iStockPhoto requires that the images be RGB JPG format only. Required file sizes: the bigger, the better. 300 dpi 5″ x 7″ is optimal. 640×480 images are not usable by most graphic artists. All files should be 1200 x 1600 pixels minimum (anything smaller will be automatically rejected The royalty structure on iStockphoto is 20%. If you’re eligible for exclusivity, you can make up to 40%. Pay is via Paypal and Moneybookers, or you can request a check by mail; Electronic payment requests are usually processed within 3 workdays. Check requests are processed at the beginning of each month and the checks are sent out at the middle of the month.
5. ShutterStock
Shutterstock pays 25 cents per download and it also has a referral program that users can also earn from. ShutterStock also accepts stock footage. Images must be at least 2.5 megapixel to be accepted. But new photographers’ minimum size is 4.0MP. Pay checks are mailed monthly.
To make the most out of making money online with stock photography make sure that your image is original and truly copyrighted by you. All trademarks must be removed. This includes logos, brands and entities with copyright or trademarked elements. This many also extend to trademarked products such as cast sculptures, toys, architecture and other elements of design. This is necessary to avoid future legal problems.
Always check the sellers’ portion for frequently asked questions, you better check it out first before trying to publish your work and sell your photos. This will help a lot in clarifying whatever you want to know about how to make money online from that stock photo site.
Also, don’t forget to know what are the most in-demand image subjects to avoid wasting your time uploading least requested images.
Good luck to your artistic experience into the world of stock photography and start earning!
More references for making money from photography - and a forum on stock photography. If you want to know how lucrative stock photo sites have become - CNN.
*referral link
Tags: make-money-photography, sell-pictures-online, sell-stock-photo, stock-photo-moneyRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Basics of Making Money Online, Creating and Selling Products
14 opinions for Make Money Online with 5 Stock Photo Sites
Lorla’s Blog
Apr 27, 2007 at 10:50 am
[…] I found some sites posted in this blog that helps make some money with your photos. Let me list them […]
Peter
May 3, 2007 at 3:36 am
Thank you for listing my forum (www.microstockforum.com) in your article. I think this is a great industry to be involved in. While the money doesn’t make itself its nice to have it continue flowing if you have to take a break for a few months. I have about 700 images on 5-6 sites and they all vary every month, but manage to bring in a great 2nd (almost 1st) income.
I recently started a search engine geared towards microstock photography: http://www.imagetrail.net . I am not sure whether it will get used, but I am hopeful to bring these images to the masses.
heru
May 24, 2007 at 11:47 am
hello….
i am member of fotolia.com , but still newbie. I like become a photographer too. Thank you for the information.I am try looking for money too through internet, here my blog:
http://blogman07.bravejournal.com….. is for > money on the net
Shai Coggins
May 24, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Peter and heru: Thanks for the info and for dropping by.
Jeff
May 25, 2007 at 12:53 am
Shutterstock is the best of the best. My buddy told me about it a year
ago. I laughed, “another get rich internet scheme” I remember thinking.
He’s now submitted just over 1000 pics and he’s making about $600 a month.
Yes he has showed me the checks. Yes, I was an idiot! Argh. Who knew.. it actually works?! I signed up 2 months ago. I now have about 75 pics on there. I’ve submitted more than that have been rejected though, so it’s not quite as easy as it sounds! You have to work at your craft! If you don’t believe me, go to
their site and check out the forum. Thousands of users will tell you, this is the real deal!
Public Domain Pictures
May 26, 2007 at 1:25 am
Well, I use Fotolia but this Shutterstock sounds really interesting. I’ll give it a shot. Thanks
Bill Compton
Jun 5, 2007 at 8:32 am
Hi Jim. Photos i received. Thanks
Gifts to Give to People Wanting to Make Money Online
Dec 22, 2007 at 4:17 am
[…] Asus EEE PC for a problogger wannabe or a lovely digital SLR camera for someone who wants to earn from taking pictures won’t hurt! Or if you know of a person who’s planning to earn from making online videos […]
erwin
Jan 10, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Thank’s for the tips,
But I’v something else to say:
Be careful if you send to the subscription agenceis model such as shutterstock, 123rf, dreastime it bad for the long term, consider this:
1. subscription sales are much more destructive for the business as a whole, than microstock in general. Subscriptions enable customers to build large image archives that reduces the need to download photos in the future and thus our (photographers) profit potential.
2. average subscribers only use about 15 - 30% of the full potential of their membership. This means that most pictures in a subscription sell at a 5-6USD price-point in average, giving us (photographers) about 25 cents in commission. A bottom-line commission of about 5 percent. Even if I was totally wrong and every subscriber actually downloaded the double of what I have heard, the commission would still only be 10%.
3. Same price at all size, even 16mp the price same as 1.3mp?
Downsize your image before send to the subscription model agencies.
this link is interesting
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?topic=3278.0
for photographer future, there is pay per photo and 70% share agency out there…
FeaturePics.com is one of them
Making Money with Your Digital Camera
Feb 12, 2008 at 8:59 pm
[…] use of your digital camera when it comes to making money, Camera Fortune has 4 ideas for you. And, stock photography is just one of […]
Jordan McClements
Feb 28, 2008 at 11:24 pm
If your photos are not quite good enough to make a killing on the stock web sites (e.g. like mine), you should consider setting up your own web site to give them away free while making money off the advertising..
Reader Advice: Make Money by Offering Free Photos
Feb 29, 2008 at 11:12 pm
[…] your photos are not quite good enough to make a killing on the stock web sites (e.g. like mine), you should consider setting up your own web site to give them away free while […]
David Nice
Mar 5, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Hi ,just to say that after viewing all the major stock sites i am now even more confused!!!. All i want is a site where i can upload my images,and sell!.Is this a hard thing to do?
Anyone who has a good answer i would be very greatfull.
David.
arm
Jun 18, 2008 at 1:09 am
Here you can sell textures.
http://www.texturespot.com
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