What is Stock Photography?
Stock photography is a business where a photographer supplies their images to a stock image agency. The photographs are licensed for specific usage and the company and the photographer share the earnings when someone purchases the image. Before the images are purchased, so that they are not illegally used, most companies protect the image with a watermark.
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The advantage of using a stock image is that you would save time and money compared to hiring a photographer and finding a location as well as models to pose for your image or video. Since the image already exists, you only need to get a license for usage while the creator would still have the copyright for their work. The Graphic Design Company in India can be contacted to edit the image as per the project needs.
What are Stock Photos?
Stock photos are images available on the internet either for free or that can be purchased from the company that owns the image.
These stock images are licensed for specific usage, sometimes needing consent from the company during the buying process. Some use them for social media. But a lot of times, stock photos are used for website designing. Stock images are also good for marketing and promotional work. They are also useful for personal creative projects as well. A Graphic Design Company in India also edits the stock images to make them look more suitable for the client.
Uses of Stock Images:
Stock images are used for various purposes based on the license.
An image with a royalty-free license can be used for multiple usages after getting the initial permissions. However, once the license expires, the image user would need to acquire the license again in order to continue using the image.
The other type of stock image license is the Rights Managed images. In this case, the image can also be used for similar purposes as the Royalty-free images; however, the license permits the image for only one usage. It is also possible to acquire rights for exclusive usage of the image through getting a license for Rights Managed image.
Top 13 Stock Image Websites in India:
1. Picxy
Picxy is a stock photo company among the largest in South Asia that provides a variety of images applicable to south Asian contexts. They also provide a great opportunity for photographers as well. They also have a team of photographers of their own for custom shoots. They have a range of Indian photographs that come at an affordable price and a subscription service as well.
A graphic design company in Mumbai can assist in enhancing the images based on the clients’ requirements. The image can be adjusted on the basis of the context it is being used for.
2. Image Bazaar
Images Bazaar captures photographs while displaying India’s complex and diverse traditions, culture, and lifestyle through its people. They have a wide range of Indian images that can fit a variety of themes. As a bonus, they also offer a free image of the week to download. They have various price packages and they also have a subscription option so you can save some money if you need multiple images. The images or videos can be used for a time span of 10 years.
By hiring a Graphic Design Company in India, you can blend the stock images with artistic excellence and get the results you want for your brand or project.
3. India Picture Budget
India Picture Budget has a collection of over 287 million videos and images. They have Indian as well as international images, videos, and vectors. Their prices start as low as ₹23 and they also have a range of exclusive Indian-focused collections.
By getting a Graphic Design Company in India to work on your project, you can find the perfect images for your India-focused project and get praiseworthy results.
4. Dinodia
A company that has been around since 1987, Dinodia offers a range of photographs and vectors. They also have photographers in Mumbai that specialize in different photography fields. So if you need a specific photograph, Dinodia is here to help. They also have low-budget options so you can pick the image based on your price and image size requirement.
By using images from Dinodia and working with a Graphic Design Company in India, you can make your project stand out and gain the attention it deserves.
5. Hangonimages
Hangonimages is a photo stock agency for Indian photos based in New Delhi. Their images have been used in several advertisements in India, and in news articles as well. The categories on their website are well divided to make it easier for someone to search the image they need.
As per the images displayed on their website, a graphic designer or a Graphic Design Company in India can be hired to work on editing the image or combining multiple images for the project they are working on.
6. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is amongst the top stock image websites. With over 350 million images to choose from, and over a hundred thousand new images added every day. Their subscription service offers a single user as well as multiple user options. They also offer a one-month free trial where the user can download any 10 images for free. They can cancel the subscription anytime and still keep the images. Their subscription plans also offer the benefit to get 5 videos a month as well.
Taking the high-quality images from Shutterstock and an experienced Graphic Design Company in India will get you amazing results. If you have a project that could require stock images, consider Shutterstock and also hiring a graphic designer.
7. iStock
iStock provides a wide range of royalty-free images, illustrations, and vectors as well as video clips. That means their images can be used multiple times within the license terms. They have different price plans as well as subscriptions where you can acquire an image for as low as ₹110 per image regardless of the image size.
If you are a business owner in Mumbai, you can hire a Graphic Design Company in India to work on your upcoming project and commercials. Getting stock images would help you enhance your project.
8. Unsplash
Unsplash is a free-to-use stock photography website. It has a catalogue of over 2 million beautiful images and all the images are free to use for any project. A company that is now owned by Getty Images since 2021, they offer photographers the opportunity to showcase their talent and get the exposure they want. With over two hundred thousand contributing photographers, you will find great and high-quality images on Unsplash.
9. Getty Images
One of the most well know stock image companies, they are the largest space in regards to buying and selling of stock images. They own the rights to a lot of famous photographs, making them one of the top stock image websites along with their extensive range of images as well. Most of their images are also under the royalty-free license; therefore, they can be used as often as the user wishes once purchased. Their pricing list includes multiple image packages which once purchased, will never expire. You can choose to download the selected number of images any time you wish.
10. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is a stock image website that offers royalty-free stock images for a low affordable price or even for free. Upon opting for their free one-week trial, users can download up to 15 images for no cost. They have been in the business for over 20 years and offer a wide range of high-quality images at a low price. They have an exclusive section on their website for free photos so users can easily find images if they want to get them for free.
The best part about using Dreamstime is that you can use the free or paid images in your project. If you have the budget to buy the images, you can do so. If you have the budget to only hire a graphic design company in India and get the images from a free option, which is good too since the images offered for free, are high quality as well.
11. Pixabay
Pixabay is a free-to-use stock image website. They have over 2.3 million images and videos shared by their community, and they are free to download. They have stunning images and videos that are uploaded by talented photographers. They also have an option where you can donate money to the photographer directly if you wish you pay them for their work.
If you are a designer that is working for a graphic design company in Mumbai, you can either opt for paid images from other websites or use the images from Pixabay which are free for commercial use as well.
12. Pexels
Pexels is another free-to-use stock image website that offers a wide range of photos and videos for free. The photos and videos are shared by talented creators and the website also hosts challenges for photographers where a cash prize is involved.
Pexels is highly recommended for digital marketing organizations. You can get high-quality images for free and if you have a graphic design company in India working with you, you can create something really amazing.
13. Freepik
Freepik is a stock image website that has a variety of vectors and images available for free through a premium subscription. When using their images for free, attribution is required. However, their premium subscription which is as low as ₹653.14 per month, offers a lot of benefits. The premium subscription includes all their premium content as well as 100 downloads per day and no attribution is required.
I hope the mentioned stock image websites can help you in your future projects. Whether you are someone looking for stock images for a personal project or a graphic design company in Mumbai looking for interesting vectors, these websites are definitely going to help you find the attractive images that will make your project look even better than what it already is.