Can Stock Photo

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Screenshot of CanStockPhoto.com home page.

Can Stock Photo is a royalty-free stock photography community, established in June of 2004. Based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the website has a library of 300,000 images, and 19,000 active members.

1 History
2 Licensing
3 Critiques
4 See Also
5 External Links

[edit] History

The site was officially launched on June 3rd, 2004. The site had several unique features at the time, including the ability to search by color, and the ability to zoom in on preview images. In January of 2006 Can Stock Photo launched their new website with a revised format that is currently in use today.

As of October 2006, Can Stock Photo has over 3,500 active photographers, located around the world. The largest concentration of photographers originate from the United States.

When an image is submitted to the website, it is then evaluated by one of Can Stock Photo’s staff members for technical and legal approval. Photographers on the site earn a 50% commission on image sales. Factoring in the range of image sizes, this can mean a return of $0.50-$4 per image. Licensing options provide additional revenue streams.

[edit] Licensing

Over the past year, Can Stock Photo has launched several additional licensing options for buyers, in line with industry evolutions:

In November 2005 Can Stock Photo added subscription sales, to mixed reviews. Designers praised the upgrade, while photographers questioned the lower commission returns.
In July of 2006 Can Stock Photo launched several optional licensing packages, including increased reproduction limits and template resale options. Once again, these changes were met with mixed reviews. Approximately 80% of photographers opted-into these changes, for increased sales commissions – whereas others choose not to participate, citing a desire to retain more control over their images.

[edit] Critiques

Can Stock Photo has had several critiques over the years.

An initial concern was that the site was not cosmeticaly pleasing enough to attract photographers and buyers. Although the design was modified several times, it wasn’t until the total re-design in 2006 that this complaint was put to rest.
Additionally, Can Stock photo experienced an array of photographer complaints after it launched its subscription sevice at the end of 2005. Some photographers objected to not having the option of opting out and complained about the intial $0.20 payout. These concerns seemingly dissapeared after the site raised its payouts to $.25-$0.30 in 2006.
Finally, the website has struggled in the shadow of its closest rivals, with lower sales numbers.