Shutterstock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shutterstock is a microstock photography website, selling images by subscription. Shutterstock was started in 2003 by Jon Oringer, photographer and serial entrepreneur.

As of February 2008, Shutterstock had more than three million royalty-free images available to subscribers,^[1] taken by more than 70,000 photographers.

Subscribers can buy either a one month, three months, six months, or one year subscription - and download up to 25 images per day (750 per month). They may continue to use the pictures even after their membership has expired. As of June 2007, the fee for subscribers began at $199 per month. ^[1]

Contributing photographers must apply before they are eligible to upload their images. The applicants must submit 10 pictures that are screened for quality and suitability. At least 7 pictures must be approved for the contributor account to become active.

Once approved, photographers can begin uploading their work through the website. They supply keywords, categorize the images, and submit them to the "inspection queue," where each and every image is examined to ensure that it meets the standards of quality, usefulness and copyright and trademark laws. Each time an image is downloaded, the photographer receives a flat rate of 25c (30c if the photographer has reached $500 in lifetime earnings).

Shutterstock also sells vector graphics made in programs like Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand; Macromedia Flash elements and raster illustrations created in 3d graphics programs or bitmap editors like Adobe Photoshop.