What are stock photos?

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So-called stock photos are images that are not produced for a specific purpose, but rather are kept in stock. Hence the name, as "stock" means "stock" in English. These stock images depict universal motifs on a wide variety of topics and originate from food photography. These photographs are now offered on various online portals, with very different rights and conditions, either free of charge or for a certain amount. Stock photos are often used, especially in marketing, to more effectively present one's own messages both uruguay phone number data online and in print, both cost-effectively.

5 good reasons for stock images in marketing are:

Usually more cost-effective than individual commissioned images
Can be used in a variety of ways depending on the license
Wide variety available on the platforms
Loosen up text-heavy marketing materials
Can be used quickly and flexibly
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Which stock photo providers are there?
There are now numerous platforms offering stock photos. However, the differences are significant – in terms of quality, variety, costs, and licensing. Therefore, a broad distinction is made between providers offering paid and free imagery.

stock photos; Shutterstock homepage
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Paid providers
Well-known providers of paid stock photography include Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, and Getty Images. They commission photographers or purchase their images to make them available to third parties on their portal for a certain fee, such as an online marketing manager or social media manager. We compared seven providers:

Stock photos; Overview of paid providers
You can download the graphic here as a PDF.
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Free providers
In addition to the large, well-known providers of commercial stock images, there are now numerous platforms that offer free images. The selection is usually much smaller, and some images are of lower quality, but this is often sufficient, especially for smaller businesses. Three well-known portals are Pexels, Pixabay, and Unsplash . Wikimedia Commons also offers some images that can be used free of charge.