Stock Photos and Clipart
Understanding stock photography, clipart and the legal issues surrounding the use of purchased artwork is important. If you do not create original artwork to use in a design project, either illustrations or photographs, stock graphics can be a versatile and convenient resource. In addition understanding usage rights for all artwork will help you maintain intergrity surrounding your designwork and services as well.
Professional photos which are sold to graphic designers and ad agencies to use in their printed layouts. Stock photos are generic and usually sold in specific groups, i.e. food, business, medical. Called Stock photos because photographers would sell off their stock of unused pictures to photo agencies who would then resell them.
Stock photos are not new to the design industry.
Distribution is new.
Many years ago designers would receive large books with sample photos they could purchase. Today stock photos are distributed elcctronically, either on
CDs or via the Internet.
Find, order, and download artwork 24/7.
Clipping paths
Clipping path Tutorial
Stock photos are generally JPG files.
A JPG image is typically opaque in the white areas.
Overlapping of the image would block out the background.
Solution to this is a clipping path,
- masks out the white areas around aI1 image
- high-quality stock photo compa nies often have paths already drawn for you.
- need to trace image in Photoshop or Quark
You may also purchase clip art that already has a clipping path attache dto it. It will genreally cost a bit more more.
Clipart and Vector Images
Two dimensional, flat art work. such as, pen and ink
illustrations, type, woodcuts and clipart. Vector graphics are actually
mathematical equations which makes for a very small file size in comparison
to a raster file size.
Vector images are resolution independent.
There are no pixels to count.
Vector images print at the resolution of the output device or printer.
Vector images can be enlarged or reduced without any loss in quality because they are not resolution dependent.
Vector images can be easily modified in Illustrator or Freehand because the image is made up of various objects, when put together, the parts create the entire graphic.
In all page layout programs (InDesign, QuarkXpress), a low resolution picture of the vector image is what is displayed.
The image may be jagged, grainy or very rough looking. As long as the ORIGINAL file accompanies the page layout file, the image will print properly.
Legal
Issues and License
agreements
You don't actually buy the stock photographs or clip art
--
you buy the license or rights to use it.
Two types of license agreements
1) Royalty free
Once you have paid for the image or the entire CD, you can use the images as many times as you like, for as many different layouts, and for as many different products.
Keep in mind that anybody else who bought the rights to the
image is using it as well. It is not uncommon to see images
repeatedly on websites and in marketing materials that are
the same image. [Clear, you get what you pay for!]
- Always check the license agreement.
Some license agreements require an extra fee if you use the image as part of products that are then resold.
For instance, you can use an image in a brochure advertising your line of greeting cards, but you can't put the image on the greeting card itself and sell it.
The bottom line is that you don't really own the image.
2) Rights Protected
You are renting the right to use this image for a specific project and sometimes for a specific length of time.
this prevents an overlaping of usage and gives the appearance of exclusivity. The more exclusive the agreement the higher the fee.
You sign a contract with the stock photo agency and specify exactly how you will be using the image:
- in a magazine ad
- for how many issues
- for what area of the country
An important benefit in return — the photo or art you use cannot be used by a competitor at that same time.
This means you won't have to worry about seeing your biggest competitor use the exact same photo for their own ad or brochure.
Model Release
Any photograph of a "recognizable" person must be accompanied by a model release, a signed form from that person giving their permission to use the pho-tograph in a certain way.
For instance, if you have a crowd shot with lots of people who are out of focus, those people are not considered recognizable. If you have a shot of a person looking directly at the camera, that person is recognizable. A good stock photo agency will have signed model releases for all the necessary images. With a signed release you do not have a right to use the image in any way you want. You can't use an image in a way that would defame the model in the image.
Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An easy to understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of each Creative Commons license. This simplicity distinguishes Creative Commons from an all-rights reserved copyright. Creative Commons was invented to create a more flexible copyright model, replacing "all rights reserved" with "some rights reserved". Wikipedia is one of the notable web-based projects using one of its licenses.
Where to get Stock Photos and Clip Art
There are a million places to purchase stock photos and clip art. Simply google 'stock images' or 'clip art' to see the massive variety available. Price typically corresponds with exclusivity and image size/quality.
There are also FREE stock Photo sites. Each free site has specific terms of use even though the images are free. Many sites require you to cite the website.
Be sure to read the small print. And when in doubt, contact the agency or photographer directly and ask questions.
In the digital age the places to get affordable stock photos and clip art continue to expand. There are the 'big' photo agencies like Getty but there are also individuals out there selling their goods. I'm a big fan of Etsy.com and have even gotten inexpensive stock photos and illustrations there.
You can also get stock photos from Travel/Tourism Bureaus. For example, if you are creating the promotional materials for a conference in a specific city the Travel Bureau may have photos that you can use at no cost - as it is their goal to assist in presenting their city in a positive way.