iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto are a massive player in the microstock industry, they claim to be the fastest growing in the world, though you would be hard pressed to find a microstock site which does not make either this, or some such similar claim.

One thing is certain, they have clout (that's power and/or influence for those of you not familiar). Based out of Canada, iStockPhoto are since 2006 owned by Getty Images and have a huge proportion of the market share, with almost 3.5 million images, and a similar number of registered members, they also sponsor NAPP (USA National Association of Photoshop Professionals.)

iStockPhoto are often pushed by NAPP partners and services such as PhotoshopUserTV, which I've been watching weekly since they started a couple of years back, and highly recommend for anyone with an interest in processing their photographs.

There seems to be have been a lot of controversy surrounding iStockPhoto for years, and I wouldn't expect it to go away anytime soon, as they are a bit of a law unto themselves, especially with regards to pushing up market prices, and their attempts to enter the macrostock and midstock markets (though the same is to be expected of any company in their position.)

If you're buying images, when compared to the other providers, they still manage to be quite competitive, though you will find similar quality, cheaper elsewhere, iStockPhoto have an easy to use interface on their site, and from what I hear, rather good customer support, for both buyers and sellers. If you're looking for 'added value' this is probably a good place to start.

They provide a good variety of stock, with not just images, but also flash, videos, and illustrations being pretty popular. Pricing is based around credits, which cost around $0.80 per credit depending on how many you buy in any one transaction. Different qualities/sizes of image are then priced on a number of credits: -



If you're selling images or other content on iStockPhoto, I must admit I'm not a fan, their sign-up process is overly complicated, and they require a copy of Photo ID, which I'm sure is acceptable to many, but I don't like uploading copies of my ID anywhere without knowing exactly what security is in place to prevent it being misused in the future.

Their commission isn't great, though by no means is the worst around, and varies depending on the licenses and exclusivity offered.

For the larger organisations, iStockPhoto is probably the best place to be, but for individual photographers looking for the best return on investment (time and equipment), I'd really have to suggest looking elsewhere.

Have you anything to add to this review? Different experiences dealing with iStockPhoto? Please let me know.