Stock Image Assistance

Stock License Types

We offer stock images using four distinct licensing methods: A brief description of each licensing method follows. Please review the appropriate license for specific rights and limitations for your desired licensing method.

An overview of the benefits, usage rights, and limitations of each license type is provided in more detail below. The conditions below are explanatory in nature; please review the complete license agreement of the desired license type for specific terms and conditions.

Comp Images

Comp Images are provided to allow you to review an image for its suitability to your project, to experiment with layout alternatives, and to obtain client or internal company approvals. Comp images may not be used in any project, published in any manner, distributed by any means, or incorporated into any finished product.

Comp images may be downloaded from our web site without charge
You may use a Comp Image only to evaluate the image as to suitability for your project, obtain client or internal company approvals, or experiment with layout alternatives. You may provide the image to others only in support of these activities.
Comp Images may not be used in any product, publication, web site, distribution mechanism or other finished project. The sole purpose of a Comp Image is to allow you to decide if a purchased version of the same image is suitable for your project needs

Royalty Free Images

Royalty Free images are provided as a way of obtaining interesting images of everyday objects, events, and activities. It is the most inexpensive means of acquiring image usage rights and has the least number of restrictions. You pay for an image one time, and can then use it as many times as you want, for as long as you desire. It is a one-time payment for multiple-uses arrangement. Royalty Free images are the most popular images and a given image may be used by many different people. Since many people may select the same image, there is an increased likelihood that a Royalty Free image you select might be used by someone else in a project similar to yours.

You make only one single payment to use the image
You are granted a non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the image. You may use the image an unlimited number of times without additional payment
You can use the image in any number and types of projects without subsequent permission or payment
You have the right to use the image, but the ownership, copyright, and all other image rights remain with Munson Photographic. In other words, you can use, but do not own the image
You may use the image in any publication, consumer product, or other editorial or commercial use, but you may not resell or redistribute the image itself
You may crop, enhance, or otherwise edit the image for your purposes - however, any derivative works produced from the image or any part of the image must have all rights, including copyright, assigned to Munson Photographic. You may not use an image to produce another artwork for which you own substantially all rights
You may not use the image or any part of the image to produce a logo, trademark, or service mark. You may not produce any artwork from the image or part of the image to which you or a third party owns image rights
You may not distribute, resell, or otherwise provide the image by any means to others, with the exception of those who are assisting you with the design, layout, and production of your project
You may not place a copy of the image larger than 600x600 pixels @ 72 DPI on any publicly accessible computer system. This restriction is to prevent a third party from stealing the image from you.
Images are only provided as digital files. The size of the digital file can be selected to fit your usage requirements. Larger files are generally priced higher than smaller files
Images can be downloaded directly from our web site

Flat Rate Images

Flat Rate images provide a bit more exclusivity by way of increased usage restrictions and a somewhat higher price for use of these images. This means fewer people are likely to use the image for a similar project. While there are no guarantees that a similar usage will not occur, the relative rarity of these images, coupled with increased restrictions and higher prices, help to limit the number of people who select these images for their projects. Think of Royalty Free images as quality images available for mass consumption, and Flat Rate images as those utilized for more refined production pieces.

You make only one single payment to use the image. This payment is generally higher than for Royalty Free images, but is generally lower than for Rights Managed images.
You are granted a non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the image
Usage of the image is limited to a single project, product or product line. You may use the image as often as required for the defined project, product or product line without additional payment and without limitation on the number of copies produced
The person or organization licensing the image (licensee) must be provided for our records. The licensee must be an individual or the smallest organizational unit in a company or enterprise. The the licensee may not transfer usage of the image to others. For example, a single license may not be utilized to provide corporate-wide utilization of an image without additional payment.
You pay a flat price for using the image and may use it as many times as you desire for the defined project, product, or product line
You have the right to use the image, but the ownership, copyright, and all other image rights remain with Munson Photographic. In other words, you can use, but do not own the image
You may use the image in any publication, consumer product, or for other editorial or commercial use, but you may not resell or redistribute the image itself
You may crop, enhance, or otherwise edit the image for your purposes - however, any derivative works produced from the image or any part of the image must have all rights, including copyright, assigned to Munson Photographic. You may not use an image to produce another artwork for which you own substantially all rights.
You may not use the image or any part of the image to produce a logo, trademark, or service mark. You may not produce any artwork from the image or part of the image to which you or a third party owns image rights
You may not distribute, resell, or otherwise provide the image by any means to others, with the exception of those who are assisting you with the design, layout, and production of your project
You may not place a copy of the image larger than 600x600 pixels @ 72 DPI on any publicly accessible computer system. This restriction is to prevent a third party from stealing the image from you.
Images are only provided as digital files. The size of the digital file can be selected to fit your usage requirements. Larger files are generally priced higher than smaller files
Images can be downloaded directly from our web site or can be delivered on CD via USPS, ground, next day, or overnight delivery services

Rights Managed Images

Rights Managed images provide much more control by both yourself and Munson Photographic. These images are generally licensed for a specific single usage. You may limit usage to a single publication, to a serial campaign, or to some other advertising, corporate, or publishing project with a clearly defined limit to the number of image copies that will be produced. We make provisions for editorial, commercial, corporate, and consumer usage of these images and provide specific licenses for your defined usage needs. Rights Managed images are usually significantly more costly than Royalty Free and Flat Rate images, but if your utilization requires specific management of your rights to the image, the cost may be easily justified by the protections afforded by a Rights Managed image.

You make a single payment to use the image. Since this provides the most protection, the costs for Rights Managed images tend to be higher (and can be substantially higher) than for the other licensing models
In general, you may use the image for a single usage. This usage generally provides for one or more of the following limitations
- Unless otherwise provided in the license, you may use the image only once for a single publication
- There is often a limit on the maximum number of copies that can be produced
- The intended usage of the image will generally be defined by the license. Editorial, advertising, commercial, and corporate publication usages may result in different pricing for the same image
- The license will generally limit image placement. For example, the prices for image placement on an inside page of a consumer magazine will generally be lower than for a cover placement in the same magazine. The license will clearly provide the allowed image placements for the requested usage.
- The license will generally restrict the image to a maximum reproduction size
Images may be supplied as transparency or as digital files, depending upon your requirements
Since rights to the image are managed, it is possible to ensure that no competing uses for the image are authorized
This licensing method provides the most flexibility in negotiating specific licensing arrangements for usage of an image
Images can be downloaded directly from our web site or can be delivered on CD via USPS, ground, next day, or overnight delivery services.

Royalty Free images are purchased more frequently than Flat Rate images, so there is an increased likelihood that others will use the same image in an application similar to yours. With Flat Rate licensing there remains the possibility that another party will use the image for the same purpose, but the odds are significantly reduced because the Flat Rate images are less frequently licensed and more narrowly define how the image may be used. However, neither Royalty Free nor Flat Rate licenses offer any guarantee that others will not use the same image for the same purpose and application for which you are licensing the image. If you want this level of protection then you will need to utilize the Rights Managed licensing method.

Image Sizes

Image Size refers to the physical printable dimensions of an image. A 5x7 inch image will normally be 5x7 inches in size when printed. The image size depends somewhat on the original film size, for example, square images generally have different image sizes than rectangular images. Naturally, larger images are more costly than smaller image sizes. We offer a wide variety of image sizes for your convenience.

Images produced from 35mm transparencies:
- 400x600 pixels @ 72 DPI
- 5x7 inches @ 300 DPI
- 8x12 inches @ 300 DPI
- 12x18 inches @ 300 DPI
Images produced from 6x6 transparencies
- 600x600 pixels @ 72 DPI
- 8x8 inches @ 300 DPI
- 12x12 inches @ 300 DPI
- 18x18 inches @ 300 DPI
Images produced from 6x9 transparencies
- 400x600 pixels @ 72 DPI
- 6x9 inches @ 300 DPI
- 8x12 inches @ 300 DPI
- 12x18 inches @ 300 DPI
Images produced from 4x5 transparencies
- 470x600 pixels @ 72 DPI
- 4x5 inches @ 300 DPI
- 8x10 inches @ 300 DPI
- 16x20 inches @ 300 DPI

Images provided in pixel dimensions are intended for use on a web site or other computer display facility. These images are provided at 72 DPI, which is the most common resolution for computer display images. Images provided in inch dimensions may not be displayed on the Internet or other publicly accessible computer facilities as this increases the likelihood that an image will be stolen from you. These images are provided at 300 DPI, which is the most common resolution required for image layout and production printing.

All images are provided in JPEG format and may be easily edited using a wide variety of image editing software.

File Sizes

The size of a digital image file is dependent upon the physical dimensions of the image (e.g. 8x10 inches), the dots per inch (e.g. 72 DPI or 300 DPI), the color space (RGB or CMYK) for which the image has been produced, and the degree of compression supported by the image format utilized. The following image size approximations are provided to help you select the image best suited to your project needs.

Dimensions	DPI	Color Space	Approx. File Size
400x600 Pixels	72 DPI	RGB	70 KB
600x600 Pixels	72 DPI	RGB	100 KB
470x600 Pixels	72 DPI	RGB	80 KB
5x7 Inches	300 DPI	RGB	9 MB
8x12 Inches	300 DPI	RGB	25 MB
12x18 Inches	300 DPI	RGB	58 MB
4x5 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	7 MB
5x7 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	12 MB
6x9 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	19 MB
8x8 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	23 MB
8x10 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	28 MB
8x12 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	34 MB
12x12 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	51 MB
16x20 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	115 MB
18x18 Inches	300 DPI	CMYK	116 MB

All image sizes listed above are approximate. Please note that industry standard JPEG files use compression to reduce the amount of physical disk space required to store an image. A 28 MB image may only require 7 MB of disk storage space due to JPEG compression. When a JPEG file is loaded into an image editing package or otherwise utilized it is automatically expanded to its full size. When using the 7 MB physical file discussed above, the image will be uncompressed and restored to its full 28 MB size when the file is opened. All commercially available visual layout, design, and image editing software packages support JPEG images and automatically convert them to their full size when the image file is opened.

Color Space

Color Space refers to the way in which colors are presented in an image. Two fundamental approaches to color presentation are commonly used. For computer display presentations or applications where colors are produced by generating light, an additive color methodology is often used. With this approach, Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) colors are added together in various intensities to produce the full range of color possibilities. For printing or other applications where colors are produced by reflecting existing room light, a subtractive approach is used. The colors Cayenne, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK) are used to subtract or absorb existing light. The intensity and combinations of these four inks determines the final color for each dot in a printed image.

The required Color Space can be quite critical for specific applications. CMYK is almost universally employed to produced printed materials. RGB is commonly employed for computer or projection display images. A given image may be both printed in a magazine and displayed on an Internet web site, so it is common practice to convert an image from one color space to another. This is such a common function that virtually 100% of all image editing programs allow rapid conversion between these two color spaces.

Selecting the color space for your image is quite simple. If your primary use for an image will be on printed objects (magazine pages, coffee mugs, t-shirts, brochures, etc.), then you will probably want to use an image produced for the CMYK color space. If you will use the image on a web site or in some other graphical display application (including business presentations, TV, or other applications where the presentation device produces light, rather than reflects it), then you may wish to utilize an RGB image. Again, if you find that you need the image to be in the alternate color space, it is generally a very simple process to convert it from one color space to another.

One final note on color space. Since 3 colors are used to represent each bit of image information in the RGB color space, and 4 colors are used to represent each bit of image information in the CMYK color space, RGB files are typically smaller in size than an equivalent CMYK file.

Rights Managed Images

Please call regarding pricing for your specific usage of rights managed images.

Dots Per Inch (DPI)

DPI is a measure of the detail contained within an image. Generally speaking, images with a higher DPI provide more detail than images of the same physical size with a lower DPI. The amount of detail required for an image depends primarily on the image use and the size of the image after reproduction. A 5x7 inch image that contains 72 DPI will display quite well on a computer screen, but it will likely not have sufficient information to provided an attractive presentation on printed materials. The image will likely appear blurred and of poor quality if reproduced on printed materials.

300 DPI is generally considered necessary for quality printed materials, including advertisements, brochures, images in magazine articles, books, and imagery on many consumer products. If your need is to have a 1/4 page image displayed in a typical consumer magazine, then a 5x7 inch image at 300 DPI will likely suffice for this purpose. If you need an image for the full cover of a magazine, then perhaps an 8x12 inch image at 300 DPI will be required.

It is possible to pay too much for DPI. Assume you plan to print a four-color brochure for a client and that you can purchase either of two versions of the same image, one at 300 DPI and the other at 1000 DPI. Since the human eye has difficulty discerning detail much above 300 DPI in printed materials, it is likely that the additional detail in the 1000 DPI image will not result in additional image clarity on the final printed page.

Most of our images are provided at a resolution of 300 DPI since this is the most common requirement for high quality printed materials.

If you are unsure what image size and DPI is required for your project, please consult with your printer, web master, or layout designer prior to making a purchase decision. If you have need for a size and resolution other than those offered via our web site, please feel free to call us at (509) 465-1641. We'll be happy to assist you with your specific requirements.

Comp Images

If you are a registered Stock Member and have logged in, then you can download selected images for your composition and layout needs. Comp images range in size from 400x600 pixels to 600x600 pixels for square images, and do not contain a watermark or other obstructions. You can download comp images without charge. These images are intended for your analysis and to assist you with image selection and composition decisions. You may use comp images for your layout efforts, but may not use these images in a final product, publication, web page, computer program, presentation, or other application without purchase. To protect our rights we track comp downloads and will investigate suspicious download activity. We will not contact or harass you if your comp download uses seem legitimate.

Stock Membership Advantages

Individuals or organizations that register in our online Stock Membership program have access to a rich set of features and functions not available to the casual visitor. Membership is absolutely free and it only takes a minute to provide the required information. As a Stock Member you will gain access to the following capabilities:

We provide news updates to Stock Members that can be viewed once a member has logged onto our system. We keep you abreast of additions to our libraries, evolutions in our business operations and any changes to the way we do business. We think that allowing you to view this information when and if you desire is much preferable to us sending you a stream of unsolicited emails.
Stock Members can establish up to five "Light Boxes" that allow them to keep track of interesting images. Each time you log in you can review your light boxes, add more images to your light boxes, or delete one or more existing images. By using your light boxes you can avoid the time consuming process of having to search through our libraries to relocate an image you discovered on your last visit. By adding an image to a light box, it is instantly available to you the next time you log in. Each stock member has one light box by default and can define up to four additional light boxes that can be used to categorize and organize images. Stock members can create and delete these additional light boxes as desired to organize and structure their research efforts.
As a Stock Member you can record search queries and execute them again on future visits. This allows you to establish a query and then run it periodically to see if new images that satisfy the query have been added to our libraries. This is a great time saving device. You can give each query a unique and descriptive name so that the purpose of each query you define is clear. You can then subsequently rerun the query, or delete it if you feel it is no longer relevant to your needs. Our Search Wizard technology allows you to readily define simple or extremely complex search queries using a series of software wizards that make query definition fast and simple, all without having to deal with a complex technical jargon and detail. Once you complete a query definition the query will run and display the search results. At that time you can decide if the query is useful for your purposes and you may elect to save the query for future reference. Saving the query is as simple as pressing a button and giving the query a unique name. The query is then available to you (and only you) to be run at any time.
Stock Members can download images directly from our servers. This includes the ability to download free Comp images that can be used for composition and layout purposes, or for company or client review. Images that you decide to use for production can, in the vast majority of cases, also be downloaded from our servers. This download capability is only available to our Stock Members.
Pricing information for an image is only displayed for registered Stock Members who are currently logged onto our system. Once a Stock Member has logged on, the prices for various digital image file sizes and resolutions are displayed. Links to download the free Comp version and to purchase a production version of an image are also displayed for Stock Members.
You have access to information about images that you have downloaded from our system. We provide you with an historical record of the images that you have acquired from us, including information such as the date, price, license type, license rights, and any restrictions that apply to your license. We even provide a history of any comp images you download so that you can easily locate the image again should you decide to license it.
Automated Research Requests are provided to Stock Members. This feature allows you to use our system to contact us with specific details about images you are trying to locate. We will then search our archives and get back to you with the results of our research. This research is free, but we will ask for reimbursement of any shipping fees should you wish us to send transparencies, CDs or other materials via USPS or delivery services. We will provide the results of our research in your Stock Member account and will also send an email notifying you that the results are available. The results consist of two parts: a textual description of our results and image thumbnails of any images we believe satisfy you request. You may then click on the thumbnail to review the image and may download a Comp version or purchase the image online if it meets with your approval. Search results are maintained in your Stock Member account for 30 days so you'll have plenty of time to review your results.
As a Stock Member you establish a relationship with Munson Photographic; a relationship that we take very seriously. We are dedicated to ensuring our Stock Members are given outstanding customer service and provided with every convenience to make finding quality stock images a much easier process. We believe that we can only be successful if we work hard to help make you successful.
Stock Member accounts are secured by encrypted passwords so that others may not log into your account or access your account information. While we maintain all account information in a secure and protected database, for added security we do not store any payment method information (credit card or related payment data) in your stock member account.

Downloading Licensed Images

For Comp Image Downloads the download process is initiated from the image display page and proceeds immediately following acceptance of the license agreement. For all other image downloads you must first log into your Stock Member account and proceed to your Stock Member Home Page to determine if your licensed image is ready to be downloaded.

From your Stock Member Home Page follow the Review Stock Image Licenses link. The Stock Licenses page will then display, showing each image license active in your account. An image thumbnail for each licensed image and various details for each license agreement are displayed.

The current status of each license is also displayed. The following status values are possible:

Downloaded - this indicates that the image has been successfully downloaded to your local machine. The date and time the image was downloaded are also shown.
Pending Availability - This status indicates that the image you requested has not yet been posted to our web site for download. This process can take up to 24 hours and in rare cases might take a bit longer. In general we strive to have the image available within an hour or two, but sometimes it takes a bit longer. Please allow 24 hours before you inquire about availability. Once the image has been posted to our web site the status will change to Available.
Available - This status indicates that the image you licensed is available for download from our system. It also indicates the date and time when the image was provided for download. A link is also provided to allow you to initiate the download process. Clicking on the link will immediately begin the download process.

Once the download process has been initiated a separate window will appear showing the image as it is being downloaded to your machine. At the end of the download process the Download Complete check box will be checked and a dialog box will appear informing you that the download is complete. Please then follow the on-screen instructions for copying the downloaded file to a permanent folder on your local disk drive. Once you have saved the image file to your local disk you can close the Image Download page.

Once a download has completed the status of that license will be changed to Downloaded and the image file will no longer be available for download. Please contact us if the download has completed but you were unable to capture the downloaded file. We will work with you to ensure you are able to obtain the licensed file.

To conserve disk space, we normally leave downloadable images on our web site for 48 hours (two full business days). This provides adequate time for you to log into your account and retrieve your licensed images. If for some reason 48 hours will not be sufficient, please contact us and we'll make appropriate arrangements for you to download your file. We do not count weekends and holidays in the 48 hour availability period, so if you purchased an image on Friday you should be able to download it on Monday.

What Size Do I Need?

Determining your required image file size is not terribly difficult. Here are a few guidelines for you to consider.

If you plan to use the image on a web site or as part of an electronic presentation then the image that is offered with 72 DPI is probably appropriate. This image is always in RGB format to be compatible wiht electronic presentation devices. Other image sizes can also be used for these purposes, but please keep in mind your license agreement limits the maximum size of an image that can be used on publicly accessible media (including web sites). This is normally limited to a maximum size of 600x600 pixels at 72 DPI. If your only purpose for the image is to utilize it for a web page or in a presentation, then the standard 72 DPI image that we offer is your most cost-effective solution.

Our Royalty Free images are offered in RGB format. This saves space and makes the files faster to download. Our Flat Rate images are offered in CMYK format. CMYK is the standard file format utilized by most printers and is the appropriate format if you intend to use the image in any print media. Both Royalty Free and Flat Rate images are available at 300 DPI, which again is standard for quality image reproduction within the printing industry. It is quite easy, using almost any image editing software, to convert an RGB image into CMYK format and vice versa. Please be aware that if you purchase a Royalty Free image it will need to be convert it into CMYK format prior to use in a printed publication. You can do it yourself, but many publishers are used to doing this conversion if you do not have the facilities or background to do this conversion.

This leaves only two variables to consider - price and image size. Price varies by the size of the image you wish to purchase. The image size is normally provided in inches (though you will often see image size quoted in pixels for electronic display purposes). If you need a reproduction size of 1/4 page in a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch magazine, then the image should be at least 4.25 x 5.5 inches. Our standard 5x7 image size works well for this purpose. The following table provides some of the common reproduction uses for images and the image size that best fits these requirements.

Reproduction Requirement	Suggest Image Characteristics	Comments
1/4 Page in a standard 8.5 x 11 magazine	5x7 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI
1/2 page in a standard 8.5 x 11 magazine	8x12 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI	Sometimes a 5x7 will work - check with your publisher or printer
3/4 page in a standard 8.5 x 11 magazine	8x12 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI	Rarely a 5x7 will work - check with your publisher or printer
Full page for an 8.5 x 11 magazine	8x12 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI	Rarely a 12x18 will be required - check with your publisher
Front /Back cover for an 8.5 x 11 magazine	12x18 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI	Often an 8x12 will work - check with your publisher
Web Site	Standard web page image @ 72 DPI	Web site usage is contractually limited to a maximum size
Postcards, greeting cards, CD covers, invitations, brochures, fliers, newsletters, quarterly reports, decorator magnets, etc.	5x7 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI
Calendars, print advertisements, product packaging, etc.	8x12 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI
Large calendars, posters, double-page book or magazine spreads, etc.	12x18 inch CMYK @ 300 DPI	Please contact us if you need an image larger than 12x18. We will be happy to provide you with an image to fit your needs.

To determine the required size for a printed image is relatively straight forward. First, determine the actual printed dimensions of an image in the final printed piece. Ideally your image should be at least this size and at 300 DPI. If the image size is a bit smaller than your required final printed size, then the image can often be "stretched" to fit the printed image size - but this results in a decrease in the DPI and therefore a reduction in print quality. The more the image is "stretched" the more the print quality will suffer. In some applications (e.g. newsletters) you might be able to live with some "stretching." In other cases, such as a fine art magazine, the editor might frown at using anything less than 300 DPI. If you are not sure which image size will work for your needs, then we suggest you consult with your editor, printer or publisher to ensure that you acquire an image that will reproduce properly in your intended publication. The key is to not spend more than you need to, but to ensure you obtain a file that is of sufficient size to reproduce well in your intended project.

If your intended project requires an image size that is not addressed by our standard Royalty Free and Flat Rate image files, please feel free to contact us regarding your needs. We will be more than happy to help you obtain an image that will satisfy your requirements.

Stock Search Tips

There are two primary methods for doing a search in our galleries. The first method is the Quick Search and is provided so you can do a quick spot check to see if we have images related to your research interests. The second method is a series of Search Wizards that allow you to refine your search to be as broad or as narrow as needed to locate images specific to your needs.

The Quick Search allows you to quickly provide a few essential search parameters and then initiate your search. This often takes only a few seconds. A common example would be entering a keyword such as "scuba" and then starting the search. It takes very little time and will find all images that contain the word scuba in the caption information, in the location information, or that are cataloged under the various subject areas associated with scuba diving (for example, scuba diving and scuba equipment). It is very easy and fast to initiate a Quick Search, but it will often return a great many images and may return images that you did not expect. For example, if you enter the keyword "cub", then the Quick Search will return information about bear cubs, the above scuba images, and other images that contain "cub" somewhere in the caption, location, or in the associated subject areas.

Search Wizards

For a detailed search you will want to take advantage of our Search Wizards. These wizards take you step-by-step through specification of multiple search parameters that allow you to find relevant images anywhere in our image library. The search wizards allow you to specify:

Keywords - a word or phrase that must appear in the image caption.
Location - the place where the image was taken. If this is important to your search, then enter your desired location name. If it is not relevant, leave the value blank and all locations will be searched.
Category - all of our images are placed into clearly defined categories. By specifying a category you can limit the search to only images within that category. If the category limitation is not necessary, skip specifying a category so that all categories are searched.
Subject - we provide selectable lists of subjects by which images are cataloged so that you can find any image associated with that subject. You can select up to five subjects during a search specification. The search results will be limited to any subjects that you specify. If you don't specify any subjects, then all subjects will be considered in the search process.
Image Orientation - Are you interested in vertical, horizontal, or square images? If the image orientation is critical to your search, then you can limit the search results to your desired orientation.
Film Format (35mm, Medium Format, Large Format, etc.) - If the film size is relevant to your search, you can specify what film sizes are to be included in your search results.
Color or Black & White - Do you only want to locate black and white images? The search wizards allow you to limit the search to color or black and white. By default, all images are searched.
Photographer - Do you have a photographer who produces work you particularly like? If so, you can search our image archives and return only images created by your selected photographer.

When you use the Search Wizards the various search criteria you specify are used in conjunction with one another to selectively find relevant images. For example, if you specify a location of "San Francisco" and an image orientation of "Vertical", then only vertical images taken in San Francisco will be located. The more search criteria you specify, the more limited will be your search results. This can be good or bad. If you are finding too many images that don't match your needs, trying adding more criteria to exclude some of these 'extra' images. If a search returns few or no results, consider reducing the number of search criteria you have specified to see if more images might qualify.

It takes some time to specify a search using the Search Wizards. This is because the wizards use common language to walk you through specification of every search parameter. They make it easy to thoroughly evaluate and select every possible search criteria. Because you are prompted to think about the type of criteria you may wish to use, your search results may be more finely tuned to your specific needs. Another substantial benefit of the Search Wizards is that if you are a Stock Member, you can save a query and rerun it again later. Anytime you are logged in to your Stock Member account you can execute your saved queries to see if new qualifying images have been added to our libraries. This can be a great time saver.

If you are only interested in doing a spot check to locate potential images in our libraries, then the Quick Search may the fastest way to initiate your search. If you are interested in determining if we have an image on a particular subject and of a specific type, size, or orientation, then the Search Wizards are the best way to ensure all relevant criteria are specified. This is the best way to ensure a qualifying stock image is located. The Quick Search offers you speed and convenience - the Search Wizards offer you thoroughness and precise specification where it is required.

Quick Search Limitations

The Quick Search facility is great for rapidly specifying simple search criteria and finding qualifying images in our database. While this search is fast and simple to use, it does have some limitations. Here are a few things to keep in mind when utilizing Quick Search.

There is a limitation when specifying the "All" words search option. When selected, this option will require that all keywords be present in the caption, in the location, or in any of the related subject areas. It does not, however, check to see if the keywords are present across these various fields. For example, a search for the keywords 'yellow rose rain' will find only pictures in which these three words appear in the caption, the location, or the associated subject areas. Quick Search will not find a match if these keywords are distributed across these three image description fields. As a further example, a Quick Search for 'elk Yellowstone' would not find any images (even though there are such images in our database) because 'elk' will appear in the image caption field and 'Yellowstone' will appear in the image location field. Using the "Any" words search option would find the elk in Yellowstone, but it would also find elk anywhere else, and everything in Yellowstone National Park. Use the Search Wizards when you need to find specific values in these separate image descriptive fields.
Quick Search ignores Model and Property Release information and will return images regardless of whether these releases are available.
Quick Search does not allow filtering based on film type, film size, image orientation, photographer name, or other descriptive image information.

Nearly all of the limitations of Quick Search are resolved by using the more capable Search Wizards. These wizards allow specification of specific content information in each of these various fields, thereby providing a much more specific and flexible search facility. Quick Search is great for a fast check, but if you get too many images or too few images, you might want to try the Search Wizards to more accurately specify your search requirements.

Selecting Display Options

The Stock Gallery offers the ability to limit the types of images that are presented. This can help to selectively reduce the number of images presented in the Stock Gallery and provides you with the option to perform a faster and more focused review of the gallery contents.

You can change the current display options at any time by clicking on the "Display Options" link near the top of the Gallery page. A Stock Gallery Display Options dialog box will appear. This dialog box allows you to specify the types of images you wish to have displayed in the Stock Gallery. The dialog box allows you to select from among these parameters.

Film Sizes - This option allows you to specify the film sizes you wish to have included in the Stock Gallery pages. If any film size is suitable, then select the "All" check box. Otherwise you can select one, two, or any number of specific film sizes to display. Only the film sizes you have selected will be displayed until you select a different option (or your current session expires).
Licensing - You may select Royalty Free, Flat Rate, and/or Rights Managed images to review. Only images that employ the selected licensing method(s) will be displayed in the Stock Gallery until such time as you again change the display options (or your current session expires).

Once you submit your changes in the Stock Gallery Display Options dialog box the Gallery page will refresh to show only images that match your currently selected display options. Your currently selected display options are provided near the top of the Stock Gallery page to remind you of your current settings. In addition, a count of the number of images that match your current display options is also shown. This number will decrease as you move through the gallery to let you know how many more images there are to review.

You may press the Exit button while in the Stock Gallery Display Options dialog box to avoid altering your current settings.

When you register with us as a Stock Member you are provided with a large number of tools and facilities designed to reduce the amount of time and effort you must expend to find quality stock images. Included in these tools are the abilities to license and download our images online. To make this work legally and electronically we must know some detailed information about you, which we store in our secure database in your membership account. We have established a privacy policy regarding how we use the information you provide to us, which is designed to protect your information and to control the number and types of contacts you receive from us.

We consider the information that you provide when registering as a Stock Member to be YOUR information. We believe that we do not have the right to provide your information to others. As a result, we will NEVER sell, give away, or otherwise distribute your information to others, except when we are legally required to provide such information by Federal or state laws (which is rare). We also store your information in a secured database that is well protected from hackers. The only individuals who have access to your information in this database are yourself and our employees. To access your account information over the Internet requires knowledge of a secure and encrypted password, which you provide and only you should know.

Your Stock Member account maintains a record of every stock image license that you have acquired as a member. This information, which is again stored in a secured database, is provided for your convenience so that you have a record of those images you have licensed and so that you can refer back to the license in the future should you have questions about your specific image usage rights. We will not share this information with others. We will also not share information derived from these licenses, such as your licensing habits, trends, expenditure amounts, or behavior patterns with others.

When you register as a Stock Member you must provide a valid email address. This email address is used for notifications during the image licensing and download processes. During the registration process you have the option of selecting to receive occasional email notifications from us. We understand people receive far too many emails and are often not interested in signing up to receive more. That's why this box is turned off by default. The only way you will receive Stock Membership email notifications from us is if YOU check this email notification box. Whatever decision you make initially regarding email notifications can be changed at any time by simply updating your account record. So, it is easy to turn notifications on and off as your needs and interests change.

We use emails to occasionally provide participating Stock Members with information we think they may find valuable. This might include information such as future promotions, interesting additions to our galleries, or changes to our services or offerings. We are not interested in flooding our Stock Members with a bunch of useless self-promotional pieces. This is bad business, and frankly will simply result in everyone turning off email notifications in their Stock Membership accounts. That doesn't help anyone. Our email policy is to let subscribers know when we have something that is truly valuable, interesting, or of benefit to them. You will likely hear from us an average of once every two months. If you think this contributes too much to the excessive email in your inbox, then by all means disable email notifications. If, however, you believe we might have something of interest to say every couple months, then we encourage you to give email notifications a try. You can always shut them off later if you think we are too noisy. Oh, by the way, it should go without saying - but just to be clear - we will never share your email address with anyone.

The phone number information that you provide when you register as a Stock Member may be used if we need to contact you regarding a licensing or download issue (this doesn't happen often) or if we require clarification about a request you have made. We will not use your phone number information to initiate unsolicited promotional contact with you or to interrupt your busy day just to "keep our name out there." As a company, we are interested in saving you time - not wasting your time. And no, we won't share your phone number information with anyone else either.

For your additional protection we do NOT store credit card or other payment method information in your Stock Members account. In fact, we store payment method information on our secure system (but not in your Stock Membership account) only as long as is required to confirm payment. To further ensure the integrity of payment information we encrypt it while it resides on our system. Once payment has been confirmed we remove the payment method information from our system. No permanent payment method information, encrypted or otherwise, is maintained anywhere on our system.

Light Box Management As a registered Stock Member you can access up to five different light boxes. When you first register a 'Default' light box is created for you automatically. You can add, delete, and review images in the Default light box immediately upon registering. For many Stock Members this is the only light box they will ever need. Other Stock Members can see the benefit of having additional light boxes into which they can save images related to a specific client, project, or concept. For these Stock Members we provide the ability to create and define up to four additional light boxes. Each of these additional light boxes has a name that you supply when you create the light box. This allows you to provide the light box with a meaningful description for its purpose.

At any point in time only one light box is active. This is the light box into which you can add and delete images. The name of the currently active light box is displayed near the top of each web page. You can readily select another defined light box to be the active light box.

Below are some common light box management tasks you may wish to utilize. These features are available only to registered Stock Members who are currently logged in to our system.

Create a Light Box - On the Member home page select "Create a New Light Box". You will be asked to supply the new light box with a name (names must be 15 characters or less in length and may contain only upper or lower case alphabetic characters or the numbers 0 through 9). A check box is also provided so you can indicate that you want the newly created light box to become your active light box. If you want your existing active light box to remain as the active light box, then leave this box unchecked. You can create up to four light boxes in addition to your Default light box.
Delete a Light Box - To delete an existing light box and all of the images contained in the light box proceed to the Member home page and select "Delete a Light Box." You will then be asked to select the light box you wish to delete. When you press the Submit button you will be asked to confirm your intention to delete the light box. If you confirm your intentions then the selected light box and all of its contents will be permanently deleted. Please note that it is not possible to delete the Default light box.
Select the Active Light Box - To make a currently defined light box the Active light box proceed to the Member home page and click on "Select a Different Light Box". You will be asked to select the desired light box and, upon pressing the Submit button, it will become the Active Light Box.
View Light Box Contents - To view the contents of the Active Light Box navigate to the Member home page and select "View Light Box Contents". The contents of the currently active light box will then be displayed.

Adding and deleting images in a light box is easy. When a detailed image information page is displayed, a check box is provided to indicate if this image is present in your light box. A link is also provided to allow you to add or remove the image from your current light box. Simply click on the link to add or remove the image from your active light box.

Saved Query Management Stock Members have the ability to save successful search queries so that the query can be run again later without having to repeat the query specification steps. This can be a significant time saver and can ensure that queries yielding interesting images are easily reproduced. It also means that queries can be run again whenever desired to check for images in our archives. Stock Members can utilize the following features to store, execute, and otherwise manage query definitions.

Save a Query - Whenever a new query has been defined the query results page will offer Stock Members the ability to save the query for future use. If the query yielded results that you believe are worthy of a repeat, then click the "Save this search query for future use." checkbox and press the Submit button. You will be asked to give the query a name. The query details will be saved so that you can later retrieve them via your selected name. After saving the query the system will return you to your query results page so you can continue to evaluate the search results.
Execute a Saved Query - While a Stock Member is logged in any saved query can be rerun. Simply select the "Execute a Saved Query" link on the Members home page and then select the desired query using the name provided when the query was saved. When the Submit button is pressed the query will automatically execute and show the current search results.
Delete a Saved Query - Any existing query can be easily deleted by selected "Delete a Saved Query" on the members home page and then selecting the name of the query to be deleted. When the Submit button is pressed you will be asked to confirm your intentions to delete the query. Once you have confirmed your desire the delete the query it will be permanently removed from you Stock Member account. You many now create a new query to take its place.

The Search Results page also displays the number of search queries you have defined and the maximum number of queries that can be created.

Image Classifications Images are classified in our galleries in several different ways. Our intent is to provide logical organization of our galleries while at the same time making images with a given subject matter easy to locate, even if they are in completely different sections of the gallery.

Our galleries are structured using a Topic/Area/Category structure. This provides a virtually infinite number of categories into which images can be classified. It also provides a good organizational structure that humans can readily traverse while looking for images. The Topic is the highest area of classification. Common topics would include Landscapes, Animals, Plants and Flowers, Sports, etc.

Within a given Topic images are further classified by Area. There can be any number of areas within a Topic. For example, the Animals Topic is divided into Domestic and Wildlife areas. The Landscapes Topic is divided into areas by various states, provinces or international locations.

Finally, an Area is further divided into specific Categories. The Wildlife Area of the Animals Topic has categories for Wolves, Bison, Moose & Deer, rodents, etc. This provides a fairly rational structure for organizing images. To find a picture of a wolf requires a logical progression from Animals to Wildlife to Wolves. To find a picture of the Yosemite Valley requires a logical progression for Landscapes to California to Yosemite. This intuitive structure makes it easy to find an image when you have a pretty good idea of what you are looking to find.

Image numbering is based upon this categorization structure. Images using a naming convention that follows an AA-BB-CCC.DDD structure. This structure is decoded as follows:

AA - Topic Code. This is an alpha numeric code (often just numeric) indicating the Topic into which the image is classified.

BB - Area Code. This is an alpha numeric code (often just numeric) indicating the Area into which the image is classified.

CCC - Category Code. This is an alpha numeric code (often just numeric) indicating the Category into which the image is classified.

DDD - Image Number. This is an alpha numeric code (often just numeric) indicating the image number within the specified Category. This is very often a sequential number within the category.

This Topic/Area/Category structure provides a logical container for any given image, but it does not help with locating images that are related, but that are in different categories. For example, if you are looking for a picture of a lake with an interesting reflection, there are lakes throughout the various Areas in the Landscape Topic. But there may also be lakes in other places too, such as a picture of a coyote on a lakeshore. Here the image could easily be classified under the Animals Topic. So, it is not always easy to find an image simply by traversing the gallery. An alternate structure is needed to find images of subjects that may traverse different gallery categories.

For this purpose we have devised a Subjects classification system. Each image is associated with subject definitions that provide a record of the type of subject information found in the image. For example, our previous example of a coyote on a lakeshore might have the following types of subject associations assigned to it:

Animals - Coyote

Lakes & Rivers - Lake

Landscape Features - Clouds

Landscape Features - Mountains

Landscape Features - Snow

Mountains - Sierra Nevada

Mountains - Mountain Peak

Trees - Pine

Trees - Aspen

Lighting Conditions - Sunset

Lighting Conditions - Reflection in Water

Seasons - Winter

Places - National Park

All images are provided with similar associations, dependent of course upon the nature of the subject material visible in the image (and sometimes things that aren't really visible, such as the knowledge that the image was taken in a national park). Each image is different and so will naturally have different subject associations assigned to it. We believe this is a more complete and descriptive approach to image classification than simple keyword associations. When you view a stock image you will see the current subject associations for that image listed below the image. These associations may help you if you wish to find images containing similar subject elements, but they also provide some additional information about the image and may serve to highlight things that aren't obvious at first glance.

Each image is further classified by various image characteristics. The following characteristics are maintained for each image:

Film Size - 35mm, 6x6, 6x9, 4x5, etc.

Orientation - Vertical, Horizontal, or Square

Film Type - Transparency, Negative, Digital

Photographer - The photographer who took the image

Type - Color, Black and White

License Type - Rights Managed, Flat Rate, Royalty Free

Releases - Model, Property

Location - the place where the image was taken

Caption - a textual description of the image

So, images are ultimately classified according to at least three different systems. This makes it easy to find images that fit a specific need. For example, it is easy to find a Royalty Free image that is vertically oriented containing images of coyotes in snow within Yosemite National Park. The Search Wizards provide tools and mechanisms that allow selection from each of the above classification systems. Using the Search Wizards it is possible to restrain the search to a specific Topic, Area, and/or Category, or to ignore this classification system and find any image that fits a specific subject and image characteristic wherever it may exist in the gallery. Flexibility is the key to good image classification and to the tools and facilities that allow rapid location of images within a stock image library.

Royalty Free CDs Royalty Free CDs are an economical way to obtain usage rights for a large number of images with a common or unifying theme. Each CD contains 100 images that can be used like any other Royalty Free image you might obtain from our site. The difference is you get usage rights to 100 images at a substantial savings. The average price for an image on a Royalty Free CD is less than $4.00, whereas the price for these same images purchased separately would be over $100.00 each. So, if you have frequent use for images with a common theme, then Royalty Free CDs may prove economically advantageous and will provide you with enough quality images to likely fuel your imagination for a very long time.

Each Royalty Free CD comes with three different files for each image. These files are suitable for a wide variety of applications and are provided to make it easy to utilize the images across a wide range of projects. Each CD contains 100 images in each of the following three directories.

Thumbnail This directory contains JPEG images that measure 100x150 pixels (approximately 1.4" x 2.1") at 72 DPI. These images work well in computer environments and are commonly used as browsing links on web sites or to add small accent images to web pages or presentations. Each image is approximately 44 KB in size.

Comp A 5"x7" version of each image is included in this directory. Each image is a JPEG file at 72 DPI. These images readily function as web page images, computer presentation images, and as composition and layout images for print pre-production work. Each image is approximately 532 KB in size.

Production The Production directory contains full production versions of each image. These files contain JPEG images that measure 12"x18" at 304.8 DPI, which makes them immediately useful for magazine ads, brochures, calendars, consumer products and most projects where quality images are used. Each image is approximately 57.4 MB in size.

All images are in JPEG format and are produced using the maximum JPEG quality level setting. Images are in RGB format, but can be readily converted to CMYK format by any image editing software package. Please see our discussions regarding Color Spaces and File Sizes for more details.

Using Digital Images Digital images are extremely flexible, are almost universally supported by all image and layout software packages, are readily handled by all printers and service bureaus, and can be easily manipulated and modified to support a wide wide range of projects and applications.

We usually provide our images in JPEG format. In general, the larger digital files contain larger (and therefore more detailed) versions of an image. The size you require depends almost entirely on your intended use. If you are using an image on a web page, then a smaller size is almost always a good choice. If you intend to print a poster, then larger size images will be required. Please see What Size Do I Need? for more information regarding the appropriate image size for your project.

There are a few things you should consider before using a digital image for your project. Understanding these issues will save you time and frustration as you work with these files.

The JPEG standard is often referred to as a "lossy" format. Since JPEG images are compressed, some detail is lost whenever the image is compressed and saved. If you open a JPEG file and then save it, some minor loss of image information and detail will occur. If you open the new version and save it again, then additional detail is lost. While it will take many such actions, you can eventually reach a point where an image is visibly affected. To avoid this complication we recommend that you always treat images that you acquire from us as master images. Place these images in a location where they will be treated as read-only (if you purchased a Royalty Free CD, then the CD is read-only). When you start a new project, simply copy the original image to another name or directory and then utilize the new file. This way your original file will always contain the maximum image quality and new projects will begin with a fresh copy. Please note that editing images can result in reduced image information, but using the image in a layout program, web page, presentation, or other application will not degrade image information.

Cropping images is a common activity when only a portion of an image is needed in a project. Cropping can have two negative effects on digital images. Neither effect prevents effective use of digital images, but knowing about these issues can ensure you obtain the results you intend from your image modifications.

When you crop an image you must eventually save your changes to subsequently use the image in another application. As discussed above, there is some degradation of image data when saving a JPEG image. The degradation is generally minor and not noticeable - unless repetitive and successive versions of the image are produced. Over time this generational degradation can become visible in an image.

When cropping an image the resulting image size will be smaller than the original. This makes intuitive sense, but when dealing with digital images it isn't always clear. For example, if a 18x12 inch image with 304.8 DPI is cropped so that only the left half of the image remains, then the image size has been trimmed to one half the original size. The image is now 9x12 inches. It will likely still have 304.8 DPI. This works great if your intended application requires an image no larger than 9x12 inches at 304.8 DPI. If you need a larger image then you could experience some issues.

Let's say you need a 12x18 inch image for your application. To scale the cropped image up to a larger size (from its currently cropped size of 9x12) is quite possible with most image editing software packages - but there is a price to be paid for this enlargement. Image quality is reduced as you enlarge a digital image. If we increase the size of the cropped image to 14x18, then one of two things will occur. The software package will reduce the DPI to approximately 203, or the software package will attempt to keep the DPI at 304.8 by "filling in" information, often referred to as resampling. When using resampling a software package must add information to the image to maintain the higher DPI value.

To give you an example of resampling, think of a large printed poster hanging where you can get up close and see the individual printed dots of ink on the poster. Since you can see the individual dots of ink you are also able to see the portion of the paper that does not contain any ink. The white paper without any ink dots is essentially space that is devoid of any information. The larger these white spaces become the less detail the printed image appears to contain. The number of the ink dots per inch is referred to as DPI. At 300 DPI enough paper is usually covered so that the human eye, at normal viewing distances, blends all the dots together into a smooth and even image. As the DPI level decreases the human eye increasingly has difficulty seeing the image as one continuous and smooth image.

Let's say that when you get up close to the large printed poster you decide to fill in some of the blank space between the ink dots on the paper. By collecting a group of colored pencils you begin adding color spots between the existing dots. You estimate the best color to use by viewing the existing dots adjacent to the white space and selecting a pencil that best blends these various dots together. You then place an appropriate color between each set of surrounding dots. When you are done the entire image has more data points and so the image has an increased chance of appearing as a continuous range of color tones to the human eye.

Software resampling does the same thing. The software package reviews adjacent bits of image information and guesses as to the best color to use to fill-in additional information where there would otherwise be white space. Resampling is often extremely effective and can allow an enlarged image to be printed with amazing clarity. But there is always a limit to the amount of resampling that can be done without the image appearing distorted or somehow not quite right when printed. You need to consider how much enlargement, and therefore resampling, must be done to an image to ensure your project has the quality you require.

If your software package does not resample but instead reduces the cropped image DPI to a lower level (203 in our example above), then the image can often still be printed on most modern printers without much difficulty. That's because most modern printing equipment uses very sophisticated resampling technologies to boost the effective DPI to over 300. The degree to which this will work depends on a large number of factors including the specific printing equipment used, the subject and detail contained in the image, and the amount of enlargement required.

Starting with a larger digital image is usually recommended when you expect to crop an image or produce a large printed piece. It is best to work with your printer or service bureau when you need to resize a digital image so that you ensure the final product of your efforts will meet your expectations.

Thumbnail	This directory contains JPEG images that measure 100x150 pixels (approximately 1.4" x 2.1") at 72 DPI. These images work well in computer environments and are commonly used as browsing links on web sites or to add small accent images to web pages or presentations. Each image is approximately 44 KB in size.
Comp	A 5"x7" version of each image is included in this directory. Each image is a JPEG file at 72 DPI. These images readily function as web page images, computer presentation images, and as composition and layout images for print pre-production work. Each image is approximately 532 KB in size.
Production	The Production directory contains full production versions of each image. These files contain JPEG images that measure 12"x18" at 304.8 DPI, which makes them immediately useful for magazine ads, brochures, calendars, consumer products and most projects where quality images are used. Each image is approximately 57.4 MB in size.