iStockPhoto

Sure there are dozens of other stock image and video sites, but what sets iStockPhoto apart is its pricing and slick interface. I guarantee you it’s the coolest stock media site you’ll ever visit.

The reason for the user-friendly interface is that iStockPhoto is as much a community as it is a stock media source. The site was originally conceived of as a way for designers, photographers, and other creative types to share their content with each other. Today these same people upload their work and sell it.

Even if you’re not interested in selling your wares, iStockPhoto is still an excellent destination for purchasing content.

Content

iStockPhoto has an ever-expanding supply of millions of images, animations and video clips available for purchase and use in your videos. The quality varies with the talent of the supplier, but many professional artists upload to the site. Free content also appears on the site periodically and is available for download by registered members (registration is free).

The pricing scheme is very reasonable and is based on a credit system. To start buying, you pre-purchase a package of credits that can then be redeemed for content. Packages start at 10 credits for $12 and go up to 625 for $600.

Images cost between 1 and 15 credits per download, Videos range from 5 credits to 50 and Illustrations cost 1 to 20 credits. Prices depend in large part on the file type and resolution. The range of prices for animations was not listed, but most of them were relatively cheap.

Restrictions

As the content on iStockPhoto.com is not wholly owned by iStock, but rather by the artists submitting it, there are many restrictions on content usage.

For one, licenses are for one computer and one user alone. If you want multiple people to be able to work with the same content, you need to select the Extended Use option for a multi-seat license, which is only available for certain items.

In addition, content cannot be used in any pornographic or offensive way – there goes that 18+ “Sexy Girls” video you were planning.

Most importantly, you cannot attempt to resell any content you get on iStockPhoto as your own. This goes without say, but you’d be surprised what some people will do to make a buck.

While these appear to be the main restrictions you should be concerned with, you’ll still want to read the contract you’re accepting thoroughly before you do anything with your purchased content.

Interface

iStockPhoto’s interface is what truly places it among the industry leaders. It’s clean, intuitive and chock full of features.

The search is what every search function should be – easy to use and as customizable as you want. Aside from searching by content type, iStockPhoto allows you to search by the overall color scheme of an image and even its composition. The latter feature, called CopySpace, is incredibly valuable for designers because it allows you to find images that only have a certain portion filled by the subject.

iStockPhoto even recommends alternate search terms for you with its Controlled Vocabulary feature, so that if you search for “orange” it’ll ask you if you mean orange the color or orange the fruit.

The search isn’t the only noteworthy feature. Once your results appear, dragging your mouse over a thumbnail makes a larger image automatically pop up. And because the site has such a large community of users, much of the content has been reviewed by others, which makes your life a little easier.

Summary

All in all, iStockPhoto is one of the best-designed sites around and a surefire solution for your image or video clip woes. It’s even worth a look if you don’t need any content.