Question 1

What are stock photos?

Accepted Answer

Stock photos are photographs that anyone can license for creative use. Rather than hire a photographer, you can search a large database of photos and quickly find one that works for your project. Learn more about the history and business of stock photography. You can also license other types of stock images, including vector graphics and beautifully drawn stock illustrations.

Question 2

How do you sell stock photos?

Accepted Answer

Whether you're a seasoned professionial or someone with a passion for photography, we welcome you to sign up as a contributor. Just go to submit.shutterstock.com to submit an application. Once you're approved, you'll be given instructions on how to upload your photos and tag them so that customers can find them. When you contribute to Shutterstock, you still retain the copyright to your creations, and you receive a royalty whenever a subscriber downloads one of your photos. Read more about how to make money with stock photos.

Question 3

How do I cite a stock photo?

Accepted Answer

We've compiled a list of the most popular citation formats from the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) here.

Browse royalty-free stock photos

Find the ideal stock photo by browsing our stock photography collection.

Featured Stock Photo Collections

Top stock image searches for February

Royalty-free Stock Photo Categories

FAQs about stock photos

Find more great content