Frequently Asked Questions

Every browser handles downloading differently. If your browser does not prompt you to save your file automatically, you haven’t actually downloaded anything. Click ‘start download’ from the ‘file successfully downloaded’ pop-up window.

• Internet Explorer: typically lets you choose where to save a file. If you do not select a folder, it will default to the last place you saved a file.
• Firefox: saves files to your desktop unless set otherwise in the preferences.
• Safari: will generally send images to your downloads folder or your desktop. This can also be set in the preferences.

If your browser stays at the main welcoming screen after attempting to login, please ensure your system clock (date/time/year) is correct.

If you’re re-directed to a login error page, make sure your caps lock is off since your password and member name are case sensitive. Also, check your cookie settings to ensure they’re on a medium privacy level and clear all cookies and cache in your browser.

If you’re still re-directed, please try resetting your password. www.istockphoto.com/istock_lostpassword.php

If this doesn’t resolve the issue contact Support www.istockphoto.com/contact_ticket.php

To access member account information please follow these steps:

1. Login to www.istockphoto.com
2. On the top right toolbar click ‘Account’
3. Click on ‘Account Details’
4. Under the ‘Financials’ tab, then under ‘Purchases’, click ‘Get purchase receipts’
5. To see individual downloads look under the ‘Financials’ tab, ‘Your Pay-as-go-go plan’ or ‘Your Subscription’, then click ‘View Downloads’

Pay-as-you-go credits expire 1 year from the date of purchase. We send out notifications 60, 30, 15 and 1 day(s) before they expire. If you find you are unable to use them within the year, please contact Support www.istockphoto.com/contact_ticket.php and one of our representatives will be more than happy to extend the expiry for you.

With a Subscription, you subscribe to a daily supply of credits and you choose what that amount of credits is. Your credits expire daily. Your Subscription lasts as long as you choose: 3, 6 or 12 months.

1. You’ll need credits, iStock’s very own currency. Purchase credits (http://www.istockphoto.com/buy-stock-credits-pay-as-you-go.php) through a plan and spend them whenever you download a file. We offer Pay-as-you-go credits, Subscriptions and Corporate Accounts. We accept credit cards, PayPal, check or money order (in USD funds). Read more about PayPal.
2. Once you find the file you’d like to download, click on the thumbnail and the file will open. To the right of the file, select the size you require and click ‘Buy’.
3. Read and agree to the Content License Agreement so the final download window will open. Click download and the price in credits for that file will be deducted from your account balance. You have 24 hours to re-download this file without being charged additional credits.

To re-download a file (within the 24 hour period) return to the file close-up page, you will see the file size you previously purchased is listed at 0 credits. The system recognizes the duplication and does not charge you any additional credits for the re-download.

Type the file number without its preceding zeros directly into the search bar.

To change your password, click on the ‘Account’ link at the top of the site. Then click on ‘Account Details’. On the right side of the page under ‘Tools’ click ‘Change My Password’.

Almost all of the files on our site are royalty-free. Pump Audio tracks are licensed on a single production basis but the number of times you can broadcast the production is unlimited.

To read specific permitted and forbidden uses of iStockphoto files, please read the Licence Comparison page.

If you still have questions, please contact Support: http://www.istockphoto.com/contact_ticket.php

Our images are provided by many photographers and the default resolution on files could be lower or higher than 300dpi. If you’re using Adobe® Photoshop®, go to ‘Image’ --- ‘Image Size’ and you’ll see that the resolution listed may be something other than 300dpi. Uncheck the ‘Resample image’ option and change the dpi of the file to the correct dpi. The height and width of the file will change in the document size window to reflect the change. Click ok and you’re done.

To view what can and cannot be uploaded, please read through our Photographer Training Manual: http://www.istockphoto.com/tutorial_1.0_account.php

Also, take a look at our needed files page for a list of images that we do and do not need: http://www.istockphoto.com/needed.php

Anyone can apply to become a photographer on iStockphoto. Contributors will be asked to read through our online training manual which is found by clicking the “Upload” link. Once that’s complete, you will need to answer a few questions and then upload a piece of government issued identification in the form of a JPEG. We require this to confirm who you are and that you’re of legal age. Finally, you will be asked to submit 3 sample images which will be reviewed by our inspection team. We will notify you of our decision via email or you may review the status of your application by clicking the “Upload” link again.

If the images that you are submitting have an identifiable human face, then you will need a model release.

Each image is checked individually by one of our Approval Administrators for various requirements such as size, file type, quality and copyright. This means that every image in the library has been downloaded, viewed at full size, checked exhaustively and qualitatively evaluated by at least one, but sometimes two or more Approval Inspectors.

If you are a new photographer and you have recently uploaded files, please be patient. Your image is in the queue, and will be processed in turn. There’s no need to upload again, or send us an email.

Vector Illustrations:

1. Save your vector illustration as an Adobe Illustrator 8 .EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) file. Your EPS file should be saved as an AI8 compatible EPS.
2. Open the file in Adobe Photoshop and create a 1920 x 2800 pixel RGB JPEG preview of your file.
3. If you would like to include alternate file formats (AI, PDF, etc) you can place them in a separate ZIP folder

Flash Files:

1. Generate an .SWF version of your file.
2. Create a 380 pixel (wide or tall, depending on the orientation of your animation.) RGB JPEG preview of your file.
3. Place your .FLA files into a folder and ZIP the folder.
4. Proceed to the form, you’re ready to upload your ZIP, SWF and JPEG preview.

You can get a sample model release form in PDF format at http://www.istockphoto.com/docs/languages/english/modelrelease.pdf

The royalty structure on iStockphoto is 20%. If you’re eligible for exclusivity, you can make up to 40%. Find out more at http://www.istockphoto.com/exclusivity_intro.php.

1. Images must be RGB JPG format only
2. You must own the full copyright to any image you upload. This means you must be the photographer or artist that created the image.
3. All trademarks must be removed. This includes logos, brands and entities with copyright or trademarked elements. This many also extend to trademarked products such as cast sculptures, toys, architecture and other elements of design. Copyright is checked with each file.
4. File sizes: the bigger, the better. 300 dpi 5" x 7" is optimal. 640x480 images are not usable by most graphic artists. All files should be 1200 x 1600 pixels minimum (anything smaller will be automatically rejected).
5. Entering keywords and descriptions: be descriptive. Include at least 10 keywords and use a title other than ‘dog’ or ‘man’. Supplying more keywords means your image will match more searches. Images with more keywords get downloaded more often.
6. Model releases: images with clearly visible people require a model release (iStockphoto Model Release) form for legal reasons. Children in images can’t sign a model release. A legal guardian or parent must sign for all children under the age of 18 years. You will be notified if you need a model release and it can be uploaded later if you’re not sure.
7. Legal notice: uploading images/artwork that belongs to somebody else (copyright or otherwise) will result in a suspended membership and in some cases may have legal ramifications.
8. Your account profile must have your full, real first and last names, and mailing address entered before completing an application. Anyone uploading with a fake name will be banned immediately.
9. More detailed information is available in the iStockphoto Photographer Training Manual. (http://www.istockphoto.com/tutorial_1.0_account.php)

No, you will need to resubmit those images to our inspectors for approval.

A little bit about compression: The JPEG file format uses a "lossy" compression method. In order to make the file smaller, information is thrown away, or lost. The "quality" setting that most image editing programs and digital cameras have when saving JPEGs determines how much information is lost. At a certain point with lower quality settings the removal of information during the compression process can become visible in the form of compression artifacts (places in the image where too much detail has been lost). Too much JPEG compression can become visible either in the form of a general loss of detail, or grainy/patterned areas (especially in flat spaces, such as skies).

"Compression artifacting" can be introduced by the camera and/or by your image editing software at lower quality settings. Also, re-sizing, re-sampling, and re-saving can all degrade the quality of a JPEG image, so one should be careful about re-saving JPEGs. If for example, a photo was re-saved 4 times (even at a quality of "12" or "Best") the image quality will become worse and worse. With this in mind, it is obviously best to start with the cleanest image possible. You may want to double-check your camera settings to make sure it is saving at the highest quality.

"Noise" (pixels of varying colour where there shouldn’t be) is most commonly created by digital cameras, especially in darker shadows or under low-light conditions and exacerbates the compression issues mentioned above. You might want to double-check to make sure that your camera’s ISO/ASA setting is at the lowest number (usually 100). In digital cameras, higher numbers (200 or 400) will always result in more noise (just as with film).