3D illustrations and renderings are amazingly realistic images. By checking the popular files and bestsellers on e.g. Depositphotos you stumble upon quite a few examples. The 3D illustrations being sold, range from simple stick figures to full blown animations and photorealistic scenes. This style of illustrating is interesting for designers (and especially stock contributors). It … Continue reading 3D Illustrations & Renderings
If you want to create .eps files that are compatible with Adobe Illustrator in Inkscape, you are facing a problem. In the standard version this is simply not possible. And if you're a microstock contributor, most agencies only accept vector formats if they can be opened with AI. Luckily Prim András created a great script … Continue reading Free AI compatible Inkscape Extension
When it comes to creating vector illustrations, one of my favorite alternatives to the Adobe Illustrator is Inkscape. The program is completely free and as an open source project widely available all over the internet. Naturally you need to learn how to use this powerful tool properly, otherwise you will only be frustrated and quit. … Continue reading Top 10 Inkscape Design Tutorials
The website M-rank.net is a very useful tool for all contributors who sell vector graphics on Shutterstock. The website tracks the top 100k vectors on the agency's database and compares the collected statistics. All data is free and public, but the contributor needs to have at least one file in the top to appear on … Continue reading M-rank: Analyze your vector satistics
If you have a thing for graffiti and street art like me, you have probably already tried uploading photographs of your favorite works to a stock agency. And they rejected all of your images, am I right? It took me some time to understand the reason behind this policy, that most microstock agencies seem to … Continue reading Graffiti Policy in Stock Photography
Selling photography, illustrations and video footage as a microstock contributor you will sooner or later face an important decision: Do I sell my work exclusively at only one agency and receive higher royalties per sale or do I choose the non-exclusive path, sell my files at several agencies for lower royalty rates. At first glance … Continue reading Exclusivity vs. Non-Exclusivity
You walk through the city or you're on holidays, there's a beautiful shot right in front of you, but you forgot your camera... Luckily, most of the time nowadays, people have a smartphone on them. Wouldn't it be great to sell your smartphone photography (phonography)? And luckily in the 21st century several microstock agencies have … Continue reading Contributor Mobile Apps – Selling Smartphone Photography
Why Depositphotos? Depositphotos is a rapidly growing agency, and what is most important, you can expect sales from the very beginning! Most sales on Depositphotos are based on subscription plans (similar to Shutterstock), but some images sell for Credits too, which obviously provide you with higher royalties. You will soon discover, that this agency … Continue reading Depositphotos – Microstock Agency Review
Why PantherMedia? PantherMedia is a microstock agency from Germany, founded 2004 in Munich. Alexa reports that 69% of their traffic comes from Germany, even though they have an English website since 2008. For me it's a pretty new agency, but because of their interesting partners I think there is enough sales potential to be at … Continue reading PantherMedia – Microstock Agency Review
Why Motion Elements? Motion Elements is another good agency to sell video footage. They are set in Asia and also focus more on Asian customers. They offer free online conversion between PAL/NTSC, HD & 4k resolutions, which can come in quite handy for the contributor as well as the buyer. But Motion Elements is not … Continue reading Motion Elements – Microstock Agency Review
The Microstock Guide 