Shutterstock

Shutterstock (click here for review) was founded in 2003 by Jon Oringer. He created the first subscription-based stock photo marketplace has gone on to create one of the world’s largest stock libraries. At the moment, Shutterstock has several different content libraries including music, editorial images and stock video footage.

Shutterstock’s portfolio is impressive. They include Bigstock, PremiumBeats, RexFeatures, SkillFeed and WebDAM. Each one offers a separate library comprising of different types of curated content in addition to their high-end stock image collection.

Shutterstock Free Images

In addition to the content contained in Shutterstock’s several libraries, they also offer free images. To download their free images, the first thing you need to do is create an account. Once completed, navigate to their home page and scroll down to where you find the two free image files being offered. One is called the “Free Photo of the Week,” while the other is called “The Free Vector of the Week.”

Although these files are free, they still require you to have an account. These photos may be stock, but they are still professional photos. The same thing goes for the vector image of the week. The images they offer are professionally designed by graphic artists. They only give away these files to give you a taste of what it’s like to be a paid member. It’s like a sampling. This is Shutterstock’s way of showcasing the fact that their images are of the highest quality.

Should You Rely on Free Images?

As a marker, time is usually of the essence. In other words, you don’t always have the leisure of waiting week after week for the right free image to be offered. As one of Shutterstock subscribers, I would certainly go out of my way to add the free images to my personal image library. This increases the number of images I have to choose from the next time I go searching my library for an image I might need.

There is always the danger of using one of their free images. You see, when they offer an image for free, everyone is all over it. That image gets added to the library of several people. That means that I am not the only one with the image and that I will not stand out from the crowd.

That’s the other goal of being a marketer. Don’t you want to stand out from the crowd? Getting your hands on free images is awesome. However, these images are not a way to stand out from the crowd.