The world’s largest online stock photo agency Alamy today announces exciting new features for its successful mobile app Stockimo

• The app now includes popular web tool IFTTT, a brilliantly simple way to help users optimise work flow and save time. E.g. ‘any picture I upload to Flickr also upload to Stockimo’.

• Users can now upload news imagery straight to the Alamy live news feed and get their images in front of global news outlets, broadening Stockimo’s appeal to another strand of the photographer community.

• The app now has a ‘customer likes’ feature, which gives live feedback on which images are popular with customers - what they like and what they’re buying.

• The latest release also includes helpful information if an image is rejected.
This will be the 3rd edition of the app following initial updates in the summer to introduce social media sharing and enhanced captioning and tagging tools.

Alan Capel, head of content: “This new release takes Stockimo to a new level. It’s a direct response to ideas and requests from our creative and insightful user base. Stockimo makes sense to its users because it's in sync with the changing landscape of mobile photography.”

Alamy is a technology led business so its emphasis has been on developing a user focused app. Stockimo downloads continue to grow month on month, powered by word of mouth across the photography community. The Stockimo app has recently been shortlisted as a finalist in the lifestyle category of the ME awards.

In just 9 months the Stockimo collection has reached 95,000 photos and is on target to reach 100,000 by the end of the year. Rachel Wakefield, head of sales, says: “This style of candid photography is extremely sought after, so the Stockimo collection has been welcomed by all our customers. Adding live news will boost the collection and have a special appeal for our editorial customers.”

About Alamy:

Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 50 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

About Stockimo:

Stockimo is the free app that turns your smartphone photos into cash. Use Stockimo to upload your photos to Alamy, the world’s largest website for picture buyers, where images sell from $5 to $20,000. Stockimo is an app for creative people who take photos using their mobile phones, want to make some money and showcase their work to a global audience.

Shoot what you love and be as creative and adventurous as you like. Submit photos of interesting places and people and the of-the-moment stuff that documents the world. Opt in to stockimonews and share your breaking news shots too. What you take is up to you!

Key features of Stockimo

• It’s free
• Unlimited uploads
• Very simple to use
• Upload filtered images, including photos taken with other apps (Instagram, Hipstamatic, etc)
• Images get rated by photo experts
• Upload live news photos
• Find out what customers like in the apps live feed
• Plugged in to IFTTT to make workflow even easier
• Available on iPhone, IOS 7 or above

How Stockimo works

• Upload your smartphone photos.
• Describe each image with a caption and tag key features and concepts.
• Submit and get your photos rated.
• If your photos are accepted, they’ll go on sale at Alamy.com and its distribution network.
• The app will tell you when your photos sell.
• You’ll get paid your share every month if you’ve made over $10.
• You keep the copyright, your photos stay on Alamy to sell again and again.

Alamy has expanded its reach with a new office in Australia

Alamy, the world’s largest online stock photo agency has announced the opening of its first office in Australia - the office has been set up to support strong growth across Australia and New Zealand.

The company has been selling directly into Australia and New Zealand since 2012 and sees this as the perfect time to invest in its growth. Alamy is also adding to their team with an account executive joining the existing business development team in Brisbane.

Rachel Wakefield, head of sales says: ‘This is a key market for us and after the success over the last few years it’s a good time to expand the team and set down permanent roots.’

The Australian team will be based in Brisbane and can be contacted on +61 7 3012 6131.


About Alamy:

Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 44 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

Alamy celebrates hitting mega milestone of 50 million images

Privately owned, independent stock photo agency Alamy is the largest single online destination for buyers and suppliers of imagery

(Image: Caption: The tanker Grape One sinks in the English Channel off Cornwall after taking on water in heavy storms. Image Ref: AF3M15 Credit: © Marc Hill / Alamy)

• Collection includes editorial & creative imagery, a live news feed, video and vectors
• Fair commission and ethical values continue to attract thousands of photographers every month



Stock photography library Alamy announced today that its collection has reached 50 million images, continuing to secure its place as the world’s largest online resource for imagery.

The first wholly digital library, Alamy is a popular destination for image buyers due to its vast collection, rich in variety and spanning both editorial and creative subjects. It adds 30,000 new images every day and is forecast to grow to 100 million in the next three years. Alamy’s first collection was IMAGINA Photography, and it now represents over 600 agencies including ZUMA Press, OJO images, Image Source, Blend, National Geographic, caia image and Hero Images. Alamy has the biggest aggregation of agencies anywhere. Alamy’s unique and broad selection of imagery is enhanced by its unrivalled worldwide network of over 130,000 photographers.

Rachel Wakefield, head of sales, said: “Our growing collection delivers a great competitive advantage, with lots of great new content being added all the time our collection continues to offer the depth and breadth our customers are looking for. This year we started our own mobile collection Stockimo, which already has 75,000 images and is meeting the growing trend for fresh, ‘of the moment’ photography.”

Alamy continues to attract thousands of new photographers and agencies every month who are drawn to the fair commission split of 50/50 (which is better than the main competitors in both standard and microstock), Alamy’s ethical values and the freedom to upload whatever they want with no tie-ins. Alamy continues to innovate and focus on building its contributor base and in early 2014 it launched Stockimo, a mobile app for iPhone photography which is attracting a new audience of photographers and delivering a fresh style of contemporary imagery. Alamy currently has over 130,000 registered contributors and has paid out $145 million so far.

Alamy photographer Stuart Roy Clarke comments: “I marvel at the Alamy process: committing many if not all of my pictures - some tucked away - to a portal where they can be transported to audiences and to markets. Meanwhile I have some learning to do - in captioning and keywording my photographs, I am seeing them anew, discovering things and textures, getting excited by the images as when I did when I first took them...but all over again! They seem to be attaining new meaning during the Alamy process. That I should be rewarded with sales over the long run, when it has been an extremely long run in assembling the images in the first place,becomes the icing on the cake - the party, a reward.”

About Alamy:
Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 44 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

Monetise iPhone photos with Stockimo from Alamy

New app helps smartphone users sell their photos to everyone from designers to news agencies and publishers

Alamy, the largest online collection of imagery for photo buyers, which has already paid out over $140 million to photographers since 2001, today announced the launch of Stockimo, an app that turns smartphone photos into cash. Compared to similar apps, users can make more money out of their photos by using Stockimo because it plugs into Alamy’s existing sales and distribution network. Until April 30, 2014 any user that registers with Stockimo will earn a higher commission on all sales. The app is designed for the iPhone 4S and above and is available worldwide.

By signing up to Stockimo, users are able to upload and tag their iPhone photos. Uploads are reviewed by photo experts before going on sale on Alamy and through its established global sales and distribution network. With Stockimo, photographers can make more money compared to other mobile stock photo apps. Photos uploaded through Stockimo and sold through Alamy sell for the same price as those taken with professional camera equipment. Alamy’s customers include news agencies, publishers, designers, advertising agencies and corporate marketing departments.

Alan Capel, Alamy head of content commented: “Smartphones have changed photography - they can capture a moment within seconds. With Stockimo, anyone can make money from the moments they capture on their phone. We’re trying to help put the value into smartphone photography and helping photographers cash in on their galleries of pictures. There’s a place for mobile pictures in the stock industry. We want to be the first choice app for creative people who take photos using their mobile phones and want to make some money and showcase their work to a global audience.”

James West, Alamy CEO said: “Our photographers don’t always have their cameras with them; they do always have their phone. Stockimo was created to give them, and budding photographers, a way of making money from their phone pictures.”

Key features of the app include:

• The app is about simplicity. Users upload and tag any photo they’ve taken, including images which have been filtered using other apps
• Photos are sold globally, with key markets in the US, UK, Germany and Australia
• Users still own the photos they take but can also make money on the ones they sell
• Stockimo is truly mobile first. Photo reviewers approve uploads on a smartphone without needing to touch a computer
• Built for the iPhone 4S and above; designed for the iPhone 5S

Based on present figures, the average image sells on Alamy for $90. Photographers could make even more if images are sold to advertising agencies or publishers, with average prices reaching:

• Advert $500
• Book $150
• Online $20

Alamy worked with award winning mobile app developer, Mubaloo to create Stockimo.

About Alamy:

 Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 44 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

Notes about commission

Early bird offer - users who download the app before the 31 March 2014 will get 40% of each sale.
Standard commission -20% of each sale
Incentivised commission for existing Alamy contributors - Alamy contributors registered before Stockimo launched will get 50% of each sale.

Top tips for submitting photos

Take time on your keywording - Alamy customers search the library using keywords. So even if you have the perfect image for them, if they can’t find it, they can’t buy it.
Have enough images online – although people can start to make sales with just one image, we think about 100 images is a great size to start making sales.
Get the right releases – get a release when you can and understand when and why they’re needed.
Think commercially - who will buy this image? What will they buy it for? Follow trends – what is ‘now’ and what is up and coming?
Edit your image – get it ready to use, it'll make customers much more inclined to buy it.
Your image needs to say something – whether it's a literal illustration of a news story, or a conceptual image of a landscape, the image needs to have a purpose. If you can’t think how your image could be used, it probably isn’t right for stock.
Think about the copy – a lot of the images we sell will be used with text. Book covers, posters, billboards. So leave some space for the words.
Stand out from the crowd – there are two key ways to stand out from the crowd in stock. You can either shoot niche subject matters or your images need to scream ‘look at me’.

How it works

- Upload your smartphone photos
- Describe each image with a caption and tag key features and concepts
- Submit and your photos will get rateD
- If your photos are accepted, they’ll go on sale at alamy.com and its distribution network
- The app will tell you when your photos sell
- You’ll get paid your share every month if you’ve made over $10
- There’s an early bird offer where you’ll earn 40% commission on every sale, after that it’s 20%
- You keep the copyright, your photos stay on Alamy to sell again and again

The largest photo contest ever on Photocrowd.com in conjunction with Alamy, the largest online stock photo agency

Win kit vouchers, a professional portfolio review, photo books and a bespoke contract with Alamy – where you get 100% commission for a year.

Stock photo agency Alamy has announced today that it’s working with Photocrowd to deliver its largest ever photo contest. The theme of the contest is ‘Circles’. From birthday cakes to signposts, eyes to berries, we want to see how photographers have captured the ever-present circle with their cameras.

Photocrowd’s exciting new contest site lets users vote on each other’s work, so anyone taking part can see in real-time how their images are doing, and which ones are winning. The expert judge – Alex Bortkiewicz, Director of Photography at Alamy – will be choosing her own separate selection of winning images at the end of the contest, and writing some expert reviews to explain her thinking.

The competition is open for entries from Tuesday 11th February and anyone who is interested can submit up to three images, completely free of charge. The competition closes when 1,000 images have been submitted. Alamy and Photocrowd want to be inspired by the entries.

Mike Betts co-founder of Photocrowd said: “This collaboration is really exciting, we love Alamy – the company and the concept – and it’s great to be working with them and their talented network of photographers. We’re aiming to reach 100,000 votes for a 1,000 image contest.”

Alex Bortkiewicz, Director of Photography at Alamy and expert judge commented: “Circles inhabit our everyday lives, not least that we live this on this spherical thing called Earth! This theme offers great scope for expressing the circular form and how it reveals itself to us in its many guises.”

Alex Bortkiewicz, has worked in photography for over 20 years starting at Tony Stone Images, later Getty Images as editor and art director based in the UK then US. She now works for Alamy recruiting photographers. She has judged photographic competitions, participates in international portfolio reviews and ia a regular commentator on trends in the industry.

The Crowd and Expert winners each get:

• A £100 voucher for photographic equipment of their choice.
• Incredible exposure for the winning images through Alamy’s social media channels.
• The winning images featured in Photocrowd’s month-long anniversary exhibition in September 2014, as part of the international Oxford Photography Festival.
• The offer of a bespoke contract to have their images represented by Alamy. They’ll receive an amazing 100% of all their sales during the first year.
• The Expert winner also receives a professional portfolio review from Alex Bortkiewicz, Alamy’s Director of Photography, either remotely or in person as part of a visit to Alamy’s headquarters in the UK.
• The Crowd and Expert runners-up each receive a copy of “Wood: Andy Goldsworthy” by Andy Goldsworthy and Terry Friedman.

About Alamy:
Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 44 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

About Photocrowd
Photocrowd offers an innovative new approach to user-voted and expert-reviewed photo contests online. It’s a free-to-use online community for anyone with an interest in photography. It revolves around high-quality photography contests, set by working photographers, that are designed to be the most inspiring reason people can find to either shoot new work, or revisit their best shots. Users upload their images, then feedback is instant: live voting means they can see 'as it happens' what the Crowd thinks of their work. Then once a contest is completed, an expert judge produces their own separate ranking, and writes a series of detailed image reviews. It’s addictive, fun, and inspires you to pick up your camera!

Go to the Photocrowd website for full terms and conditions.

Alamy now offering vector graphics as part of its complete image solution for picture professionals

- Affordable, high quality vectors with one price and a simple license
- 500,000 vector graphics available at launch, with plans to double the collection in the first year
Stock photo agency Alamy has today announced its move to supply the image market with vector graphics as part of its strategy to provide a full service to image buyers. Alamy has 45 million images online, including creative, editorial, live news and video.

The company is launching with a collection of 500,000 vectors from leading suppliers including YAY media AS, Matthew Britton and Pavel Konovalov. They aim to expand their collection rapidly over the next 12 months adding new content from their existing contributors as well as recruiting more specialists.

Vectors are great for designers, because they are scalable and can easily be resized without altering the quality of the image. If you print a vector logo on a small sheet of paper, and then enlarge it to billboard size it will keep the same sharp quality.

Ned Selby, partner at New Future Graphic agency said: "Vector graphics are a cornerstone of many of our design processes and it's great to know that Alamy now offer them as part of their vast image library. They’ve made licensing vectors straightforward, with a simple flexible package of rights at one price."

Rachel Wakefield, Alamy head of sales said: "We’ve been building our portfolio for the creative market and, when we talked to our customers, vectors was an obvious next step. It’s an exciting time, our content is getting more diverse as we continue to add new products - in the last two years we’ve added Live News and Video. And we’ve made it really easy to buy as well – one simple transaction whatever the media.”

About Alamy:

Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 44 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

See our vector graphics gallery for a small sample of what we’ve got online.

What is a vector graphic?

Unlike JPEGs, GIFs, and BMP images, vector graphics are not made up of a grid of pixels. Instead, vector graphics are comprised of paths, which are defined by a start and end point, along with other points, curves, and angles along the way. A path can be a line, a square, a triangle, or a curvy shape. These paths can be used to create simple drawings or complex diagrams. Paths are even used to define the characters of specific typefaces.

Because vector-based images are not made up of a specific number of dots, they can be scaled to a larger size and not lose any image quality. If you blow up a raster graphic, it will look blocky, or "pixelated." When you blow up a vector graphic, the edges of each object within the graphic stay smooth and clean. This makes vector graphics ideal for logos, which can be small enough to appear on a business card, but can also be scaled to fill a billboard. Common types of vector graphics include Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, and EPS files. Many Flash animations also use vector graphics, since they scale better and typically take up less space than bitmap images (techterms.com).

Vector Facts

• The earliest 2D computer graphics were all vector graphics
• One of the first uses of vector graphic displays was the US SAGE air defence system
• Various arcade games like Asteroids and Space Wars used vector graphics
• The term "vector graphics" is mainly used today in the context of two-dimensional computer graphics Vector graphics are infinitely scalable