Getting Great Images And Video For Small Businesses And Personal Projects

That's no longer the case. It's now easy to find original, high-quality images or even motion clips and animations for your Web site, personal journal or business presentations. And royalty-free images (paying once to license the image for unlimited use) start priced as low as $1 at various sites. When looking online, be sure to look for stock photo or video sites that:

• Are easy to use, with tips for nondesigners

• Clearly explain price and payment options

• Have inspected the images for legality and trademark issues.

iStockphoto was the first to sell community-generated photos, changing the way stock imagery is sold forever. The site offers high-quality, royalty-free stock images for as little as $1 each. iStock also recently added video clips starting as low as $5 each. Founder and CEO Bruce Livingstone started the site by giving away his own photographs. Soon, other photographers and designers were clamoring to do the same. It became so popular, iStock started charging to pay the bandwidth bills. Now, iStockphoto is the world's most visited online image market with more than a million images and videos to offer. Thousands of new files are added daily.

Especially nice for small businesses, iStockphoto offers a feature called Copyspace, allowing you to designate where on an image you would like space for words. For example, a veterinarian creates reminder cards. Not only can he search for pictures of dogs, he can specify where the blank space needs to be for the message.

Great imagery can energize your Web site, but don't let your imagination stop there. iStockphoto's million-member community has made everything from print ads, posters and brochures to direct mail postcards and even wedding invitations. And as video grows prevalent on Web sites or in presentations, you can appear edgy and tech-savvy for less cash than your morning grande latte habit. Everyone, from real estate brokers and local bands to faith-based organizations, medical practices and magazine publishers, has found images and video clips online that bring their ideas to life.

For more information about images and video clips, visit iStockphoto.com. Lisa Gagne/iStockphoto Photos like these are available for as low as $1 online, to enhance your work and personal documents.

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