Desktop Microstock Dictionary

Many novice microstockers often find it quite difficult to understand the specific jargon used by experienced stock photographers, which is filled with various slang terms and abbreviations.

Therefore, I think the following glossary will be useful for beginner microstockers as they dive into working with stock agencies:

IS, iStock – shorthand for the stock agency iStockphoto.com.

Approval – a term meaning the acceptance of your image by a stock agency.

Artifacts – quality degradation of a photo, often caused by compressing the image in JPEG format.

Artifacts appear as color distortions near high-contrast edges or loss of details.

To avoid artifacts, try saving your photos in JPEG at the highest quality and avoid resaving them repeatedly.

Attribution – the process of filling in key information about an image to prepare it for upload to a stock agency.

The title (Document Title), description (Description), and keywords (Keywords) for each image are filled in when saving the image in a graphic editor.

Attribution can also be done directly on the stock site after uploading the photo or illustration.

Batch – a group of images uploaded to a stock agency at the same time or across several attempts, but subject to a single review by a stock agency inspector.

Best Match – the image sorting algorithm on the stock agency iStockphoto.

Backup on CD – a type of sale on the stock agency Shutterstock. Backup on Shutterstock is an additional service where a buyer can receive a CD backup of all images purchased over the previous month on the site. The author earns $0.05 per image included in such a backup.

Vector, vector graphics, vector illustration – an image format created using vector editors such as Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, and others. Vector images can be scaled up or down without any loss of quality or detail and can also be edited.

Moreover, vector illustrations have another advantage – they result in smaller file sizes. Most stock agencies accept vector illustrations in EPS8 format.

Demand, on-demand – a subscription on the stock agency Shutterstock. The buyer pays a fixed fee and can download a specific, limited number of images over a set period (usually 1 to 24 months).

When an image is purchased via Demand, the author receives a significantly higher commission than through regular subscription sales.

Dreams – shorthand for the stock agency Dreamstime.com

Uploading images – the process of submitting works to a stock agency.

Scout – a term referring to a single image sent for review by stock agency inspectors ahead of the rest of the batch. The goal of sending a scout is to hold a place in the queue, so the entire batch gets indexed sooner.

This was only relevant to the stock agency Shutterstock. There used to be a theory of scouts, but things have changed since then.

Isolation, Isolate – a photo of an object on a pure white background (RGB: 255, 255, 255). The isolation effect is achieved during shooting (by overexposing the background with light) or by editing the photo in Photoshop (by selecting the object and filling the background layer with white).

Ill, Illustrator, Illustrator – slang for the vector graphics editor Adobe Illustrator.

Indexing – an intermediate step between the acceptance of an image by stock inspectors and its inclusion in the stock agency database. The indexing process usually takes from 1 hour to 2 days.

Since indexing images takes some time, a recently accepted image may already appear in your portfolio, even though it’s not yet in the agency’s main database.

Stock inspector – an employee or freelancer at a stock agency who reviews submitted images and decides whether to accept or reject them.

Category – chosen from a preset list when submitting an image for review. The category defines the general area to which the image belongs, such as Holidays, Interiors, Industrial, Nature, etc.

Clip Art – photos and vector illustrations for design or photomontage.

Keywords, key terms – words that characterize an image (7-50 keywords). Keywords are set for each image. Keywords are a key factor in indexing and help buyers on the stock site find the desired image in the database.

Corel, Corel Draw – the vector graphics editor Corel Draw.

Lightbox – a gallery or collection of images on a stock site. Lightboxes can be created by the author of the works and often have a unified theme, although this is not mandatory. Lightboxes help stock buyers find images from a single series.

Lea – shorthand for the stock agency Fotolia.com

Moneybookers, Bookers – the payment system Moneybookers.com. Having an account on Moneybookers.com allows you to receive payments from stock sites and other online services, which can then be transferred to a bank card or bank account.

Additionally, through a Moneybookers account, you can pay for various goods and services online. Moneybookers – the most popular withdrawal option among stock photographers in the former Soviet Union.

Description – image description in 5-7 words, provided during the image attribution process.

PayPal, Palka – the payment system PayPal.com. In lower-income countries, PayPal functions only as an “online gateway” for paying for goods and services online. PayPal is not suitable for withdrawals.

Pending – indicates that images have been uploaded to the stock photo site and are awaiting inspection by the site’s reviewers.

Subscription – a common sales model on stock photo sites, offering a subscription for a certain period (from 1 to 24 months). For a set price, a buyer can download a specific number of images daily from the database, regardless of image size. On Shutterstock, this subscription is called 25-A-Day: 25 images per day.

Portfolio – all of an author’s works accepted by a stock photo site.

Single sales – a sales model for photos and illustrations on stock photo sites, allowing the purchase of just one image. This sales model can provide the author with significantly more income than through a subscription purchase.

Product photography – images of objects on a white background.

Property release – a document signed by the photographer and the owner of the object shown in the photo.

Views – the number of views an image has on the stock site by other authors or buyers. Most stock sites provide view statistics in the user account.

Raster, raster image – an image format represented by many pixels (photographs, scanned images). When resizing a raster image, quality loss is unavoidable.

Extended sale – sales model under the Extended License, allowing the buyer broader use of the purchased image (e.g., for large print runs).

Editorial use – a type of license that permits image use for illustrative purposes only, not for advertising. Model releases are not required for editorial use.

Examples of editorial photos: street scenes, celebrity life, social events, sports and music events, and cultural events.

Reject, denial – rejection by a stock site inspector to accept a contributor’s work. Reasons for rejection are always specified by the site’s inspectors.

Model release – a document of consent between a model and a photographer, allowing the photographer commercial use of the model’s image.

Referral, ref – an author or buyer who registers on a stock photo site through someone’s referral link. The referrer earns a small bonus from the referred person’s sales or purchases.

Support – technical support service on stock sites. Support can be contacted for any questions or issues.

Scout – an iStockphoto staff member overseeing inspectors’ work. You may send a complaint to the scout about the inspector’s actions.

Downloads, dls, purchases – the number of images sold by a stock photographer.

Stats, statistics – a summary table of image sales and contributor earnings for specific periods.

Stoker – a photographer, illustrator, or 3D artist who works on stock photo sites.

Top, top seller – a list of the most popular images by sales volume on a stock site.

Stock agencies, stock sites – agencies (services) that sell images and video clips online. Traditional stock agencies, or macrostocks (such as Getty, Corbis, and Alamy), offer high-cost photos (from $100), single-image sales, and often work exclusively with professional photographers. Midstocks (PhotoShelter, Most Photos) sell images at mid-range prices ($10-60). For a beginner photographer or illustrator, microstocks (micropayment stock sites) (such as iStockphoto, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, Fotolia, Bigstockphoto, 123RF, Depositphotos) offer the best options with lower image prices ($1-20) and high sales volume.

Fractal – an abstract image generated using special software (Apophysis). Fractal illustrations (JPEG format) are well accepted and sold on microstocks.

Digital noise – an image defect in the form of varying brightness and color dots. Digital noise is caused by long exposure times and high ISO sensitivity.

Shutter, Shatr, Shatter – a shorthand for the stock site Shutterstock.com.

Shop, photoshop – the graphics editor Adobe Photoshop.

Exclusivity – a type of cooperation on stock sites where you work exclusively with one site – full exclusivity, or grant exclusive rights to specific images (these images cannot be sold on other stock sites) – partial exclusivity.

Exclusive contributor – a stock photographer working under an exclusive program with a stock site.

Approve – a term indicating that your image has been accepted by the stock site.

Backup CD – a type of sale on Shutterstock. A backup on Shutterstock is an additional service for buyers who want a disk copy of all images they purchased over the past month. If your image is included in a backup, you earn $0.05 for each such image.

Batch – a batch or group of images uploaded to a stock site at the same time or across multiple uploads but subject to a single review by a stock site inspector.

BDE (best day ever) – the best day in a stock photographer’s career. BDE can be divided into BDE for downloads (DL) and BDE for earnings.

Best match – the sorting algorithm on iStockphoto for ranking images.

BME (best month ever) – a term similar to BDE but used for a one-month period.

Category – chosen from a suggested list when submitting an image for review. The category defines the field to which an image belongs, such as Holidays, Interiors, Industrial, Nature, etc.

Description – a description of the image in 5-7 words. The description is filled out during image tagging.

Downloads – the number of images sold by a microstocker.

DT – abbreviation for the photo bank Dreamstime.com

Editorial – a type of license that allows the use of an image for illustrative purposes only, not for advertising. Model releases are not required in this case. Examples of editorial photos include street scenes, celebrity life, social events, sports, music events, and cultural events.

EPS – a format in which images are saved by graphic editors (Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop). EPS format allows for further editing of the image and supports various color spaces (Grayscale, RGB, CMYK, Lab). Stock sites require vector illustrations to be saved in EPS 8 format (Adobe Illustrator version 8).

FL – abbreviation for the photo bank Fotolia.com

FTP, File Transfer Protocol – a protocol for transferring files. FTP allows connecting to FTP servers, such as those on stock sites, to perform various operations with stored files: downloading to a PC, uploading, editing, deleting, etc.

JPEG – an image format where file compression results in irreversible quality loss.

Isolated – a photograph of an object on a pure white background (RGB: 255, 255, 255). The isolation effect is achieved during shooting (by overexposing the background with light) or by editing the photo in Photoshop (by selecting the object and filling the background layer with white).

Istock, IS – abbreviation for the photo bank iStockphoto.com

Keywords – words describing an image (7-50 keywords). Keywords are specified for each image and are a key factor in indexing, helping stock buyers find relevant images in the stock database.

Model release – a document of agreement between a model and a photographer that allows the photographer commercial rights to use the model’s image.

Moneybookers, MB – Moneybookers.com payment system. Having an account on Moneybookers.com allows you to receive money from stocks and other internet services and transfer it to a bank card or account. Additionally, payments for various goods and services can be made via Moneybookers online. Moneybookers is the most popular withdrawal option among micro stockers in former Soviet countries.

On Demand – a subscription to the Shutterstock photo bank. The buyer pays a fixed amount and gets the right to download a set number of images from the Shutterstock database within a specific period (usually 1 to 24 months). Authors earn more from On Demand purchases than from regular subscriptions.

PayPal – payment system PayPal.com. In CIS countries, PayPal works as an “electronic gateway” for online purchases. It is not suitable for withdrawals.

Pending – a term indicating that images uploaded to a stock are awaiting inspection by bank inspectors.

Property release – a document signed between a photographer and the owner of an object depicted in a photo.

Reject – a rejection by a bank inspector to accept a microstocker’s work, with specific reasons given for the rejection.

RF License, Royalty free – a license type where the author retains all rights after the image is sold. Royalty free allows a microstocker to sell an image multiple times, and the buyer can use the image with certain conditions.

RM License, Rights managed – a license type for sequential use of a photo or illustration by different buyers. The RM license cost is determined by image size, type, and usage duration. If a photo bank buyer purchases an image with an RM license, they must provide usage details.

Shutter, SS – abbreviation for the photo bank Shutterstock.com

Support – technical support service on stock sites. Support can be contacted for questions or issues.

TFP, Time for print – a collaboration between a photographer and a model without financial compensation. The photographer works with the model for free and retains the photos, while the model gets images (printed or on disk) for personal use.

View – the number of image views by other authors or buyers on a photo bank. Most photo banks provide view statistics in the account.

Now, I believe it will be easier for you to understand materials containing specific terminology and to follow discussions among microstockers on various forums or professional communities.

If you come across interesting terms that I haven’t mentioned in today’s article, feel free to comment, and I’ll add your suggestions to the microstocker dictionary.

This article is also available for reading in the following categories: About Microstocks, 123RF, Depositphotos, Dreamstime, Finance, Fotolia, Istockphoto, Shutterstock