Need an inspiring image for your travel blog? Need some illustrations for your presentation? You can license an artist’s work through Shutterstock which you can use for your business, your personal blog, print on a t-shirt, or even to decorate your home or office.
Shutterstock does not sell content. It sells licenses to photos, illustrations, video, and music which enable third parties, such as yourself, to use that content under specific conditions. The photographer, videographer, or illustrator has given Shutterstock permission to sell licenses to their work whilst still retaining the copyright.
How you are able to use that content is dependent upon the license you purchase. For example, if you want to print a design on a t-shirt, you need a specific license for that.
Shutterstock offers several types of licenses but the most common are a Standard License and an Enhanced License. If you need to do something with the content that is not covered by either of these, they can help you find the license you need. Here are the basic differences between the two:
| STANDARD LICENSE | ENHANCED LICENSE | |
| License Duration | Perpetual | Perpetual |
| Regions of Use | Worldwide | Worldwide |
| Digital use including websites, mobile apps, software, & eBooks | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Print such as books, magazines, & posters | Up to 500,000 copies | Unlimited |
| Legal Indemnification | Up to $10,000 | Up to $250,000 |
| Advertising such as billboards, signage, subway ads, & tradeshows | Up to 500,000 gross impressions (views, not viewers) | Unlimited |
| TV, Online Video, and Film | Production budgets up to $10,000 | Unlimited |
| Web or Print Temples | No | Yes |
| Merchandise | No | Yes |
| Packaging | Up to 500,000 units | Unlimited |
| Decoration for personal use | Yes | Yes |
| Decoration in an office or public space | No | Yes |
Using an image, illustration, or clip in a way that is not covered by the type of license you purchased is a breach of contract and carries serious consequences, so don’t do it.
Find the Perfect Image
Now that you understand how the content can be used, next comes the fun part! Searching for that perfect shot, that awesome illustration, or that powerful clip. You can search the Shutterstock library in the window below.
Create a Shutterstock Customer Account
Now that you have found the asset that speaks to you, you will need to create a Shutterstock Customer Account. If you are already a Shutterstock Contributor, you still need to create a customer account.
Choose a Pricing Plan
After you have created your Shutterstock Customer Account, you will need to choose your pricing plan. You can get a subscription for a certain number of images per month, or if you can buy an a set number of images which you have a year to use before they expire.
Purchase the License
After you have chosen the type of pricing plan that suits your needs, you can now license the image. Once you click on the image, choose the size that you wish to download. The options will vary, depending on how large the original file was when the contributor submitted it. Usually, your options are Small, Medium, or Large. If you download the small version now and realise later that you need a larger size, you can go back and re-download the larger sized image at a later time at no extra cost.
Here, you can also upgrade to an Enhanced License if you need to. If a Standard License suits your needs, select Download.
The next window to appear is a summary of your pricing plan and the size of the image you are downloading. Select Download again to confirm the purchase. The image will download to your computer.
And that’s it! You are now free to use the image as you choose (within the confines of the license, of course).
If you are an artist and want to make some money by licensing your content on Shutterstock, check out my other blog post which will walk you through the process of How to Submit Your Photos to Shutterstock.