New to Buying Pictures?

What is stock anyway?

Stock images are pre-existing photos or illustrations, in a variety of subjects and themes, created by professional and amateur photographers and illustrators. Images used for advertising campaigns, direct mail, billboards, in-store signage, magazine articles, book covers, blog posts, greeting cards, calendars and personal craft projects are often stock. You can find images on our website by entering keywords in the search field, just like you would in a search engine like Google or Yahoo.

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How it works

Customers license stock images from us based on how they’re going to use the image (Premium RM) or the file size they need (Premium RF and Budget RF). In exchange for a fee, customers get a license to use the image in their projects, sometimes for a very specific use and a limited time. A portion of our fee is paid to the image creator as a royalty. The image creator retains the copyright of the image. We offer images in many different license types and price points.

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Who We Are

Masterfile has been in the stock image business since 1981. We represent photographers and illustrators around the world and market their work via our website. We offer millions of contemporary stock photos, illustrations and vectors, professionally crafted or crowdsourced, for commercial or personal use. Masterfile sells both single images and subscriptions and license images from $20 to Global Exclusives to clients worldwide.

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A Word (or Two) About Copyright

All the images on this website are protected by copyright. Images on the Internet aren’t always free. Both professional and amateur artists may earn part of their living by licensing their images as stock. Out of respect for the people who make the pictures, don’t use any images you find “on the Internet” without asking permission and obtaining a license if necessary. Have a small budget? We have lots of lower-priced products to help you complete your projects.

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