For stock photos, have a look here:
<
http://www.gettyimages.com>
<
http://www.workbookstock.com>
<
http://www.corbis.com>
As a photographer who earns a living taking pictures, I would urge you to consider what it means to the people who make images that people like yourself want and expect those images to be free.
I’d be curious to know what you do for a living and how you feel about people who give away those products or services.
I’m not looking to pick a fight, and I’m sure your intentions are good. However, I bring this up with the hope that you will at some point consider where free photos and fonts come from.
John
John,
If the pros can’t offer something that is of value beyond what you can get for free than perhaps they are in the wrong line of work.
We know where they come from. They are free because some people want to share their work with others. Knowing that what they have done helps someone else is all the reward they need.
When you pay for Images you get a guarantee that you have the rights to use those images. You also have access to more images in a shorter amount of time at a resolution that is easy to work with. It just isn’t worth the risk of using an image if you don’t know it’s origin. It is always a good idea to cover your a**.
With fonts it is more of a quality issue. If you work in the typesetting industry it is very important to have fonts that are high quality and error free. I don’t so I am just interested in what looks good in a flat file when I am done.
You should also keep in mind that we all offer our professional advice for free to any user that asks for it through these forums. I am sure you are aware that there are many sites that charge for these same services.
You can find free programming scripts everywhere, so programmers started offering installation and configuration services. So they have to work harder now, thy just can’t sit back and watch the money roll in by selling a small java script from a web site.
When you sell a lot of nothing (which is all a digital image is) you can’t expect the money train to go on forever. The work is easy and the profit margins are high because there is no physical product. The best options are to find markets for your skills that are not likely to be given away.
In the music industry you may have noticed that the artists aren’t complaining about MP3’s nearly as much as the record labels. Why? because they aren’t loosing much if anything. The record companies just see that the end is near for them if they don’t start offering more value for your dollar. They know that it is all over the second the artists realize they can sell direct and make more without them. The artists can also always go on a concert tour and make a lot more than they do with record sales. They do it by offering live interaction, something that can’t be downloaded. The irony is that the more their songs are downloaded the higher their ticket sales are and in many cases their CD sales as well but you will seldom see them admit to that.
Thank you both so much for replying my message and the detailed information.
Yes, I understand that there are many people who earn a living taking pictures, and I’ve seen many many great images that I would love to use. However, as I mentioned, I am not a professional…I’m just a normal office employee enjoying some spare time on the computer, drawing with my tablet, and making greeting cards for myself/family and friends. I barely understand Photoshop, so that’s why I joined this forum. Since I don’t earn money making my friend’s wedding invitations and program cards, I can’t go on buying the best images available. That’s why I wanted to know if there are free, but good images that I can work with, without worring about royalty charges.
I hope I didn’t offend you with my reply…
Izumi
On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 17:03:50 -0800, wrote:
Hi,
I am not a professional designer or artist, but love to create personal cards and invitations for family and friends 🙂
I’ve been looking for free fonts and free images available on the web, but just can’t seem to get what I want.
This is a great resource with free photos (at least the vast majority of them is free):
http://www.sxc.hu I quote: "Browse through the categories of our huge gallery containing over 50.000 quality stock photos by more than 2.500 users!"
Kind regards,
Jurgen Nijhuis
www.tiptoptemplates.com
izumi, you can also use google, look for: "free stock images" and "free fonts" and you should come up with enough to keep you busy for a while! you may even want to contribute back as some of the free stock image sites work on user contributions.
hth, dave
<
http://www.adobe.com/type/collections.html>
They’re not free but for under $100 you can get quite a few high-quality fonts. I’m not a professional, but I would imagine that many/most professionals buy their fonts from Adobe
No one’s mentioned www.istockphoto.com – .50 a photo isn’t free but it might as well be.
.50 a photo
Shipping fee? 🙂
I barely understand Photoshop, so that’s why I joined this forum. Since I don’t earn money making my friend’s wedding invitations and program cards, I can’t go on buying the best images available. That’s why I wanted to know if there are free, but good images that I can work with, without worring about royalty charges.
Wow! You can spend $609 as a lark for Photoshop, but you don’t want to pay for fonts or stock art?
if PS was 509 bux, he could afford a 100 dollar font package. %D
Izumi,
No, you did not offend me, and I certainly hope I did not offend you.
It looks like you got plenty of good links to find what you are looking for.
This forum is a wonderful resource for learning Photoshop, and I’d urge you to read everthing you can here.
ID, was I really being "snobby" just to raise the issue?
John
Dear Everyone,
Thank you all so so much for all your replies !! I am a Japanese "girl" by the way, so the time difference made my reply today very late compared to you all 🙁 Sorry.
I think I have enough resource to travel to now, and am very excited to look through it all !! THANK YOU !!!
I’ve been searching through Google and have gotten great ones too, but I thought there would be other great sites that are not listed in the first few pages, so that’s why I wanted some real advice. And I got it here for sure. Adobe Forum BANZAI !!
Regarding me buying Photoshop and not buying Fonts and images…sorry, I got the software through my work:-)
My company is related to computer graphics, but my job is not so related…I enjoy at home.
Got to get back to work now….
Thank you all so much once again.
John: No, you did not offend me at all…I appreciate your comments because it made me learn how professional photographers feel, which I had absolutely no knowledge of. Thank you.
Izumi
sorry, I got the software through my work:-)
Just found a disk laying around work eh?
it made me learn how professional photographers feel, which I had absolutely no knowledge of.
Do any of us have knowledge of that? 🙂
graffiti,
"Just found a disk laying around work eh?"
If her computer at work has a licensed copy of Photoshop she is still well within the EULA.
If her computer at work has a licensed copy of Photoshop she is still well within the EULA.
According to this line in #13:
My company is related to computer graphics, but my job is not so related…I enjoy at home.
She doesn’t use Photoshop at work.
She doesn’t use Photoshop at work.
That’s what I got out of it. A borrowed disk. 🙂
R_harvey & Graffiti,
I know several people that use Photoshop through droplets or just the most basic functions so the more experienced employees don’t need to waste their time. Most of these people would say their job "is not so graphics related". I took it as a comparison to the other employees.
At any rate it would not be unusual at all for every computer in a small office to have Photoshop installed. Even if she isn’t that experienced with Photoshop the person that had the job before may have been. It is also possible that they are training her to take on more graphics work.
I hope you two never get jury duty. Someone is liable to get a life sentence for jay walking!
I think circumstantial evidence should be admissible in a court of law. 🙂
At any rate it would not be unusual at all for every computer in a small office to have Photoshop installed.
Sure, give the pro-Activation side more ammunition.
I hope you two never get jury duty.
Funny story… it’s happened twice. Both times, the cop side didn’t want me.
r_harvey,
Sure, give the pro-Activation side more ammunition.
A licensed copy on every system! Need any more specifics…
At any rate it would not be unusual at all for every computer in a small office to have a licensed copy of Photoshop installed that was purchased from an authorized Adobe reseller if full compliance with the EULA.
Happy 🙂
We have 100 computers with licensed copies of MS office. Some employees (very few) have never used any of the office apps but they are on every computer should they, or anyone else that might use their system, need them.
We have 100 computers with licensed copies of MS office. Some employees (very few) have never used any of the office apps but they are on every computer should they, or anyone else that might use their system, need them.
Yeah, MS has some pretty restrictive licensing schemes. Sometimes, they require a Windows license for every computer, even Macintoshes, or even for every employee–even lunch lady Doris.
I guess Adobe allows you to buy licenses only for employees who might actually use the products.
I think circumstantial evidence should be admissible in a court of law.
Convictions can be achieved by nothing more than circumstantial evidence under certain conditions.
On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 07:26:31 -0800, Brian
wrote:
No one’s mentioned www.istockphoto.com – .50 a photo isn’t free but it might as well be.
Absolutely correct. This is one of the greatest of them all… How could I forget 🙂 I use them alot. Nearly free!
Regards,
Jurgen Nijhuis
www.tiptoptemplates.com
Hi, its Izumi.
Just to let you know, I DO have a license 🙂
And yes, my company wants me to learn Photoshop…so I take my PC home during the weekends, and am starting to enjoy it…privately.
Hope this makes sense to you all.
I really hope you enjoy your experience working with Photoshop Izumi. I’m sure you will have a lot of fun and develop some new skills.
Best wishes and let us know how it goes.
Izumi… and don’t forget that this is one of the best places to learn ps. I learned more hanging here in the 1st 6 months than I did trying to learn PS on my own over about 5 years! Click and read any thread that sounds of interest to you. Try the forum search function on specific things you’re interested in (sharpening, masks, color correction, etc).
good luck, welcome to the fold, dave
Thanks for the warm comments and advice !!
Yes, I will try my best to learn new things (starting with basics…) and read all the information here 🙂 I can see how its already helping me (^^)/
ARIGATO !
Izumi
Izumi,
Here are a couple of sites that are not free, but very inexpensive for art work.
<
http://www.hemera.com>
Each image is only $4.95 and are of exceptional quality. Hemera also produces several excellent clipart collection packages that can be had for very little if you search the net.
<
http://www.art-spot.com/>
Again, this is not free, but the art work for cards is fabulous. There are 2 CDs each with many 300 dpi images.
I do only do work for not for profit and everything I spend comes out of my pocket, so I understand your dilemma. I utilize as much free as I can without violating copyrights, but I also set up an account on my desk where I put my loose change and money I would have spent at Starbucks in a jar. I also put my software wishlist in the jar and try to buy one new item each month or 2. I search regularly for the products I’m interested to get the best prices. The small personal sacrifices have enabled me to buy a lot of extra software such as fonts and clipart. I also ask for the biggies such as photoshop (or a contribution to) as gifts at Christmas and birthdays.
If you have access to a scanner, you Dover books are inexpensive and are copyright free. You can add color or use as is. There are also a lot of free dingbat fonts that have excellent pictures that the designers have graciously shared. Just do a search for dingbat fonts, you’ll be surprised at the quality.
