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Make your creative projects stand out with eye-catching stock photos and royalty-free images from our curated stock photography collection.

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Browse our most popular categories to find the right photos faster.

Must-Read Shutterstock Blog Articles

Color-symbolism featured

The Meaning of Colors in Cultures Around the World

Color quite literally colors the way we view our world. Let’s take a deep dive into the symbolism of colors in cultures around the world.

Check out these fresh takes for the most popular stock photos to license. “Diversity hands” and “city photos with data connection” make a statement, but these alternative search keywords can give you even more unique stock photos.

Trending Image Searches on Shutterstock 2023

Check out these fresh takes for the most popular stock photos to license. “Diversity hands” and “city photos with data connection” make a statement, but these alternative search keywords can give you even more unique stock photos.

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Great Photo Composition

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Great Photo Composition

In the first of our series on what goes into making a great stock photo, we’re looking at the magical organizational power of photo composition.

The right stock photos can be a powerful way to extend your brand and scale your marketing. On the other hand, cheesy stock photos can impact your credibility and drive customers away.

How to Pick Authentic Stock Photos and Make Them Your Own

The right stock photos can be a powerful way to extend your brand and scale your marketing. Follow these 10 simple tips to source and customize stock photos that don’t look stock.

Stock Photo FAQs


What are stock photos?

Stock photos are photographs that anyone can license for creative use. Rather than hire a photographer, you can search a large database of photos and quickly find one that works for your project. Learn more about the history and business of stock photography. You can also license other types of stock images, including vector graphics and beautifully drawn stock illustrations.


How do you sell stock photos?

Whether you're a seasoned professional or someone with a passion for photography, we welcome you to sign up as a contributor. Just go to submit.shutterstock.com to submit an application. Once you're approved, you'll be given instructions on how to upload your photos and tag them so that customers can find them. When you contribute to Shutterstock, you still retain the copyright to your creations, and you receive a royalty whenever a subscriber downloads one of your photos. Read more about how to make money with stock photos.


How do I cite a stock photo?

We've compiled a list of the most popular citation formats from the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) here.


How do you download stock photos?

Downloading stock photos is easy with [Shutterstock](https://www.shutterstock.com "Visit the Shutterstock homepage"). From [vectors](https://www.shutterstock.com/vectors "Download vector images with easy from Shutterstock") and PNGs to JPEGs and any other file formats that best fit your creative needs, there are multiple easy ways to license [images](https://www.shutterstock.com/images "Check Out Images from Shutterstock") throughout the site to download your stock photo with ease. With a wide variety of stock photos with over 600 million images to select for download, throughout the site there are multiple ways to download your photo from red arrows directly on the images, to red buttons that say "Download."

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