Where to find stock photos for white papers and B2B marketing

At That White Paper Guy, we really like using stock photos, both in white papers and in our social media.

When you find realistic-looking stock photos, they can retain readers who would otherwise be put off by a wall of gray text.

To help you make your content more interesting, we’ve done some research on the best stock photo services out there.

A word about photo choices

But first, some advice: Be sure not to fill up your white papers with “smug shots”.

That’s what we call those cloying photos with fake happy-faced people looking like they just walked out of an ad—or maybe off of an alien spaceship—bent on infiltrating our culture.

Here’s a good example of a smug shot:

(No, we didn’t pay for this photo—and we recommend you don’t either.)

Rather, your images should illuminate your content. Or depict your target reader, or the problem you’re discussing. A light image can even play off your content.

Take a look at a few of the images That White Paper Guy has found and used in white papers in the past:

Where to find photos? We did the research.

Looking for stock photography can be a little overwhelming, with 3.4 billion  results for a Google search for “stock photos.”

So how do you find the best place?

We recently explored some stock photography websites. We looked at how many images the site has, the index quality, and the cost.

We also ran identical searches, when possible, for photos that could be used in white papers. Our search term was “cloud computing” and we’re sharing the first three images that appeared for each of our searches.

Here are our results.

iStock www.istockphoto.com

Selection: Many millions of images + vector illustrations, videos, music, and sound effects.
Index quality: Easy search function with the option to find similar photos, or search by orientation (horizontal, vertical, or square)
Search term results: 2,200 images

Cost: 1 credit=$13, 3 credits=$36, 18 credits=$188
Cost for each image above is 3 credits, or $36. All sizes are the same price.
Notes: iStock is a well-established source where smaller photos were once available for about $5. But costs have gone up dramatically: $36 for one image is not a great deal. Your costs can now escalate quickly if you add several images to a white paper.

Shutterstock www.shutterstock.com

Selection: 40 million images, including graphics
Index quality: Easy search by keyword or category
Search term results: 1,270+

Cost: 2 for $29; 5 for $49; 25 for $229. So the cost of any image above is $15.
Notes: Pre-paid credits must be used within 12 months of purchase.

Bigstock www.bigstockphoto.com

Selection: 23+ million photos, videos, and vectors
Index quality: Simple interface for both keyword and category searches
Search term results: 66,000+

Cost: 10 credits=$35, 25 credits=$49, 100 credits=$169.
You can buy the first photo (above) at medium size (5.3″x2.8″/300 dpi) for 2 credits = $7 or less. Most small images start at 1 credit, which makes this our current favorite source for stock photos. 
Notes: Owned by Shutterstock. Site features one free image each week.

Dreamstime www.dreamstime.com

Selection: Approaching 30 million images in early 2015
Index quality: Sits offers extensive search features, plus tracking tool for account holders.
Search term results: 5,000+

Cost: 11 credits=$15, 5 images per month for $45. Images start at 1 credit. So the cost of the first photo (above) at medium size is 16 credits (about $20).
Notes: Credits expire after one year. There is a “free” section, but it had no results for our search. For free images, the site requests credit to the source, as indicated on the download page.

Stock Free Images www.stockfreeimages.com

Selection: Claims to be the largest collection of free images on the web, with 1+ million images, royalty-free photos, and illustrations.
Index quality: Search by keyword or category. Not all photos that turn up in results are ll free.
Search term results: First row of images that came up were from Dreamstime. The second row included two free images that didn’t really satisfy the search term.

Still, a search for the term “cloud” brought up more than 33,000 free images.
Cost: Free, as long as the photos are from this site. Search results will include images that cost money.
Notes: Owned by Dreamstime. Linkbacks are required, preferably in HTML format.

Fotolia www.fotolia.com

Selection: 36 million royalty-free images
Index quality: Search by keyword, with multiple terms for advanced searches.
Search term results: 39,688

Cost: Credits start at 10=$14; 26=$35; or set a custom amount. Subscriptions start with 10 medium images for $25 per month. Cost of the first photo (above) is 6 credits for small=$8.40.

Notes: Offers free images of the week.

Deathtothestockphoto www.deathtothestockphoto.com

Selection: Small library of 400 (as of early 2015) and growing
Index quality: No index available.
Search term results: Not available. Free photos are sent by e-mail each month. We selected the first 3 images in our free photo pack to demonstrate the type of photos available.

Cost: A $10 per month premium membership gives access to the library, all packages online, and an extra package each month. Sign up and receive a link to access 14 free images.
Notes: This site was created when a group of owners decided to share the photos on their laptops.

Hubspot: 75 Free Stock Photos http://offers.hubspot.com/free-stock-photos

Selection: 75 free stock photos
Index quality: 5 categories: Experience, Working Hard, Laptop Work, People Together, and Silly Photos
Search term results: No search available. Here’s a sample of photos from three of the categories.

Cost: Register and then download images free. 
Notes: If you’re on a tight budget, these images may work just fine for you.

Saving the best for last?

Just as our search was winding down, we came across a very interesting stock photo site.

The Stocks http://thestocks.im/

The site claims to have the best royalty-free stock photos in one place.

Royalty-free generally means the photo is free to use as often as you like once you purchase, but these images appear to be entirely free.

While The Stocks doesn’t have one main search engine, you’ll find various search tools ranging from keyword queries to grids within pages of 16 or so contributors.

Don’t be surprised to find a popup telling you your search might go better at iStock Photo, though there’s no visible sign of any connection between the two.

A quick search found photos of clouds though they didn’t fit our “cloud computing” search term.

The fact we stumbled upon The Stocks at the last minute is a testament to the ever-changing world of stock photography.

While we’re not declaring this one to be the best stock photo site, it’s definitely got some great free photos and we’ll be investigating it further.

With so many sources of inexpensive stock photos, there is no excuse for any more “walls of grey.” It’s time to liven up your white papers with images.

Just be sure to read the fine print on the terms of agreement for every site.

In the end, you’ll get better results if your content features some lively images.

Have you got a favorite stock photography site? Share it with us in our Comment section below.

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