Dreamstime, one of the world’s leading digital image stock photography agencies, is pleased to introduce its newest convenience facets. In the coming weeks, the Dreamstime image pages will undergo a facelift—further articulating the company’s customer satisfaction goals. Simultaneously, Dreamstime will distribute an interactive newsletter to its users with up-to-date website, service and imagery information. The “easy-access” to even more, diverse, free images elevates the agency’s reputation as a leader in the industry.
“From the beginning, we have been dedicated to making our site the most efficient for designers using stock photographs. We spend a great deal of time brainstorming to that end, trying to find the easiest ways for them to research and download images,” Serban Enache, CEO of Dreamstime, explains. “We expect users to find the new updates to be significant in the ease and timeliness of their workflow. Saving a few milliseconds per download translates into many hours saved over the course of the design process.“
As the result of technological capabilities for larger resolution, thumbnails are increased significantly in page searches. The cutting-edge details allow designers a better understanding of Dreamstime’s assets and content, improving their overall experience. The reconditioned image page ultimately makes Dreamstime the largest provider of thumbnails in size and quantity.
The image lightbox has also been refreshed. As a feature created for designers, the improved lightbox has the capability to “float” on the screen and “follow” the user throughout the entire image selection process.
Coupled with the new design pages, the agency is set to deliver a monthly email newsletter, its innovative features adding to the interactivity and accessibility of the website. Account holders can subscribe via the management center. As they begin to access the revamped site, subscribers can filter results using keywords and frequent searches to construct a subscription newsletter tailor-made to meet their specific needs.
These modern modifications (exclusive to Dreamstime) follow on the heels of the agency partnering heavily with social networking technologies to offer a “direct-connect” to its contributors and designers; in turn, elevating Dreamstime’s scope to the hundreds of millions of potential customers. To further entice the photo shopper, in recent months Dreamstime upgraded the site’s search engine making results infinite and faster loading.
With more than 9 million images, Dreamstime.com is currently the second leading agency in total customers and has over 11 million unique visitors to the site and one of the top 500 websites in the world. The acceleration in numbers overall make it the fastest growing stock agency worldwide. In addition to tens of thousands of free images available, Dreamstime’s active gallery is updated daily with over 15,000 images from the site’s almost 100,000 contributors.
For more information on Dreamstime, please visit www.Dreamstime.com.
On July 1, 2010, the assets of Crestock, a Norwegian microstock agency (www.crestock.com), were acquired by Masterfile Corporation, a premium stock photo agency based in Toronto, Canada (www.masterfile.com).
Masterfile is a privately-owned company founded in 1981 and is globally recognized in the advertising, publishing and stock photography community as a leading rights-managed and royalty-free licensor. Crestock was founded in 2005 in Bodø, Norway, and is well-known in the microstock community with over 100,000 members and close to 1 million images.
Crestock founder, Geir Are Jensen, says: “Building Crestock was a great adventure. Like many young companies, we had reached the point where we needed additional investment. The scale and resources provided by an established player like Masterfile will enable Crestock to continue growing against powerful global competitors.”
Masterfile president, Steve Pigeon, says: “It's no secret that microstock has revolutionized the global stock photo industry. Our acquisition of Crestock is a springboard for Masterfile to join the revolution. We looked at a number of opportunities in microstock, then set our sights on Crestock. In just a few years, Geir Jensen and his associates built an excellent image collection with a smartly-designed website and a business with tremendous growth potential. We believe that augmenting Crestock with the resources of Masterfile will benefit Crestock's image contributors and its clientele. And having a solid position in the fastest growing sector of the stock image industry is not a bad idea either.”
Crestock will be run as a separate business unit with considerable support from Masterfile in management, finance, marketing and technology. Steve Pigeon will oversee the transition, drawing on Masterfile’s resources, while looking to recruit additional management talent and other personnel from the microstock sector.
Masterfile’s plans for Crestock include investment in marketing, globalization, content acquisition, improving the online image search and user interface, and expanding the licensing models. Pigeon adds: “We aim to make Crestock into a formidable competitor in microstock. At the same time, we remain deeply committed to Masterfile’s core business of licensing premium rights-managed and royalty-free images catering to the top tier of the market.”
See this release online at www.masterfile.com/info/corporate/press/release_20100702.html.
The PicScout Legal Partner program now has three new partners in the United Kingdom (UK) joining the company’s global provider network, ready to meet the demand for stock agencies and photographers to pursue revenue recovery in that country. Recent successes of image infringement cases in the United Kingdom, most notable being the 2009 decision in Getty Images Inc. vs JA Coles Ltd., have clarified the serious ramifications of image infringement in the United Kingdom and suggest timely pursuit of non-legitimate use in that country. UK firms have joined the PicScout Legal Partner program to support a significant increase in the number of PicScout clients now pursuing cases in the United Kingdom and include legal firm Swan Turton and Intellectual Property Protection Ltd. (IPP), who join recently announced partner Mishcon de Reya.
The PicScout Legal Partner program is integral to the range of image information services PicScout provides to stock agencies and photographers around the globe. Through the program, PicScout makes it easy and seamless for clients to pursue revenue recovery via legal partners well versed in the practice of image rights and image protection. Clients can assign cases directly to legal partners through the PicScout online compliance application, and legal partners update clients on case status through the application.
“We are delighted to come on board as a legal partner to support PicScout clients. The image business is at the core of what we do at Swan Turton, and we welcome this opportunity to get involved in copyright enforcement work at the cutting edge of the business,” said Charles Swan, Head of the Photography Group at Swan Turton. “There’s an assumption out there that anything on the Internet must be free. We look forward to helping PicScout’s clients correct this misperception.”
“Unauthorized use is a major challenge for our clients working to promote and protect their image business. We are pleased to support our clients who have become keen to assert their revenue rights for image usage in the United Kingdom. PicScout is proud of our unique role, connecting industry clients with outstanding legal partners committed to the protection of copyrighted images and revenue recovery of license fees,” said VP Marketing and Business Development, Amy Love. “PicScout thoroughly vets legal partners and seeks those of the highest reputation, who understand the nuances in pursuing infringements efficiently and effectively for our clients. We welcome our newest UK legal partners and are proud to include such high caliber partners in our growing worldwide PicScout Legal Partner program.”
"We are delighted to be joining PicScout as a partner in the United Kingdom and we are very much looking forward to building a relationship with the market leader in worldwide image services,” said David Tyler, managing director, IPP. “At IPP, we pride ourselves on the excellent reputation we have developed with clients over the past four years. We believe partnering with PicScout represents a great opportunity to further support our clients in protecting their copyright."
PicScout currently provides image-tracking services in more than 20 countries and has legal partner relationships throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia supporting individual country-specific legal requirements.
Firms interested in learning more about the PicScout Legal Partner program should visit picscout.com/partners/legal-partners.html.
Three Months To Visual Connections New York
Visual Connections New York takes place on Wednesday, October 13th, at the massive Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea, downtown Manhattan. The PACA International Conference, also in New York City, starts two days later, meaning you can combine marketing, learning and networking in the same trip.
This is the greatest marketing opportunity of the year; so join us now to get maximum exposure for your business. If tight cash flow is making you hesitate, contact Deborah about setting up a payment plan.
A key deadline is the end of next month—that’s when booking discounts and guaranteed entry in the show guide ends.
Find out more.
Let Us Distribute Your Press Releases
We can distribute your press release to a handpicked list of editors, reporters and columnists, writing for specialist magazines, newspapers and blogs across the US. Having access to hundreds of thousands of named contacts and their interests, editorial calendars and circulation means we can help you choose the right people and publications to contact with your message.
Introductory offer: We will distribute your first press release to up to fifty handpicked media contacts for just $99. The price includes advice on formatting and presenting your press release, building a suitable distribution list for your approval, and emailing your press release to those contacts.
If you would like to take advantage of this service, please contact us at least a week before your planned release date so that we can prepare the distribution list in time.
Find out more.
Free Directory Listing For Newcomers
Our directory of visual media suppliers numbers nearly one thousand. If you are not already included, enter your company’s details now and we will give you a free year’s listing in the public directory used by picture buyers around the world.
If you have created an entry in the directory but have never been included in the public directory, let us know and we’ll set you up with a free trial subscription.
Don’t forget, if you book a table at Visual Connections New York you will receive a free year’s gallery listing (worth $150).
Find out more.
Are You LinkedIn®?
Join us on LinkedIn, the business networking site. We now have 100 members representing picture agencies, buyers, and photographers. Advertise job vacancies for free; start or join in a discussion. It’s free marketing exposure, so make use of it!
Join us on LinkedIn.
Contact:
Deborah Free, President
Visual Connections LLC (formerly Picturehouse Marketing US, LLC)
585/768-7880
deborah@visualconnections.com
Veer (www.veer.com), a provider of affordable and reliable creative elements that makes it easier to be creative, today announced the launch of its redesigned website, veer.com. To celebrate, people who complete a full registration on Veer.com (see website for details) will receive 10 free Veer Credits that can, for example, buy 10 extra small images, or a font, a small image and an extra small image.
Veer now has more than 1.5 million creative photos and illustrations covering a broad range of subject categories, over 12,000 different contemporary and classic fonts and a selection of clever creative merchandise. Veer’s creative elements are priced so affordably that nearly anyone can add style to business, marketing and personal design projects ranging from websites and blog posts to business presentations and ad campaigns.
Simplified Veer.com Provides An Uncomplicated Shopping Experience
Veer.com now features a prominent search box on the homepage and a powerful search engine to make it fast and simple for people to find relevant images and fonts to meet nearly any budget.
Veer® images are available in six standard sizes ranging from extra small to extra, extra large. Image search results can quickly be sorted by price and file size, as well as other more advanced options if needed, to help people find the right image for their project at the best possible price. Once people find an image they like, they can easily buy (download a clean version), try (download a “watermarked” file to see how it looks) or save (put in an album to refer back to later).
Veer offers affordable single fonts starting at just $10. Veer has classic fonts, new releases from small foundries and independent designers, plus Veer Exclusives not available anywhere else.
Flexible Payment Options And Worry-Free Licenses
Customers can now conveniently purchase all images, fonts and merchandise either one at time with a credit card or with Veer Credits. Veer Credits are a prepaid option that provides savings of up to 56% over individual credit card purchases at Veer. Veer Credit packs come in nine different sizes, varying from 12 to 2,000 credits, with increasing savings for customers who buy bigger packs. Veer.com has examples of what can be purchased with different amounts of credits.
All images come with, at minimum, a Basic license, which provides an individual with unlimited web use up to 600 by 800 pixels as well as print reproduction rights up to 500,000 units. Customers can easily extend the license for multiple users, unlimited reproduction or product resale with a few clicks.
Veer is one of the safest places to buy images online. All Veer images are intensively reviewed by Veer’s experienced Content Editors for visual and technical quality as well as model and real property releases. Every image is protected by the Veer Customer Protection Plan, which provides customers free protection up to $10,000 in legal costs or damages if a claim is ever filed against an image.
Veer Creative Community
Veer also hosts the Veer Ideas community, a place for creative people to play, interact and share ideas with peers. Creative people can build personal profiles, share their work, connect with friends, join groups, and browse other portfolios to discover new artists. People can read the latest design news on The Skinny blog and post on the community blog, The Fat. Veer Ideas also has a wide selection of free wallpaper downloads for personal use.
“We have built on Veer’s heritage in stock images and design to completely re-imagine how creative people of all kinds buy affordable and reliable images and fonts,” said Nairn Nerland, General Manager of Veer.com. “We created an uncomplicated shopping experience that lets people stay focused on what matters most: their creative work.”
People can make purchases on Veer.com in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, British pounds, and Euros, and the website is available in English and German.
Contributors interested in submitting imagery to Veer can earn between $0.35 to $103.25 (USD) for every image sold, depending on image size and extended licenses. To learn more and become a contributor, visit the Veer submissions page.