Adobe and Stock Photos: A natural fit
Adobe Stock Photos is a new feature built into Adobe's just announced upgrade of Creative Suite 2, the mega-package that includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and GoLive.
Stock Photos is a cool concept. It allows you to browse a collection of stock photos from five online services, download comps directly into your workpiece, and purchase the hi-res versions as you desire, all without leaving the Creative Suite application in which you're working!
For example, say you're laying out a brochure in Photoshop and need a picture of, say, a cute dog. You could come to the Gazette and steal one of Abbye (and, really, she wouldn't mind) or you could click on the Adobe Stock Photo search bar and select from all images matching the term "cute dog." You could then drop the comp directly into your layout to see how it works, and if it's good, click on the "Purchase" button and download the high resolution version. The neat thing about this is that if you are fortunate enough to have a client who will pay for all the stock photos you need (not that I've ever been so fortunate) for the project, Stock Photos will allow you to keep track of the purchased photos and a running total of costs for project management and billing purposes.
The library at this point is "just" 230,000 images. That sounds like a lot, but, trust me, it's not when you're looking for a unique photos that's exactly the right fit. But, I suspect it will grow over time.
Adobe continues to find new ways to make its products indispensible to anyone working in a design-related field.
Technorati tag: Adobe Stock Photos
Yes, you'll just pay something like $80 per photo.
Posted by: bryan at April 4, 2005 11:05 PMYou're absolutely right it costs more in the long run, but that's not suprising.
The same thing happens at the supermarket. You save more if you buy in bulk. The only problem is photos aren't a homogenous product in the same way, say, honey is. I may not want $500 worth of "US Senators" if all I need is one picture for one specific project.
Well, at least everyone's photo needs for "cute dogs" are solved and royalty free, no less!
Posted by: Mr. Freen at April 5, 2005 01:56 AMBryan, you'll notice that I didn't point to this service as one for "cost-conscious" free-lancers. This will be most attractive to those who are working on cost-plus projects (generally print-based) where efficiency is a key factor in controlling the total cost.
High quality stock photography is expensive, no matter how you slice it. This is definitely one of those areas where the expense is in direct proportion to the quality.
It's always been a challenge for web-only designers who don't need 300 dpi images; they're just wasted in an online environment.
Posted by: Eric at April 5, 2005 06:32 AMAbout the publisher
Random Abbye photos...
Angry Clouds
I am Curious Llama
Ganglia & Brain Cloud
Cabeza del Diablo
Aurora Moreorless
Be careful Who you plagiarize
Coming Attractions
All Thorns, All the Time
Hitchin' a Ride
"...the flower fades..."
Finding meaning in random events
Random Thursday: The Thanksgiving Edition
A Matter of Perception
Reason #21 to wear shoes in West Texas
The Neighborhood:
West Texas Blogs:
[Midland unless otherwise indicated]
Other Texas Blogs:
The Business:
The Church:
The World:
That's very true!
Having spent hours on Google looking for just the right picture of Ted Kennedy, I've found that "only" a few thousand pictures are just barely enough.
...professionals also have to take into account copyrights, something hobbiests (usually) don't.
It sounds like a great service! Definitely beats paying $500 for an image collection.
Posted by: Mr. Freen at April 4, 2005 02:34 PM