Alamy Contributor Forum (2024)

FAQs

Can you make a living on Alamy? ›

Whether you're a pro photographer looking to boost revenue, a hobbyist eager to monetise your photos, or a graphic designer encouraged to sell your art, we've got you covered. We pay out over $1 million every month to our contributors, helping over 150,000 creatives from around the world.

Alamy's advantage

Sell your first photo on Alamy and you earn 20%. And where you'd need to sell an astounding 25,000 images to earn a 40% royalty at Shutterstock, you can earn that 40% royalty at Alamy after ringing up just $250 in gross revenue. The site bumps you up to the higher royalty level whenever you qualify.

Alamy will pay a 50% commission on every image sold, and that's why we like it – it's a decent revenue share for your hard work. You can get started with Alamy here.

The image must have an exact 2:1 aspect ratio, as it's uniformly mapping 360° horizontally and 180° vertically. Maximum compressed file size of 200mb. The image must be free of stitching errors and have little optical distortion, with uniformity in luminosity and colours.

500px offers some of the highest royalty rates in stock photography. As a paid Awesome member, you earn 70% royalties on non-exclusive photos and up to 100% on exclusive photos licensed. Free members likewise earn 60% on exclusive photos.

Add captions and tags

Before you start, think about the potential use of the image and what it's likely to be sold for, the more accurately you describe your image, the more visibility it will have in customer searches, which will significantly increase your chance of making a sale.

Sell your iPhone photos on Alamy using the stockimo app. Another way to cash in on your creativity.

If you're a serious photographer who wants to build your portfolio and potentially earn some residual income from your work, selling stock images can be a decent side hustle. However, if you're a Joe Everyman looking to get paid for taking pictures, you'll wind up sorely disappointed.

While the sources for many AI image generation tools are at worst scraped or at best unclear we cannot accept AI generated material on Alamy and we continue to find and remove this.

Is Picfair the first place you've sold your photos? Yes, I made my first ever sale on Picfair, and I have now made a total of 17 sales in a pretty short amount of time, which I am very happy about. I tried one website before Picfair, but I did not like it since I was not able to set my own prices.

Is Alamy free for contributors? ›

Alamy contributor benefits: Up to 50% commission split for Exclusive images. Up to 40% commission split for Non-exclusive images. A quick and easy submission process.

Good percentage and a non-exclusive contract

We offer you a better deal than most other agencies, you could earn up to 50% on exclusive images. We're really easy to work with, we're non-exclusive and we don't tie you into a long-term contract.

When you purchase a Royalty-free stock photo from a stock photography agency, photo credits are not legally required, but it is a courteous thing to do. Editorial licensed photos do require credit.

Learn about the nitty-gritty of stock photography—and how it can yield big profits even for beginners. Stock photography, the practice of capturing images that anyone can license for a fee, can be a lucrative side hustle or even a full-time job.

Earning income from selling photos online is a great way to generate passive income for yourself, and also build your brand as a photographer. If you've been hesitating about selling your photos, or aren't sure if it's worth investing time on, there's no time like the present to start.

Salary for photo editors

Editors with extensive experience might earn more, depending on the projects they complete. As freelancers set their own rates, they might earn a higher salary depending on the types of projects they work on and the clients they work for, who might offer higher compensation for good work.

How much does a Stock Photography make? As of Aug 1, 2024, the average annual pay for a Stock Photography in the United States is $62,338 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $29.97 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,198/week or $5,194/month.