It’s a common situation.  You’re doing your regular morning browse of your favorite websites and you see a photo that would be absolutely perfect for the project you’re working on. But this photo is in use on a regular website, not conveniently in the search results of your favorite stock photo agency website.

So you head over to that favorite stock photo agency and search with some keywords that the photo is likely to have, but you don’t find it.  You try some different stock agencies, but no luck there either.  You really want that specific photo.  What can you do?

You’re in luck. With the help of some simple tools and techniques the chances of tracking down the source of a photo are good and getting better.

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If you have unused credits at a stock photo agency that you purchased a long time ago, you may find that they expire.

The first you hear about this may be via a notification from the agency.  Or if you’re not so lucky you may find they have just disappeared from your account.

What can you do to avoid this happening to you?  And why do agencies make their credits expire anyway?

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PhotoDune is the photo marketplace from Envato, a company that provides marketplaces for lots of different media types including templates, audio, video, plugins and web graphics.

Having launched in August 2011, PhotoDune is still quite young. However, the team recruited many of the world’s current top stock photographers, so their collection compares well if you’re looking for high-quality photos.

Prices are competitive and there are some unique aspects to the PhotoDune licenses which can be an advantage for some photo buyers.

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There is an amazing quantity of free photos available online today.  The quantity of subjects is almost limitless and the quality range is extensive.

Free photos can be a useful way to save money and often appear as an easy option. However, it’s important to know when free photos are suitable for your needs to avoid some of the pitfalls and risks.

To understand when ‘free’ is appropriate you need to assess your budget, your available time and your intended use of the photos.

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Nobody likes reading long legal documents. But if you’re going to buy photos, you can’t avoid license agreements.

They’re the key that makes stock photography possible. They determine the price you pay to use a photo and how it can be used. They’re also the reference point if anything goes wrong.

This is the stock photo licensing guide for people who don’t have time to read a stock photo licensing guide. It won’t replace the need to read license agreements but it will make it much easier to understand them when you do.

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