Design your way

It’s almost Christmas, and festive images are everywhere you look. This type of imagery is ever-present because it attracts new clients with the overall familiarity it invokes.

So, if you’re a publisher, advertiser, designer, content manager etc., you’ll want to use the upcoming holidays to your advantage, and employ images that speak to the public. I drew out a list with ten stock photo agencies that have the most to offer in this period.

YAY Images

YAY gets full marks. It’s been termed “Spotify for images” again and again, as this is where you will find a large variety of drop-dead-gorgeous images on sale for very accessible prices. Now that the holidays are here, YAY holds an even greater appeal to professionals who scourge the web in search for the best stock photo options.

YAY makes you forget all about your Photoshop routine. Instead of going about your acquired images as usual – buying, downloading, modifying, and uploading them wherever they belong – an astute in-browser editor is at your service with advanced tools and filters that you can use on-site to alter your file. This editor speeds things up, then YAY offers to host and generates a code for the fresh acquisition that you intend to use online.

Watch out as, over the next period, you can sign any plan – Streaming, Digital, or Print – and pay only 50% of their standard subscription price for the first month (with coupon code “XMAS_GIFT”). The Digital and Streaming plans are particularly worthy of notice. Should you go with Digital, you may keep taking as many images as you need and pay just $49.90 per month; the 3 mexapixel-large files are going to fit in perfectly with your apps, PowerPoints, or e-books. Furthermore, YAY’s Streaming plan offers the same limitless download of images meant for blogs and websites (images of 700 pixels), at the insignificant monthly cost of $9.90.

An ordinary search for Christmas-themed images on YAY is going to result in more than 150.000 gorgeous findings, and you can find the ideal image very fast, by using the similar search feature to navigate through kindred items.

Mostphotos

Mostphotos comes in second. On a daily basis, 10.000 fresh, genuine, and local images join the agency’s packed shelves. This abundant flux of photographs comes both from professional and hobby contributors – the bottom line being that a perfect, inspiring captured moment has incontestable value.

I trust you’ll find innumerable items for this Christmas and the upcoming NewYear. As a matter of fact, starting a search for “winter” images would reveal over 100.000 themed vectors and photos. What is more, there are two exceptional features that are singular to Mostphotos. Firstly, know that you can test the quality of an item by zooming in prior to acquiring it. Secondly, if you have co-workers, they can create their own individual accounts for free, after you’ve set up your own.

Normally, the Mostphotos prepaid image bundles come at $5 per item, and the subscription makes that into $0.51-a-piece. Nevertheless, a special offer now says that the agency’s ‘Mini 10’ and ‘Mini 20’ subscription plans can be signed with 10% discount if you take up 6 months at once, or by 15% when taking up an entire year.

Stocksy

Stocksy is simply amazing, all the more so now that the winter holidays are near. It boasts of maintaining a 100% exclusive offer, and the exclusivity reflects on winter-themed content, as well. So, if you’re shopping for creative files to use in your work around this time of the year, Stocksy is not to be omitted. A lot of wicked awesome images can be found in collections like ‘Christmas & Holidays’, or ‘Winter Wonderland’. Peruse the season-specific images, and you’ll most likely get the distinct feeling that you’re not on a stock photo website at all, but that you’re looking at a professional portfolio instead.

New users can start acquiring creative files for the modest price of $10-a-month. Due to the fact that Stocksy is a co-operative entirely managed by artists, it presents some interesting particularities. For instance, a strict selection team publishes new works and invites artists to join the exclusive community, but only after scrutinizing every single detail pertaining to those items – nothing short of flawless gets through. This diligent handpicking routine does, to some extent, justify the magic that surrounds Stocksy’s images.

Inmagine

I’m a big fan of Inmagine, and the agency surely deserves to be in this winter’s top ten stock image merchants. I ran a search for images referring to ‘winter holidays’ and it presented me with more than 10.000 delicious findings. And of course, the quest can easily be narrowed down by means of the sophisticated search filters.

Depositphotos

One can’t help but love Depositphotos around the holidays. To begin with, this agency commands 19 million photos, illustrations, and videos, so there are lots and lots to choose from. Moreover, users are automatically eligible to receive one free item from the fantastic Vectors Collection, every single week. And yet, the most positive thing about Depositphotos right now is its Sales Lightboxes, where season-specific images are sold with a 20% discount than its standard price. As you’re reading these lines, there are over 925 beautiful items cooped up in this year’s Christmas Lightbox.

Stockfresh

Stockfresh really stands out, so I couldn’t help but include it in this year’s wintertime list of promising stock photo websites. This agency’s shelves are home to approximately 3 million graphics, vectors, and photos. The first thing you’ll become aware of is just how simple it is to find your way around the site, and identify the perfect Christmas-suffused images in a split-second.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock controls a colossal, 30-million strong, collection of stock images for the use of creative professionals, and it just keeps getting bigger. Seeing as Shutterstock has an impressive archive, the winter-related images are bound to be worth visiting. Once you’ve signed up, you are treated with one free photo, and one free vector – each week.

Getty Images

My precious top 10 most notable stock photo merchants as the winter of 2013 unfolds has to mention the widely appreciated Getty Images. When I employed the agency’s complex search tools in order to find images that convey a Christmas-related theme, I was met with 200.000 brilliant results.

iStock

I’m sure everyone knows that iStock is the original microstock agency on the web. For this holiday season, no less than 400.000 audio files, video files, photos, vectors, and Flash media referring to winter are ready to greet you. iStock’s sports an Editors’ Pick section, which always shows pieces that were expressly recommended by experts.

Can Stock Photo

Can Stock Photo concludes my odyssey through the top 10 stock image agencies of this winter. Taken together, no less than 21.000 signed contributors submit their best photos, illustrations, and video files, day in and day out. A common Christmas search shows around 480.000 handsome-looking images, well worth checking out.