iStockphoto Announces Exclusive Deal with World's Top-selling Stock Photographer -- and Lowers Pricing on Half its Library

NEW YORK, July 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- iStockphoto, the web's original resource for royalty-free stock images, media and design elements, today announced its largest exclusive content partnership ever by signing a deal with prolific top-selling stock photographer Yuri Arcurs, who currently sells more than four million individual licenses per year – an average of 10,000 per day.

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At the same time, the company announced exceptionally better value on more than half of its total library and new site enhancements to improve the search experience. The updates represent the first of a series of site changes iStockphoto will make in the coming months to better serve the new creative world where art directors, designers and others need to easily find more content at a faster pace than ever before.

New Unique Content: The Arcurs Collection - Only at iStockphoto

iStockphoto is now the only site where the Arcurs Collection of photo, video, audio and vector elements can be found. Thousands of files are available today at http://istockphoto.com/yuri with more than 85,000 available by the fall of this year. Arcurs and his team of photographers create thousands of eye-catching images that are used by creative professionals globally. The Arcurs Collection builds on iStockphoto's growing library of millions of hand-picked, curated and edited photos, illustrations, vectors and videos, as well as audio from Getty Images, a global leader in digital content.

Significantly Better Value on Half of the iStockphoto Library

iStockphoto customers will also notice substantial cost reductions with half of the library now at half the price. This long-term pricing change reassures time-pressed creatives that they no longer have to shop around for a better deal. Almost half of the iStock library includes unique content that is not available outside of the Getty Images family.

An Improved, Effortless Search Experience

In addition to the new content and pricing changes, iStockphoto has also improved its online search experience. With more enhancements on the way, iStock recently updated the way search results are displayed with a streamlined grid and rollover capabilities that offers customers a cleaner, faster and simpler way to find specific content and the information they need. Other enhancements include a price filter to help creatives find the best content within their budget, new "Only from iStock" and "Editors' Pick" icons that make it easy to identify and purchase the perfect, stand-out content, and an improved search experience that helps creatives access exactly what they're looking for, free of hassle.

"In a world where images are becoming the new social dialogue, the bar for creatives to stand out is higher than ever," said Ellen Desmarais, the new general manager at iStockphoto. "The changes to iStockphoto align with the growing demands creatives face in the always-on, global era where content is in more places, more formats and on more devices than ever before. Our commitment to this vibrant, dynamic community is to make the best content more accessible than ever." 

iStockphoto helped democratize the stock industry a decade ago, freeing creatives everywhere to craft beautiful communications on a budget in brand new ways. iStock has continually evolved to keep pace with the changing demands creatives face. Growing to become one of the world's leading creative communities online – with tens of thousands of contributing artists, millions of members, and digital media of every kind, from photos and vector illustrations, to videos, music and sound effects, to Flash, logos and more. All to better help and inspire creatives and designers, more multi-media and digitally-savvy than ever, to do their best work.

"The creative community and camaraderie at iStockphoto sets it apart from other stock sites," said iStockphoto contributor and top-selling stock photographer Yuri Arcurs. "Even as the industry evolves, the site's commitment to its 'by creatives, for creatives' heritage and its unmatched global reach make it the best partner for me and the images in my collection." 

More additions and enhancements to iStockphoto will be announced in the coming months. 

About iStockphoto
iStockphoto offers easy, affordable inspiration with millions of hand-picked, royalty-free photos, illustrations, videos and audio tracks. Using the most advanced search in the business, customers download a file every second from a collection of more than ten million files for business, marketing and personal projects. iStockphoto started in 2000, pioneering the micropayment photography business model, and has become one of the most successful and profitable user-generated content sites in the world. iStockphoto pays out more than $1.7 million weekly in artist royalties. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images.

CONTACT:  Colleen McCabe, 646-613-3814, [email protected]

SOURCE iStockphoto