In the film and television industry, stock images play a crucial role throughout the entire production process, particularly in the art department. Graphic designers and motion graphic designers rely heavily on stock imagery to create the perfect graphics, while filmmakers also use stock images for marketing and promotional materials, title sequences, visual effects, and post-production.
Whether it’s incorporating images into set concepts, developing digital artwork, or creating marketing assets, stock images save valuable time and resources while enhancing the overall look and feel of your project. Filmmakers and editors also often turn to stock images to complete their creative vision, especially when dealing with tight deadlines or budget constraints.
With so many stock image websites available, it’s essential to choose the right platform for your specific needs. Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best stock image resources tailored to filmmakers, art departments, and editors. These platforms offer high-quality assets with flexible licensing options, ensuring that your project stays on track and legally compliant from pre-production through post.
Royalty-Free Stock Image Services
Getty Images
Getty Images offers a vast collection of high-quality stock photos, videos, art, and illustrations for commercial and creative use. At a cost, Getty can provide your production with a customizable legal rider for film and television, ensuring that your project’s clearance requirements are fully met. Whether you’re in the art department or a filmmaker, Getty Images offers the assets and licensing options you need to protect your work.
iStock
iStock, a subsidiary of Getty Images, offers a wide range of high-quality stock photos, videos, and illustrations for various creative and commercial needs. In addition to its extensive library, iStock provides legal rider licenses at an additional cost, specifically designed for film and television productions, ensuring that all legal requirements are covered for your project.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock provides a wide selection of high-quality stock photos, videos, art, and illustrations for creative and commercial use. In addition to its extensive library, Shutterstock offers legal rider licenses for film and television productions at an extra cost, ensuring your project complies with all necessary legal requirements.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock offers a vast collection of high-quality photos, videos, illustrations, and templates for creative projects. Integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud, it provides seamless access to millions of assets. Adobe Stock offers both standard and extended licenses, giving you flexibility for commercial use, with extended licenses covering broader distribution and more extensive usage rights.
AP Images | Associated Press Images
AP Images offers a vast collection of editorial photos and videos from around the world, providing powerful visual storytelling for media, businesses, and creatives. With content from global news events, sports, entertainment, and more, AP Images provides flexible licensing options tailored for commercial, editorial, and legal uses, ensuring that users can access the right visuals for their projects while maintaining proper legal rights.
Alamy
Alamy offers a vast collection of high-quality stock photos, videos, and illustrations from a global network of photographers and content creators. With millions of assets available, Alamy provides flexible licensing options, including rights-managed and royalty-free content, making it easy to find the perfect visual for any creative or commercial project.
Bridgeman Images
Bridgeman Images is a leading provider of high-quality art, cultural, and historical imagery, offering a vast collection of fine art, photography, and rare archives. With a focus on premium visual content, Bridgeman provides flexible licensing options for commercial, editorial, and creative projects, ensuring users have access to unique and iconic images from around the world.
DepositPhotos
Depositphotos offers a wide range of high-quality stock photos, videos, illustrations, and vectors, catering to creative and commercial needs. With millions of assets available, Depositphotos provides flexible licensing options, including royalty-free content, making it easy for users to find the perfect visuals for their projects at an affordable price.
Big Stock Photo
Big Stock Photos offers a diverse collection of stock images, illustrations, and videos for commercial and creative use. With a user-friendly platform and affordable pricing, Big Stock Photos provides flexible licensing options, including royalty-free content, making it easy for users to access premium visuals for any project.
Map Resources
Maps Resource offers a wide selection of high-quality maps, cartographic illustrations, and geographical content for various creative and commercial uses. With an extensive collection of maps from different time periods and regions, Maps Resource provides customizable licensing options, making it easy for users to access accurate and visually compelling maps for their projects.
Dreamstime
Dreamstime is a popular stock photography platform offering millions of high-quality images, videos, and illustrations for commercial and creative projects. With flexible licensing options, including royalty-free content, Dreamstime provides affordable access to a diverse range of visuals, catering to businesses, designers, and content creators worldwide.
Dissolve
Dissolve is a premium stock footage and photography platform offering high-quality videos and images for creative and commercial projects. With a curated library of cinematic footage, stills, and music, Dissolve provides flexible licensing options to suit various needs, making it a go-to resource for filmmakers, marketers, and content creators looking for visually stunning assets.
Pixabay
Pixabay offers a vast collection of high-quality, royalty-free images, videos, illustrations, and music, all available for free download and use. With a user-friendly platform, Pixabay provides creative assets for commercial and personal projects, making it an accessible resource for designers, marketers, and content creators around the world.
Stock Video Footage Services
Pond5
Pond5 is a leading marketplace for high-quality stock media, offering a vast collection of royalty-free footage, music, sound effects, images, and After Effects templates. With a diverse range of assets available for filmmakers, videographers, and content creators, Pond5 provides flexible licensing options to suit various creative and commercial projects, ensuring users can find the perfect media to enhance their work.
RocketStock
RocketStock offers high-quality, royalty-free stock footage, After Effects templates, and motion graphics for filmmakers, video editors, and content creators. With a curated collection of cinematic assets designed to elevate creative projects, RocketStock provides affordable and flexible licensing options, making it easy to integrate stunning visuals into your work without compromising on quality or budget.