Shutterstock review: A great site to sell your photos online

If you love taking photographs, why not translate that love into a career, and sell photos online? Selling anything online can be a hassle - unless you go through a company whose business is to do that very thing. When it comes to selling photographs, the place to be is Shutterstock.

It costs nothing to sign up for Shutterstock. They need you as much as you need them. You simply go to their website, submit.shutterstock.com, and create an account. Then, you upload your photos. When a client downloads one of your photos for their own use, you earn a royalty of from 25 cents to $28 per download.

In other words, you're not selling your photos for one-time use to one individual. Hundreds, even thousands of people who access the web can download your photos and use them for their advertising, or whatever purpose they desire. That's what the term "stock" photo means.

Don't dream of making thousands of dollars to start with, though. There's a lot of competition at Shutterstock, so possible clients have a lot to choose from. But as you submit your own unique content - places you've traveled, beautiful compositions of sunsets, sports, whatever... you'll find that gradually, over the course of time, you'll start to make money.

The Key To Making Money At Shutterstock
There are thousands of photographers in every country. Most of these photographers are untutored - they point, click, and pray that their photos turn out alright. Shutterstock does not accept just any photo. It must be a photo of professional quality - one that will stay in focus when the end user shrinks or expands it. If you want to sell photos online, you're going to have to ensure that you approach it as a professional business, and learn the ins and outs of your craft.

Signing Up For Shutterstock
Signing up for Shutterstock is easy. You simply input your name and address, and the username you'd like to use. You'll choose how you'd like to be paid - Paypal, Moneybookers, or by paper check.

Uploading Photos
Once you've created your account at Shutterstock, you can start uploading photos. Typically, you'll need a high-speed internet connection, because they require that you submit photos at a certain size and DPI (dots per inch). These are large files. Shutterstock provides several methods for you to upload photos: via FTP, ActiveX , and HTML.

Once you upload your photos, there is a delay of a couple of days before your photos become "live." During this period, your photos are being checked to see if they will render properly. If not, you will receive a notification that your submission has been rejected. Usually they will give you a reason for this. More often than not, it's because the photo can't be downsized and still remain its crisp in-focus look. Shutterstock has forums where you can go to ask advice of other users. They can give you tips on what type of camera you should use, and how to ensure that your photos turn out professionally each time.

How Your Photos Are Sold
Once your photos are available, they will appear in Shutterstock's various catalogs. When you upload them, you give them keywords, such as "man and woman, sunset, Tower of London" and the photos are divided within the appropriate keywords.

When a client downloads one of your photos, your account is immediately credited. You can check every day to see if your work is being purchased. For Paypal or Moneybrokers, you are paid on a monthly basis once your account reaches $75. If you wish payment by check, it is $300.

The standard payment is 25 cents per download. If your photo is extremely popular, you will earn 33 cents per download. Your rate continues to go up, the more your photo is downloaded.

Both quality and quantity are key to making money at Shutterstock.

To begin selling your photos online, click here to open an account with Shutterstock.