Your ultimate guide to find, license, and format stock content

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Stock images and videos can be powerful tools to connect with your audiences. While articles and blog posts with visual content garner over 90% more views than those without¹, capturing original visual content can be incredibly costly — from finding talent and photographers to scouting a location and usage rights.

Instead, bring visual storytelling to life with stock content. From announcing a sale, promoting an event, or adding stories to social channels, this tool can be more affordable and less worrisome for small business owners.

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of stock content, from finding the best visuals for your business to navigating licensing and file formats.

Stock content: How to find it?

Stock footage is existing video footage that can be licensed for use in your commercial projects. In the same way, stock images are professionally shot photographs or illustrations that can be easily found and licensed through specialized websites or online platforms.

Here’s what to know and how to find stock content online.

What is stock footage?

Sometimes referred to as stock video or b-roll, stock content is footage that has been pre-filmed and can be licensed to someone else for use in their projects. This can be footage of anything that you need to communicate your message, from cute puppies to a group of friends sharing a pizza, to a shot of a well-known location.

Generally, stock footage is original video produced by filmmakers and videographers who then license their work for use in a wide variety of commercial projects. On the user side, businesses and individuals can reap the benefits of high-quality visuals without sustaining expensive production costs.

What are stock images?

Stock images are existing, already created photographs that are licensed for commercial purposes.

Stock photos are created by professional photographers and run the catalog of subject matter. In other words, there’s a stock photo for almost anything you may be looking for, from places such as football stadiums, to scenarios like a family having a movie night eating popcorn.

How to find this content?

Finding the right image or video means using the right service based on your needs, from public domain archives of video footage to all-in-one stock image and video sites like iStock.

There are free resources available, including the Internet Archive’s Moving Image Archive — which can be helpful for historic clips in the public domain. While an interesting resource, this type of content can be dated and not representative of modern times. It also may not offer the right type of content to promote your business.

That’s where stock content providers such as iStock come into play. iStock offers users the ability to browse a massive database of quality-controlled images ready for immediate downloading, including exclusive visuals and footage you can only find there. They also include assurances for the commercial use of images licensed through the site, including legal protections and model/location releases.

Image and video licensing: Ensure you're using stock content legally

Before downloading visuals, it’s important to understand the image licensing terms and stock photo rights — including the acceptable applications and the length of time the purchased content can be used.

When searching for stock content, there are several licenses to be aware of and specific terms of use/guidelines for each. Some of them include:

• Royalty-free: Users pay a one-time fee to access and use content, typically without the need for further payments or royalties based on usage.
• Creative Commons: Allows creators to choose and specify the permissions and restrictions for their work, enabling others to use, share, and modify their creations under certain conditions.
• Public domain: Refers to creative works that are not protected by copyright and are freely available for anyone to use, modify, or distribute without restrictions.
• Rights-ready/managed: Indicates that the licensing and usage rights for a particular piece of content have been pre-negotiated and are readily available for commercial use, typically requiring payment based on specific rights and usage requirements.

For ease of use, most premium stock photo companies like iStock offer two licensing options: standard and extended.

Typically, every file downloaded from iStock comes with a rich standard license. This license allows you to use the content on a perpetual basis (so there is no expiration or end date), worldwide, and for unlimited projects.

Here are some ways you can use downloaded content with a standard license:

• Advertising and marketing
• Apps, websites, and social media
• TV and film
• Presentations

With an extended license, you may be able to use stock content for items for resale like product packaging and downloadable digital templates.

Are stock images copyrighted? Though you may be tempted to use images found through a quick online search, make sure to exercise caution: Copyright protection is assigned automatically. That means any image found through a browser search is most likely copyright protected and not acceptable to use without the correct permissions. This is why licensing your content from a site like iStock should be considered, so you have the peace of mind knowing that you have the right to use the footage in your commercial projects.

Accessing and using the best file formats for your project

Once you’ve found the perfect visuals and are confident you have the proper licensing to use them, the last step is downloading the correct file type for your project.

Images, illustrations, and videos come in standardized file formats that work across platforms. Understanding the capabilities of these file formats can help ensure you download the highest-quality, compatible visual for your project.

There are many types of file formats (see the wider range here), so the type that is right for you depends on the type of content and medium you are using it for, such as photo or video.

Using stock content for your business

Stock content is an effective and affordable option for projects, whether a commercial advertisement, website layout, or webinar presentation. And finding the best stock image or footage can help create even more engaging content for your small business.

Though narrowing down the right stock content may feel overwhelming, many resources are available to quickly help you find and download images or videos to meet your needs while providing the proper licensing and legal protections. For example, iStock has a free tool called VisualGPS Insights — it lets users see the most popular searches and downloads across specific themes, helping inform your visual selection based on what visual content is trending.

Whether you're crafting engaging social media posts, selling on Facebook Marketplace, or building an e-commerce website, finding high-quality stock content can captivate your audience and take your business to new heights.