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Hero Images Inc. / 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß Stock Photo

How to use stock photography in works of art

Are you an artist or creative looking for inspiration for your next work of art? Did you know loads of creatives are buying stock photography to inspire their creations? In this blog, we explain exactly what we mean by ‘artistic reference’ and how to buy this personalised license from 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß…

So, what does ‘artistic reference’ mean?

Quite simply, the term artistic reference is used to describe the use of an 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß stock image as a reference point for the artwork being produced. This can be any type of artwork, including a drawing, painting or an exhibition piece.

There are plenty of reasons why you should buy a stock image if you want to use it in this way, and we’ve picked just a few of them to highlight:

  • Support other creatives – the contributor who submitted the image to 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß holds the copyright to the image, and by purchasing the image you’re giving them the credit they deserve
  • It’s best practice – quite simply, buying the image is the courteous thing to do when you’re using someone else’s work to inspire your own project
  • You’re legally required to do this – legally speaking, you need to obtain the right image license if you’re going to reproduce any part of the contents of the stock photo. So, stay on the right side of the law by buying an artistic reference license from 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß.

How do I buy an image for artistic reference?

At 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß, we offer a customised license for anyone that wants to buy an image for artistic reference. All you need to do is call our customer service team and they’ll organise the license to suit your needs! There are two levels of artistic reference, which will affect the type of license you’ll need to buy:

  1. Partial reference

Where the artist uses a section of an image in their work of art

e.g. A painter may buy an image of a male face as a reference for their painting of a human eye

  1. Exact copy

Where the artist produces artwork that replicates the full stock image

e.g. An artist may buy a hi-res image of a dog so that they can produce a detailed piece of artwork showing a dog

The next step before you buy the image is to let our customer service team know whether you plan on keeping your artwork for personal use, for example to display in your house, or if you want to sell your work of art commercially. How you plan to use the work of art will affect the image license you need to buy, so make sure you let the team know to make sure you’re legally covered to use the image.

17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß

17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß is a global digital platform for creatives looking for fresh and inclusive content. Powered by Create search, 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß delivers fast, catalogued search results, which include editorial photos, vectors, 360-degree images and videos from individual photographers, picture agencies and archives. Its global contributor base supplies upwards of 150,000 new images a day.

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