Sell Stock Photos, Images and Video with Dreamstime
Prices and download plans

How to Sell Photos, Images & Video with Dreamstime

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Your first step in selling your images is to register for free on the Register page .

Before uploading a file you must make sure the following criteria are met for your image:
Must be your personal work and you must own the copyright upon everything within it
Traced illustrations should have the original image uploaded in the Property Release area (if it is not the case you should mention the illustration is your own work, created from scratch, in the notify admins area)
Don’t upload offensive content such as explicit nudes, drugs, people in offensive positions, racism
Add a relevant description to your file to increase its relevancy in searches. Don’t use all caps for the name and description.
Check the image for all the faults listed in these guidelines
Must have a Model Release for all recognizable people in your image or video files must be JPEG or PDF, filenames must contain only letters and numbers, no special characters
Clear copyright such as labels, logos, characters from cartoons or movies, buildings protected by a trademark (such as new sculptures), cars like Ferrari and Porsche, Harley Davidson motorcycles, the Coca-Cola bottle, the Olympic logo circles etc.

File requirements

  • Images & raster illustrations
    Vector & RAW files
    Video clips
    Audio files
    • 1GB maximum file size
    • JPEG/RGB files
    • Best quality compression
    • At least 3 Megapixels resolution
    • For illustrations: .ai, .eps, .cdr and .svg files
    • For photos: Camera RAW files
    • Quicktime MOV format preffered
    • Photo JPEG/MJPEG codec preffered
    • Up to 30 seconds length recommended, up to 60 seconds acceptable in certain cases
    • WAV or FLAC format
    • 44100 minimum samplerate
    • 16-bit minimum precision
    • Up to 600 seconds length

Anyone can join our community and sell their photos, images and/or videos. Just create an account and upload your media files. Don`t forget to check our website terms. Also, you can always find more details on how to upload images and videos in our FAQ section. Please keep in mind that we reserve the right to select our content and we accept only quality files after assessing them technically, aesthetically and commercially.

For each transaction, the contributor receives 25-50% Revenue Share, which is calculated based on the net amount for the transaction. Exclusive files receive an additional 10 % bonus, while exclusive contributors enjoy a 60 % Revenue Share for all sales and an additional bonus of $0.20 for each approved submission. This upload bonus is awarded for the first 100 approved files in all circumstances and only for the first 10,000 approved files if your download rate is higher than 0.1

Any contributor may request payment as soon as the balance has reached $100 and the contributor submits a payment request from My Account section.

When approved, your file will be included in the database as a 1 level file. As it gets downloaded, the image/video moves to a higher level and sells for a higher price. The table below shows you the full price and level structure:

Earnings for registered users*

Content type
Content level
  • Images with 0 downloads, older than 6 months
    Non-exclusive file
    Exclusive file
    Exclusive user
    Earning Percentage
    25%
    27.5%
    60%
    Extra Small
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    Small
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    Medium
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    Large
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    Extra Large
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    Maximum
    $1.25
    $1.38
    $3
    TIFF
    150% of the royalties for the maximum size
    Vector/RAW
    double the royalties for the maximum size
    Subscription All-in-one
    25-45%
    27.5-49.5%
    60%
    Subscription All-at-once
    $2
    $2.20
    $2.20
    Subscription Monthly-dose
    $0.35
    $0.42
    $0.42
    Extended License Subscription
    $13
    $14.3
    $26.4
    Unlimited Seats
    $12.5
    $13.75
    $30
    Web Usage
    $12.5
    $13.75
    $30
    Print Usage
    $12.5
    $13.75
    $30
    Free images
    optional donation (100% royalties go to contributors)
    Alliances and Partnerships
    only for selected content, varies depending on alliance
*these are maximum values.
Exclusive users also receive $0.20 per accepted upload

Revenues from extended licenses

  • License
    Non-exclusive file
    Exclusive file
    Exclusive user
    SR-EL1 1 year exclusivity
    50% (1/4 SR-EL price)
    60% (1/4 SR-EL price)
    60% (1/4 SR-EL price)
    SR-EL3 3 years exclusivity
    50% (3/5 SR-EL price)
    60% (3/5 SR-EL price)
    60% (3/5 SR-EL price)
    SR-EL Sell the rights
    50%
    60%
    60%

The current pricing structure was released on January 2010. Note that credits acquired in the past may be based on a different pricing structure. In order to meet industry dynamics, market trends, technological and knowledge improvements, Dreamstime performs regular updates on its pricing.

Dreamstime.com acts as an agency providing quality images to professionals in the industry, as well as helping professional or amateur photographers sell their portfolio online. We do not require exclusivity for the images you upload, but each uploaded image becomes subject to our terms and conditions, and you must own the rights for each image you upload to our database.

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