Picture Location Service
Introduction
There are many commercial picture libraries, offering thousands of high quality pictures by professional photographers and artists. These pictures are available for licensing for a wide variety of commercial and editorial uses. Here at Aardstorm we can use our knowledge and experience of this market on your behalf to search for and locate the pictures that you require, for you to license for virtually any use. This can also be a very time consuming process; while we locate your pictures you can be devoting your time to more important or productive work, such as running your business.
Once we have located the pictures your require, we will supply you with alternatives for you to make the final selection. You can then license the pictures yourself, or commission us to do so on your behalf. We can then also make use of your chosen pictures in a website or document that we are producing for you through our other services. While this service is intended to complement our other website and document services, to help provide illustrations for the website or document we produce, you are welcome to use our service to locate pictures for your own activities.
The rest of this page describes our picture location service in more detail, including details of the information we will need from you to successfully find the pictures you require, and a description of how we will find those pictures and supply them to you. See our fees summary page for details of our standard charges for this service.
Picture Search
Licensing fees for images vary greatly (from a few dollars, to hundreds or thousands), and depend heavily on the use for which they are required. Therefore, when you request a quotation from us, please specify clearly and fully what you want to use the pictures for; the terms and conditions associated with the licence for each picture will normally be tailored to the use(s) you specify; and you will not be allowed to use or copy the picture(s) for any other purpose. When using this service, we also suggest that you specify a budget for these licensing fees, either as an overall total, or on a per picture basis, so that we do not offer you pictures that you cannot afford.
The majority of picture libraries allow their stock to be searched from the internet, and our search will be limited to these libraries. When we receive you request for a quotation, we will do an initial search of the most relevant libraries, to get an estimate of how easy your picture(s) will be to find. Based on the results of this search, we will then provide you with a firm quotation for our services. When you subsequently place your order, and pay the required deposit, we will then perform the detailed search for your pictures. For each picture, we will attempt to locate several alternatives, with a variety of associated licensing fees. This process typically takes 1-2 days per (required) picture, but may take considerably longer if your requirements are particularly difficult to meet. Also, where you require several closely related pictures, then the searches for each picture 'overlap', reducing the overall per picture search time.
Selection and Licensing
Once we have completed our search, we will present the pictures we have found to you, for you to make the final selection. Where possible, we will obtain a 'for approval' copy of each picture, and will supply them to you on CDÂ or DVD ROM, together with the associated licensing terms and conditions and fees. You must not use or copy pictures supplied to you in this way for any other purpose than to make you final selection. If we are unable to obtain such copies, then we will instead provide instructions to allow you to view the located pictures through the appropriate library.
Once you have made your final selection, then you can either enter into the appropriate licensing aggreement(s) directly with the library (or libraries) concerned, and obtain the working copies of your chosen pictures yourself, or we can license the pictures on your behalf. The latter is most appropriate when the pictures are for use in a website or document that we are producing for you. However, if the pictures are for use by yourself or a third party, and you request us to license them on your behalf, then our license handling fee will also apply, in addition to the fees imposed by the library concerned. All licensing terms and conditions will also be passed on to you; you must not make any use or copies of the pictures other than as provided for in the associated licence.
Location Process
The process used by Aardstorm to search for and locate pictures to your requirements will normally consist of the following steps:
1. Request Quotation
You request us to supply a quotation for locating the pictures you require. At this point you need to supply us with sufficient information about your requirements for us to accurately estimate the work involved in locating your pictures. This will include such information as:
- The type and number of pictures required.
- Whether you can provide any locations where we can start to search for the pictures you require.
- The intended use for the pictures you require, and any other terms and conditions the licence will need to accommodate, such as duration in time, volume of production, and international scope of distribution.
- Whether we are negotiate the licence(s) on your behalf, or simply pass the picture details on to you for you to negotiate the licence for yourself.
- A budget for the licensing fees associated with the pictures that we are to find for you.
If you are also commissioning any of our other services, perhaps to make use of the pictures we find, then you should also state your requirements for these too.
2. Supply Quotation
On receipt of your request, we will use the information you supply about your requirements to estimate the amount of work and other costs involved for us to find the pictures that you require. As described above, we will do an initial, brief, internet search to help us ascertain the availability of thse pictures. If anything about your requirements is unclear, we will request clarification from you. We will then produce a firm quotation and send it to you. This will include a firm price and schedule for the work to be done (subject to no significant changes to your requirements), together with a summary of your requirements so that you can check that we have understood your request.
3. Place Order
If you accept our quotation, and decide to commission us to search for your pictures, you then place a firm order, and pay a deposit of 50% (less if stage payments have been agreed) of the total picture location and any other document and picture service fees, plus 100% of any third party fees. At this point you need to also supply us with the full specification for the pictures that you require, if you have not already done so.
4. Picture Search
Once we have received your deposit and final requirements, we will then search for the pictures you require using the internet, as described above.
5. Picture Selection
Once we have found the pictures you have requested, we will supply you with preview copies or sufficient information for you to view them, and select from the alternatives, as described above. We will also send you our invoice for the remaining fees or stage payment due.
6. Picture Licensing (optional)
If you have also commissioned us to license your chosen pictures on your behalf, you should notify us of your selection along with your final or stage payment. We will then enter into a licensing agreement on your behalf for each of the pictures you select, and pass on the relevant paperwork and production copies, unless we are to also use or modify the pictures through our other services.
Communication
Throughout the picture search and any subsequent document or picture production process, communication between us will normally be via e-mail; you will therefore need to supply us with a valid e-mail address that we can use to contact you. If you require one or more face-to-face meetings, we will be happy to visit you, but will charge extra for the travelling and subsistence costs incurred.