In today’s marketing landscape, the importance of utilizing professional-grade photos and videos cannot be overstated. Yet, not everyone has their own repository of high-quality media at their disposal.
If you find yourself in this situation, fear not, as the internet is abound with stock photo providers offering a wide array of both free and paid media for download. Premium services, in particular, offer a distinct advantage by typically including indemnification as a part of their media licenses. In this piece, we’ll delve into a closer examination of one such repository—Dreamstime.
What Is Dreamstime?
Dreamstime* was established in 2000 with the aim of promoting royalty-free images. In just four years, the platform evolved into a prominent microstock agency, providing a diverse collection of stock photos primarily gathered online at highly competitive prices. Dreamstime swiftly emerged as a key player in the market, achieving remarkable success in its venture. The company takes a percentage from the sales of media artists on its platform.
Situated in Brentwood, Tennessee, Dreamstime boasts a userbase of approximately 37 million individuals, solidifying its position as one of the largest stock communities globally. Serban Enache, the co-founder and owner, continues to serve as the CEO, and the platform’s extensive database grants access to around 160 million files.
Configuration & Usage
Navigating through Dreamstime’s offerings is possible without creating an account, but to make a purchase, signing in is required, a straightforward process requiring only an email account. Once registered, credit packages and subscriptions are offered. An inconvenience arises as there is no clear exit from the purchase page; resorting to inputting Dreamstime’s URL into the address bar is necessary to resume browsing.
The homepage features a user-friendly search bar, including a reverse image search option that performed well during our evaluation. The layout is organized, allowing users to efficiently focus on discovering desired images or content. Editorial team suggestions and curated collection teasers are also present.
Affordable options are abundant, with licenses for high-quality images priced as low as a few cents. Free photos are available, though their quality may not meet publication standards. Completing your profile is necessary for downloading free images.
Dreamstime boasts 191 million stock photos, easily accessible through the header menu. Filters aid in sorting through an extensive selection, including options for image resolution, orientation, color preferences, license type, price, and demographic details. Results can be further sorted by relevance, popularity, and age.
The lightbox feature, though functional, exhibits a dated design and lacks innovation in its user interface. Users can create, manage, and share lightboxes, with saved images from the last search under a designated tab.
The platform offers a diverse range of images for editorial use, including current events, while illustrations are categorized thematically. Video selection is extensive, catering to creative and everyday needs. However, filter options for videos are identical to those for photos, limiting specificity.
Dreamstime’s audio content, including music and sound effects, is comprehensive. Yet, filter options mirror those for photos, resulting in a lack of distinction between music and sound effects. The platform’s tools, including a referral program, API documentation, plugins, and a blog, are accessible through the account area or the homepage.
The Photo Map, found in the footer menu, allows users to search for images based on specific locations, beneficial for travel blogs or tourist agencies.
Despite its initial similarity to other stock photo providers, Dreamstime reveals some shortcomings upon closer inspection. The site’s usability is slightly awkward, especially with the outdated lightbox feature. Filters, while effective for photos, lack logic when applied to video and audio content. Although prices are attractive, the overall impression falls short of fantastic.
Selection of Stock Photos
In general, Dreamstime has exposed a few vulnerabilities. Nevertheless, we aimed to evaluate its database performance for common search queries. Subsequently, we conducted searches using the keywords and phrases: web hosting, ecommerce, antivirus, business, and email marketing.
- Web hosting: Our initial search generated 9,883 stock photos, seemingly impressive. However, the first page results often featured a computer or keyboard with “web hosting” integrated into the graphic. Only a handful of images were text-free, typically showcasing server infrastructure. The final results page exclusively displayed stock images advertising Google Cloud Platform, Dropbox, Firefox, and AWS.
- Ecommerce: With over 180,000 results, users may need to utilize the platform’s filters. The returned images are relevant, featuring creative takes and minimizing reliance on text + graphics. There’s an abundance of high-quality options, particularly suitable for everyday use.
- Antivirus: A search for this term yields just under 35,000 photos from Dreamstime, mostly related to IT, with a few depicting medical care.
- Business: Dreamstime returns approximately 12 million images for this term, including many traditional options. Navigating such a vast collection requires filters, but caution is advised as using too many filters may redirect users to a random photographer’s profile.
- Email marketing: Dreamstime provided around 28,000 images for this term, showcasing creativity. Adding filters that eliminate all relevant results leads to a splash page with information, differing from the business search experience.
In conclusion, Dreamstime’s database can fulfill your stock photo needs, despite its occasionally challenging navigation. Noteworthy is the originality of most search results, making the platform a worthwhile investment of time. While finding the perfect image may take extra effort, especially with budget constraints, the uniqueness of the available options makes it worthwhile.
Licensing Conditions
When it comes to licensing on Dreamstime, things can get a bit complex, requiring a thorough review of the company’s terms of use. The majority of available media falls under a royalty-free license, allowing unlimited usage after purchase, but with restrictions on resale or claiming it as your own.
Upon closer examination of the fine print, various enhanced licenses are offered, including RF-LL, RF-CC0, U-EL, W-EL, P-EL, and SR-EL. Limited Royalty Free Licenses (RF-LL) are applicable to free media not intended for reproduction beyond 10,000 times. Dreamstime’s Public Domain Images (RF-CC0) are considered copyright-free, but the company provides no indemnification if any are later found to be protected.
For transferring rights to specific media, an Unlimited Seats (U-EL) license is required. Reselling or distributing digital media mandates a Web Usage (W-EL) license, while printing requires a Print Usage (P-EL) license. Opting for a Sell the Rights (SR-EL) license grants complete and exclusive control. Additionally, there are time-limited and universal license options.
It’s crucial to note that editorial content is strictly limited to editorial purposes. In summary, Dreamstime’s licensing conditions, though comprehensive, could benefit from simplification.
Pricing
Dreamstime offers a budget-friendly solution, making it an excellent choice for those on a tight budget. The platform provides the option to acquire media through credit packages or subscriptions. Credit packages, valid for one year, encompass both videos and photos. Additionally, there is a separate subscription specifically for videos. It’s important to note that any unused subscription media does not carry over to the following month.
While regular subscriptions include a complimentary trial week, it’s crucial to understand the details. During the trial, users can explore high-resolution .JPG files; however, they come with watermarks. To access the watermark-free versions, users need to license the images. Subsequently, they gain the ability to download double the number of images for free throughout the month.
For your convenience, we’ve included the current pricing list for Dreamstime below:
FAQs
Is Dreamstime a Trustworthy Platform?
Dreamstime is considered a legitimate stock photo site, although it may not be deemed the top choice in the industry. Trustpilot rates it at 3.1 based on nearly 1,100 reviews. Common customer grievances revolve around watermarked images during the free trial and challenges encountered when attempting to cancel subscriptions.
Are Dreamstime Images Free to Use?
Dreamstime boasts an extensive collection of 1.5 million free images, but attribution is required for their usage. Additionally, Dreamstime offers images for purchase under royalty-free and extended licenses, with prices ranging from $0.225 to several thousand dollars.
Is Dreamstime Copyright-Free?
While Dreamstime itself is not copyright-free, users can utilize CC0 photos for free, provided proper attribution is given to both the author and Dreamstime.
What is the Cost of Dreamstime?
Dreamstime offers royalty-free stock images at prices ranging from $0.225 to $5.00 with subscriptions, and $0.88 to $51.78 per image with credits. Extended licenses are available at $19.55 to $26.50 per image. Stock footage can be acquired for as low as $6.12, reaching up to $50 for a 4K video.
How Can I Cancel My Dreamstime Subscription?
To cancel your Dreamstime subscription, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Dreamstime account.
- Click on “My Account.”
- Select “Payment Management.”
- Uncheck the “Auto-renewal” option.
- Confirm your decision.
Final Thought
Dreamstime stands out as a budget-friendly option among its competitors, although it tends to be more intricate and lacks transparency. In terms of user-friendliness, filters, and layout, the platform may not be at the forefront.
Nevertheless, it proves to be a suitable choice for projects with budget constraints, especially for individuals who have the time for thorough research or a bit of patience. Despite its affordability, we must caution against the potentially misleading “free trial version,” which resulted in a deduction of points. Notwithstanding, the platform shines with its amicable and proficient customer support, serving as a notable highlight.