- Hey everybody.
This is Roberto Blake of RobertoBlake.com
helping you create something awesome today.
So today we're going to talk about something
very important for graphic design,
something important for marketers
and pretty much all creatives.
And, we're going to talk about royalty-free images,
copyright and stock photos and templates.
I've actually addressed this topic before in the past,
but I'm going to get a little bit more in-depth here.
I think it's super important,
and I also want to tell you guys what resources
I'm using, specifically.
And, actually, one of our sponsors today is
a resource that I've been using for quite a while.
It's no secret to many of you
that I've been using GraphicStock.
I've been a paid subscriber of theirs.
I actually have the $99 for the year plan.
But, they've actually reached out.
They're a sponsor for this video and
we're going to be working together in the future,
and we're going to talk about how I use that and why.
Part of the reason why I use GraphicStock,
and why I like it a little better than the
other stock photo site and stock image sites that I've used
in the past is because of the way they handle the licensing.
With royalty-free, sometimes you have a limited license
and the usage is not always as specific
as you would like it to be,
and you might have to pay more for an extended license.
This is something that gets really complicated
for people who are just trying to create something
to put it out there.
Figuring out whether or not you have the right
to put it on a t-shirt.
Figuring out whether or not you have the right
to resell this in something to your client.
That gets frustrating and it gets confusing.
It'd be great to just have all of the rights
and have it be very clear.
And that's why I use GraphicStock for my stock images.
It's why I use Audioblocks for the background sounds
for the YouTube channel, and why when I need
to do client stuff, and B-roll, I'm using Videoblocks.
With these services, I know that royalty-free
is truly royalty-free with no hangups or extra provisions.
I know that once I get this thing, I can use it
commercially however I want.
I can use it for paying client work.
I can include it in projects or even templates
that I'm making and reselling.
That's something that you don't get with
the overwhelming majority of the other stock photo sites.
You have to buy extended licenses for that
that cost sometimes hundreds of dollars apiece.
If I get a photo from GraphicStock
or I even get a template for a poster
or for Instagram or Facebook cover
or anything I'm trying to make,
I can use it however I want.
And that's the important thing.
If you misuse royalty-free images,
you might have to pay penalties and fees
and that could get very painful and excruciating.
I know companies that have had a problem
with that in the past.
Sometimes they'll use a vendor or an employee.
This is sometimes why I tell you guys that I don't
like Fiver is if someone doesn't understand copyright,
but you as a business owner or you as somebody that's
freelancing and you outsource,
and they have copyrighted images in your thing
and you misuse that, it can be very dangerous
and there could be huge fines and fees and penalties
associated with that.
Royalty-free and copyright is something I know
a lot of designers struggle with because learning
these terms and the legalities of it
can get very confusing, especially for people
who just want to focus on creativity
or already feel overwhelmed by all the technical
aspects of their job.
They don't want to have to be a lawyer on top of it.
I know I certainly don't, so that's why I simplified
the process as much as possible.
Other than that, I use a lot of my own inventory
of images that I know I own all the rights to,
so it's not confusing.
So, if I can't use something that I know
is completely royalty-free with no restrictions,
then I usually just make my own thing.
But, a lot of times, that's just not practical.
You don't have the time,
or if you're somebody who is working with a lot of clients
or you're in house or you're a solo entrepreneur
as well as a creative, then it's very practical
for you to use templates and images and then just remix them
or add your own assets to them and make them unique.
One of the things I like about using GraphicStock
is the variety.
There are things that, yes, other people have them,
but I can go in and I can take the source files,
especially in Illustrator and I can change things.
I can change colors.
I can manipulate the images.
I can combine things.
I can warp things in Photoshop
and do photo manipulations.
I can edit these things to my heart's content
and make them my own and then I can combine
them with other assets that I might have bought
in the past that I know I own the rights to
or things that I've created
or things that I've hired other people to create.
So, if you want to sign up for GraphicStock like I did,
you've got some choices.
You can either sign up for $39 for six months.
It's usually about $49 a month,
but if you do a yearly plan, you can get it for $99.
They have a seven day free trial,
so you can try it out.
Download a whole bunch of images and just
see if you like what's there and you like
the quality and you like the variety.
Recently, they just added a ton of new images.
They are constantly doing that.
They also do creative rewards months.
They do a lot of free stuff,
and recently I know that they actually added about
1,500 poster templates to the site.
So, they're always updating.
There's always fresh stuff.
It's always new and there's so much variety
and volume that I think that you'll really
get the most value out of it and benefit from it.
I think that if you even do one paying client project,
that it's totally worth it
and that's why I use it.
It just makes sense.
Otherwise, I know that I'd be paying 10 and 20 and $50
for images elsewhere.
I still do that sometimes.
I've done it in the past,
but I'm using GraphicStock a lot more
just because it is a practical solution.
I've made no secret, even before they were a sponsor
of the channel that I've been using them.
A lot of you who are signed up to the newsletter,
you guys know that.
And that's why I've been able to revamp
the YouTube thumbnails and make them so awesome.
Every thumbnail is like its own billboard now
and that's a tool that I've been using to help with that.
So, if you're interested, make sure you definitely
sign up for GraphicStock.
Links are in the description below, of course.
I'm also thinking of doing a follow up video
and getting a legal expert to talk about
copyright and trademark for creatives.
So, if that's a video that you guys would love to see,
let me know in the comments section
if that's something you're interested in
and what your struggles are there.
What are you worried about?
But, I will tell you, a lot of what you're worried about
is probably covered in the Digital Millennia Copyright Act.
I've really been considering just reading that thing
out loud on the channel.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
Thanks to GraphicStock for sponsoring this.
I've wanted to talk about copyright and royalty-free
for a while here and I think it's a topic that's
worth revisiting here on the channel.
Like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the other awesome content on the channel.
Remember, graphic design videos are typically on Mondays.
As always, you guys, thanks so very much for watching
and don't forget, create something awesome today.