Many times, iStockphoto contributors wish to download their own images. Their hard drive crashed, they’re on location somewhere, etc. So, can you download your contributed content for free?
The answer to the question, is no, and the answer to the unasked question, is no. The unasked question, being, “Can I download my own images?”. Not for free, mind you, but by paying for them.
Ok, to address the asked question, you cannot download your imagery for free. iStockphoto is not a storage vault for valuables. You can, however, contact support, and for a small fee, they will provide you with access to your portfolio for an amount of time to download your work.
For a small fee you can re-download your carefully-crafted portfolio or years of previously-purchased files bought from our site.
- $25 USD for fewer than 100 files
- $50 USD for 100-499 files
- $75 USD for 500 files or more
Just contact Customer Support via telephone, email or fax, providing your credit card number, expiry date, billing address and name on the card. We’ll activate the program and send you the steps required to complete the process.
To answer the unasked question, you used to be able to download your own imagery as you wished, for the normal credit cost. However, this was changed officially with the start of the subscription credit plan, as someone buying a subscription, and then buying their own images would throw off the system. Now, in most cases, you are not allowed to purchase your own imagery. You are still allowed to buy your own images for “legitimate creative purposes” (see 9.b), and there is supposed to be some human oversight to the system, but there have been some problems with the clarity of how this exactly works.
Posted by sjlocke 