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Updated: October 20, 2009
We welcome your feedback. If you have any comments or concerns regarding our policies and the FAQs, please click here.
Customer Questions:
Why choose Cutcaster?
How do I search for photos and illustrations?
How do I purchase a file I want to license?
How do I bid on photos and illustrations?
Can I send you a Purchase Order (PO) and get invoiced?
What are Cutcaster credits?
What's a "comp'ed" image and can I download them?
How can I use your royalty free photos and illustrations?
What uses are prohibited under the license?
How does Cutcaster monitor content uploaded to the site?
How do I flag images?
If there are any questions refer to the Content License Agreement or contact help@cutcaster.com.
Photographer/Illustrator Questions:
I am interested in selling my content. How does Cutcaster work?
What type of content do you need?
Can I set the price?
What is the Cutcaster algorithm?
Are you looking for specific content?
How do I upload my content?
How do I upload vector illustrations?
What are the requirements for uploading content to Cutcaster?
Do I need a model or property release?
How fast will you review my images?
What happens when someone purchases my content?
How much does Cutcaster pay me when I sell a file?
How does Bidding work?
Can I see how many views and downloads my content has gotten?
Does Cutcaster have an affiliate/referral program for sending buyers and sellers to the site?
May I use an alias at Cutcaster instead of my real name?
Click here for the Contributor Agreement. If you have any questions or can't find what you are looking for please email contractagreements@cutcaster.com.
Why choose Cutcaster?
Cutcaster offers royalty free photos, stock images, and vector illustrations that can be used for advertising, publishing, web design, blogs or whenever you have a visual need. All files uploaded to Cutcaster have the required model and property releases, been scoured at 100% for copyright or trademark headaches and reviewed by our experienced photo editors for quality before being released to the marketplace. Contributors to Cutcaster live around the globe giving you intimate access to region specific work in over 85 countries and access to thousands of new photos added daily to give you more choices.
Photo buyers can purchase content immediately at the listed price using any major credit card, Cutcaster Credits or by requesting an invoice. If a buyer has more time or a smaller budget, they can also name their price by bidding on content, which a seller can quickly accept, reject or re-submit a new offer back to the interested content buyer. Cutcaster offers the red carpet treatment to all members and spends more time focusing on customer service than any other part of our company. When you choose Cutcaster, we make a pledge that you are a valued name and a face and not a number.
How do I search for photos and illustrations?
1. Start with basic keywords, compound phrase or Cutcaster Media ID number, then refine.
2. Basic Search allows you to filter results by Photos, Illustrations/Vectors or Members
3. Click "Advanced Search" in the black search bar area to filter your search results by categories, relevance, price, exclusivity, results per page, model and property released and by adult content filter.
4. Boolean Operators- Use AND between search terms to find images that contain ALL the words you type. Or just separate words with a space, which will be interpreted the same way. Note: Typing & or + between words also finds images containing all those words. Use OR between words to find images that contain any of your sea rch words. Note: typing a comma (,) or vertical bar (|) between words also finds images containing any of those words. Use quotation marks around several terms to find a phrase. If your multi-term search already exists in the Controlled Vocabulary as a phrase, those search results will be returned, with the option available to see other results as well.
If you need help finding a specific file, Cutcaster does offer free photo research and is happy to help assist you in finding any photos or illustrations you need. Please email research@cutcaster.com with your request or fill out your request in the ProjectRequest area.
How do I purchase a file I want to license?
There are four ways you can buy content from Cutcaster. The first is "pay-as-you-go" with any major credit card. Select a file, check out immediately, download the file and then recieve an receipt confirmation by email. The second is purchasing Cutcaster credits, which can be bought in bulk and get cheaper the more you buy. The third is sending us an email with the Media ID number or URL of the file and we can invoice you using PayPal. Fourth, you can register for a corporate account and get invoiced for any of the content you need. Lastly, you can bid on content and name your price directly with the seller to purchase it using the above methods at the price you agree upon.
To buy any photo or vector, add it to your cart. From the My Cart page, you can select how you would like to pay and securely purchase the desired piece of content. Once you successfully pay for the file, you can click on the image thumbnail and immediately download the file.
It is not possible to ask for a refund due to the re-producible nature of the downloaded image. On a case by case basis, we reserve the right to re-examine this policy and grant a refund.
Do I have to bid on photos and illustrations?
No. You can purchase the file at the price shown. However, bidding is an easy purchasing option for those with more time and a smaller budget! Once you find an photo or illustration you want to download, you are given two pricing options as a buyer on the media details page. The first is buy the content now. It's immediate, hassle free, highly secure and 2 clicks. If, however, you want to pay less and aren't in a rush, you have the option to click on the yellow, "Place a bid" button (name your price) below the "Buy this Now" button. This will immediately submit the new price directly to the seller, who can accept, reject or re-submit a new offer back (note the price needs to go out to two decimal places if your price is less than one dollar).
Any bids you’ve placed as a buyer can be found in your My Studio page under "Content I want to Buy" (which is within My Marketplace on the left-hand side). Anytime a seller accepts, declines or re-submits a new price back to you, you will receive an email in real-time to the email address you provided during the registration. Finally, any deals that have been accepted or declined can be found under My Marketplace (Accepted Deals and Declined Deals) for your own reference.
Accepted deals will stay in your Cart for 72 hours and after that become void and you must be re-bid.
Can I send you a Purchase Order (PO) and get invoiced?
Yes! We are happy to offer this service for any Corporate Account. Sign up here.
Here is the information you may need to set Cutcaster up as a image supplier for your company:
- Company Name : Mezzato Inc. d/b/a Cutcaster
- Company Type : LLC
- Address : 39 Mesa St. Suite 101
- City : San Francisco
- State : California
- Zip Code : 94129
- Country : USA
- Telephone: 215-688-2751
- EIN Number : 20-8063486
To fill out a Credit App for a Cutcaster Corporate account just click on https://www.cutcaster.com/corporate/downloadCreditApp.
What are Cutcaster Credits?
Buying credits to license royalty free stock images and vector illustrations at Cutcaster gives you one more way to quickly download and license your desired files at a discount. When a user has available credits in their Cutcaster Credit account, they are able to control their budget and immediately download images or vectors from the site without having to checkout every time. It’s ONE simple click.
On your MyCart page, if you click on the checkout button it will go directly to the usual checkout page where you have two options to pay. The first option is “pay-as-you-go,” which allows you to download any of the content at Cutcaster using any major credit card. The second option is buying credits in bulk at a discount and then using them. If, however, your Available Credits are less than the Total Amount of the items in their cart, you can use a credit card to purchase the files or buy more credits. But if your Available Credits are greater than the Total amount, you can choose between using your Cutcaster Available Credits or just use your credit card.
Once you’ve registered and are logged into your account, you can purchase credits. The credits you purchase are stored with your account and you can use them anytime. A record of currently available credits as well as a history of past purchases will be displayed on your studio page. Whenever you checkout with credit images in your cart, credits will be automatically deducted from your account.
What's a "comp'ed" image and can I download them?
Yes. A "comp" image (short for comprehensive renderings) is an image used for layout, drafting or composition purposes only and can not be used in your final production or project without purchasing the original file first. You can download a "comp'ed" version of any image from the media details page of the desired file.
How can I use your royalty free photos and illustrations?
The term "Royalty Free" can be a bit confusing since Royalty Free licensing is not "free." Royalty Free photos and vectors must first be purchased before any usage is permitted. With a Royalty Free license, you are not required to specify how or where you plan to use the content. Once you've paid for your Royalty Free photos and illustrations, you are able to use the images and vectors for nearly any purpose without having to re-purchase. You can also use the photos and vectors over and over again because a Royalty Free license has no restrictions on time or re-usage. With a Cutcaster Standard Royalty Free license you are restricted from sharing, selling or storing the Content in any way that makes the Content accessible to others. However, Royalty Free Content can be shared among internal groups with additional seat licensing, allowing companies to build a library of Royalty Free photos and vectors to suit their specific creative needs.
Cutcaster's Standard Royalty Free license allows for a wide variety of uses:
1. advertising and promotional projects, including printed materials, product packaging, presentations, film and video presentations, commercials, catalogues, brochures, promotional greeting cards and promotional postcards (i.e. not for resale or license); 2. entertainment applications, such as books and book covers, e-books, magazines, newspapers, editorials, newsletters, and video, broadcast and theatrical presentations; 3. online or electronic publications, including web pages to a maximum of 800 x 600 pixels; 4. prints, posters (i.e. a hardcopy) and other reproductions for personal use or promotional purposes specified in (1) above, but not for resale, license or other distribution; and 5. any other uses approved in writing by Cutcaster.
What uses are prohibited under the standard license?
There are some restrictions in the standard license that, depending on your project, may require you to purchase an Extended License or speak to a Cutcaster rep about getting specific rights.
Below is a list of things a buyer CANNOT do with purchased content:
- Buy and then Transfer the rights of the content to another person or company
- Reselling the file - i.e. photos, images, vectors, graphics, etc.
- Create a website template using the image and sell the web templates online (only exception is when the buyer purchases the Extended License for the image)
- Use the Content in a fashion that is considered by Cutcaster (acting reasonably) as or under applicable law is considered pornographic, obscene, immoral, infringing, defamatory or libelous in nature, or that would be reasonably likely to bring any person or property reflected in the Content into disrepute.
- Edit the image to convey a negative political / sensitive message.
How does Cutcaster monitor content uploaded to the site?
Every file uploaded to Cutcaster must pass an inspection by one or two reviewers on our backend before being moved into the marketplace for sale. We check all files at 100% to examine quality, copyright or trademark infringements and to make sure we hold the correct model or property releases if required. If it doesn't pass that test it will NOT be in our marketplace. Files in violation of our copyright and review policy will be removed, and members who post the files will be banned. Our editors aggressively edit the library, making sure we have the highest quality images available.
How do I flag photos for keyword spam or copyright/trademark infringement?
To flag an image just click the red "X" below the thumbnail while browsing, or flag the image in the media details view.
I bought an image, but I can’t download it or the file is corrupted
We recommend trying to download the photo again which you can do in your studio page under the “Transaction” tab by clicking on the “My Downloads.” Download links stay active for the life of your account as a thank you for your business. If you still have problems, please contact customer support.
Photographer/Illustrator Questions:
I am interested in selling my content. How does Cutcaster work?
It's easy and profitable to sell stock photos, images and illustrations at Cutcaster. To start, sign up. Cutcaster is free to use and we only collect a moderate percentage of the selling price for customer service, promoting, hosting, technology costs and order fulfillment.
Any contributor can upload content via an http or an FTP upload system that extracts IPTC data so uploading is a breeze. Once your work is reviewed and moved to your studio, Cutcaster will promote and distribute it out to our interested buyers. You can help by sending out your studio page link to interested buyers or promoting it on any of the social networks or newsletters you are a part of.
What type of content do you need?
For an updated list of content that Cutcaster needs please visit the Desired Content page.
Can I set the price? Sellers have the ability to choose how they want to price and license their content. There are three options for pricing. 1. You can set the start price and the price won't change. 2. You can use the Cutcaster pricing algorithm to help you find the correct market price and choose the start price yourself. 3. You can use the Cutcaster pricing algorithm to help you find the correct market price and let us choose the start price. What is the Cutcaster Algorithim?
Are you looking for specific content?
Do see what we are looking for, view the Desired Content section or contact us at content@cutcaster.com. Cutcaster provides buyers free research which we will relay onto sellers that have appropriate content for that search. In addition, we receive content requests from buyers through our ProjectRequest section and post those for our sellers. These are clearly specified photo or vector requests with deadlines.
How do I upload my content?
Either through http or FTP. We will extract IPTC/EXIF data from your files during upload. You can email upload@cutcaster.com for bulk upload instructions or download a free FTP client such as:
1. Filezilla (Free for Windows- Notes- Use "FTP over TLS (explicit encryption)"- If you are working behind a firewall, you want to use the "Passive Mode" in the advanced settings. Use the latest version if possible as older ones don't work as well).
2. Cyberduck (Free for Mac OSX- Notes- select FTP-SSL (FTP over TLS/SSL)" from the top dropdown.
Note- In most cases it is needed to use "passive connection" in the FTP client settings. Within the FTP, there is one "control" connection and one "transfer" connection per file. When working from behind a firewall the normal way of doing the transfer connection is generally not possible and the "passive connection" setting fixes that.
If any contributors use CushyStock to submit, you will have to insert * into the password field...otherwise the program will give you an error saying that the password is blank. The asterisk * is key.
If you need more help email upload@cutcaster.com or you can click on this Upload help link.
How do I upload vector illustrations?
Cutcaster accepts vector illustrations in EPS or AI (Adobe Illustrator) format. For vector illustrations, you need to create a preview image in JPEG format from your file and upload this together with your illustration. The minimum size of this preview is 640x640px. Vector files should be compressed in a ZIP archive along with the preview image before uploading. (Note: Do not place the vector illustration and JPEG preview inside a folder when compressing them into a ZIP archive. Only the vector illustration and JPEG preview should be in the ZIP file.)
What are the requirements for uploading content to Cutcaster?
1. The minimum image size should be 1200 x 1600 pixels but please upload the largest size that you have. We prefer files with at least 2000 x 3000 pixels. RGB JPG format only and the bigger the file sizes the better i.e. 300 dpi 5 x 7. Do not interpolate or upsize your images! Try to shoot in RAW format and then covert to JPEG before submitting to Cutcaster. You images should have little to no sharpening. Images with sRGB color profiles are preferred.
2. You are the owner or represent the copyright holder for anything you upload.
3. When applying for exclusive rates for a particular photo or illustration, the content has not previously been represented or sold as royalty-free. You can make an individual image exclusive without being an exclusive photographer.
4. Make sure that photos of models (amateur and professional) are "model released" and content featuring privately owned property are "property released." You need to upload the releases with the files. If you do not hold the required releases, please indicate that during the Submit process while uploading or in the "Notes" field on the media details page. Unless an image is Editorial (newsworthy), it must have a release. This includes self portraits and portraits of your family. Children under 18, must have a release signed by their parent or guardian.
5. Please remove all potential trademark violations before uploading. We do not accept any files containing:
* Logos,
* Trademarks
* Names of companies,
* Names of products
* Protected product designs (iphones, trademark computers, rubber duckies etc.).
* Protected forms of transportation (Audi TT, the Segway, Porsche etc.)
* Clearly identifiable logos on clothing
6. Enter titles, keywords and descriptions as specific to what is in the file as possible: Be expressive but straight forward and DO NOT add extra keywords which are irrelevant to the image. They will be sent back to you at best or declined at worst. This puts off interested buyers and makes a lot more work for our reviewers. If you need help with your keywording, we can help you tweak your words based on our buyer's keyword searching history and what they are interested in licensing. Images or vectors with specific and niche keywords get downloaded more often and are in more search results.
Do I need a model or property release?
In most cases, Yes. If the photos you upload have clearly visible people, you will be required to have a model release form for legal reasons if you are trying to license it under commercial uses. Cutcaster provides model releases here. You will need a parent or legal guardian's signature if there is a child under the age of 18 years of age. Model Releases can be uploaded through the site under the submit tab in the upload area. If you are unsure whether you need a model release, please ask. If you do NOT have a model release and still want to offer the content in the marketplace, please add that to the Notes field during the upload process so our reviewers are aware. Type in "No model release available."
How fast will you review my files?
Every submitted photo is checked at 100% by our photo reviewers for various requirements such as quality, copyright, model and property releases, keywording and size. Every single image has been downloaded and viewed at full size to ensure it meets the highest standards. Review times take a day or two. There is more information on how Cutcaster reviews images and vectors submissions here.
Cutcaster uses various mechanisms to make distributing illegal, copyrighted or obscene content more hassle than it is worth. Products in violation of our policy will be removed, and Members who post the products will be blocked. Remember, distributing copyrighted material is an expensive felony. We want to create the most transparent marketplace out there so any ideas you have to make this more transparent please let us know. We also review every piece of content uploaded to Cutcaster to ensure quality and copyright. In addition, we have on each media details page a button to anonymously flag content in possible violation.
What happens when someone purchases my content?
Once a buyer purchases your stock photo, royalty free images or vector illustrations, you will recieve email notification for every sale and a reciept for the sales will be recorded in your studio under the "Transaction" tab. What the buyers purchases are the royalty free rights to use that piece of content in a certain capacity.
How much does Cutcaster pay me when I sell a file?
CURRENT CUTCASTER ROYALTY RATES: Amount paid to Cutcasters' creators for each piece of content licensed.
EXCLUSIVE ROYALTY RATE (50%): For each piece of content you sell, you will receive 50% of the selling price.
NON-EXCLUSIVE ROYALTY-RATE (40%): For each piece of content you sell, you will receive 40% of the selling price.
If you refer the buyer, you will recieve an extra 10% on top of your royalty payment.
You can request payout at $20!!! We pay by Paypal, Moneybookers or check.
How does Bidding work?
When a buyer submits a bid for your work, you will receive an email from Cutcaster detailing the file and what the bid was. Follow the link within the email and go to your Studio page and the "Bids for My Content" section to accept, reject or resubmit a new offer back to the buyer’s proposal. Under the thumbnail of the media file, you will have those options.
Accepting a price will alert the buyer of a completed deal and move the thumbnail to your Accepted Deals window. The buyer will then have 72 hours to buy the file or the deal will be void and must be re-done. The buyer is under no obligation to buy the file. Rejecting a proposal will also send an email alerting the buyer, who could then submit a new price. If, however, you decide to negotiate with the buyer and offer a different price, an email will be sent to the buyer and the thumbnail with the negotiated price will be sent to My Response under Bids for my Content. The entire process can continue from there.
It’s important to note that the whole bidding and negotiating process takes place under the My Marketplace section, but you will always receive an email alert.
Can I see how many views and downloads my content has received?
Yes. In your Studio, click on the tab that says "Statistics" for a complete history of your content.
Does Cutcaster have an affiliate/referral program for sending buyers and sellers to the site?
Yes. Click here to view the details of the Cutcaster Referral Program.
Cutcaster offers different tools to promote the website and your portfolio. In the “Referral" section of your studio you can send emails to introduce Cutcaster, you can use links toward your portfolio, or you can integrate Cutcaster buttons and banners into your website.
May I use a different name or alias on Cutcaster?
Personal information provided on Cutcaster must be accurate otherwise you could be subject to account termination and legal action. However, you may select an alias at Cutcaster by signing up using your real name and then emailing the Cutcaster support at help@cutcaster.com with a request to use an alias. The alias will be used instead of your normal name for public display.
Click here for the Contributor Agreement. If you have any questions or can't find what you are looking for please email contractagreements@cutcaster.com.