2010 June | Design and Photography Highlights

Blurb, Photography Book Now Contest

Jun 282010

Photography Contest

We recently told you about a Photo Contest put on by our friends at Blurb, called Photography Book Now, that focuses on creating self-published photobook designs where you can win a ton of cash and get judged by world class experts in the photography world. There’s just a few weeks left to submit your book to Photography Book Now! To have your work reviewed by an internationally renowned panel of judges and a shot at $25,000, submit your book by July 15! Here is the link for more details: www.photographybooknow.com

Here are some of the photo categories that you could enter.

Here is a list of the prizes.

Blurb is a provider of online photo books, who started the competition for photographers “who are the age of 18 years or older, are self-identified photographers who currently receive or have received payment for their photographs”.

That means that a lot of you at Cutcaster can take advantage of this and submit your photo book (online or hard copy) and win the Grand Prize of $25,000. Just so you know that there is a contest submission administration fee of $35 for every submission.

What’s the difference between JPEG, GIF and PNG files?

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jun 222010

* JPEG (Joint Photographics Experts Group) – pronounced ‘jaypeg’ and you will sometimes see it shortened to just JPG. This format is ‘lossy’ in that the more you compress the image and thus reduce file size, the greater you will lose clarity and detail. JPEG graphics can render in full colour and are ideally suited to the display of photographs.

* GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is ‘lossless’ in that the compression process does not involve sacrificing quality. GIF graphics are limited to 256 colours, which is fine for computer graphics with hard edges and block colours, but not so good for photos. They can also have a transparent background, which can be useful if you want to display your images in anything other than a simple rectangular arrangement.

* PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – pronounced ‘ping’ – is another ‘lossless’ format but is not restricted in colour rendition, making it a superior format to GIF. PNGs are ideal for computer-generated graphics such as buttons, logos, diagrams and maps, but are less suited to photographs, where the resulting file size is likely to be excessive. Be a little careful, because not all online applications – or corporate forewalls – support PNG.

Find and Download Google Background Images at Cutcaster

Articles, Blogging, Buyer Info 3 Responses »

Jun 092010

: Message in a bottle – Help the environment!

: View from Space of Earth with sun rising or setting

: Young boy wearing a super hero costume

: Young woman enjoying a vacation poolside

: Rooster on a fence on a Country Farm Morning

: Global awareness concept

So Google has changed up their website and now displays a background image on their white homepage. Want to get a great images for your Google background? Find amazing background images, photos and illustrations for Google. Spice up your Google homepage with one of our background images. Search over 600,000 royalty free images and illustrations which we have organizes below for you. Select a background image for your Google homepage from more than 10,000 free images and illustrations as well. Change your Google background image with a Cutcaster image. If you need help on how to add one of our images to your background please just email webmaster AT cutcaster.com.

Abstract backgrounds – abstracts are great for presentations, backgrounds and wallpaper.

Baby stock photo - We love babies at Cutcaster.

Banking and Finance Images – We keep our eyes on the news!

Baseball photos – If it’s spring it’s baseball season!

Sunny Day at the Beach photos – It’s about time to play on the beach.

Businessmen, Businesswomen and Business Team Photos – One of the top searches. Our business people are tops.

2011 Calendar vector illustrations- Our 2011 calendars are tops.

Car and Automotive photos – Automotive topics are in the news and in demand.

Cell Phone, Telephones and Telecomunication- Check out these fantastic images of people on the phone.

Children and Kids Stock Photos- We love kids too!!!

Computer and Technology stock photos - Computer and laptop images in high demand.

Concept- This is a light box of Law Concepts. Search Concept for all of our light boxes with special themes.

Cooking and Eating photos – Healthy cooking and eating images in high demand.

Dog and Canine Stock Photos- Pooch portraits are on the rise.

Drinking and Celebrating Stock Photos - It’s happy hour! Search light boxes for Beverages for all our drink light boxes.

Flowers stock photos - Still one of the most searched words. Check out our premium box.

Food and Eating photos - We have some of the finest food photographers in the business at Cutcaster. Search on food for light boxes of food collections.

Fruit and Vegatable photos - Beautiful, seasonal, fresh.

Stock Photo Furniture - Isolated or in place, furniture shots have a lot of uses.

Garden and Gardening Photos - Gardens, gardening, and outdoor living are hot topics.

Golf stock photos - Fore!! We are looking for the greenest greens.

Health Spa stock photos – Spa topics are sought after at Cutcaster.

Illustration – Illustrations like web icons, illustration silhouettes, concepts are in demand.

Medical stock images- Medicine and health care images are in high demand. We would love to see hospital and doctor’s offices.

Money- Currency, financial, trading, and thrift concepts.

Office Team stock photo- Office people in groups, interacting with each other.

People family stock photos- Families acting naturally together in demand!

Stock photo real estate – Front page news, real estate concepts are needed now.

Sky and Weather stock photo- Something as simple as the sky, or as complex as weather are searched for now.

Soccer images – We are looking for sports of all kinds.

Spiritual – Religion topics, we need many more of these themes.

Wine stock photo – Connoisseurs love our wine images.

How to add a background image

Sign in to your Google Account in the top right corner of the Google homepage.
Click Change background image in the bottom left corner of the Google homepage.
Choose where to select your background image:
From my computer: Select the image download from Cutcaster saved on your computer’s desktop.
Once you’ve chosen your image, click Select at the bottom of the window. It may take a moment before your new Google homepage background appears.

How do I remove Google Image background?
You can remove your background image at any time by clicking Remove background image in the bottom left corner of the homepage.

Only select images that you have confirmed that you have the license to use. You can obtain a royalty free license for any of the images you find at www.cutcaster.com.

How can I use a stock photo I find online?

Articles, Buyer Info, Cutcaster How To, Licensing Matters, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Jun 072010

A lot of times when you find an image online that you want to use it might not be that clear what you need to do in order to legally license the image and use it for your creative project. Whether there are questions surrounding the license type, the usage, any restrictions, who the actual copyright holder is or if your usage requires a model or property release. To sum up some of the ways you can use photos at Cutcaster we created this short writeup to show you how you can use Cutcaster images?

Cutcaster images may be applied to the following uses (in most cases limited to 500,000 copies under our Standard License):

• You can use any images in advertising posters and brochure design for use in promoting the sale of other products.

• Within editorial or advertising copy in newspapers, magazines, books, book covers, school textbooks, editorials and directories.

• In coordination with opt-in marketing.

• For product packaging.

• On letterhead and business cards, brochures, pamphlets, catalogs and on pop-up and/or panel displays for use in trade shows or at conventions.

• In multimedia presentations and incorporated into film and video for distribution and/or sale in the home video market OR for broadcast and/or theatrical display..

• Use as a background image or splash screen within software .

• On cover art and/or artwork used on in CD or DVD .

• In eBooks for any e-device reader, including multi-seat license electronic textbooks.

Please note, certain restrictions apply depending on whether you’re purchasing the images under a Standard Licensing contract or if you are purchasing an Extended License (EL). You can learn more about the differences between licenses by clicking on this link to our legal page.

Are there ways I CANNOT use Cutcaster images?

There are some use cases, in which you are prohibited from using an image purchased from Cutcaster under our Standard License. These include:

• Print runs exceeding 500,000 copies unless an Extended License is purchased which would give you an unlimited print run.

• Print on demand (POD) projects such as wallpaper, postcards, mousepads, mugs, t-shirts, posters, giclee prints, artwork and other items.

• Any unbecoming or derogatory depiction of the model or persons pictured in an image, including use of models in pornographic material, political endorsements and alcohol, drug, or tobacco campaigns.

You also cannot:

• Resell or share Cutcaster content.

• Use any Cutcaster image as part of a trademark, service mark, or company logo.

• Try to depict that the image was created by you or anyone other than the copyright holder of that image.

Please always read the contract first before you buy any images form Cutcaster and consult your legal team if you have specific questions. We are here to help but are not a substitute for your specific usage. Feel free to contact us at webmaster AT cutcaster DOT com.

Critical vulnerabilities in Photoshop CS4

Design Industry News, Photo Industry News No Responses »

Jun 022010

For those of you who use Photoshop CS4, you will want to be aware of a “critical vulnerability” that was found in Photoshop CS4
11.0.1 and earlier for Windows and Macintosh.

Here is a short summary of the problem:

“Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 and earlier for Windows and Macintosh that could allow an
attacker who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. A malicious .ASL, .ABR, or .GRD file
must be opened in Photoshop CS4 by the user for an attacker to be able to exploit these vulnerabilities. Adobe recommends Photoshop CS4
customers update to Photoshop CS4 11.0.2, which resolves these issues.”

More details here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb10-13.html

Hot off the Press – Microstock Photography Survey Results

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jun 022010

Thanks to Tyler Olsen, the fearless leader of the rowdy forum for microstockers called Microstock Group for publishing their Microstock Survey – 2009 Results.

413 market research panelist respond to the survey, giving a relatively small sampling of microstockers creating remarkable imagery today. Tyler explained where the participants came from. The majority of respondents came from the Microstockgroup forum. Tyler explained that the rest came from twitter, numerous microstock blogs, the iStock forum, DPChallenge forum and the “long tail” of sources continues.

http://blog.microstockgroup.com/microstock-survey-2009-results/

Hey Tyler, Do you have a link for the 2008 or 2007 Photography survey results?
For more on Tyler, he works as a microstock photographer who also runs the MicrostockGroup forum and blog. Being so closely involved in the microstock community as a submitter, forum moderator and blogger, Tyler is able to keep updated in the constantly changing microstock marketplace.