Stock images are photos that are in stock and therefore are available immediately. They are taken by a photographer without a given assignment – the clients decide after the purchase how they will use an image.

Polylooks is a portal for photography as well as an online agency for high quality stock images and illustrations. Professional images are supplied for agencies, publishers, entrepreneurs and private users, by professional and hobby photographers, and illustrators. A greater part of the images on Polylooks have a European touch.

On the upper right-hand side of the Polylooks homepage the link ‘Register now’ can be found.

Clicking this link will take you to the registration form. After completing the form, you will receive an e-mail that you will need to confirm in order to complete the registration process.

What personal data do I need to provide for registration?

To establish a Polylooks profile, you are only required to provide your title, surname, date of birth and email address. Obviously, all entries have to be factually correct, accurate and complete. Once you have completed the registration questions, a username is established along with a password and user status. All further information is optional. Confirming the terms of use, the general terms and conditions, the right of withdrawal and the security code, will complete your registration.
If you wish to sell or purchase images you will need to complete your profile. You will automatically be informed on which information is needed to do so.

To establish a Polylooks profile, you are only required to provide your title, surname, date of birth and email address. Obviously, all entries have to be factually correct, accurate and complete. Once you have completed the registration questions, a username is established along with a password and user status. All further information is optional. Confirming the terms of use, the general terms and conditions, the right of withdrawal and the security code, will complete your registration.
If you wish to sell or purchase images you will need to complete your profile. You will automatically be informed on which information is needed to do so.

Yes, registration is free.

No, the use of several accounts is not permissible and breaches the general terms and conditions.

We take the security of your data very seriously. All details regarding our data security rules may be found here.

Your username cannot be changed after registration is completed. Your password can be changed after logging in, under "My Profile" in the menu "Personal settings".

If you are really sure that you want to delete your Polylooks account, you can do so under "My Profile" / "Personal settings" and then "Delete my account". Please be aware that if you delete your account it will be gone forever and there is no way for us to retrieve the data.

After logging in, go to "My Profile" under the menu "Personal settings", you can subscribe/unsubscribe to the Polylooks newsletter.

On the Polylooks homepage, in the upper area below the log in field, click on the link "Forgot your password?". On the new page, please enter either your username or your e-mail address. After entering the displayed security code, please click on ‘Request Password’. You will then receive an e-mail with a link that will redirect you to a page where you can change your password. Confirm your password once again and the changes will be saved.

For safety reasons, Polylooks has not implemented a cookie for automatic log in. This function may be very user friendly and convenient, however, it is also a major security issue and can easily be used for identity fraud when working on systems which are open to the public. For this reason, we cannot provide this function. You can, however, use modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox to save your log in information. By using these methods you’ll be able to use an automatic log in function and your personal information will remain secure.

For photographs:

File format:	only JPEG/JPG
Image size:	Min. 6 megapixel (eg. 2000x3000 Pixel)
Max. Filesize:	50 megabyte (MB)
Color space:	Only RGB (ideally Adobe 1998 RGB)
Bit Mode:	8-Bit
Compression:	Only 10-12 (Maximum)
IPTC-Data:	Photographer name Short image description as well as a mininimum of 10 keywords in English or German, if fluent, in both languages. If you are using a German keyboard, please don’t use any “mutated vowels” (ä,ö,ü) and ß, as the system will have problems visualising these correctly. The more keywords you use, the easier it will be to find your image.

Important: A 6 megapixel camera will only take 6 megapixel photos if set to the highest resolution. Please check your camera settings and take pictures at the highest possible resolution.

For illustrations:

File format:	EPS and Adobe Illustrator 8 compatible also in addition a JPEG file of 6 megapixels
Max File size:	50 megabyte (MB)

You may upload a maximum of 20 files per day.

If you want to upload more than 500 images, you may send us these images on DVD or hard-drive or we can give you an FTP address. We will then complete the upload for you. You can then assign the model and property releases to the corresponding images or add further information such as descriptions or keywords. This can be done under "My Profile" / "My Images" / "Edit Images".
To do so, you will have to have registered with Polylooks and also have passed the photographers test. Polylooks support will provide you with the mailing/FTP address and further details on this service. You can reach us Monday to Friday from 09:00am-5:30pm on
0871 500 0221 (£0.10 per minute from UK landline)
or per E-mail: support@polylooks.co.uk

Yes, for scans of analogue images the same requirements apply as for digital images. If you have analogue photos and slides, you need to scan them. Scan your photos/slides with 16-Bit colour depth if possible. That allows for better tonal corrections. Thereafter, you can re-sample down to 8-Bit. Polylooks only accepts images with 8-Bit colour depth. Do not use too many filters. The dust removal “ICE IV” is advisable. Notwithstanding this, many pictures will need to be cleaned manually. Sometimes, a light noise suppression is useful. In order to evaluate your scan results, you will need to calibrate your monitor. You can calibrate your monitor with software such as Adobe Gamma, which is implemented in Adobe Photoshop.

A prime image without an ideal tag will not easily be found and may therefore not be sold easily. Invest sufficient time and effort in allocating tags to the images posted on Polylooks.

Basics to remember:
1. Use at least 10 words, it is worthwhile to select ideal keywords as non-applicable keywords can confuse the client and lead to bad search results.
2. Only describe objects seen on the picture. Furthermore, keywords that are directly related to emotions associated with the overall image may be used.
3. Presently, only English or German keywords/tags can be used!

Let’s assume you have taken a photograph of a Dalmatian swimming in water. If you enter the tags "dog, swimming, dalmatian", your image will only be found if the prospective buyer types "dog swimming" into the search. Somebody who types in "swimming animal" or "swimming dogs" will not find you images! The editors would also reject your image from the Mediastore as not enough keywords have been assigned.

Good tags would be: "dog, dogs, animal, animals swim, swimming, bath, bathing" If the image appears to be funny you can also enter: "fun, funny, funnier, funniest". If someone now enters "funny animals" into the Polylooks search, they will find your image, just as someone who had entered "funniest dogs".would find it too.

There are numerous support software packages available enabling simultaneous, multi-image tagging. You can create templates and re-use them later in order to save time. Well known software is Foto Station, CaptionWriter, ThumbsPlus, Adobe Lightroom, Aperture and ACDSee. It is also possible to simultaneously tag multiple images in Photoshop.

IPTC and EXIF are standards to save information in images. Whereas the EXIF data is automatically recorded by all digital cameras, the IPTC Standard allows a more detailed image description through the addition of supplemental text information. For Polylooks, the tags, header and image description, as well as the photographer’s name are indispensable. IPTC.data may be added with support software. (FotoStation, CaptionWriter, ThumbsPlus, Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, ACDSee and Photoshop amongst others). You can also enter the IPTC Data under "My Profile" / "My Picture" / "Picture settings".

EXIF data contains the general camera information, as well as several additional image parameters such as, date and time, shutter speed, aperture and ISO-setting. The exact data included varies from camera to camera. To read EXIF data, software such as ACDSee and IrfanView is needed.

The so called IPTC segments contain text information for a more precise description of the image. With IPTC, it is possible to save information such as image caption, description, photographer, copyright, tags etc. IPTC fields are designated differently according to the software used, however, the internal saving is identical.

The following fields are relevant for Polylooks:

Header:
Enter a short header. This should contain max 256 characters.

Image description:
Enter a detailed description of the image, with a max of 2000 characters.

Author/Author name:
You may enter the name of the image author here. If you do not fill in this IPTC field, your registration name will be used.

Keyword/Tags:
Tags/Keywords relevant to the image are entered here. At least 10 keywords in German or English are required for Polylooks; if you are fluent in both languages, you may enter them in both languages.

In English speaking countries, measurement units are often still based on inch. An inch is exactly 2.54 centimetres, a dozen (12) inches equals a foot. Three feet equal a yard. A yard is approximately a metre and equals 91.44 centimetres.

The standard unit of measurement is Dots Per Inch (DPI) and Pixels Per Inch (PPI). The smallest digital picture unit is Pixel (abbreviation of Picture Element)

A Pixel is a single picture point. Every image consists of a collection of a large number of picture points and every picture point has a colour and brightness value. The more picture points an image has, the higher the resolution. The higher the resolution is, the more detail can be recovered. This, however, also increases the required storage space for the image.

An indication of 300 DPI means that 300 dots per inch are printed. The DPI count specifies the dot density. 300 DPI is a general resolution for offset printing. This equals 118 dots per centimetre. The indication of dots per centimetre has not become a standard, therefore DPI-indicators are used. Polylooks only accepts images that are printable in A5 format at 300 DPI. A 6 megapixel camera resolution is sufficient.

For Polylooks, a resolution of 6 megapixels suffices. Our claim is to be able to deliver every image in DIN A5 (14.8x21.0) at 300 DPI without losses. As shown in the table, a 6 megapixel camera exceeds the required resolution:

Resolution	Megapixel	Size at 300 DPI and 4:3 (Landscape) in cm
2016 x 1512	3	17 x 12
2304 x 1728	4	19 x 14
2848 x 2136	6,1	24 x 18
3072 x 2304	7,1	26 x 19
3264 x 2448	8	27 x 20

Comparison overview of paper formats in DIN / EN ISO 216

DIN A0 = 84,1 cm x 118,9 cm
DIN A1 = 59,4 cm x 84,1 cm
DIN A2 = 42,0 cm x 59,4 cm
DIN A3 = 29,7 cm x 42,0 cm
DIN A4 = 21,0 cm x 29,7 cm
DIN A5 = 14,8 cm x 21,0 cm
DIN A6 = 10,5 cm x 14,8 cm

With problems of all kinds that are not connected to non-conforming image properties, please contact our support.
Polylooks customer services is available from Monday – Friday 09:00am – 5:30pm (GMT).
0871 500 0221 (£0.10/min from the UK landline).
or per E-Mail: support@polylooks.co.uk

At polylooks you will receive a standardized royalty of 35% of the net sales price. For exclusive pictures which are sold on our website you will even receive a royalty of 50% of the net sales price. If your images are sold through a subscription deal, you will receive an extra royalty at the end of the month.

Calculation of royalty
If a photographer uploads images on polylooks which he also is offering over other agencies (non-exclusive), he will receive a royalty of 35%. If he sells four images for a total amount of ten credits and each credit has a value of one POUND, the photographer will receive a royalty of 3,50 £.
Calculation: 10 Credits * 35% * 1 £ = 3,50 £

Royalties from subscription sales
For Images sold in a subscription the author will also receive a royalty of 35%. Let’s imagine that the sales from photographer A and photographer B have a value of 10 £s of which 35% will be paid out, the royalty would be 3,50 £. Exclusive images would of course receive a royalty of 50%, but to keep this example easy we’ll just assume that all images sold by photographers A and B where non-exclusive.

polylooks sold two pictures of photographer A worth 12 Credits which where paid for with a subscription. Photographer B managed to sell one picture worth 8 Credits which also was paid with a subscription. In this Example 3 images are sold for 20 Credits with a total value of 10 £, paid with subscriptions.
Calculation: Total subscription income * percental royalty * Credit share of photographer from the Credit total:

For Photographer A: 10 £ * 35% * 12/20 = 2,10 £

For Photographer B: 10 £ * 35% * 8/20 = 1,40 £

Your royalty can be transferred on request to your PayPal Account as soon as it reaches 25 EUR. If your Royalty stays under 25 EUR at the end of the month, the amount will be added to the following month and paid out with the next transaction.

You can find a summary of all your sales under “My Profile”.

Your monthly receipts are saved under "My Profile" as PDF files, and can therefore be printed.

The royalty payments already have VAT of 7% included. You can also see this in the royalty receipt under "My Profile". Please check with your tax office about your personal tax situation.

How fast and how often an image is sold is mainly a question of what image types the customers are looking for. Take great care in giving your images precise titles and keywords, so customers can find them straight away.

You can of course sell your images as a private person without a business. For some photographers however, having a business can be a great benefit as sometimes tax advantages can occur. Please contact your local tax office for more information.

No, it is not necessary for you to provide polylooks with your VAT-ID number. This is only necessary for photographers that need to pay VAT. It is possible that your tax office will contact you on this issue if your sales are extremely successful. Your local tax office will help you with all questions about the VAT ID number.

You can contact the polylooks support line with any problem regarding our website.
Poylooks support is available from Monday – Friday 10:00am – 08:00pm.

Customer Services UK: 0871 500 0221
(Calls from fixed lines are charged at £0.10/min. Call charges from mobile devices can vary, please contact your operator for more information)
or per E-Mail under support@polylooks.co.uk.

We require 3 to 7 days to verify your illustrations and photos

An image could be rejected due to quality, content or legal issues. Another reason for rejection could be the distinct similarity to other images that are online already.

Technical deficiencies can be an issue if the image does not meet the requirements specified by Polylooks. Possible reasons could be over or underexposure or a blurred image. To prevent technical problems, every image contributer should inform themselves of the Polylooks quality requirements; and subsequently pass the photographers test, before being permitted to sell images on Polylooks.

Content deficiencies can be an issue if the subject contradicts the user conditions of Polylooks for example pornographic contents.

Legal deficiencies can be an issue if images do not comply with the Polylooks terms and conditions or if protected subjects are shown without a written consent of the legal owner (Model Release consent). In case of multiple owners, e.g. in a group image, a written consent of all parties should be obtained.

You can always upload reworked images as long as no technical deficiencies accure. The image will be cleared if all content and legal standards are met.
If you want to learn more about technical reworking and image quality please read the Handbook for Photographers.

You can place images, which you have found using the search function, into either the lightbox or the shopping cart. You then can decide which images you really want to buy in the shopping cart. The Credit amount needed to purchase the size or licence you have chosen for an image will be displayed. If you do not have enough Credits, you can always top them up to complete your purchase. After that you can download your images.

Credits are the currency used on Polylooks. It is necessary to use the Credit currency system on Polylooks as the website is serving customers around the world with varying currencies. Credits are not exchangeable and can only be used to purchase images on Polylooks. The different image sizes cost different amounts of Credits, you will always find the cost in Credits next to the image or illustration you are viewing.

Under the "Mediastore Menu" click on "Get Credits". There are two ways of purchasing Credits: 1. Cost-saving Credit packages or 2. Subscriptions which enable you to download a set amount of images or illustrations for a monthly fee. Therefore you will get a discount on Credit rates.

Alternatively, you can buy Credits after you have placed files in your shopping cart, you can then choose between Credit packages or subscriptions.

Yes, Polylooks provides an array of subscriptions to choose from. For more information about subscriptions and Credit prices, please click here.

Yes, at Polylooks we have personal, customer support for key account customers. Your customer consultant will support you individually with contracts, implementing images in your company’s database and assisting you with specific projects on large scales. Polylooks support is available from Monday – Friday 09:00am – 5:30pm GMT. 0871 500 0221 (£0.10/min from the UK landline). Or per E-Mail: support@polylooks.co.uk.

You can pay using PayPal or your credit card (MasterCard, Visa) to make a purchase on Polylooks.

You can activate this option during your purchase with Polylooks. You can then view your invoices on "My Profile"/"Invoices" tab. The invoices are in pdf format and printable. The invoices will be saved on the website.

All purchased images and illustrations will be saved under "My Profile" for 30 days and can be downloaded as often as you wish. Please remember that you can only use the image according to the licence you purchased.

Our Polylooks support can help you with any queries. Polylooks support is available from Monday – Friday 09:00am – 5:30pm GMT. 0871 500 0221 (£0.10/min from the UK landline). Or per E-Mail: support@polylooks.co.uk.

Lightboxes can be used to pre-select images and sort them under specific criteria. You can create several personal Lightboxes which can be saved, sent or deleted. You can give titles and descriptions to every Lightbox you have, this will assist you while working on different projects. You can comment on the Lightboxes and send them to your client or colleagues per e-mail by going to "My Profile"/"My Lightboxes"

Our Lightboxes work in almost the same way as your personal Lightboxes. Our Lightboxes are however public Lightboxes. The Polylooks team creates Lightboxes for special themes to help the browser find inspiration and ideas.

Lightboxes can be saved and will be accessible on every new visit. Lightboxes that have not been saved however will be deleted and lost as soon as you log out. Your shopping cart will always be emptied as soon as you log out.

Every registered Polylooks member, has his or her own Profile. You are able to access you’re the member profiles on the website. Each member can decide if he or she wants to share his or her contact data with the public or not.

Aside from the normal search criteria such as names, keywords and dimensions, Polylooks also gives you the possibility to choose the emotional feel of an image. Furthermore, the browser can also search for the date an image was taken, or the date an image was uploaded to Polylooks. The variety in search criteria makes it possible to find images with high level precision.

Changing images is not possible as you do not purchase an image, you purchase the licence to use it. Licences are regarded as services. If you are not sure about which size image you need when purchasing, it would be recommended to buy the image in a higher resolution.

Besides registration as Photographer, you require at least 10 images, in JPF-format with a minimum resolution of 6 mega pixel. Additionally you need to pass the Photographers test. This guarantees a high quality service, of which both the seller and the buyer may profit. Our Photographers User Manual can help you with the preparations.

Royalty free means that the purchased licence (see below standard- or merchandice licence) can be used for a one time payment and the purchaser can use this image irrespective of time and place as often as he wishes for his personal or editorial and commercial use (depending on wich licence he has purchased)

Images can be used in the following way: Standardlicences: The images can be used editorial and commercial. They can be used irrespectively of time and place and be printed in an unlimited amount. The copyright will always lie with the photographer and the personal copyright must always be respected while editing the images. The merchandise licence contains furthermore: As soon as the image is used in a commercial way on a product which is being paid for, for instance printed on a mouse pad or t-shirt, a merchandise licence has to be purchased. This licence is for all images which are used on products which are for sale. You can buy a merchandise licence for almost any image on Polylooks. The frame in which licences from polylooks can be used are anchored in the general terms and conditions of the Deutsche Telekom AG. In case of conflicting points between the FAQ’s and the general terms and conditions, the general terms and conditions are to be followed.

Images that are not exclusively offered at Polylooks may be sold at other providers. If an exclusive agreement exists for an image, this image may only be sold at Polylooks. (Royalty fee of 50%)

Through the purchase of an image user right as written in the general terms and conditions is obtained. The copyright remains with the person who created the image, meaning the Photographer or Graphic designer. The personal copyright has to be respected at all times, especially during editing of a purchased image.

The right to ones individual image is part of the personal rights of an individual. If the photographed person can clearly be identified, a written consent of this person is needed, in other words a Model release.
In these cases even a model release is insufficient: Images of civil servants fulfilling their duty, may not be uploaded due to their special legal status. Images of celebrities only get to be used as royalty free images in the least of cases, this is why images of celebrities may not be offered on Polylooks.

A property release is a written consent by the legal owner allowing the use of the images of the property for commercial purposes. (Example a building or a sculptor). So every photographed object needs a property release even if the image was taken on personal property. This for instance can be a zoo, images from a zoo can only be offerd if the owner agrees. Images of buildings in Germany which have been taken from public ground usually can be published by German law, if there is no other explicit rule given. If one isn’t sure if a building or object may be photographed it is wise to get into contact with the owner first.
Images of private property – including Zoos or Museums, may only be published with consent of the owner. So you need a Property release.
Images of and in public buildings are normally allowed, as long as no other rules apply. If doubtful whether a place or building may be photographed, it is advisable to contact the owner.

Children are particularly protected by law. If written consent of guardians is not obtained (A model release for minors is required) we are not allowed to give the image clearance to be licensed. Of course images of children connected to sexual actions are forbidden.

Polylooks principally rejects pornographic-, erotic-, development suppressing images, images glorifying violence or prohibited images. More on this topic at GTC. In case of conflicting points between the FAQ’s and the general terms and conditions, the general terms and conditions are to be followed.

Yes, in general nude images are allowed, however, under certain conditions. For every use the written consent of photographed person is to be presented. A Model release is definitely needed. Polylooks rejects all nude images without a Model release. Due to the special protection of children and youths by law, we need to decline any images with development suppressing content on which for instance genitalia can be seen.

Users that have a permanent demand for licences of good quality pictures will be happy with our subscriptions. Depending on which price category you choose you can spend between 10 and 120 Credits per day. The time-span can vary from a month up to a year.

The price per credit depends on the time-span and the amount of Credits per day under assumption that these will be used up completely. For ideal usage and the daily consumption of Credits, power users will have attractive conditions with prices varying from 26ct down to 18ct per Credit by using our cheap subscriptions.

Monthly prices for subscriptions incl. 7% VAT.

	Amount of Credits per day
Time-span	10	30	60	120
12 months	69,00 £	199,00 £	369,00 £	669,00 £
6 months	73,00 £	209,00 £	388,00 £	703,00 £
3 months	77,00 £	220,00 £	408,00 £	739,00 £
1 months	81,00 £	231,00 £	429,00 £	776,00 £

Although you have a subscription you will always be able to buy Credit packages to top up your daily Credit amount. Credits from these packages will be used as soon as the amount of Credits per day from your subscription is not enough and you need to purchase more images. Therefore your daily Credit amount will be used up first and then the oldest of your credit packages.

No, you can still choose between the standard licences and the merchandise licence, you will not have any disadvantages as a subscription user.

Unfortunately changing from one level into another is not possible all the time. You can only change into another subscription level, when your old subscription has run out. Therefore we advise you to always choose your subscription due to your image demand, so that you can use your subscription to its maximum effect.

Credits that you have not used up during a day, will be terminated at 24:00 and at 0.00 you will receive your new Credits for the next day.

You will be contacted before your subscription runs out, this will give you enough time to decide if you want to renew your subscription or change the subscription level, without you having to miss out one day of our subscription service.