Tech: Image Size
You want the largest file size available. The size is directly proportional to resolution and quality. Now you can skip to the next topic.
“[Our] pricing is based in part on the image dimensions, so it’s often in your best interest to provide an image in the largest pixel dimensions possible.”
— iStockphoto
Megapixels (MP)
“The size requirement for new contributors is 4.0MP.”
— Shutterstock
Megapixels (shortened to MP) is the measurement for the resolution of digital photos. Digital photos are created with pixels, which are PICture ELements, individual blocks of color.The bigger the better is a general guide for quality and stock sales.
“iStock accepts files 1600 x 1200 pixels or larger. Any file smaller than 1600 x 1200 pixels will be declined.”
— iStockphoto
The minimum image size that iStock will accept is 1600 pixels by 1200 pixels. 1600 x1200= 1,920,000 which is about two million pixels total, so we call that 2 megapixels, or 2MP for short. Shutterstock wants at least 4MP.
Your digital camera is likely to be better than that, so you can submit photos to iStock and Shutterstock.
How Come The File Size Is Smaller?
They are different measurements. File size is in MB, megabits. It includes extra data such as bits for color, and the image is compressed by the JPEG format. The amount of compression depends on the image — a blank image with little data can be compressed to a smaller file size.
