A while back I posted an appeal for people to suggest what the best stock image sites are out there. I know there is some controversy over whether these sort of sites are a good thing or bad thing for designers. But I can say that working at a place with a small staff and smaller art budget, these sites have helped me a lot. I will write more on the topic of good or bad later. Here is what people suggested and a few words about each:

http://www.jupiterimages.com/

The pics are small, reprint at approx. 3.5 in. wide. The site has good variety and quality.

http://www.clipart.com/en/

Claims to have 10 million images. Site is by subscription.

morguefile.com

A free option preferred by many.

Subscription sites versus a la cart

 Some said they have been weighing a la carte versus subscription. Here is some info on prices for about 25 downloads per day.

- StockXpert: $999 per year (they say $1199 is normal price)

- Fotolia: $1,699 per year

- Photos.com: $449 per year.

Fotolia had the best overall images. StockXpert is pretty close for much cheaper. Photos.com is cheapest -- but the selection and quality not as good.

Many government agencies have online libraries of public domain images. Here are a few:

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/

http://images.fws.gov/

http://www.nps.gov/

http://plants.usda.gov/

 James Lambert is a Vermont newspaper editor, more specifically the design editor at the Rutland Herald. He is also an MSIT student at Marlboro College and enjoys developing Web sites and SEO. He blogs here from time to time about these topics.