Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What do you mean by royalty-free?
A. The term “royalty free” can be a little confusing. It does NOT mean that our images are in the "public domain" and are free for anyone to use however they would like. Royalty-free is a relatively new way to license and use copyrighted photographs. Traditionally, most stock image providers have required a separate license agreement AND payment for every use of an image. Under the terms of our license agreement, "royalty free" simply means that you are licensed to use the image(s) that you purchase from us in multiple ways, over multiple projects, indefinitely, without any further royalties due to World View Images, ever!
Q. I thought that the images at this web site are free. Where do I get the free images for my project?
A. At one point we had offered low resolution, watermarked images for free for educational use. Due to certain abuses of this service we have discontinued this offer. Our new program is to simply make all of the images available at a very affordable price - $9.99 for full resolution, world-wide, royalty-free use! Use the images you purchase a license for, across multiple mediums and multiple projects.
Q. Where is your lightbox? I would like to be able to browse through your site over a period of time and have a place to keep images that I am considering for purchase.
A. The SmugMug shopping cart is a smart cart. As long as you have cookies enabled on your computer, the Shopping cart will remember the images that you place in it and that can act as your lightbox. Before you check out, simply hit the delete button under any image that you may have decided not to purchase the license to use. Doing it this way saves you the hassle of signing up to Worldview Images or having to log in each time you visit. If you need help setting your computer to accept cookies, please click here.
Q. When I used the search box from your shopping cart, I ended up at Smugmug and I was getting search results from many other companies and photographers. How do I go back to Worldview Images from the shopping cart?
A. Once you are in the Shopping cart section of our web site, you have reached our partner, SmugMug. The navigation bar at the top and bottom of the shopping cart will take you to SmugMug and their help system. If you want to continue browsing at Worldview Images, you can either use your browser’s “back” button, or click the button that says, Continue Browsing. Then you will be back at Worldview Images and you can use our search engine again.
Q. If I purchase an image for commercial use, does my company get exclusive usage of that image for any given length of time?
A. No. All of our images are "non-exclusive". Our low pricing structure is targeted primarily to educational, government, and non-profit organizations that are looking for illustrations on global issues on a tight budget. To arrange for rights managed, exclusive-use licensing of images we recommend other web-sites, and a healthy budget!
Q. In what file format are your images delivered?
A. To ease bandwidth and download times all of our images are compressed using industry standard JPEG compression. When the files are opened in most photo editing programs they will automatically uncompress to the maximum file size. You may save them to your hard drive in your preferred file format.
Q. What about model releases for your images?
A. Unless specifically specified, the images available at Worldview Images do not have any model releases and any image where there is a recognizable face, should NOT be used for commercial endorsement. Images with recognizable people should be used for educational or illustration purposes only. Appropriate discretion should also be used in projects where a recognizable face gives the appearance of endorsing a strong political, philosophical or religious viewpoint.
Q. Your images have your logo superimposed on them. Will this logo be on the file that I download?
A. Purchased images will be completely free of any visible watermarks or logos.
Q. Are the dimensions and file sizes of your images exactly as specified?
A. Yes. To determine the size resolution of the photo, click on the photo info slide out button.
Q. I have noticed that Worldview Images is now "powered by Smugmug". Who is Smugmug and how are they connected to Worldview Images?
A. Smugmug is a wonderful resource for anyone who would like to store images on the internet for viewing, storing, sharing, retrieval, printing or purchase. We researched many companies before partnering with Smugmug and have found them to be the best. Whether you are a organization looking for a smart, economical way to develop an image database, or a hobby photographer that wants an easy way to share photos with family and friends, Smugmug makes it easy! Visit their website to learn more at: www.smugmug.com.
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