Symzio is a contributor run agency. We are made up of photographers, illustrators and graphic designers that want to retain as much artistic control of our work as possible while providing customers easy access to it. Our simple but unique licensing and pricing has been implemented to ensure that contributors are properly compensated for their work, while providing customers some of the most competitive pricing available.

We believe in a sustainable and fair system that does not attempt to game either customers or artists, and instead creates a free-flowing avenue for digital works to be licensed quickly and easily.

Key features:

• No credits, no subscriptions - add to your cart, checkout.
• Two types of licenses - that's it.
• Low licensing prices, high contributor payouts.
• Direct from global independent artists to you.

Here at Symzio, we strive for transparency. We don't anchor customers down with expensive subscription packages, nor do we operate uneven credit schemes meant to force either wastage or future purchases. All media on Symzio is available for sale as a single, one-off purchase, priced at some of the lowest rates in the industry to provide customers a clear, simple, and trouble-free media purchasing experience.

Unique to Symzio, contributors are able to set the prices of their full sized media, while Symzio standardizes the pricing for other resolutions.

We also provide simple licensing terms, offering a standard one-time-use license and a Royalty-Free Unlimited license that allows us to provide pricing at a far lower rate than the industry standard while paying contributors over three times what other agencies do.

All the media on Symzio is priced in accordance with a standard schedule:

One-Time-Use License
Vector and raster images (including JPEGs, PNGs and TIFFs) are all priced at $1.99 for medium sizes. Our medium size is optimized for digital use, with a maximum resolution of 800x800. Videos are not available under our One-Time-Use license.

Unlimited Royalty-Free License
In addition to the One-Time-Use License, we provide a simple Unlimited RF License that permits customers to use the media as many times as they want, in as many reproductions, indefinitely. This price is set by the contributor.

In a nutshell, all full-sized media is sold under our RF Unlimited license, and smaller resolutions are licensed under our One-Time-Use license. Our One-Time-Use license is aimed at digital use, such as blogs and social media, while our RF Unlimited is great for print and corporate design firms.

All licenses have some restrictions associated to them. Please read our licensing information page for more details.

We have two licenses: The standard One-Time-Use License and the Unlimited RF License. All our detailed licensing terms can be viewed here.

The One-Time-Use License allows customers to use the purchased media in one project for one purpose subject to some additional terms. This generally means one end product that can then be used in any capacity for its intended purpose. Find examples here.

The Unlimited RF License allows customers to use the purchased media in as many projects as they want, an unlimited amount of times, and specifically permits use of the media in items meant for resale, such as t-shirts, mugs, books or movies. The Unlimited RF License is also subject to some additional terms. Additional details here.

For more details on our licensing terms and conditions, please visit our licensing page.

Symzio was created and continues to be operated by artists that wanted a digital marketplace that treated both customers and contributors better. We strive to minimize our footprint and encourage customers and artists to interact directly. This is why we pay contributors up to 100% of the revenue earned on sales through Symzio, ensuring that Symzio only includes itself in transactions when necessary.

Other microstock agencies generally offer customers subscriptions and image packs. The reason behind this is by overbuying with a perceived discount, customers believe they are getting a better deal. Unfortunately, despite a lower theoretical per image price, agencies rely on customers wasting a large majority of their allocated downloads. This is achieved through daily or monthly allowances, and expiries on credits.

Publicly traded agencies have reported that on average, they earn approximately $3 per media download. This is achieved primarily through subscriptions where customers pay approximately $0.30 per download on a theoretical basis.

What this means is, most customers that work with agencies on a subscription basis only use about 10% of their allocated downloads. Though this may vary depending on the inclusion of on demand and image pack revenue, the fact is that agencies are overcharging customers by at least 70-80% under the guise of discounted, bulk volume.

Most importantly, of the revenue earned, only a fraction of it goes to the contributor; generally, with most agencies, over 75% of the revenue is retained while a meager 15-25% is allocated to the contributor.

With Symzio, you aren't bound to any contract; you can shop with us, or anyone else, anytime. We charge a flat $1.99 for medium sized images and let the contributor set the price for the full, royalty-free unlimited size.

Again, and most importantly, we flip the revenue share that other agencies pursue: we only retain between 10-30% of the revenue, and relay the rest to contributors.

What does this all mean? It means that with Symzio, you pay less, contributors get more, and the middleman (us) gets a fraction of the pie as compared to the current standard. Not only is Symzio a great way to get fantastic new media at competitive prices, but the exchange is completely transparent and scheme-free.

Symzio works a bit differently than other agencies. We do not host or manage contributor images. Instead, we provide a means for contributors to host and manage their own images independently. This means that when you do a search on Symzio, through cutting edge technology we are able to bring live results from across the vast network of Symzio contributors almost instantaneously.

As these results are sourced directly from contributor sites, there may be variance in their loading speeds, as well as changes in the search results on a day to day basis as new images are added and old ones removed. This organic mix encourages a dynamic and fresh set of results each and every time. This is yet another advantage of the Symzio system, for it removes a lot of the lag that prevents customers from finding the newest and most relevant images artists have to offer in other agencies.

Throughout individual product pages, you have the option of adding any media to your cart with selected license options. Symzio operates much like any online store in that you can add and remove items from your cart, and when you are ready, you can check out.

We currently accept credit card payments directly on Symzio or payments via PayPal. In either case, we will require your full address and billing information. This is retained to confirm the identity of the licensor, in this case, you the customer, of any purchased media. Always remember - when you make a purchase for stock media, you are only purchasing a license to use the media. The contributor always retains full copyright ownership unless otherwise stated.

Once your payment is confirmed you will receive a confirmation email letting you know that we're processing your order. We will then generate a zip file for you, including all of the media for that order along with a commercial invoice. The invoice will include the URL of the contributor's site for each media file so you know exactly who your licensing contract is with.

Once your order file is ready for download, you will receive another email with a download link. If you created a Symzio account and ordered through that, you will also be able to download your files within Symzio.

All orders are available for download for a period of 7 days, up to 3 times, from the date your download was processed. This is to ensure that you, the customer, have ample time and attempts at getting your order in the case of technical difficulties.

Although our licensing terms are simpler than other agencies, it is important to remember that with each purchase, you are creating a legally binding contract between yourself and each individual contributor you are licensing media from. Artists are permitted to investigate potential breaches of this contract, and in the case of such a breach, customers may be held legally liable. If you use any work licensed from a contributor, it is your responsibility to ensure you are complying with the terms of the contract under which it was purchased.

To facilitate a full understanding of your rights when purchasing through Symzio, please read our licensing terms thoroughly. You may contact us, or the contributor directly if you are unclear about anything. When in doubt, it is often best to buy the Unlimited RF license as it provides the widest range of use.

All media on Symzio is licensed under our licensing terms. This outlines the ways you may and may not use any media purchased on Symzio.

Although you are purchasing media through Symzio, and the terms are explained here, it is important to clarify that when you purchase media, you are purchasing directly from the contributor that has created it. Due to the limited involvement Symzio has in the system under which media is made available and purchased, it is up to each individual contributor and customer to resolve issues relating to any media, and Symzio is unable to make any warrants regarding anything that is available for sale on Symzio.

If you have any questions about a work available for license on Symzio, whether it be relating to releases, copyright, or technical, it is generally best to direct your questions to the contributor directly. Their contributor page will display their URL which you can visit for contact information. Their contributor page is linked to from every image they have for sale on Symzio.

Unlike other agencies, we encourage customers and contributors to communicate directly. This permits Symzio to open its doors to a lot more types of artists, and gives them the freedom to create unique work that customers may be unable to find elsewhere.

As all digital media is sold once downloaded, we generally do not provide refunds. However, if an image has clear technical faults that detract from its ability to be used, we will gladly provide customers a 100% refund on their purchase. If you have downloaded one such image, please contact us within 7 days with clear details as to what technical faults you have found, including examples. If we feel you are warranted in your request, we will provide you a full refund.

Please note that we request that all customers contact us for all queries as we strive to resolve all issues amicably, no matter what the case. If you feel the need to issue a dispute through your payment processor directly prior to contacting us, this incurs additional costs to both Symzio and our network of contributors. In this case, we will generally close your account and you will not be able to purchase through Symzio again.

Please note that in the case of any refunds or cancellations, your license to use the image is revoked and you are legally obligated to delete all copies of the media in question.

What is Editorial Media?
Whilst looking for stock media on Symzio, you may come across images/videos/vectors that are labelled as ‘Editorial’ (‘editorial media’). Editorial media cannot be used to advertise or promote a product or service, as they depict content/locations/people/products/brands/situations that have not been released for commercial use.

What can Editorial Media be used for?
Although editorial media cannot be used for commercial use, there are a variety of ways in which editorial images can be properly used. Permitted use of editorial media includes using the media:

• to supplement news coverage or illustrate news
• to supplement a commentary column in a newspaper or magazine article
• for blog articles or opinion posts on websites
• in non-commercial multimedia presentations
• for a non-commercial documentary

As a rule of thumb, editorial media can be used as a supplementary resource and not commercially driven endeavors. For example, you can use an editorial image to illustrate a story within a newspaper, but you cannot use it in advertising or marketing campaigns.

If you have any questions or are unsure whether a particular stock media item can be used for your intended project, please contact us before purchasing a license.

Each purchase on Symzio is protected under our Pixel Guarantee. If you purchase a file through Symzio that you feel fails the technical expectations you had during purchase, let us know how and why. If we find that your complaint is warranted, we will provide you a 100% refund on that purchase.

Please note that in the case of any refunds or cancellations, your license to use the image is revoked and you are legally obligated to delete all copies of the media in question.

Symzio has a zero-tolerance policy towards contributor copyright infringement. If you find any file on Symzio has breached your intellectual property, please notify us as soon as possible. We will take whatever measure necessary to remove the file in question, and potentially penalize the contributor responsible.

Please note that although we are pro-active towards ensuring all Symzio contributors are compliant with our policy, it is impossible for us to ensure compliance unless we are notified of potential infringement. It is therefore your responsibility, as the copyright holder, to notify us so we may take action to protect your rights. We make no warrants as to the copyright status of any media sold on Symzio. You also have the option of contacting the contributor directly through their website which is available under their contributor page, linked to from every media file they have listed on Symzio.

Please visit our full terms and conditions page for additional terms, and more detailed explanations of the terms provided here.

As with our terms and conditions, all information on this page is subject to change without notice, and it is your responsibility to check periodically to ensure you are aware of any such changes. By continuing to use Symzio, you agree to abide by all our policies set forth, including the right to change said policies.

Symzio's community of contributors comprises of hundreds of independent photographers, illustrators and videographers from around the globe. Each artist is usually just one or two individuals earnestly trying to make a living from the artform they're so passionate about. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for microstock artists to earn their fair share from the sales their artwork generate as most stock agencies pay out less than 20% of royalties to their contributors. Often, that translates to as little as 25 cents per sold file.

In contrast, here at Symzio we give back 70% of paid royalties to our contributors. Our aim is to empower independent artists from around the world, so that they can keep doing what they do best: be creative and make artful media!

As a Symzio customer you play a direct role in supporting fair compensation to independent artists. But you can go one step further by helping spread awareness of Symzio to as many audiences as possible. Help us stand tall in sustaining the artistic folk whose hard work goes into curating wonderful stock photos, vector drawings, illustrations and stock footage that so many people and businesses rely on. Tweet about us, blog about us, link to us and use the Symzio Widget to let everyone know that you support our independent artists!

Using the Symzio Widget is a great way to support and promote our network of independent artists. If you have a blog or website, you can easily embed the widget into any area of your webpage. The widget displays thumbnails of Symzio results and does so smartly by using the words on your webpage to deliver relevant content. So if you have a blog article about 'fruits and vegetables' the widget randomly select images containing similar keywords to display thumbnails of fruits or veggies. You can choose how many images to show and the overall dimensions to customize the widget to your needs. Try out our code generator below to see instant live results!

Twitter tweets, Facebook posts, blogs and Pinterest pins are great ways of easily spreading the word about Symzio. If you like our service and wish to support fair trading practices for fellow independent photographers, illustrators and videographers, use your social media networks to spread awareness. We have share links available for your ease on every Symzio page and encourage the use of #symzio #symziostockphotos #symzioartists in your tweets and posts.