NEW YORK -- September 18, 2003 -- TrendWatch Graphic Arts today released a new report detailing the growth, use, and acceptance of stock imagery. According to the report, use and acceptance of stock imagery continues to rise slowly and steadily among all segments of the graphic arts community. From traditional rights-managed images to royalty-free versions of all styles and price ranges, to new pricing models like flat-rate, limited distribution, stock photography, illustration, and video have truly matured into a first-choice option for a wide range of graphic arts, advertising, publishing, and Internet projects. The report reveals the growing preference for high-end image for professional-grade projects, as well as a steep and steady decline in the use of traditional slides and chromes in all categories. As the quality of today's stock imagery has grown, users increasingly prefer to work directly with digitally-captured or pre-scanned high-res digital images that can be injected immediately into their digital workflows. Stock imagery includes photography, illustration, and video which is sold for limited use in advertising, publishing or promotional applications. And though the rights of the imagery is retained by the stock photo provider, it allows the campaign designer or creative director to acquire just the right look, at just the right price, without the time and cost penalties of creating their own original artwork. The report, "Stock Imagery: The Maturing of an Industry" is available for online purchase at the TWGA eStore in PDF format. For more information about this and other TWGA reports, go to the main TWGA website page (http://www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com). Researcher's Quote... "Stock imagery remains one of the hottest topics covered by TWGA," notes Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "At first, this may seem a bit surprising. Prices have come down and imagery is ubiquitous. And there are many inexpensive, or even free, alternatives to imagery for which traditional royalties must be paid. But then, all one has to do is examine TWGA's historical trend lines on the stock photography industry to understand the growing interest. Where other investments are struggling, stock continues to be an area that creatives, publishers, Internet firms, and graphic arts shops see as a good investment." According to the Report... -- OVERALL PUBLISHER USE: 32% of publishers plan to purchase rights-managed images in the next 12 months; -- CREATIVE PLANS: More creative professionals plan to purchase royalty-free images than rights-managed images (47% compared to 36%); -- STOCK TARGETS: 7% of all graphic arts firms plan to purchase royalty-free images in the next 12 months; this rises to 11% among trade shops; -- STOCK ILLUSTRATION: Catalog publishers are the most likely to purchase stock illustration or clip art (33% compared to 27% of publishers overall); -- TAKING STOCK IN VIDEO: 21% of Internet-savvy ad agencies, and 10% of large book publishers are planning to purchase stock video in the next 12 months. About the Report... "Stock Imagery: The Maturing of an Industry" offers users a detailed breakdown of the pricing categories of stock photography, by class as well as price. In the report, TWGA analyzes the current trends of stock imagery in four key market segments: -- Printing (commercial printers and trade shops); -- Design & Production (ad agencies, graphic designers, corporate designers, commercial photographers); -- Publishing (magazine publishers, book publishers, and catalog publishers); -- Internet Design & Production (advertising, PR, and interactive agencies; Web design, development, and production firms; graphic designers working in new media; Web hosts; and e-commerce companies). Methodology... This report was drawn from the most recent TrendWatch GA market surveys, including TWGA Printing #17, TWGA Design & Production #15, TWGA Publishing #15, and Internet Design & Development #7. It also drew on the TWGA Historical databases for each market segment to provide a historical look at stock usage over the history of our surveys. Some data was also drawn from TWGA Creative Market Atlas 2003. Availability... The 125-page TWGA "Stock Imagery: The Maturing of an Industry" report is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online at www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com or by phone at 866-873-6310. The price for the report is $1295. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.