HM must have appropriate licensing or agreements in hand before using imagery, video, illustrations, plugins, code snippets of any kind, both for HM use and for client projects.

If a client provides imagery, we must ensure we have an email trail confirming we are licensed to use the imagery for the intended use.

We must be aware of license restrictions. These are different depending on the source – check what we are licensed for before using any media file. Licenses restrict usage (ie personal use only, editorial only, up to 10,000 impressions, web only etc). If you are unsure, check the source website, or check explicitly with the person sending the file to you. If you are unsure, do not use the file.

We maintain a subscription to stock libraries iStock and Envato Elements (see below).

When sourcing imagery, bear in mind the intended use and secure the appropriate quality of image. For most projects, it is ideal to source the highest quality and resolution image, which then allows your designer to scale the image down to size. Designers should never scale up a raster image from a lower resolution.

When sourcing logos from a company, request the vector format (usually an EPS file – ie logo.eps). A vector is constructed using mathematical formulas to create shapes and colours (rather than individual coloured pixels) which allows for a much more precise image which can also be scaled to any size required without degrading quality.

Normally stock media licenses cover us for use of media in a single end project, ie a website redesign, a brochure print run, a promotional video. We are not licensed to send media to a third party for their own use (ie sending imagery to a publication for use within their publications), unless this is explicitly stated in the license. Third parties must engage with stock libraries to arrange appropriate licenses directly, usually through setting up their own subscriptions.

HM and our clients can be liable for use of a media file outside of our license agreements. This can result in large retrospective monetary fines. If you do not understand the license terms you have sourced media under, stop before going any further and check the license.

iStock library #

1. Login at http://www.istockphoto.com/gb/  with the username and password found in 1Password.
2. The media under the ‘essentials’ library are covered by our subscription.
3. Use of credits to purchase media within the ‘essentials’ library must have prior approval.
4. The current subscription allows up to 50 downloads per month from their ‘essentials’ library. Any remaining unused downloads will rollover to the next month, up to a limit of 300 credits. This may change with time.
5. This subscription is used to populate HCRU content. Make sure to leave enough spare credits to cover HCRU content.

Envato Element library #

1. Login at https://elements.envato.com/ with the username and password found in 1Password. This library provides access to photos, videos, music, sound effects, graphic templates, fonts and code plugins.

Other libraries #

1. Depending on the project, we may need to source stock media from other libraries, such as Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 etc.
2. We must have project budget to cover any purchase of stock media.