Once you've decided on the image you want the next step is to arrange a licence fee with our sales department.



What is a licence?
All SPL material is copyright and must be licensed. A licence allows you to use an image in a certain way, once an appropriate fee has been agreed. The licence to use an image will appear on your invoice and will spell out exactly how the image can be used.



How much will a licence cost?
Our Royalty Free images cost:
500KB£39
1MB£100
10MB£250
30MB£300
50+MB£350

Our Rights Managed prices are based on how the image is used and they reflect the amount of exposure an image will get. For instance, the licence for using an image inside an educational textbook for the UK will be relatively low compared to the fee for using an image for a worldwide press advertising campaign. Our price guide is too large to be made available on this site, but here are some common examples:

a) Project: book
Position: inside
Colour or black & white
Rights: UK only
Price = £55 + vat

b) Project: corporate brochure
Position: inside
Rights: English language world only
Price = £165 + vat

c) Project: display advertisement
Up to 10 insertions or 1 month
Rights: English language world only
Price = £500 + vat

Clients outside the UK should contact our local agents or our International Sales Department to check prices in their own countries.



Are SPL images available to non-UK clients?
Our images are distributed around the world by a network of agents. If we have an agent in your country your image orders will be automatically forwarded to them and they will get in contact with you. If we do not have an agent in your country please contact us directly.



Do prices vary according to the image?
Whereas licence fees can vary according to the way they are used, they do not vary from image to image. The price you have been quoted for a particular use, will remain the same, whichever image you choose.



Once I pay a licence fee, can I use the image again and again?
If you have bought a Royalty Free image then you can use the image again and again. If, however, you have licenced a Rights Managed image, then the licence will cover you for an agreed one-time use. If you want to use the same image for a different use later on, then there will be an additional fee to pay. If you want to use an image for a variety of uses at the same time (e.g. a marketing campaign) then an all-in fee can be negotiate



Will I be eligible for a discount?
If you are using a large number of images, or if you know you will be requiring images regularly over a certain period of time, then we are willing to negotiate special rates.



Is the site an E-commerce site?
Currently you can view, select and order images from the site and approved clients can download high-resolution files where they are available. However, if you wish to use an image a licence fee needs to be discussed with an SPL sales representative and we will invoice you once this has been agreed. Images cannot be directly purchased from the site using a credit card.



Can I get high-resolution digital files of the images shown on the website?
Approved customers can download directly from the site high-resolution files of our images. The normal licence fee will be charged for the images used in your project. For images that are not yet available at high-resolution on the site, you can still order them as high-resolution files, but there may be a delay of a few hours or longer (depending on the number of images) before they can be delivered. You can see if a picture is available at high-resolution from the "Downloadable digital file size" given with the text accompanying the image. You can search through high-resolution images only by selecting this option from the Power Search page.



Can my images be included in the Science Photo Library collection?
If you wish to submit images to SPL then please contact the Picture Editing department. Our contributors include professional and amateur photographers, illustrators, computer illustrators, scientists, doctors and research technicians. It is best to contact us before sending any images so we can advise you fully.