Getting more Enhanced Downloads on Shutterstock

One of the biggest determinants of a good month on Shutterstock is the number of Enhanced Downloads (or EDs). What is an Enhanced Download? Strictly speaking it is an Enhanced License Download – a standard license on Shutterstock lets the buyer use the image for personal non-commercial uses with duplication up to 250,000 copies. If someone wants to print more than that, or use the image in a commercial way – as a print in a hotel, or as an image on a poster or mousepad that they plan to sell – then they need an Enhanced License. The difference for us contributors – we get 33 – 38c for a download for a standard license, compared to $28 for an enhanced – a massive difference! I’ve often wondered if there is a way to increase the number of EDs – I seem to achieve one ED every 200 standard downloads, but they come at random, and the subjects are pretty random as well. Recently I seem to have been doing something right as I am slowly increasing the number of EDs – this month I already have six with 725 standard downloads, so my average is way up. Why the change? If I knew that, I would be much more successful at this game, but to help try to work out what achieves an ED, I’ll start publishing the successful images each month. Perhaps a pattern will emerge! So, for May 2012, here are the successful enhanced license downloads on Shutterstock: