This study attempts to fill the void that exists in specialized literature with regard to stock photography agencies and their technical characteristics. "It is surprising to see more articles on this type of organization in the economic press than in academic or professional journals, in spite of their high annual net sales", states Professor Perianes. "Moreover, the importance of the digital photography market cannot be overlooked, not just due to its high net sales figures, but also because of its performance on the market, which is very similar to that of other products, as diverse as beer or pharmaceuticals".
One of the characteristics of digital image recovery systems is precisely this possibility of automating certain tasks. Thus, a set of images must be able to easily inherit the descriptions and/or metadata that are common to all of them. In the same way, and from the perspective of the visualization of the results on a screen, it is also essential that the generation of miniatures be automatic. Neither of these requirements is very complicated from a technical point of view when they are being incorporated into image bank management systems, given that there are many photographic treatment programs that already handle this type of task. However, the absence of these aids can cause serious problems, both for system managers and for their clients.
Research carried out at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid analyzes the search and visualization systems used by commercial stock photography agencies, whose estimated annual net sales reach over 150 billion euros.
(Photo Credit: UC3M)
Research carried out at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid analyzes the search and visualization systems used by commercial stock photography agencies.
(Photo Credit: CORBIS)
Source: Carlos III University of Madrid