Stock photos are ready-made images created by photographers or stock photo agencies and offered for sale or licence. They are often used by graphic and web designers to add visual elements to projects.
The importance of stock photos in graphic and web design is that they allow designers to use high-quality images for their work without having to take the photos themselves. These photos cover a wide range of subjects, such as nature, people, technology, food and much more. This allows designers to quickly and easily find suitable images that meet their requirements.
Here's an example: Suppose a web designer is working on a website for a restaurant. Instead of taking photos of the restaurant's food himself, the designer can select a suitable stock photo of a delicious-looking dish and insert it into the website design. This saves time and resources as the designer doesn't have to visit the restaurant and take the photos themselves.
Another example: A graphic designer creates a brochure for a travel agency. To illustrate the different destinations, the designer can use stock photos of popular places, such as a picture of the Paris skyline for the section on Paris or a picture of a tropical beach for the section on exotic holiday destinations.
Stock photos therefore offer a practical solution for designers to obtain high-quality images for their projects without having to take photos themselves or arrange expensive photo shoots. They are flexible to use and allow designers to express their creativity and create engaging visual content.