iStock Preview Photo Downloader
May 29, 2014
2022 Update: this plugin is now deprecated. iStock now allows direct downloading of preview comps through their website.
Finally. An easy way to download those high resolution preview images from iStock. Click the link above to get started!
It’s as simple as clicking a bookmark link!
What’s the point?
Clients like beautiful photography, but few can actually afford or have the time to hire a proper photographer. So they must rely on stock imagery for their marketing assets.
As a designer, I constantly find myself digging through the iStock DOM to find the coveted s3 div with a link out to the good preview version of the file I need for my mockup. Then, I can show the client a more realistic representation of what their marketing collateral would look like without having to purchase stock images upfront. Once the artwork is approved, I can then purchase the right stock photos and everyone is happy!
Follow the link above to install a tool that I came up with, and that my friend Zach programmed. He wrote a pretty in-depth article over here if you are interested in the programming details.