I'm interestd to know folks even tho its probly been asked a 100 times, is there more money in vectors or in photos? ie; i know its like asking how long is a piece of string butwould somebody with say 1000 realy good vectors be streets ahed of someone with the same amoutn of really good photos like Yuri has or is it neck n neck?

The short answer is "Yes."

The longer answer is that it all depends on quality. Obviously competing with someone like Yuri is not a typical scenario. But on paper, taking 1,000 random vectors and 1,000 random photos, the vectors will outsell the photos by anywhere from 5x-10x.

This is exactly the reason that you'll see Diamond contributors at istock who have vector portfolios of 300 or less images. Hitting the diamond level with 300 or less photos would be extremely hard to do, if not impossible. Vectors simply outsell photos.

Although generally speaking it takes quite a bit longer to produce vectors. This is also the reason you don't see many 1,000 image vector portfolios.

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They do sell more, because designers don't have the time to produce them. This industry puts us under very tight time contstraints. You can also do a lot more design-wise with a vector or an illustration, than you can with a photo (in most cases).

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u both make a lot of sense, thx guys, what confusts me so is the type of vectros that seem 2 make the grade on sites like ss and IS .stuff taht is highly ornate, flowery almost retro in style u know the stuff what im talking about.

it's hard 2 know what does best coz i'm thinking of doing nothing else n dropping photogrphay based on the top earners on ss and the like. Your advice pls?

I would avoid florals, honestly. Florals are a constant theme in the Top image rankings, but that is also a highly competative segment of the market. I've done some floral designs that I thought were decent, but they really don't sell that well because there are just so many of them out there for buyers to choose from. I think that having so many florals in the Top rankings makes that the most duplicated style in microstock, thus making it the most competative.

I have found that my most recent best-selling images are more unique. Things that not a lot of people are doing. Try to find your own niche. Maybe experiment with a few styles, types of images, themes, etc., and then see what sells best. Then just produce more of those images.

Lastly, there is no magic bullet in vectors. There's no guaranteed seller, no sure-thing. What sells well for one person may not sell well for another, because everyone has their own style. I can do a set of icons that may look great but not sell well. Someone else might try to do a similar set of icons and have a top seller on their hands just because of some subtle stylistic differences. The trick isn't just finding what sells in general. You have to find what sells well for you, done in your style.

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