Zoom-in Online

These are exciting times for iStockphoto contributors. Not only did they just open a new European headquarters in Berlin, but they added German forums as well. This could potentially be huge for increasing sales in Europe, which has never quite been able to match the US market. In spite of the financial crisis, iStock continues to grow and expand, perhaps because the micropayment business is perfect for tight budgets.

Avery, the giant producer of various labels and office templates, has recently partnered with iStockphoto, giving buyers access to the collection. What effect that will have on sales depends on a lot of things, such as how obvious and easy it is for Avery template users to download and attach images, but any way you look at it, it's good news for all iStockphoto contributors.

Right now, there's also a T-shirt contest going on. The winning design will be printed on the next iStockphoto tee and the designer will be awarded five hundred bucks.

There is always a ton going on at iStock. Recently, the big Punctum Day Award was handed out in the form of $5,000 prizes to five very talented photographers. On top of that, iStock recently gave all their exclusive contributors 100% royalties for one day and double referral rewards for an entire month. Did I mention the Battle Royale, where designers do Photoshop battles against each other for cash prizes and prestige? So many things are happening, that it's hard to keep up.

If you're already signed up, make sure you're also recieving the newsletter, so you won't miss out on these and future developments and offers. And if you haven't signed up yet, now is a good time to do so.

Rasmus Rasmussen is on loan from iStockphoto, where he is part of the image inspection team.