We've
been a pioneer in the niche of vintage image licensing:
Hillstock has been selling vintage images online since early
2002. As we've expanded our offerings over the years we've
always stayed true to our founding principles of honesty,
integrity and high quality.
We
do not strive to be the largest or cheapest collection online:
We're well aware of the microstock
craze where anyone with a camera or scanner can upload images
for licensing- everything we have is from our own original
sources. We also realize our pricing is not for every budget,
but we believe in the old proverb that you get what you
pay for. Everything we scan gets "cleaned up"
and enhanced. Also, your time is money, and we save you
both by picking out the best of our best to offer you so
that there is no need to spend hours sorting through filler
images.
We
only use original art sources in our possession:
The image sources we bring to you literally span generations
of collecting since Hillstock owner Averyl Hill's grandmother
is herself a lifetime collector. Additionally, our home
state of Maine is well known for its antique shops, old
estate sales, auctions, flea markets and other places for
acquiring authentic vintage art sources. If we're not busy
at work in our design studio we're most likely out treasure
hunting to find the best images for your projects. We store
our sources at an undisclosed climate controlled archive
and maintain a catalog of source material. Try
asking a vintage clip art or stock image vendor if they
can take a picture of the original source art. We can!
We
only use legally & ethically acquired art sources:
Intellectual property law is something we take very seriously.
We
research the copyright status
before we will add an image to our stock collection or use
in a unique design. If there's any doubt on our part, we
don't use it. No exceptions. We will not take images from
The Library of Congress online archive and then repackage
them to charge you a licensing fee which is a practice that
sadly we've seen done. We invite you to conduct
your own searches if ever in doubt!
We
use gleaming new technology: While we love vintage
images we're certainly not luddites! The technology we use
to digitize our vintage image sources is the best we can
offer and we print our images at advertised sizes in-house
for testing purposes to ensure we approve of what we offer
you.
We
offer high quality stock images: We do not offer
low-res pixilated junk. While we do offer multi-media resolutions,
our print resolution images are clearly marked with both
pixels per inch and print size so you can make educated
buying decisions. We will never simply resize an image with
software- all print sizes are scanned in directly at advertised
sizing.
We
give back to the community: Since its inception,
Hillstock has sponsored a cage for a year at our local animal
shelter, was a national corporate sponsor of Toys for Tots
in 2005, has donated art to decorate the rooms of residents
at the Scarborough, Maine veterans home and provided stock
images for the marketing of the historic Victoria Mansion
in Portland. These are but a few examples.
You
can speak to the owner: Hillstock doesn't hide
behind private domain registrations or withhold a telephone
number to contact us. Have a concern or question- please
call us at 207-415-6459. That's EST in Maine. If we can't
take your call please leave us a message and the owner,
Averyl Hill, will get back to you.
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