New views of iStockphoto coming?
The widely used stock photo sales site now lets some developers tap into search results and other Web site abilities.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
If you upload pictures, video or illustrations to iStockphoto or are a customer who uses the site to buy that content, you could have some new options soon for using the site.
The company has released some details of its interface so that outsiders can create Web sites or software that tap into the site's abilities, according to a company
Some users already are coming up with ideas to inject iStockphoto features into their own sites. "I would like to see a way that we could display and search iStock images from our own design or hosting Web sites," or even better, provide a conduit so other sites can sell iStock images, said one commenter.
The iStockphoto application programming interface (API) taps into site features such as search, file downloading and uploading, and management of photo collections using the "lightbox" feature. The company is only sharing the specifications with those who obtain an API key by submitting a proposal. "You will have a great chance of getting an API key if your project is targeted to buyers rather than contributors," the company said.