Shutterstock has released an official plugin for WordPress. The 17-year old company is as old as WordPress itself but this is the first time it has provided convenient access to its library inside the admin.
Seven years ago, Shutterstock released a plugin for affiliates using a third-party development company, but it failed to gain much traction and is no longer updated. The new block-based plugin applies more broadly to WordPress site owners looking for commercial stock photography. It provides a block that allows users to search Shutterstock’s library of 340 million images and get suggestions based on the text content. Users can place preview images on pages and posts, license with one click, download, and publish images and editorial content.
Shutterstock’s plugin respects WordPress’ user roles and permissions system, so organizations can restrict image licensing to editors and administrators while still allowing authors to insert image previews. The plugin also has access to the user’s license history so they can download any content that has been previously licensed on Shutterstock.
A couple weeks after launching, the plugin is active on fewer than 10 WordPress sites. It’s not clear if that is due to its customers not knowing about it or the endless variety of free images that WordPress users have access to through other services. Since the plugin only offers access to a limited library by default, it is primarily aimed at Shutterstock customers who have an existing subscription to connect for the full collection.
Along with the official plugin release, Shutterstock also announced a new partnership with WordPress.com VIP. It is now one of the service’s “Featured Technology Partners,” streamlining the publishing workflow for Automattic’s enterprise customers.