Media Testimonials

PRshots is used daily by over 9,000 journalists and editors from the vast majority of UK regional, national and consumer titles. Below is a selection of genuine testimonials from some of our media users (listed by publication in alphabetical order). There really is more where this came from - if your target media is not mentioned here please call us on 0845 226 0435 and we will honestly tell you if we are in a position to assist you with your media objectives.

Testimonial from Marie-Claire Jones, Aberdeen Evening Express
I am more than happy to extol the virtues of prshots.com, in fact I don't know what I would do without it! I put together weekly fashion spreads for the Aberdeen Evening Express, and PRshots is always my first stop. I am more likely to feature companies listed on the site before anyone else.
It's also somewhere I can browse for ideas. Purely by having so many retailers side by side, it's easier for me to identify trends to write about, than if I am trawling various websites or delving through the mountain of catalogues in the office.
Sourcing pictures from PR companies isn't always reliable. They can't appreciate when a deadline is looming: sometimes the picture is in the wrong format; sometimes it's the wrong size and sometimes they plain just don't get back to you!
I only wish more companies were listed with prshots. It makes it easier for us to promote them, so everybody wins.

Testimonial from Judith Cole, The Belfast Telegraph
"PRshots is the best source I know for image supply and is invaluable"

Testimonial from Natalie Bruckner, Bournemouth Daily Echo
A few words regarding PRshots and how it always saves the day!
As a journalist we are constantly bombarded by images through the post or by emails, but so often these images don't fit the topic, or aren't of a high enough quality. This is when PRshots comes through for us, time and time again.
I co-edit a magazine called Dorset Society, and each month we have dedicated sections like fashion, beauty, home and garden. As soon as we plan the pages for the next issue, I go straight to PRshots as I know its fast, simple and the images are fantastic. To be honest, because of PRshots' professionalism, the companies who use this service often cover our editorial pages. It's THE best service available.
Others have tried a similar approach, but they become far too complicated, and obtaining the images is impossible. Since discovering PRshots, my life has become so much easier. If I need an extra image to fill a gap, I will go to the site, it just makes approaching deadlines seems less frightening! They provide the most efficient service I know. We need more companies to get involved and then they too will get free editorial space!

Testimonial from Emma Segal, Closer Magazine
PRshots is a lifesaver!! I just wish more stores would put images on it. Working on a weekly magazine we always need last minute pictures and it makes everything so much easier. The high res, still life shots are exactly the style of images we use in the magazine, so it's perfect for us. The prices, homepage of the company, which season the items are for, and all the details I need to go with the images are right there. The search engine is easy to use and the products are easy to find. After using PRshots for a few months now, I don't know how I ever survived without it!

Testimonial from Deborah Arthurs, Staff Journalist, Daily Mail
"I always go to PRshots first"

Testimonial from Tiffany Hancock, The Daily Telegraph
PR Shots is great for saving the day with last minute deadlines when journalists simply don't have the time to try and chase things through PR companies and would rather chase up images themselves. It saves on time and stress. The more variety and images the better as it gives us more choice. Useful captions with stockist details and prices for each of the products would be a great help as well.

Testimonial from Judith Halliday, Derbyshire Today
I find PR Shots an invaluable source of pictures. Some companies have good existing image libraries, but they are very much in the minority. It is no accident that many of my fashion, beauty, homes and Christmas gift guide pages, are filled with those images available through PRshots.
Time is of the essence and I see no reason to source pictures and chase companies if there is a resource like PRshots available to me. I hate the term one-stop shop, but that is exactly what PRshots is, and in an ideal world, all of the main retail outlets would be available there.
With regard to those already using PR Shots, I would also add that having to request a password, or trawl around trying to find a caption to a picture that doesn't have the details listed with it, is very off putting and probably ends up with that particular image or retailer not being used. It's a simple message - don't make life hard while others are making life easy.

Testimonial from Vanessa Barford, Handbag.com
I am delighted to provide a testimonial for PRshots.

My role as Fashion Editor at handbag.com means I am constantly searching for images to support features or run as product-led photo galleries. The great thing about PRshots is that it provides a truly fantastic one-stop picture library where I can access a huge cross-section of relevant images at the touch of a button.

There are alternatives, but I genuinely feel PRshots is the best solution. We can look through look-books and contact PR departments to ask for images (which is incredibly time-consuming, and often takes a couple of calls if the photo comes in the wrong format or without captions) or screen grab images from websites (which is only viable if the images are big enough to reproduce - and of a good enough quality). PR companies are getting increasingly image savvy and are sending out discs with their collections on - but even then images can sometimes take a long time to load up, or have been known to crash systems or get lost amongst press packs. A few sites have press sections where it's possible to download images - but it would make it so much easier if the pictures were all available at one resource. And... last but not least, it's better for the environment if all this information is sourced and stored electronically :

I try to feature products from a wide variety of retailers but it's fair to say that my first port of call will usually be PR shots. With Debenhams, Oasis, and The Arcadia Group on board, there is a great selection of shots for trend-led and product-led stories. I only hope more fashion retailers sign up - surely it's a win-win situation? Then I'll have more choice and the brands will get more coverage too.

The last point I'd like to make is that PR Shots is a free service for journalists. Press shots are free on the whole, but lifestyle shots are often sourced from paid-for picture libraries. For this reason I am constantly telling my colleagues that work across all sections of our site about PRshots. So the bigger PR Shots gets, the better!

Testimonial from Katie Williams, Hello! Magazine
I am a regular user of PRshots and regularly browse the site to see what has been added. I find it particularly useful as I work to tight deadlines and having all the images and information in one place where I can download it myself is tremendously useful and saves plenty of phone calls and e-mails.
I've never encountered any real problems with the site, only occasionally some of the caption details aren't in place, which is a pain. It would certainly be great news to see any new companies joining up.

Testimonial from Debbie Eales, Editor, Kent Messenger Group
"I love PRshots - it's a quick page filler that needs the minimum of effort. I can download straight into our database which saves time. The pictures are always excellent quality and are good enough for our covers. I'd like to see more companies using this service. It makes journalists' lives a lot easier and that is half the battle if you're trying to get editorial space for a client. I don't need to make endless phone calls explaining who we are and what we do. The images are just there."

Testimonial from Liz Payne, Lancashire Evening Post
Why does PR Shots work?
The truth is that journalists don't have unlimited time to put features together and sourcing photos is one of the biggest problems we have.
We simply don't have the time or resources to contact a different press office or PR firm for every picture we need - it's far easier to have all the available photos there in front of us so that we can just pick and choose what we need, download it at high resolution with all the information needed, and all within seconds.
Using traditional methods (phoning up a press office, describing what we need, getting the photos e-mailed or posted) takes several minutes per picture; minutes we don't have, which in turn means that if a firm isn't signed up to PRshots the chance of us using their photos is pretty slim.
So many companies are now signed up to PR Shots that we rarely have to look elsewhere for photos. Most firms still use the traditional route of sending out press packs with photos but, sadly, we just don't have the space to store all of these. PRshots staff are really helpful and not once have I ever had trouble downloading photos from the site. The bottom line is that I use PRshots, on average, every other day and companies that are on the site are always top of the list for inclusion in our features. All we need now is more companies to sign up so that we can give them a chance of getting some free publicity too!
Thanks for coming up with such a great idea, PRshots!

Testimonial from Helen Tither, Manchester Evening News
My only complaint about PRshots is that more companies aren't signed up to it yet! Working on a fashion desk for a daily regional paper is a busy job to say the least. Naturally, being a newspaper, we like our fashion features to be as timely as possible when it comes to news stories, etc. This means an extremely quick turnaround when it comes to fashion spreads or lifestyle pieces of hours or even minutes. Given those time constraints, we rarely have the luxury of setting up photoshoots and need to source images as quickly and easily as possible. Ringing round PR offices or trawling through press packs can be extremely time-consuming. PRshots, on the other hand, has been a godsend. Images are available at the click of a button and are just the right style and quality for us to use in our recently redesigned fashion pages. With so many companies registered, it makes sourcing pictures for an entire spread really easy and means you rarely have to resort to press packs or trawling around other sites. The format is easy to follow and all the information you need in terms of price is always to hand. Now I would just like all the major chains to sign up so that we can find their images more often!

Testimonial from Paul Baker, Trinity Mirror Merseyside (Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, Liverpool Weeklies)
As a commercial journalist I'll often have to source images for a wide range of general articles on anything from winter fashions to styles and colours for your kitchen. PRshots is always my first port of call. There really is no other similar resource that I am aware of on the Internet. Fee free downloadable images are almost impossible to find on the net. Some retailers do have press areas of their site where limited image downloads are available but it would be so much easier for these retailers to make their images available in one central location.
I've noticed that PR Shots has expanded its picture stock and it is very good for fashion pics, but it would be so much more useful if it covered many more areas. Our commercial remit covers such a huge amount of subjects: cars, property, restaurants, big business, glazing, home design, fashion, high-street retail and more. Obviously saving time and money when sourcing images is of great importance so if we could rely on one resource for the majority of our image needs that would be fantastic.

Testimonial from Juliet Gerson, Sunday Magazine (News of the World)
PRshots is a totally new discovery to me, but after only knowing about it for a few days i am already a convert and have advised my colleagues to log on. I often need immediate access to still life pictures, and to be able to look through images from various fashion companies, including some I may not have initially thought of contacting, has proved most useful.

Testimonial from Rachel Wakefield. Newsquest London
PR Shots really has changed my life with just one click.
No more do I have to keep phoning a firm in vain hoping that a press or marketing person will return my call and deliver the images I want in time (and in the right format) for my deadline. At first I thought it was too much of a good thing. I mean free downloading of products from top High Street stores and manufacturers - that doesn't happen, even on their own websites. But it does with you guys.
In fact Hayter garden machineries first directed me to your website and I was so excited when I realised what a really useful resource library PRshots is. I thought there would be restrictions on using the images but after talking to you, you kindly assured me that I was free to peruse the pages and download at will. I was like a kid in a candy store when your website helped me produce a special Christmas gift magazine. Thank you.

Testimonial from Louise Compton, The Sun
PRshots is hugely useful when working on a tight deadline. The images are all catalogued really well and are of a high resolution, which is ideal for our picture desk. The service cuts out the frustration of chasing up PR's for images and the extensive caption information provided is also useful. I would find it helpful if more companies took up the service.

Testimonial from Lena Gustavson, Sunday Mirror
I use PR Shots quite often since I'm looking after the images for Sunday Mirror's homes & property section. PR Shots is a good source of images and you can access them and the product information immediately without having to email and telephone PRs which it perfect when you are on very tight deadlines. Often we work outside normal office hours and it's not always an option for us to wait till the next day to request images from PRs. The images are always hi quality but it would be good if the companies listed made both cut-out images and room shots available.

Testimonial from Dawn Donaghey, The Sunday Post
I am pleased to recommend PRshots, which I have used - and found invaluable - for years. It is the first place I look for images, and often inspiration, when planning a product/fashion spread.
Sourcing good quality, clear product and lifestyle shots at hi-resolution for fashion and features spreads, is not as easy as it sounds. You'd think, with millions of companies competing for coverage in the press, that promotions departments would be falling over themselves to get in on the act. Yet any features journalist will agree that the process of chasing companies, first to get an image, and finally to get it, in the right format and resolution, to your desktop, is frequently frustrating and often ends in the feeling of 'well, if they don't want to promote themselves...'
Using PRshots, on the other hand, is hassle-free and I use it constantly. Working as a journalist does mean meeting deadlines, so being able to call up a web page and download a hi-res and (importantly) up-to-date image in seconds, makes meeting those so much easier. Or if, for example, ads are dropped or an issue goes up in size at the last minute and there is space to fill, PRshots gives immediate access to companies with great images for use instantly.
Look books and promotional brochures that we're sent are always beautifully presented and give editors a real feel for a collection or product. But they do inevitably end up in the filing system with hundreds of other releases, to be rooted through 'as and when'. Being able to access shots online is more appealing and takes much less time.
When putting together a fashion shoot I sometimes borrow items from the main high street stores and the feedback I get from staff in store, after I've featured their product shots, is great. They have often had several requests for an item that has been included in a product spread. Proof that this kind of editorial placement is as good as, if not better than, paid advertising.
It is no coincidence that the companies I have featured most this year - Debenhams, Accessorize/Monsoon, Top Shop, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, to name just a few - are all included on prshots.com. But I am always on the look out for new companies to feature on my pages and I often wonder why more organisations aren't involved in the site. Not only would it raise their profile but it would help us journos to keep our pages fresh and interesting.
Many thanks. Keep up the good work!

Testimonial from Tara Craig, Ireland's Wedding Journal
I am a huge fan of PR Shots as it allows 24 hour access to great quality, up to the minute images from some of the biggest names in fashion and home. I love the fact that I can access the site at any time, browse though a range of images and pick the ones that meet my needs, without having to go through a PR company or press person which can take ages! The site is quick and easy to navigate - a true godsend for a busy editor.

Testimonial from Susie Weldon, Western Daily Press
I am delighted to provide a testimonial for PRshots' truly excellent service because it has, quite literally, transformed my life as a journalist ever since the joyful day I first discovered it.
I produce the fashion and interiors pages for our weekend magazine as well as fashion, beauty and health pages in our weekly Woman's section, and used to spend an extraordinary amount of time trawling through catalogues and lookbooks and then contacting PR departments to ask for images. Frequently images came back too small, or in the wrong format, or without caption details (requiring yet another phone call or email, and more delay), or - disaster - too late for when I needed them.
With PRshots, however, the images are always superb quality and always available, even when I'm researching features late at night or, as only occurred today, when I'm frantically trying to find an image at the last moment. Today, writing for tomorrow's Woman's section, I didn't have time to get one of my drawerful of hard copy images scanned in or to phone a PR company and hope they would get one to me in time. So what did I do? Logged on to PRshots where I knew I would find just what I wanted.
I try to feature products from a wide variety of retailers but the truth is that if a company is on PRshots, its images are far more likely to be appear on my pages than a company which is not.
The benefits of PRshots are such a no brainer - an image service that's available night and day to hard-pressed journalists - that I truly can't understand why more companies don't leap at this opportunity to publicise their products with minimal fuss and work on their part.
Why spend so much time and money sending out images themselves? Why not put their PR people to better use by targeting their work more effectively?
The only downside to PRshots is that more companies haven't signed up. Please, please, get the message out that this is a service we journalists value very highly indeed - and the point is that it works for companies too, in terms of acres more editorial space.

Testimonial from Jo Moody, Woman Magazine
I am very pleased to recommend PRshots as they really have made my life so much easier.
For our fashion, beauty and home news pages we rely on digital images, but these need to be high resolution and big enough files to be able to use the picture full-page size if I wanted to. It's very frustrating to find that the picture you've built your whole page around can't be used any bigger than postage stamp size.
In many cases it takes twenty phone calls to get the correct quality - if it can be managed at all. With PRshots I know all the pictures are the quality we need and what's more they're sent to me in seconds - invaluable when you're filing a last minute feature.
The service is super-easy to navigate and so far, fool-proof. Personally I'd love it if more companies took advantage.
Keep up the good work.

Testimonial from Anthony Longstaff, Yorkshire Evening Post
"Why isn't every retail company on the site?? It would be such a benefit to them to have their products FREELY available for just about every newspaper/media based company to use. After trawling through most high street retailers looking for product shots to use in various supplements we produce in the Yorkshire Evening Post, we eventually came across a godsend of a site (prshots.com).
It's very time consuming to have to ask for pictures to be sent via email, or through the post, or receiving low res pdf's only to have to re-call your contact to have to ask them to do it all again. This past week alone, prshots.com has been the sole source of my product shot research."

Other Media Testimonials

"It's much easier to use PRshots than company's own websites, which are often too hard to access and understand." Stephanie Smith, Staff Journalist, Yorkshire Post

"If we can simply download hi-res images from a site that's easy to find, they're certainly more likely to feature as news-in-brief items. It's also invaluable for our reviews section. Too many PRs still think that a pic used on a website is good enough to print." Paul Allen, Editor, Computeractive

"Your clients often get more coverage than many others as their images are accessible to me 24-7, whether I am working from home or in a publisher's office." Jillian Bolger, Editor, Irish Tatler

"If you're on a tight deadline, you haven't always got time to wait for people to post you CDs etc." Alison Barlow, Fashion Editor, Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Magazine

"I am constantly on the lookout for strong product shots which are publication-ready and save us the hassle of borrowing samples etc." Dawn Donaghey, Staff Journalist, The Sunday Post Newspaper, Post Plus magazine

"Copyright free pics are so hard to come by that we rely on organisations like PRshots for our fashion pages" Julie Marshall, Staff Journalist, Yorkshire Weekly Newspaper Group

"One of the most frustrating parts of my job is tracking down decent images. If I can easily get hold of a good image, the company definitely gets better coverage. I just wish more companies used PRshots!" Rebecca Armstrong, Editor, London Planner, Heritage Cities Planner, London Map & Guide

"Quality images can often be the single most important decision as to whether one product/company makes the grade over another" Joanne Hine, Editor, Staffordshire Living and Staffordshire Homes

"I cannot fault your service. In fact, without your support, Inside Aberdeenshire would be a bottom shelf, poorly regarded magazine. However, since we first utilised your images, our readership has grown, as has our advertising base. Therefore, a great thanks to you all." Gary Fisher, Publisher, Inside Aberdeenshire

"Without doubt, it's a wonderful service to us!" Gail Raymonde, Editor, Diary

"PR Shots has made my working day much easier, and enabled me to access high res images for both feature and news stories. It's proved invaluable to me." Grania McFadden, Production Editor, Irish Daily Mirror

"It's a great service and saves hours of time!" Cathy Sergides, Editor, Sunshine Magazine

"If I download an image it is because I am definitely going to use it. PRshots makes my job/ life so much easier." Sarah Jane Smith, Staff Journalist, Closer Magazine

"If only more companies were members!" Sally Gill, Freelance Journalist, Sunday Magazine (News of The World) Your Home, HomeStyle, Ideal Home, Woman

"Your shots are easily accessible which means you can get hold of them quickly" Julia Legge, Staff Journalist, Shop Nectar

"PRshots is a great way of sourcing both lifestyle images and also last minute product shots." Jenni Retourne, Editor, Pure Beauty