Logos

Logos (Libronix) offers "Images of the Holy Land" with 200 photographs for $30.  It doesn't advertise the photograph resolution, but when asked, Logos stated that the average image size is 750x500 pixels - much smaller than the Pictorial Library.

Logos also offers "Photos from the Holy Land" also for $30. No quantity of pictures is given, nor is a resolution listed, but the total file size is 42M (which would be the size of about 80 pictures on the Pictorial Library CDs).

Israel Companies

An Israeli company produces "Israel Views and Sites" ($49; link no longer valid) with 600 photographs.  These are of varying quality and interest and have a screen resolution of 640x480.  If you want to use the pictures in PowerPoint or elsewhere, you'll have to convert them from bmp and then crop them (we did it, it's quite a hassle, then they're not appropriately named, and ultimately three years later, we haven't used a single one.)

The DavkaGraphics Photo Collection: Jerusalem includes 100 pictures for $20.  The pictures appear to be 440x300 in resolution.  The company's Israel Photo Collection features 200 photos of the same resolution.

Image Pro: Israel may be one of the only comparable products to date.  It claims 1200 high resolution photos, though it doesn't specify what "high resolution" is.  Price is $60 (currently marked down to $20).  All of the images have been scanned in from slides, and the overall quality reflects that - the colors are not bright and the detail is not sharp.  The producer is a Jewish-American and the images on the CD reflect that interest - many biblical sites are represented by few or no photos, and many Jewish and rabbinic features of less interest to a Christian audience are included.  Interested purchasers should also note the CD license prohibits use of the images for "public display" as well as other uses.  Any altering or modification of the images is also forbidden without permission.  That makes this product suitable for personal viewing only.

Other Options

Christian Computer Art offers The Bible Picture Library of Photo Art with 1800 images for about $25.  The ordering page wasn't working when we tried, but you can view samples and get an idea for the product.  They have some good reviews and a strong guarantee of satisfaction, but the download samples of the photographs do not impress.

israelimages.com has some excellent photos and a great selection.  The only catch is that each picture costs $60 per year (that's the cheapest price (PowerPoint educational use only); prices go up to $8000 per picture).  See holylandimages.com and PhotoZion and Photovault and Fotosearch Stock Photography for more of the same.  These high prices are standard for stock photography and one of the reasons why the Pictorial Library exists - to provide high resolution, high quality images to teachers, students, pastors and churches much more cheaply.  (Note that use of images from the Pictorial Library is granted for personal and educational purposes; commercial use requires permission.)

Biblical Archaeology Society has recently released the revised edition of "The Biblical World in Pictures" CD-ROM.  This includes 10 of their slide sets, with 1300 pictures.  We are disappointed with both the poor image quality and the low resolution.  For $50, it might be a worthwhile purchase; for $185, we do not recommend it.  Kris Udd of Grace University has written a more detailed review of it in the Journal of Biblical Studies (pdf format).  See also the New Testament Archaeology in Pictures CD-ROM, which includes 285 pictures for $70.

Summary

Few of the above products give any kind of product review from consumers.  We suspect that the reason is that the reviews are not positive; everyone we know is disappointed with what is available on the market today.  Either the picture quality is poor or the resolution is low or both.

The other way to go (the only way available originally) is to use slides.  These are more expensive yet.  Good slide sets are available from Biblical Resources (30 slides for $24), Ritmeyer Archaeological Design (36 slides for $40), WorldSlides.com (60 slides for $50) and Biblical Archaeology Society (varies, but approx. 130 slides for $100).  None of the slide sets we have seen offer images at as high of quality as the digital images of the Pictorial Library.  

Many companies don't want to provide high-resolution photographs without royalty charges.  They view the risk as too great that the images can be used in commercial projects without proper compensation.  We choose to take that risk and make the best quality, highest-resolution images available.  

This is what we say about others: here's what others say about the Pictorial Library.  And we have a 100% satisfaction guarantee - no questions, no hassle, no time limit.

Know of any other options, good or bad?  Please tell us!