Photo-sharing site Flickr has inked a deal with syndication service Getty Images to sell user photos.

The service will allow users to have their photos sold to publications from a special Flickr collection page on the Getty Images site.

Publications will then be able to purchase the images from Getty, which will pay the Flickr user who submitted the image.

"The Flickr community of photographers have influenced the aesthetics of photography with authentic, creative and cutting-edge images which will now be available to Getty Images customers around the world," said Flickr general manager Kakul Srivastava.

Getty Images said that it will be selecting certain Flickr users for the programme in the coming months, and hopes to have several thousand images up within the next several months.

The company claimed that the addition of Flickr photos will allow its customers to get images that often elude professional photographers.

"Sometimes the most amazing imagery is more about moments in time and place than technical expertise," wrote Andy Saunders, vice president of creative imagery at Getty Images.

"This partnership gives our clients access to thousands of these moments."