PhotoDisc, Inc. base in Seattle, was a leading publisher of royalty free digital stock photography. It was founded in 1991 by Mark Torrance, who also became the chief executive officer and chairman. After receiving the catalog in the mail, customers would write or phone the office and order the photos or pre-made collections which would then be shipped to them on CD-ROM. In the fall of 1995, their website was launched making business more convenient as it was no longer necessary to wait for shipping as photos could be downloaded directly from the website, the catalog option was still available, though. In January 1997, PhotoDisc 's image collection grew to 50,000 images including 84 pre-made CD-ROM collections and many more images available only through the website. In September 1997, PhotoDisc combined with London based Getty Communications to form the Seattle based Getty Images.