You’re designing a new site, or looking for an image to spice up your blog. With the thousands of images available online, it’s easy to just “google” for your keyword and pull up an image to use, right? Wrong. Images, like text, are covered by copyright law, and taking an image without proper permission and licensing is stealing. Fortunately there are a lot of freebies available on the ‘web.
Image by Michael Gil on Flickr
Fortunately, there are many thousands of artists and photographers who have made their images available for free under Creative Commons and Royalty Free licensing. Here are ten websites offering free stock photos for you to use in all your projects:
Image by Kai on Flickr
Flickr.com-
Undoubtedly one of the ‘net’s most popular photo-sharing sites, Flickr is a great resource for original photos. Type your keyword into the search bar in the upper right-hand corner. Click “Search”. But wait, you’re not quite done. Once the search comes up, click “Advanced Search” under the new search bar that comes up about mid-screen. Choose limitations for your search from the options if you wish, then scroll to the bottom of the screen. There, you’ll see “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content”, with two check-boxes; “Find content to use commercially” and “Find content to modify, adapt or build upon.”
Check the appropriate box(es), and click “Search”.
Image from StockVault
Stockvault is one of the largest photo-sharing sites available. With high-quality photos and images and searchable by category, this is one of the best sites for stock photos out there.
Image from UnProFound
Unprofound came to life in 2001 when the site’s founder couldn’t find the public domain images he wanted online. The site asks only that you link back to it when using the images. That’s not to much to ask, right? Especially considering that the extensive collection is searchable not only by keyword, but by color as well.
Ad from FreeRangeStock
FreeRangeStock offers large images for use with personal and commercial projects. The only caveat- you need to register to gain access. Registration is free, however, and allows you to access thousands of images, not to mention Tutorials, archives and opportunities to share your own images if you so desire.
Image from Every Stock Photo
Every Stock Photo is a search engine that hunts down free photos on the net. Sign up to rate, tag, collect and comment on photos. Be sure to click the License icon to the bottom left of each photo to be certain you’re using royalty-free photos in your projects.
Image from Free Stock Photos Biz
This site offers thousands of free photos available under Public Domain, Creative Commons and Custom licensing agreements. Be sure to check the licensing on these photos, as there may be some terms or conditions of use, but all images are free. The basic license essentially restricts the images from being resold or rented, or used for any illegal activities.
Image from Abstract Influence
Abstract Influence has hundreds of very high-quality photos and images in a wide variety of categories, including those you might not find elsewhere like textures, statues and night shots.
Image from Kave Wall
Kave Wall Stock Photos has some of the coolest close-ups available on the web. Check out their extensive collection for some really unique and beautiful images.
Image from Image After
ImageAfter.com offers one of the largest images available, many suitable for use as desktop wallpapers. The images are not compressed. Many images have been donated by visitors.
Image from Free PIxels
Free Pixels offers images divided into categories for your convenience. Search by keyword or by category to find the perfect image for your needs. The images tend to look more like commercial stock shots than Flickr’s more amateur collection of photography. Just use caution- a few of the photos are branded with a watermark, and may require registration to use totally free.
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Tom Chu work for PsPrint and PsPrint Blog. When he’s not sitting behind a computer, Tom likes watching sci-fi movies and Japanese cartoons, hitting the golf course and playing with his four dogs. You can connect with Tom via Google+ or Twitter. |
