When building a website, one of the things you are going to want to have is beautiful free stock photography images on your site. Because not everyone has time to go out and shoot pictures with a camera, or create original artwork.
Well no worries because you can use stock photography!
‘Stock photography’ or ‘Stock images’ are images created by professionals licensed for specific uses. Stock images are used to fulfill the needs of any creative work, instead of having to hire a photographer or illustrator. You can use stock photography for websites or for any documents you need to create, such as PDFs or PowerPoints.
Places to get Free Stock Photography
There are several good website where you can get Stock Photography. Below are a few resources I like for imagery (my full set of resources is in my Graphics Creation Workshop program)
Here are 3 Free Stock Photography sites I like:
Pixabay: http://pixabay.com
Easy to understand terms for usage, and I always find high quality images here. Great search tool.
Life Of Pix: http://www.lifeofpix.com/gallery
If you want a real designer look to your images, use this site for elegant imagery.
Morguefile: https://www.morguefile.com
I find a variety of images here, and some that have a amature-ish, home made feel, which is a look I sometimes want.
Sometimes, the free sites don’t give you exactly what you are looking for. In that instance I turn to paid stock photography sites.
For paid stock photography sites, I sometimes use iStockPhoto because I know that I am getting royalty free images and I don’t have to worry about anything. They are low cost, and sometimes they give away free images !
Want more image resources? Read this article on My Top 7 Free Stock Resources to find more places to get great high-quality images.
Where do you like to get your stock images? Leave a comment below…
(This post was originally published on March 16, 2012)
I have used istock for years … no shortage of choice and great pricing. I always find something I can use.
Warning for newbies: in the beginning I used to get easily side-tracked for hours (literally) just looking at all the gorgeous photos .. watch out — it’s tempting!
Susan,
Yes, looking at stock images can be a hobby of mine!
(oh I just remembered now to go buy an image for my next training program coming up!)
🙂
Although your header says free stock photography, it’s a little misleading since iStock and other royalty free stock photography sites are not free, there is a fee to participate (although minimal) involved.
DeBorah,
You must have missed the sentence in my post:
“They give away a free image every week”
See the picture where I’ve circled the place to go.
Yes, I used istock for YEARS before I realized that they give away images too.
I purchase almost all my images there, but now I’m also going there to get the free images too.
Not every free image I can use, but sometimes there is a gem in there.
Go check it out!
🙂
Christina,
How do you rate the freebies on PHOTO Bucket and GOOGLE IMAGES?
Christina,
iStockphoto has been invaluable for me as well over the years. Do you ever use Creative Commons images? I’ve never been clear on the rights management of these photos and while some people have great luck finding amazing images there, I have not. Any thoughts?
Mary Ann,
I have not used many creative commons images as I don’t want to wade through the legalese. I know when I go to iStock, that I can find something I like, buy it and know I’m getting royalty free imagery. 🙂
Go check out their free images they put out each week. A great find!
I use iclipart.com and I have used clipart.com. I usually end up Photoshopping the images so they look more original. I have occasionally used Creative Commons but as you said, the legalese is tricky and you often have to provide a credit line.
I want to add that, as a copywriter, I use these images on my blog and sometimes in sales letters. When I work with clients on websites, I suggest they get out with a phone camera and shoot some action photos. I definitely don’t like stock photos on websites (also quotes, but that’s another story.
Cathy,
So glad you mentioned to just take pictures yourself!
If you take your own pics, then YOU own the copyright!
I believe istock is the best known image library, but I find Dreamstime useful too
Nancy,
I have never used Dreamstime.com, but thanks for the reminder to go check it out
I’m really happy with Photopin.com – it uses your search terms to pull Creative Commons licensed images from Flickr, and even gives you the HTML code to credit the photographer with all the links already coded in.
Vikki,
awesome! I love that photopin.com site
🙂
I clicked on “Check out this Week’s free photos” and it took me to this page. http://www.istockphoto.com/photo?isource=EN_LO_FREE_PHOTO
I don’t understand what’s this page. Where is the free download photos?
Craig,
Look at my image here in the blog post, it shows you where to go to get your free photo
I use Fotolia and iStockphoto the most.
On a side note I spend at least a couple of hours a week defending my rights to images I’ve either photographed or created that others have taken without permission. Just because something shows up on Google Images doesn’t mean it’s free to use.
If you use Advanced Search for Google Images – http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search – you can filter for usage rights and choose free to use, share or modify, even commercially. You may or may not find something useful but worth a shot.
Anita,
thanks for that tip on Google Images
Beth,
That is why I stay away from Google Images, too hard to sort through what I have a right to use and what I don’t
I have used istock and dreamstime and a number of other sites for purchasing images. I too was aware of the free images istock have each week – but as Christina said, they are not always suitable. However, You can download any size of the image during the week while it is free. Not sure if you can download all sizes, or if once you have downloaded one size you can’t download other sizes.
One place where the images is free is morguefile.com and there are many images there. Another where there and free and paid is sxc.hu. On this site you need to be aware, that the first lot of images that come up are “Premium images” and the links here go back to istock.
I think that, although it is tedious, it is worth reading the agreements on these sites as there are frequently some conditions which need to be followed. This is particularly true of sxc.hu where it is often a condition that you notify the photographer.
Sue,
thanks for letting me know about http://morguefile.com/
I like that they give us the ability to use the image however we want.
But a good reminder to ALWAYS check the terms when downloading an image
Regardless of the type of graphic one chooses to add to his/or her site…as long as it is a visual aid (and does not hinder a visitor from understanding the material at hand), it is a choice to be made by the whomever will be responsible for locating, inserting and maintaining the graphics included on a site (or paying another to do so).
In other words, it is a question that takes many factors into account, such as, personal preference, skill, resources, time management. I may be able to take photos all day and of everything with my iPhone (… and I sure do.…and it drives my children crazy!); however, it will take me many hours of editing, redirecting myself, and repeating that process –before I even remember there was a reason I was taking photos with my phone!! I’m much better off keeping a list of photos I would like to have access to and in 1 sitting (with a timer and my intention written on a note card)—go to iStock photo, copy photos over, tag them! Another person may work post by post in such an organized, methodical way –that drives him or her to also go picture by picture as needed.
With Heart ~ Ronda Still
Ronda,
yes managing your photos can be a big pain. I have not yet mastered that, but am looking at Google Images as a way to manage my personal and business images.
I have found flickr clumsy to use (personally)
Another tip for finding free photos is to visit industry association and convention and visitor bureau websites. I try to keep track of the ones that provide high-quality images for publication purposes so that I have them for future reference. For example, I work in the floral industry, so having high-quality flower images is critical to my work. So I track all the floral companies and floral associations that offer free images on their website available to the press. Great resources to have.
Gina,
I had never thought of that!
Associations giving away images is a great idea.
I do know that if you are having an event at a hotel, they do provide you with images to put on your marketing, since you are really selling the hotel as well
🙂
Ah, yes! I’ve used hotels for images, too! Especially large ones such as those in Vegas. They almost always have lots of fantastic images of local sites.
Also, never forget the free photos that are in the public domain. The Library of Congress’s website has links to images you can download. Very handy!
Gina,
I’ve never ventured in the public domain for images, except for http://www.wikipedia.org/ which makes it clear which images you can use and which you cannot use
Amazing and thank you for sharing this free stock photography websites list.
It helps to so many people.