Top 10 Sources for Free Images
If you have any experience creating content, you know how hard it can be to find good quality free images. Images from Google are usually copyrighted, good stock images are expensive…so where does that leave you? We’ve put together a comprehensive list of sources for free images to help your content shine.
Whether you’re writing a blog, updating your website or sending a newsletter — images are a must for making your content engaging. The problem is, good quality images that match your great content are usually pricey and are hard to find. The good news is, I’ve done most of the work for you and compiled a list of my top 10 free image sources! Take a look at my list and share your ideas in the comments below.
1. StockSnap
A photo site exclusively featuring free photos (with some ads). Scroll through this Instagram-worthy feed for inspiration, view trending photos or search for what you need. Hundreds of new free photos added weekly.
2. Find.A.Photo
A website featuring photos donated by artists for free! Search with keywords or browse by color, collection, or source on this simplistic site.
3. Pexels
Search for what you need or scroll through popular photos for inspiration! This site is a great place to find free photos for any personal or commercial purpose.
4. PicJumbo
Another great site for free photos, with an easy search and category organization. You can also scroll an Instagram-like feed of recent photos.
5. Death to Stock Photo
Yes you read that right. This unique website is against all that stock-photos stand for — commercialized, cookie-cutter photos. Scroll through the free photos or signup to their monthly newsletter to receive a ‘photo pack’ of high-quality artistic photos to your inbox. These are the products of monthly photo shoots by professional photographers.
6. Wikipedia Commons
Any photo added to Wikipedia is free, just like Wikipedia content. You can also search through Wikimedia, the multimedia repository of Wikipedia. It boasts “a collection of 39,691,413 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.” Check out the picture of the day or participate in photo challenges! This may not have the nicest interface or quality control, but you can definitely find many free images here.
7. Flickr
The yahoo-version of Google photos lets you organize your photos and share them. You can also enjoy other user’s uploads and search with keywords or colors. Make sure you choose the right photo license for your project as some photos are not for commercial use (see explanation below).
8. Google Images
Hey, aren’t Google photos off limits? Yes and no. You just need to filter the right way. When searching on Google you’ll receive images with different licenses. If you use the filtering feature and choose the right usage rights you’ll be good to go. Under the search bar click ‘tools’ and then ‘usage rights’ and then choose the right license for you (see image below, and more details here). Be warned that many of the good photos are not free, so keep your searches broad.
9. Instagram
According to Instagram’s terms, any photo published on a public profile (AKA one you can access without logging in) is free to use. You can copy images or embed the original post into your content. Instagram is a great source for beautiful photos that feel personal by photographers, bloggers, celebrities and your friends too!
10. Your Own Images
Trivial but often overlooked, you very own photos are a great source for graphics. Scroll through digital albums — on Google photos (where you can even search for specific things), Instagram or even Facebook, or click through your files to create your very own library. Nature pictures, views and abstract images make for great illustrations for your content or newsletters.
A note on photo licensing:
All of the free-usage photo sources listed above are licensed under Creative Commons. Most of the sources above have the same license for their photos, but Google and Flickr have different license options. The CC organization details their policies for the different kinds of licenses, so if you are unsure which is best for you take a look here.
