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You are here: Home / Blogging / Where To Find Free Images For Your Blog?

Where To Find Free Images For Your Blog?

April 4, 2013 by Jan Kearney

I need to find free imagesWhere to find free images that you can use on your blog or social channels without fear of a copyright slap is a question I am often asked.  Really, you shouldn’t just “borrow” any image or photo – even if you do credit the artist.

I’m the first to admit, I can take or leave graphics.  I’d be quite happy back in the early 90’s when images on a website were rare.  When you did see one, it was a poor quality square thing that took 5 minutes to load.

These days, images are expected – we need something to zoom through our Facebook feed and to pin on Pinterest if nothing else!

Contents

  • 10 Places to Find Free Images
  • Use your own photos
  • Public Domain Images
  • Creative Commons Licence Images
  • Stock Images
  • Related Posts
  • Google+ Comments

10 Places to Find Free Images

Use your own photos

No, that isn’t a cop out!  I’m not talking professional sets.  This is your blog and your social streams, it’s perfectly ok to be human.  People do business with people.

Using your own photos helps to forge a relationship with your readers.  They inspire trust and people feel they can get to know you.  That is so powerful online!

Use photos from your office, you and your staff, your products in use or landmarks around your town (great for local!) 

Public Domain Images

Public domain images are images that have either expired copyright or have been released from copyright.  These images can be used and adapted freely with no attribution for personal or commercial use.

Where can you find public domain images?

1 Pixabay.com – lovely site with a really simple search facility

2Picdrome.com – I find this search very clunky but some nice images found

3 Publicdomainfiles.com – not as clunky search, but returns some odd images sometimes that don’t seem related

4 Wiki Commons – not all images on this site are public domain, some are also Creative Commons licences.  Look for images tagged CC-PD

5 Google Life – a whole range of historic photos hosted by Google in conjunction with LIFE photo archive

Creative Commons Licence Images

Creative Commons Licenced images are not public domain, the creator has chosen to waive some rights but maintains copyright.  There are actually several licence variations, be sure to choose images that you can use and adapt under the licence! 

Many creative commons images do not allow commercial use, and some allow commercial use and no adaptions so you must use them as is. All creative commons images require some attribution to the source.

Where can you find Creative Commons images?

6 Photopin.com – Sources images from Flickr and is a lovely easy search site. Select the commercial use option for business pages

7 CC Search – A portal for Creative Commons images, media and music.  CC Search is a portal for various sites and not actually a search engine in itself.

Wiki Commons – as above, more Creative Commons images than you can shake a stick at

Stock Images

Royalty free stock images can be free or purchased.  Always check the licence for the terms you can use the images.

Where can you find stock images?

8 Every Stock Photo – An image search engine that sources from several stock photo sites and Flickr, Wiki Commons, Wikipedia, NASA.  Check the licences before use.

9 Free Digital Photos – Small images are free to use, larger images are available to purchase

10 123RF – Reasonably priced HD stock images and also has a selection of free images

Over to you…

There are hundreds if not thousands of royalty free stock image sites out on the web.  Where do you find your free images, what are your favourite sites?

Original image credit Mike Licht via Flickr

Where To Find Free Images For Your Blog? by Jan Kearney
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Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: image copyright, images

About Jan Kearney

I believe that every business, no matter how small or how local can use the power of the web to gain more customers. I offer no bull coaching and mentoring so small business owners can strategically put the web to work for their business. I've been called a "compass" and a "navigator" and probably a few more names that aren't suitable for a profile!
Connect with me on Google+, Facebook, Pinterest

Comments

  1. Martha says

    April 5, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Thanks for this – it’s always a bit of a mission to find something. Generally, with reviews especially, I take my own pictures, but sometimes you need a generic image.
    Martha recently posted…Build an audience that’s hungry for moreMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 5, 2013 at 8:13 pm

      I’m with you, Martha – sometimes it is a bit of a mission! Thanks for popping in 🙂

  2. Robert Kennedy III says

    April 5, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    I just got put on to pixabay.com the other day. That’s a really neat resource. Another free site that I use sometimes is morguefile.com
    Robert Kennedy III recently posted…6 Great Reasons To Use Google Hangouts & Google Drive In Your Life & BusinessMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 5, 2013 at 8:12 pm

      Hi Robert, Every Stock Photo searches Morguefile too – great site 🙂 Thanks for popping in!

  3. Debra Jason says

    April 5, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    Jan, I’ve used MorgueFile, but thanks for these additional resources.
    ~Debra
    Debra Jason recently posted…Marketing Mistake, Part 2: Two Questions to Ask When Identifying Your Ideal ClientMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 6, 2013 at 3:29 am

      Hi Debra – I use MorgueFile too, usually through Every Stock Photo search. Thanks for popping in 🙂

  4. Sonia says

    April 6, 2013 at 1:34 pm

    Jan, you just added a whole arsenal of places to find free pictures I didn’t know about. I guess I’m a bit of a junkie, I like having pictures on my website, especially when it saves me from having to describe something (true what they say: picture speaks louder than a thousand words) which is not common knowledge. Thanks you, much appreciated..

    acne cysts
    Sonia recently posted…Powerful Home Remedies For Acne Scars With Lasting ResultsMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 6, 2013 at 4:04 pm

      Hi Sonia – I’m pleased you found the resources useful! Thanks for popping in 🙂
      Jan Kearney recently posted…Are You Giving Up Sex For Your Social Media Fix? [Infographic]My Profile

  5. Debra Moser says

    April 7, 2013 at 4:27 pm

    Hi Jan, thank you for these great tips! I have been purchasing pics in Istock photography for my blog posts. Nice to know there are other avenues to find free pics!
    Debra Moser recently posted…A Richard Branson Tribute: Things I Carry: Smart Phone? I Prefer a Brilliant AssistantMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 7, 2013 at 7:30 pm

      Thanks for popping in and sharing where you get your images from 🙂

  6. Joy Healey says

    April 8, 2013 at 1:07 am

    Hi Jan

    Thanks for those extra resources. I’ve used morguefile for free images, Fotolia when I want a paid one (I have a great one for constipation!!!) and have been known to take my own pictures of every day objects (NOT the constipation one LOL)

    Joy
    Joy Healey recently posted…Best Magnesium Supplement: How To KnowMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 9, 2013 at 9:02 pm

      I think pics of constipation is perhaps a tad too much info!Thanks for popping in Joy and sharingthatwith us 🙂

  7. Paul Henderson says

    April 13, 2013 at 2:02 am

    Hi Jan,

    thanks so much for those sites. I’ve bookmarked them all for future use. I’ve only ever used fotolia and iStockphoto so far and paid for the images I use. Be nice to see if there’s any suitable freebies in future 🙂

    Thanks so much for sharing those links.

    All the best
    Paul
    Paul Henderson recently posted…You Gotta Have a Dang BlogMy Profile

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 13, 2013 at 11:48 pm

      I use Fotolia as a paid source too, Paul. It all adds up when blogging regularly though! Thanks for popping in 🙂

  8. Bradley Anderson says

    May 8, 2013 at 4:16 pm

    I’ve been hearing a LOT of people complaining lately because they’ve been getting hit with infringement suits. Most are fairly small, but I’ve seen a few in the low thousands.

    Ana Hoffman got hit with one just recently, in fact. She had mentioned a new ‘secret agent’ type of strategy, and in so doing mentioned 007 Bond in a reference along with an image, and get hit a few days later from the studio.

    So far, all of the other violators I’ve heard of were being hit by Getty Images, another HUGE name in stock photos.

    We should make a list here of places to get images free and safe to use freely.
    Bradley Anderson recently posted…Top 10 Tips For Creating Your Effective Online BrandMy Profile

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