Free Images to Make Your Online Content Awesome
Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital StrategyThe data is clear – content paired with images gets more attention online. Since most of us do not have the resources or budget to secure our own images, stock photo and image sites are a valuable asset.“Free” is never as easy at it seems. It can be confusing to know how you’re allowed to use the photos and what, if any, attribution is required. If you are like me and use images from several different sites, it can be a challenge to keep track of the rules and expectations of each.Following is a list of 15 sites that offer free images for your use. All the sites offer photos under the public domain or the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. No attribution is required.Images in the public domain are works with expired copyrights or the creators have relinquished all rights. These are free for personal and commercial use. A CC0 license means the owner has relinquished all rights to the work.
- Pixabay–A huge selection of public domain images – one of my faves
- Death to the Stock Photo–Free images for commercial use delivered monthly to your inbox- another fave
- Life of Pix–Rounds out my top three favorites
- New Old Stock–Vintage photos from public archives
- Unsplash–10 new high-quality photos released every 10 days
- Magdeleine–A free high-res photo every day plus access to past images
- Gratisography–Images taken by photographer Ryan McGuire
- Good Free Photos--Public domain images featuring location-based images
- Public Domain Archive–All images are completely free for personal or commercial use
- Pickup Image–Searchable database of public domain images
- Pexels–Searchable database
- Morgue File–A huge repository of free photos, most from one or more of the other sites listed here
- Flickr: Creative Commons–Access to all Flickr photos sorted by license
[author]About the Author: Jill Kurtz founded Kurtz Digital Strategy to help clients see the communication potential of the newest trends and technologies. She is an expert at website strategy and redesign, social media planning, and developing exceptional content.[/author]
