Let’s say you need to get a free image for a website page, a blog post or for inspiration in creating a more unique image. Where to begin? If you go to Google Images, you will find thousands, but one does not have permission to use most of those images. Instead, it is a good idea to have a list of free image sources to explore and sort through for appropriate pictures.
How about we take a tour together? We can look through these sources for any of these common small business themes: marketing, networking, friendship, value, Facebook, blogging, technical – to name a few.
Freepixels
We will start with freepixels.com. Free Pixels lists photos by category. I don’t see one for business, but you can try computer or household. Here is how computers looks:
Not many of the categories fit into the keywords we wanted at the beginning of this post. I see ads for Shutterstock. Maybe they are trying to tell us something – if we are spending a lot of time here with few results, paying for a stock image might not be a bad idea. Signs look useful – one could put them in Photoshop or Pixlr (learn more about this free online software) and write your own text on the sign. But again, the better ones are on Shutterstock. I did find a coffee image that I like a lot: note the composition, cropped cup and beans, the bright colors and the placement of just two objects within the photo.
Wikimedia Commons
Next we will visit one of my favorite free sites: Wikimedia Commons. It’s easy to find images on Wikimedia, and there’s lots of information on sources. Sometimes the sources may request attribution – if you want a photo that doesn’t, pick public domain or free to use without attribution. Creative Commons license photos often ask for attribution.
I often search for older paintings, as I know these are in the public domain. For example, I found a painting on Wikimedia Commons that I used for an Introduction to SEO pic, and a mother daughter painting that I chose for Introduction to Child Themes in WordPress.
If you know of an illustrated book that is more than fifty years old, the illustrations are in the public domain. You may be able to find them on Wikimedia Commons with commentary. Or you can Google them and copy them directly from any post – the post author has just as much right to post them as you do.
Since at the start of this article I said I was looking for business images, I found the image for money on the right. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
123RF 123 Free Royalty Free Photos
123RF has both photos you can purchase to use and free images as well. This is a nice feature because you might start out looking for a free image but decide it’s worthwhile buying an image. First, I tried searching for “pinterest.” Nothing. Then: “Twitter” – still nothing. Finally, I tried “friends,” and I got lots of interesting images. Looks like to use them I need to register (but it’s free).
Karen’s Whimsy
You can find a variety of public domain images at Karen’s Whimsy. The images tend to be old-fashioned, so you would have to be very creative to find a business use for them. I took part of an image of medieval boys and cut out one boy reading to produce the little image at the right. But I’m not sure how I’d use it.
FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
Free Digital Photos has some nice business images that it offers for free. I see charts and graphs, money, retail and sales. Note: if you use a free image you must publish the name of the image creator adjacent to where the image is used. Purchased images do not have this requirement.
F11 Digital
F11 Digital has some free photos. However, it does have warnings on the home page, such as: “I do not have any releases from persons that appear on the photos in the f11digital.com galleries.” In general, this is a risk you need to know about before using the photo of a person. I didn’t find the selection varied – there were mostly travel photos and nature photos. There was no section called “business.”
Dover Publications – Free Sample
I’ve been getting the free sample from Dover Publications by email for many years. To subscribe, go to the Dover Publications store page and click on the button in the left column that says: Free Samples! Click to Register. Dover has a huge collection of public domain images, clip art and other useful imagery. You also might find one of the many publications in their store fits a business need.
Flickr
I used the Creative Commons search tool to search Flickr. At first, I searched using the term “marketing.” I found lots of photos of open air markets in various countries – pretty, but not really the image one might want to use. I then decided to search for “two” – who knows, maybe a pair of two would make a good representation for networking or for developing online relationships?
I found a gorgeous picture of two seagulls – but must request license, then wait, then pay – is that really worth it?
If you have had luck finding free to use photos via Flickr, feel free to say so in the comments. But my experience is that it is too difficult to find usable imagery this way. Plus, you risk using a photo without proper permission.
Deviant Art
Deviant Art is a large collection of artwork (photos, drawing, digital paintings) by thousands of artists. Within Deviant Art, if you see a symbol toward the bottom that looks like this green GO button, you can use the artwork:
Dreamstine
There are a selection of free images available on Dreamstine. You must register for Dreamstine, then follow this rules: “Credit Line Requirements: All images used within editorial context or related must be accompanied by a visible credit line. You are required to include a copyright notice and author/agency credit next to each image used within editorial purposes. The credit line format is specified on the Download page. ”
Take Your Own Photos!
After reviewing all these sites, I would say the best source of imagery would be keep your own collection of photos. Or befriend a photographer who can provide exactly what you need for a fee. Buying a collection of stock photos to have available would also be smart for a business owner. For inspiration on taking your own photos, you can read Inspirational Sources of Images.
Your Turn, Please
What is your experience with looking for images? Have you used any of these sites for free images? Any paid stock image sites? If you were going to search for an image for a post on marketing, what search term(s) would you use?
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