What Images Can I Use For Free?

Imagery is a key component of any content marketing campaign. But images can be tricky to use legally – they have their own copyright rules.

Luckily, there are plenty of free places you can find beautiful and creative photos to use on your website or blog. Here are 11 of our favorite places to find them!

Unsplash

Unsplash is a great resource for photographers looking to share their work with the world. However, the website doesn’t directly pay photographers when their photos are downloaded and used. Instead, it monetizes the traffic that comes to its site with advertising and charges for high-volume use of its Application Programming Interface (API) that supplies images to apps and online services.

Unsplash has become a popular source of stock photos with millions of images to choose from. This makes it an excellent resource for bloggers and businesses alike, whether you need a specific type of image or just want to add a beautiful photo to your website.

Most of the photos available on Unsplash are free to download and use for commercial, personal, and editorial purposes. But it is important to know that there are some limitations and licensing terms that you should read before using an Unsplash photo on your blog or website.

As with most websites and services, it’s important to read the license agreement of any photo you plan to use. You should also check the copyright information on the photo to make sure that you’re using it legally and with permission.

While it’s not impossible to download photos from Unsplash and use them on your blog or website, it is recommended that you do so only after reading the license agreement and contacting the photographer to verify their permission for you to use their photo. This will ensure that you’re legally allowed to use their photo and will prevent any misunderstandings or legal issues.

Pexels

Pexels is a free stock photo website that offers high-quality images to use in your projects. It relies on a network of photographers worldwide to provide high-quality media to its users.

The site’s search bar makes it easy to browse through the wide range of photos available, as well as video clips. There are also many filters and sorting options, allowing you to quickly find the images or videos that best fit your needs.

A diverse collection: Pexels focuses on providing images and video clips that represent a variety of cultures, perspectives, and interests. This diversity helps users to discover unique visual assets that aren’t overdone on other platforms.

Continuous updates: The site regularly adds new content to its library, which means that its selection of images and video is constantly expanding. This keeps the platform’s variety fresh and allows you to find new visual assets that can help you tell your story in a unique way.

Copyright-friendly: All images and video clips are copyright-free, meaning you can use them without attribution for commercial or personal purposes. In addition, you can edit them as needed to achieve a particular aesthetic.

Exceptions and restrictions: You can’t resell or use these images or videos in a way that implies endorsement by the photographer, the people depicted in the content, or Pexels itself. You also can’t use them in ways that are deemed offensive or defamatory.

Pixabay

If you’re looking for royalty-free images for your next project, Pixabay is a great place to start. It offers millions of images, videos, illustrations, vectors, sound effects and music that are all available for free download.

Pixabay is a popular stock photo platform that aims to make the creative process as seamless as possible for its community of designers and creators. The site offers a huge selection of high quality content, and it has one of the biggest libraries of stock photography on the internet.

The majority of the stock photos on Pixabay are free to use for both commercial and non-commercial projects, as long as you give credit. However, for some of their more premium content, such as photos of people, you will need written consent or a property release.

When you’re looking for free stock photos on Pixabay, the site has a number of easy search functions to help you find what you’re looking for. The site also makes it easy to sort and organize files by allowing users to create collections.

The images on Pixabay range from everyday to decorative, making them suitable for a wide range of projects. They are also available in a variety of resolutions and file formats, so you can pick a picture that suits your needs. You can also search by category to narrow down your options and make sure you’re getting the right image for your project.

Flickr

Flickr is a photo sharing platform that offers both a storage space for your photos and an online community. Its free accounts offer limited storage, while Pro users can upload unlimited images and enjoy an ad-free experience.

Its main goal is to make it easy for you to organize and share your photos, as well as find them when you need them. It has a unique Organizr tool that allows you to edit your photos and arrange them how you want, as well as to tag them and create albums.

The service also lets you mark your favorite photos so that you can easily access them at a later time. There are a number of other features that Flickr offers to its members, including Galleries, which display other photographers’ work.

You can also comment on other people’s photos and favorites, as well as follow other photographers to build a network of like-minded individuals. You can even join groups that specialize in a particular type of photography or issue that affects photographers.

Flickr also allows you to use Creative Commons licenses, which allow you to share and reuse images without attribution or restriction. This means that you can use photos from Flickr for your blog posts, presentations, and other projects as long as you give the original author credit. However, be aware that using copyrighted photos without permission can result in a DMCA complaint or even a lawsuit.

ISO Republic

If you’re looking for high-quality free stock images for your design project, then you may want to consider ISO Republic. It offers a range of free, Creative Commons CC0-licensed images that are perfect for use on any kind of website or project.

The site was started by English photographer Tom Eversley and aims to provide images that are suitable for designers working on projects that don’t have the budget for professional photos. They also include a range of textures and architecture photography that are great for adding some extra style to your website or blog.

It’s important to note that the images on ISO Republic are all CC0 licensed, so you can use them without any attribution required. However, it’s still worth checking their terms and conditions before using any of them.

Another great resource for high-quality images is Old Book Illustrations, which offers a wide variety of public domain illustrations from old books. All of the images can be downloaded and used for personal or commercial projects, with no attribution requirements.

This site is owned and operated by software company DesignWizard, so you’ll find all of its images are royalty-free and can be used for free on your website, social media, videos, or other projects. The best part is, all the images are sorted by niche so you can find exactly what you need quickly.

The only downside to this site is that it’s not updated as often as some of the other options we’ve listed here. So, if you’re looking for a more up-to-date collection of high-quality images, we’d recommend checking out other sites above.

FreeImages

FreeImages is a website that offers an assortment of royalty-free stock photos, vector images, and other similar assets. You can browse the site without creating an account, but you’ll need to sign up for a membership plan if you want to download a variety of files from the site.

Freeimages is a great option for small businesses and individuals who need editable image files for their projects. However, the selection of high-quality and modern images is limited compared to many other free stock image sites.

Another great resource for free stock images is Life Of Pix. The site is made up of professional photographers who have donated their work to the public domain. These images are CC0 licenses and are completely free to use for personal or commercial purposes.

In addition, you can search through the library using a number of different filters, including date ranges, size, orientation, content type (photos, screenshots, etc.), image style (minimalist, black and white, etc.), and even license type.

If you’re looking for more unique and moody images, Jay Mantri’s site is a good place to start. He emails seven high quality images every Thursday, which you can use in whatever way you like.

For more advanced and professional-looking stock images, you can also subscribe to Canva. With a paid subscription, you’ll get access to over 60-plus million templates and graphics.