Most people want to get the most for their money. I do, too. That’s why I thought I would share with you some of the resources I have found for images.
There are plenty of paid services out there like Shutterstock, Fotosearch, GettyImages and iStockPhoto. If you are short on time and need a great image that fits your needs, your best bet might be to find an image using one of these services. Yes, you will have to pay for using their images, but they are great images.
But, if you have a very small budget- or no budget at all, you may find what you need on one of these sites:
Free & Public Domain Image Resources
- Dreamstime.com – Offers a selection of free photos as well as paid options.
- Flickr Commons – Historic and cultural photos shared by institutions worldwide under public domain or “no known copyright” terms.
- FreeImages.com – Large library of free photos (some may require attribution—check each license).
- Freepik.com – Allows limited daily downloads of free images (premium plan available).
- Gratisography.com – Creative, quirky and bright free photos, free for commercial use.
- ISORepublic.com – Free high-resolution photos and videos under a CC0-style license.
- LifeOfPix.com – Free high-resolution photos contributed by photographers; no copyright restrictions. There are some images from paid services scattered throughout the galleries.
- NASA Image and Video Library (images.nasa.gov) – All NASA images and videos are in the public domain (credit requested but not required). There are additional guidelines for images of recognizable people and NASA logo.
- New York Public Library Digital Collections – Digitized artworks, manuscripts, maps, and photos in the public domain. Great for schools and educators. Fun to browse, even if you don’t need these graphics for your project.
- OpenClipArt.org – Wonderful for SVG (vector) images in the public domain.
- Pexels.com – Free stock photos and videos under a CC0-style license.
- Pixabay.com – A great source for free photos, illustrations, and vector graphics.
- PublicDomainArchive.com – Curated selection of modern and vintage public domain photos. Laid out with only a few images per page, there are still some great photos on here.
- PublicDomainPictures.net – Thousands of free, high-resolution images available for unrestricted use, but a bit more confusing to find the free pictures.
- PublicDomainSherpa.com – Links to many free image sources and explains how to properly credit photos.
- Rawpixel.com (Free Creative Resources) – Allows limited daily downloads of free images (premium plan available).
- OpenClipArt.org – Wonderful for SVG (vector) images in the public domain.
- Smithsonian Open Access – Millions of 2D and 3D images from the Smithsonian museums and archives released under CC0 (public domain).
- Unsplash.com – Massive library of high-quality, modern photos free for personal and commercial use (attribution appreciated but not required).
- Vecteezy – Free vectors, illustrations and photos of backgrounds, nature, business, food and more that are safe for commercial use. Do a sort for “Free” under license type. (Pro plan available.)
- Wikimedia Commons – Millions of freely licensed and public domain media files; check individual licenses before use.
Notes About Copyright
If you are uncertain of how copyright laws work, or what things are covered by copyright, please visit PublicDomainSherpa.com and the U.S. Copyright Office website to learn more.
Always respect the rights of creators and photographers. Do not use copyrighted or restricted materials without purchasing the proper license or obtaining explicit permission. Using someone else’s protected work without authorization is a form of intellectual property theft and can have legal consequences.