Looking for the best free photo sites? Readers of my blog post Where to Find Images for Blogs and Social Media – Free and Legal! have suggested their favorite sources for free images for commercial use. I’ve checked them out and have brought you this list of favorites!
photo by spekulator via sxc, adapted by LouiseM
Free Photo Search: Multi-site Photo Search Engine
http://www.everystockphoto.com/
What I like best about this photo search engine (besides that it searches 15 million free photos!) is that you can search by license. So, if you only want public domain photos – which require no attribution – you can easily search just PD photos. Be sure to check the first box in the “Licenses” dropdown if you wish to use images for a business website or social media.
In addition to searching by license, you can restrict your search by:
- Type of account desired
- Any or all of the 11 sources
- Photo shape and minimum size (so helpful!)
I also like that a larger preview image pops up when you hover over the thumbnails. Info from the site:
We are a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific. You can view a photo’s license by clicking on the license icon, below and left of photos. Membership is free and allows you to rate, tag, collect and comment on photos. Now searching: 15,752,094 free photos
Most Recommended Free Photo Site
Stock.xchng is a well known site for free images. What I like best about Stock.xchng is the “Most Popular” downloads pages. Browsing there, I discovered top-quality images that inspired me for ways to use them in social media and more. What I liked least was the need to contact the photographer or artist when you wish to use an image. It wasn’t problematical – just an extra step. The artist I contacted yesterday was pleased to hear from me and told me the only requirement is to be sure to attribute the work. The work here seems to be of a more commercial caliber than Wikimedia and I’m sure to return to “SXC.”
Creative Commons Free Photo Search
http://search.creativecommons.org/
This page is a starting point to conveniently access search services provided by other independent organizations. Enter your search term once, then pick any one site to search. From CC you may search:
- Europeana: media
- Flickr: Images
- Fotopedia: Images
- Google: Web
- Google Images: Images
- Jamendo: Music
- Open Clip Art Library: Images
- SpinXpress: Media
- Wikimedia Commons: Media
- YouTube: Video
While you can select to search only free images and media for commercial use, understand that you are responsible for ensuring the results are free to use. CC’s words of warning:
CC has no control over the results that are returned. Do not assume that the results displayed in this search portal are under a CC license. You should always verify that the work is actually under a CC license by following the link. Since there is no registration to use a CC license, CC has no way to determine what has and hasn’t been placed under the terms of a CC license. If you are in doubt you should contact the copyright holder directly, or try to contact the site where you found the content.
With any of the sites, the responsibility is yours to understand the license and comply. I have heard that using Flickr images is dicey, as users come & go, and change their permissions. Wikimedia and YouTube are reliable sources. I don’t have experience with the other media sources offered. Trust but verify :)
For more ideas and insights, visit my blog post Where to Find Images for Blogs and Social Media – Free and Legal! If you found this useful, please Like or Share this post on the best free photo sites!
Thanks for the great resource. Two of these are new to me and I’ll definitely added them to my bookmarks. I’m a long time user of SXC. Really love the search capabilities of everystockphoto!
Terrific Mary! Glad you can make use of these free photo sites. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for more great tips Louise, I get so much out of them. I only know of 1 of these so will check others out.
Great Amanda, I’m glad you found the free photo sites helpful!
I use Creative Commons on Flicker quite a bit. There are lots of great photographers out there sharing their work. Just make sure to give them credit in your article and provide a link to their other work if possible. I usually also provide a link to my article in the comments about the photo to show how I’ve used it.
Thanks Denise, I’m glad to hear Flickr has worked out well for you! I’ve heard others complain that the contributors sometimes change permissions, causing problems, but I’m sure that’s a small minority.
Great roundup of resources – including one I hadn’t heard of before! Thanks a lot. This is one of the biggest problems my clients express frustration with.
It’s tough when starting out, or if you produce a lot of content, to keep up with the cost of images needed. I’ve found these resources very helpful and hope your clients do too. Thanks for the comment!
I love these resource posts especially on finding great photos for content.
Appreciate your comment, Rebecca! We do need to keep cranking out content with great images, so I know these resources are needed!
Today was the day of total frustration in trying to find photos for my blog. My goal is to always respect copyright laws, so it’s been tough. Your resource has been amazing!
thanks,
Amber Genise
prettybluerose.com
Terrific Amber! So glad you found this useful.
Thank you for respecting copyright! Not enough folks are aware. I’m glad you’re savvy :)
Thank you for your sharing.
I think sxc.hu is the best free photo site. :)
Here are my favorites also.
http://www.allfreeimages.net – All free for commercial use also.
http://free-background-images.com – All free for commercial use also.
http://rgbstock.com (Not sure for commercial use.)
Thanks for those, kulas!
I’m a little wary of the 2nd one as I can’t read the site.
RGBstock is included in searches at everystockphoto.com.
Thanks for visiting and commenting! Always good to have more resources.
very informative article. I think pinterest can also be a good option to find some images of your interest. Well described articles. Keep it up.
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Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I’m wary of using anything from Pinterest, as you may be infringing copyright.
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Hey Louise – it’s your no.1 kiwi fan here! Wanted to let you know that I found this post through a LinkedIn discussion from someone else – great stuff! All the best and thanks for sharing :o) Kellie
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Fantastic! So happy to hear that good stuff gets shared ;-)
Thanks Kellie!
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