BEST SITES FOR FREE BLOG IMAGES

By Jason Fox | www.JasonFox.me

ONLY ONE THING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD: TO FIND ANY SENSE IN ANY COPYRIGHT LAW ON THE PLANET.  ~ MARK TWAIN

You can not use an image you find on google images on your website or blog!

If you do… there is a chance that someone will sue you.  If they sue you it will be for way more money than you feel that they deserve and there is a good chance they will win.  It is called copyright infringement and it is serious business.

Also be careful of my headline; free images for your blog.  As they say, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”.

No images are truly free.  You either pay in your own time to take them, money and buy them, or you have to give credit to the creator of the image.  It might be better to call these legal images.

This list contains links to sites from which you do not need to pay money, or time, but you do need to pay homeage.  

You do this by either mentioning the creators name or adding a link on your site to the creator, called attribution.It depends on what the creator wants and should be disclosed on each site. 

Some sites are monetized through advertising and do not require any links or mentions.

Most of these sites rely on a set of rules called the “creative commons“.

(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

1.  WIKIMEDIA COMMONSHTTP://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MAIN_PAGE

THE WIKIPEDIA FOR MEDIA.

2.  FLICKR COMMONSHTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/EXPLORE

FLICKR IS THE SECOND LARGEST STORAGE OF IMAGES ON THE WEB AND MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLOW YOU TO USE THEIR IMAGES.

Best Sites To Get Free Images For Your Blog

3. GETTY IMAGES- HTTP://WWW.GETTYIMAGES.COM

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT FREE GETTY IMAGES HERE.

4. PHOTO PIN- HTTP://PHOTOPIN.COM

THIS IS A SEARCH ENGINE FOR FLICKR COMMONS.

5. FREE IMAGES- HTTP://WWW.FREEIMAGES.COM

AN IMAGE EXCHANGE SITE THAT IS OWNED BY GETTY IMAGES.

6. MORGUE FILE- HTTP://WWW.MORGUEFILE.COM

IMAGE EXCHANGE SITE.

7. MICROSOFT IMAGES- HTTP://OFFICE.MICROSOFT.COM/EN-US/IMAGES/RESULTS.ASPX?QU=REAL+ESTATE&EX=1&ORIGIN=HA010201923

MICROSOFT OFFERS THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF IMAGES AND CLIP ART.

8. RBG STOCK- HTTP://WWW.RGBSTOCK.COM

THEY ARE DEDICATED TO MAKING HIGH QUALITY IMAGES AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR THEM.

9. DREAMSTIME- HTTP://WWW.DREAMSTIME.COM/FREE-PHOTOS

THEY ARE PRIMARILY FOR PAY IMAGES, BUT OFFER A FREE SECTION.

10. FREEFOTO- HTTP://WWW.FREEFOTO.COM/INDEX.JSP

OVER 132549 IMAGES.

11. PIXABAY- HTTP://PIXABAY.COM/EN

USE OF THESE IMAGES, EVEN FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, WITHOUT ANY LINKS.

12. EVERY STOCK PHOTO- HTTP://WWW.EVERYSTOCKPHOTO.COM

MILLIONS OF FREELY LICENSED PHOTOS, FROM MANY SOURCES, IN A SEARCH ENGINE.

13. HISTORICAL STOCK PHOTOS- HTTP://WWW.HISTORICALSTOCKPHOTOS.COM

FREE HISTORICAL IMAGES.

14. FREE PIXELS- HTTP://WWW.FREEPIXELS.COM

GRANTS TO YOU A LICENSE TO USE AND REPRODUCE THE IMAGE.

15. PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOS- HTTP://WWW.PUBLIC-DOMAIN-PHOTOS.COM

5,000 FREE IMAGES AND 8,000 FREE CLIP ART IMAGES FOR ANY PURPOSE.

16. PANORAMIO-  HTTP://WWW.PANORAMIO.COM

YOU CAN FIND LOCATION BASED IMAGES USED ON GOOGLE MAPS.

17. FREE DIGITAL PHOTOS- HTTP://WWW.FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET

FREE & PREMIUM IMAGES PRODUCED BY A COMMUNITY OF PROFESSIONALS.

18. ANCESTRY IMAGES- HTTP://WWW.ANCESTRYIMAGES.COM

27,800 IMAGES OF OLD AND ANTIQUE PRINTS, MAPS AND PORTRAITS.

19. PICJUMBO- HTTP://PICJUMBO.COM

TOTALLY FREE PHOTOS FOR YOUR COMMERCIAL & PERSONAL WORKS.

20. GRATISOGRAPHY- HTTP://WWW.GRATISOGRAPHY.COM

ALL PICTURES CAPTURED BY RYAN MCGUIRE AND FREE OF COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS.

21. COMPFIGHT- HTTP://COMPFIGHT.COM

ANOTHER FLICKR SEARCH TOOL.

22. UNSPLASH-HTTP://UNSPLASH.COM

FREE (DO WHATEVER YOU WANT) HI-RESOLUTION PHOTOS.

23. ICON FINDER- HTTPS://WWW.ICONFINDER.COM

LOOKING FOR ICONS.

24. LITTLE VISUALS- HTTP://LITTLEVISUALS.CO

GET 7 HI-RES IMAGES ZIPPED UP IN YOUR INBOX EVERY 7 DAYS.

25. NEW OLD STOCK- HTTP://NOS.TWNSND.CO

VINTAGE PHOTOS FROM PUBLIC ARCHIVES.

26. DEATH TO THE STOCK PHOTO- HTTP://DEATHTOTHESTOCKPHOTO.COM

FREE MONTHLY PHOTOS.

27. SUBTLE PATTERNS- HTTP://SUBTLEPATTERNS.COM

OVER 380 TILABLE TEXTURED PATTERNS, FREE TO USE.

28. FREERANGE- HTTP://FREERANGESTOCK.COM

PHOTOGRAPHERS GET PAID WHEN USERS CLICK ON THE ADS THAT APPEAR NEXT TO IMAGES.

29. OPENPHOTO- HTTP://OPENPHOTO.NET

PHOTO SHARING PLATFORM WHERE IMAGES ARE OFFERED FREE OF CHARGE.

30. DOTSPIN- HTTP://WWW.DOTSPIN.COM 

A COLLECTION OF INSTAGRAM IMAGES FREE FOR PERSONAL USE.

31. PHOTOGEN- HTTP://WWW.PHOTOGEN.COM

QUALITY STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BOTH COMMERCIAL AND PERSONAL USE.

32. SUPERFAMOUS STUDIOS- HTTP://SUPERFAMOUS.COM

LOS ANGELES-BASED STUDIO OF DUTCH INTERACTION DESIGNER FOLKERT GORTER.

33. GRAPHICSTOCKHTTPS://WWW.GRAPHICSTOCK.COM/FREEIMAGES/?GCLID=CK3A-F3M8R0CFQWTFGODXICA7A

7 DAYS OF FREE UNLIMITED DOWNLOADING OF IMAGES.

34. CREATIVE COMMONS- HTTP://SEARCH.CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG

LINKS TO MANY IMAGE SITES & INFORMATION ABOUT COPYRIGHT AND SHARING LAWS.

35. GOOGLE IMAGES- HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.COM

I KNOW I SAID YOU CAN’T USE GOOGLE IMAGES IN THE INTRO… UNLESS YOU MAKE SURE TO FILTER OUT “LABLED FOR REUSE”.

36. FOTOPEDIAHTTP://WWW.FOTOPEDIA.COM/SEARCH?HUMAN_LICENSE=REUSE_COMMERCIAL_MODIFY

SEARCH PEOPLE, PLACES, SUBJECTS, HASHTAGS

WARNING:This is meant to be used as a reference and is not legal advice.  While these sites are all safe as long as you familiarize yourself with the requirements to use and share the images, copyright law is complex and confusing.