Using images online can be pricey as most of the ones we see online have copyright. Some of them can be expensive to use, as the creator might have copyright claims over them. However, there are some websites that offer stock images that you can use for free without any hidden fees or costs.
The biggest worry about these stock photo sites is the quality of the images that you might get from them, but you’ve got nothing to worry about. A lot of them offer high-quality images that professional photographers took the time to take. So if you’re curious to know more about these stock photo sites, read on.
A short note about licenses
Most of these photos are free from copyright restrictions and licensed under Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. This means you can use them for any purpose, including commercial ones. It’s important to note that many of these photos are also available under Attribution License 2.0, allowing you to attribute the photographer if you choose.
1. Unsplash
Unsplash is an online stock photo website that allows users to search through thousands of high-quality pictures taken by professional photographers around the world. You can browse through the millions of photos available at no cost. Once you’ve found a picture you like, you can choose to download it directly to your computer or mobile device. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the latest featured images.
2. Pexels
Pexels is an awesome resource for free stock images and videos. It has hundreds of thousands of high-quality images and videos with a broad range of content that you can use for your projects. All images and videos are free to use, even commercial ones. All you need to do is give credit to the original photographer when using them.
Their huge library of high-quality free resources is easy to search through and organized by category. If you’re finding it complicated to use, there are a lot of great tutorials available online to help get you started.
3. Pixabay
Pixabay is a free image search engine that allows users to browse through millions of high-quality pictures, all uploaded by other members of the community. You can search by keyword, category, or date. There are also “featured” collections that showcase user-submitted images. Looking for vintage photos will be no problem on their site at all.
However, unlike the two mentioned above, it can be risky to use these images for commercial purposes, as the stock images are released under the Pixabay license, which is only slightly similar to Creative Commons (CC0 License) but is more restrictive.
4. Getty Images
Getty Images provides high-quality stock photos, stock videos, and stock music for commercial purposes. You can download free images, but the “Getty Images” watermark will be there. If you want to remove the watermark, you will need to purchase a license.
Getty Images also offers a subscription service called “Images for Life” which allows users to access all of the company’s content.
5. Freepik
Freepik is an amazing resource for designers looking for high-quality vector graphics. There are four million different items to choose from, including logos, icons, illustrations, and more. You can search through their collection of images through categories like typography, illustration, icon design, and more. Attribution is required to create your designs using Freepik’s resources.
6. Canva
One might think that Canva doesn’t offer free stock images. However, the graphic design tool does that and more. The Canva library is home to millions of photos, both paid and free. You can use download and use them in the platform’s design editor. This also makes it easy for you to switch between images and colors without navigating between tabs stylishster
7. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is a website that sells images and videos. It has a huge library of stock images, videos, and illustrations. You can browse through the categories and search for what you need. Some of the categories are nature, travel, lifestyle, fashion, food, etc.
However, what most people fail to mention is the fact that while Adobe is a well-known image editor (because of Photoshop), Adobe Stock also has some free stock photos for you to use. From time to time they release a small number of free high-quality images open to the public for any purpose.
Common Questions About Stock Photos
What is a public domain work?
Public domain works are those that are free to use, modify, adapt, share, and distribute under certain conditions. For example, if you take a photo, you own the copyright for it, but you may allow others to copy and sell copies of it. You cannot prevent someone else from copying and selling copies, however, if you publish your book online, then you give away the right to use the material in your book.
What is royalty-free?
Images are important to any website. You need them to display your text and graphics properly. But if you don’t own the copyright to those images, you may be forced to purchase the rights to use them. Royalty-free images are images that you can use without paying royalties to the original creator. If you want to use an image in your project, you should first determine whether it is royalty-free. There are several websites that offer royalty-free images. Some sites charge per image while others offer unlimited usage.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for photos for your blog post or high-resolution images for your commercial projects, there are plenty of websites out there for you. A wide selection of images are available to your disposable, all you need to know is how to look for them. There are a lot of beautiful images uploaded on the websites mentioned above, and extensive image libraries for you to look at.
Whenever you find yourself at a loss for visual content, the perfect image will no longer be elusive to you or your creative projects ever again.
Create your own online store, manage your online billing in one dashboard, and auto update your stock system with Page365. Utilize the stock images you’ll be able to get from the websites above, and set your website up with a touch of your finger through Page365.
