Are you looking for free images for your blog? Perhaps you’re in search of photos for social media posts? Or, maybe you need free stock images and high quality- media for an e-commerce site?
A lot of bloggers make the mistake of using Google to search for free images.
Newbie (and some veteran) bloggers take to Google Image Search for photos that go into their posts not realizing many are protected by copyright. Knows what happens when you use these “free images” without permission? The copyright trolls show up.
Uh-oh!
There’s no easier way to kill a blog than getting slapped with a bill or take-down notice because you accidentally used a copyrighted image. You could find yourself paying hundreds (even thousands) of dollars because of this mistake – that’ll quickly ruin all efforts you had with blogging!
Safeguard yourself while finding high-quality photos you (and community) will love with these invaluable websites offering free blog images – that you could also use on social channels.
Unsplash
Whether you want images for blogs or free social media images… Unsplash is the place. It’s where we source many of the photos you find here on AffiliatePrograms.com. You’ll find them all over! Unsplash has an incredible, talented community with a keen eye for photography.
The free image site is always updated with new, high-quality photos and images that go great for any online purpose. You can choose to attribute or not. If you really like the creators work, you could send them a few bucks through the Unsplash platform. How nice!
Pixabay
Pixabay is a close second when sourcing images for blog posts and social media. You will find an incredible selection of photos, illustrations, vector graphics, and even video! Check each image when using Pixabay since copyright differs. You can download the free photos at variable sizes (some pushing 6,000px and higher).
Flickr
Flickr is the most well-known photo sharing platform on the Web. Many photographers and content creators use it to show off their work. And, use it for storing their massive, ever-growing library.
There is a huge selection of free images using the Creative Commons license found on Flickr. Check out the CC0 and Attribution License listings for a great place to start.
StockSnap
There’s no second-guessing with StockSnap.io. All images found on the site are under the CC0 license so you’re free to use them however you see fit. The search function of the site makes it quite easy to find tons of quality, free photos for your site. Try searching by one of the popular categories – you’ll definitely find some neat stuff!
FreeFoto
FreeFoto looks clunky (it is) but it you’ll let it pass since you’ll find over 130k+ images on this free photo site. Don’t expect the highest resolution (you’ll have to pay for that), but a simple attribution to the site either from the post or main page is good enough to use these images.
SkitterPhoto
There’s no question or hesitation here – SkitterPhoto is all about public domain images. You’ve got full access to the usage. What sets SkitterPhoto apart is their curated selection of photos that are sure to make a visual impact on your blog or social. The site, launched by amateur photographers, set out on a mission to share the best free pictures. Soon after, many others joined and did the same.
Death to Stock
Now here’s something a little different for ya. Death to Stock (Photos) is on a mission. A mission to destroy boring, dry stock photos in place of unique, premium photo, video, and graphics work. If you sign up to their email list, you’ll receive a couple free sets of images each month. You can browse their “Graveyard” to see previous sets, too.
RGBStock
You’ll need to register an account for RGBStock but it’s well worth it considering you’ll gain access to 110k+ free images! You’ll see the occasional promotion for premium stock – but it’s all good – it doesn’t get in the way of searching for awesome images or sorting by new or popular for the latest and greatest.
Pexels
All photos on Pexels are CC0 licensed making them completely free images! You can use them for personal or commercial use with or without attribution. They do have one rule: don’t use them in a negative way which is totally justified.
The images you’ll find on Pexels are simply amazing. Plus, they run monthly contests to bring out the best creativity from contributors – this brings tons of new, free images to the playing field that’ll have your blog and social poppin’!
PXHere
PXHere looks awfully familiar to StockSnap doesn’t it? Eh, we’re sure you’ll find some overlap with the images. But, who can be upset when they’re covered under creative commons? Can’t get too choosy when you’re getting so much, great stock for free!
PublicDomainPictures
An oldie but goodie… PubicDomainPictures has what the name implies: public domain pictures. And, as we know, this means they’re completely free to use for personal and/or commercial projects. Feel free to remix them however you want.
CreativeCommons
The Creative Commons site is a catch-all when searching for images, music, video, and other forms of media that fall into CC. The site has its basic search-within-search that displays CC media from sites like Jamendo, YouTube, Flickr, and others. The beta CC search does one better with higher quality results and easy, one-click attributions. Give it a try!
Google Image Search
Gasp! It’s back! Yes, but this time you will use the advanced search features to sort through free images using the Tools -> Usage Rights. Select either ‘Labeled for Reuse’ or ‘Labeled for Reuse with Modification’ since you’re likely aiming to make money from your blog.
The other two (non-commercial) means you can’t make money from using those free photos. Overall, though, you should probably use any of the other free photo sites before resorting to Google just because you can never quite know if the copyright is fudged.
Free, Royalty-Free, Creative Commons, and All That Free Images Stuff
There’s a difference between all these and your choice matters!
Usually, when people talk about free images they’re talking about those photos falling under a creative commons license or they’re part of the public domain. These two types are either okayed by their creators or so old they are attributed to the public.
Royalty-free, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily mean free… it means you won’t have to pay usage rights. You still pay for these images but now you’re the owner – free to do what you want.
Learn more about creative commons licenses here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Basically… look to see if it either has a “CC BY” (which you’ll attribute) or “CC0” (which you could use freely since it’s part of the public domain).
Conclusion
It’s always nice having a free set of resources when you’re a blogger, content creator, or social media maverick. These free photo sites keep costs low and take the hassle out of sourcing great graphics for your work. One or two images added to the post can do wonders for visual storytelling and photo SEO – it’s something worth doing if you’re serious about attracting and keeping visitors engaged.
Go on. See what you can find.
