Images for your websites or printing use
Designers and web developers are always looking for new images to use whether it be for a personal project or for a client, but sometimes budget doesn’t always allow us to purchase image from websites such as iStockPhoto or Shutterstock. This is where many people would turn to a Google search but what a lot of people don’t realise is majority of these images you see on Google have a usage licence, meaning you may have to credit the author who created/took the image or have to ask permission before using the image.
Because of this we thought it would be a good idea to put together 5 of our favourite stock image websites that have a great collection of free images that you can use in your projects without having to worry about any licenses, yup that’s right, these images can be used without crediting or permission – they can even be used in commercial projects!
All-in-one image search!
There are two great websites we have found that allow you to search over 45 free stock photo websites in one place, saving loads of time having to trawl through website after website in search of the perfect free image. Have a look at:
Librestock: https://librestock.com/
EveryPixel: https://everypixel.com/
Pixabay
www.pixabay.com
At the time of writing this, Pixabay have over 370,000 photos, vector graphics and illustrations on their website. With the vast amount of images available you are bound to find something you can work with on your projects!
StockSnap
www.stocksnap.io
According to their about page, StockSnap is the best place on the internet to find free stock photos. Similar to Pixabay there is a huge range of images to choose from, you are also able to sort photos by Date, Trending, Views, Download and Favourites. A neat feature that Stocksnap offers is to subscribe to their newsletter where they will send you photos every week!
PicJumbo
www.picjumbo.com
PicJumbo has to be one of our favourites on this list, due to its ease of use and quality of the high resolution image available as well as also offering a great Photoshop plugin (which has been made in collaboration with the team at Source) which allows you to have all these photos are your fingertips! You are able search directly from within Photoshop and soon be able to create collections of all your favourite photos! This plugin isn’t free but will only cost you $11.99!
Unsplash
www.unsplash.com
Unsplash works a little differently to the previous 3 stock image sites we have discussed here; as they update their site with 10 new photos every 10 days so you know you’re always going to find something fresh when you next visit! You can also subscribe to their mailing list to receive the 10 images directly into your inbox every 10 days if you wish. If you’re a bit of a wiz with a camera you can become a part of Unsplash by contributing your photos to the website, which could be good for marketing your work too!
Life Of Pix
www.lifeofpix.com
Last but not least is Life of Pix! Run by advertising agency based in Montreal Leeroy, Life of Pix has a wide range of beautifully shot high resolution images. Just like Unsplash you are also able to contribute to the site by filling out a simple form, if your photos are accepted you will be credited for your work. Whilst on the site you will also find a link to Life of Vids which offers free videos with no copyright restrictions.
Of course there are plenty of other websites out there that offer free stock images so if you do have any feel free to comment and let us know about them! As a bonus, there is a website called All The Free Stock which has links to over 30 websites that all have free stock photos but that’s not all it offers, it also has links to websites that offer free stock videos, effects and icons so it’s definitely one to check out!