Obtaining the copyright of a photo that’s perfect for your online site(s) might be the
route you want to take if you find one that’s the perfect one. But, there are also free
images available in ‘libraries’ of stock photos.
These photos have been obtained from a photographer who has sold or given away
some or all of their legal rights. Some you can use commercially and others have
stipulations about how you can use them.
This is an excellent way for a photographer to make money by selling his images to
a central location where many people will see his work. Here are just some of the
free online libraries you can use to search for free stock images.
● Openphoto – Since 1998, Openphoto has been building a valuable collection of
stock photos. The site is categorized and easy to use.
● Stock.XCHNG – One of the best sites for obtaining free photos, Stock.XCHNG
offers as many as 400,000 images that include every topic.
● Morguefile – This photo site provides an exceptional search tool that lets you filter
the photos by keywords, size, color and categories.
● Stockvault.net – While the collection of photos on this site is smaller than some,
they’re of extremely high quality. You can also find clip art, logo templates,
backgrounds and textures.
● Free Photos Bank – If you’re in need of standard photos of animals, landscapes
and people, this is a good site to look. No registration is required and you simply
download the photos you want.
● Freerange Stock – You’ll find a good supply of stock photography for both
commercial and noncommercial
needs. The photos are supplied by inhouse
professionals who focus on quality rather than quantity and are highly creative.
● From Old Books – There are over 3,000 images designated for public domain
and that have been scanned from books. This site requests that you notify them of
use and link to their website if you use one of their images.
It’s true that free stock photography offers a wide range of photographs for almost
every need. They also help amateur and professional photographers by providing a
venue for their creativity.
One word of caution – be sure and read the fine print on the sites that feature “free”
stock photos. There may be terms that you need to know about such as limitations
and licensing.