Finding the perfect image to use in a blog post sometimes takes just as long as writing the post! Gone are the days when you can borrow an image from another site and just give them a credit link back. A few years ago I did this, and it turned out that the site that I credited did not have authorization to use that photo. I was sent a threatening letter to remove and pay up for using it. Luckily I had an attorney review the letter, and they did not have a legitimate claim, but I immediately removed the photo anyway and now make sure I’m able to use any images I use on my sites.
I asked my friends which online sites they use to grab free images to use in blog posts, and they came up with dozens of different resources. I compiled the list of free image sites to share with fellow bloggers who also may need help finding images. Some may require a link back to credit them, which I think is fair. List updated 3/4/18.
Free Images For Blog Posts
- 123RF
- 1 Million Free Pictures
- 365psd
- 4 Free Photos
- Burst Photos (from Shopify)
- Clker.com
- Compfight – some can not be altered (i.e. adding words to them) & some require photo credit
- Creative Commons
- Creative Market
- Cupcake
- DepositPhotos – offers free photos, vectors & videos; changes weekly
- EveryStockPhoto
- Flickr – search Creative Commons licensed work
- FreeImages.com
- FreeImages.red
- GoodFreePhotos
- Google Images – select “Labeled for reuse” under “Search tools”
- GraphicBurger
- GraphicStock – limit 20 free images per day, and you do need to enter credit card
- Gratisography
- HubSpot – links to more stockphoto searches
- Jay Mantri
- KaboomPics
- Kozzi – 7 Days Free Downloads
- Life Of Pix
- Little Visuals – 7 free hi-res images
- Magdeleine
- MMT Stock
- MorgueFile
- Move East
- MyCuteGraphics
- New Old Stock – vintage photos
- OpenClipArt
- PDPics
- Pexels
- PhotoPublicDomain
- Photos-Public-Domain
- Phototeria
- PicDrome
- Pickup Image
- Picography
- Pixabay (my personal favorite go-to)
- Pond5
- Public Domain Archive
- Public Domain Vectors
- Public Domain Clip Art
- Public-Domain-Image
- Public-Domain-Photos
- PublicDomainPictures.net
- SkitterPhoto
- Snapwire Snaps – 7 free photos every 7 days
- SplitShire
- Startup Stock Photos
- StockSnap
- StokPic – 10 new photos every 2 weeks
- Travel Coffee Book
- TurboPhoto
- Unsplash – 10 new photos every 10 days
- Ultra HD Wallpapers
- Wikimedia Commons
- Wikipedia
- WP Clipart
Once you find an image(s) to use, you can add text such as your blog post title and website URL as well as borders, etc. I use Stencil that searches free image databases (or I can upload an image), then and add text to create images for social media. Pinterest images bring me the most traffic.
P.S.S. Want an image that not everyone and their dog is already using? You can buy images relatively inexpensive (i.e. $1 each) at DepositPhotos.com.
Which resource is your favorite to use for free images? Am I missing any to add to the list? Leave comment with your favorite sites for free images.
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