We all need images. Sometimes for our blogs to illustrate the theme, sometimes on a website to engage more readers or at times for other creative needs. A nice, high–quality image supporting your content definitely catches the attention of many eyes. Integration of relevant images in right formats help bring more credibility to the website or a blog.
There are abundance resources available online one can look up to find that perfect image. But it is advisable that before downloading an image online, you must consider some terms of use or license agreement to avoid any kind of copyright issues.
Here are some legal terms of use, which you must know before downloading an image:
Public domain- They are available for anyone to use for any purpose.
Rights managed/ protected - The term “Rights Managed” means the image can be used in a certain way. This includes restrictions on medium, size, format, duration and location of use.
Royalty free images – You can purchase the right to use the image without paying a royalty each and every time you use it.
Subscription- This helps you download and use certain amount of images for a certain period of time, which can be royalty free or exclusive.
We have randomly picked 10 popular online resources to get free, royalty-free and paid images.
1. Istockphoto
With more than 4.5 million of photos, illustrations, videos and audios contributed by 70, 000 artists from across the globe. Istock photo is one of the commonly used images downloading websites.
It also benefits its users with an option to buy and sell their pictures. Designers or photographers can sell their images and illustrations as Istockphoto pays 20% for each file download. However, exclusive contributor can get up to 40%. Know more
Subscription- Choose from millions of royalty-free photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash files starting at $1. Learn more
2. Gettyimages
They provide extensive range of images and stock illustration offering rights managed and royalty free creative images with latest editorial coverage including news, sport and celebrity photos. Getty images Creative Express offers a database of 200, 000 royalty free stock photographs as they constantly update and add 1, 000 fresh photos every month. As a special offer, they are providing up to 50 royalty free images to download daily.
Subscription- Two annual plans available for web and print resolution images. Learn more
The site provides high-quality, high- resolution free stock photos and free textures submitted by talented photographers, shot by Freerange Stock, and collected from Freerange archives. All images are at least 2400 x 1600, and photos can be used for commercial or personal projects.
They also offer revenue-sharing program for photographers, who have submitted their photos when users click on any of the ads next to their submissions. It allows you to keep 80% of the advertising revenue generated by your download pages and your profile pages. Know more
Subscription- Images are free but you need to give credit to the website. Learn more
4. Stock.XCHNG
Browse through a huge photo gallery containing over 350, 000 quality stock photos submitted by more than 30,000 photographers. The images are contributed by big and small photographers and it privileges many new contributors to add their own photographs to the site.
Subscription- All Images are copyrighted property of SXC or its Image providers. All rights are reserved unless otherwise granted to you. You can only use image in digital format on websites, multimedia presentations, magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, flyers, CD/DVD covers etc. Learn more
Currently indicating 4, 458, 956 free photos on its homepage, Everystockphoto.com is a license-specific photo search engine. You can search for millions of licensed photos for free. You can view a photo’s license by clicking on the license icon, below and left side of the photos. It also allows you to rate, tag, collect and comment on the photos.
Subscription- Most of them are free to use under specific conditions. All the images are license specific. Learn more
Thousands of royalty free photos for websites, newspapers, magazines,video, TV productions, iPhone applications, forums and blogs. Every image is free, with an option to buy high resolution versions for print or graphic design requirement. They can be used for commercial and personal use. If you are using their image you have to give credit to FreeDigitalPhotos.net. Know more
Subscription- Images are for free and with a option to pay for high-resolution images. The price is currently $5 for a medium-sized image; and $10 for a high-resolution file although prices can vary. Learn more
Here you can rate, search, share photos and download them for free. It allows designers, photographers and artists to share their images and photographs with each other. It is a free image bank with “ready to use” web layouts and logos to help those who can’t afford to download images from royalty-free agencies.You can use them for personal or non-commercial use.
Subscription – You have to follow certain guidelines before using the image. Learn more
8. Shutterstock
It offers 7, 009, 532 royalty-free stock photographs, illustrations, and vectors, out of which 67, 256 new stock photos added this week contributed by 169, 061 photographers.
Subscription- Download 25 images every day 1 Month -$249 - 1 Year – $2559
Download images any time for up to 1 year- 5 Downloads -$49- 60 Downloads -$229. Learn more
9. FreeFoto
The site offers 1, 25, 724 images with 166 sections organized into 3,444 categories. It also features exclusive images, which are added on a weekly basis. FreeFoto images are available for commercial use to publishers, government departments, NGOs, educational establishments and a wide range of other businesses.
Subscription- Prices start from $30. Learn more
This site offers 5,000 free images, 80, 000 free cliparts, which are placed under public domain category. You can use them for any purpose including commercial.
Subscription- You can use images freely but be careful before using a photo, which contains logos. Don’t use trademarks.
Hope these image banks or websites will help you download images as per your requirements for a blog or for creating an effective design for a project.Via [LimeExchange]