Do you need free stock photos?
Let me help you find the best free images to download for your website and marketing materials!
The images that you choose for your website and marketing materials can make or break the overall aesthetic of your brand. When hiring a full time photographer to supply you with appropriate and timely photos is out of the budget, most turn to using free stock photos. There are so many options to choose from when choosing where to get the best free images to download for your site, how are you supposed to choose?
Here’s a quick list of considerations when choosing which free stock photos and free images to download for your marketing materials:
- Price
- Usage License
- Attribution
- Modification
- Fit
First, let’s talk about price.
Some of the traditional stock photo sources can cost hundreds of dollars for a single image with limited usage rights. Other sources are free, have zero limitations, and can be used for any purpose. For the purposes of this blog post we’re going to focus on the free stock photo sources that are truly, absolutely, 100% free.
Why? Because not every project requires the exactly perfect photo that costs an arm and a leg. Many blog posts, marketing materials, and websites are completely fine with using free stock photos.
Second, it’s time to cover usage license.
These free images you download, aka free stock photos, must be used based on their license agreements. Some sources say that you can use the images in any way you’d like, for whatever reason you’d like. One of the biggest differentiators is whether your project is commercial or non-commercial. Most allow you to use the images for any personal reasons if you are not generating a profit. Some limits may be imposed by sources if you plan to use the free stock photos for commercial reasons.
Wherever you choose to get your free images to download, be sure to check the license requirements BEFORE you actually use them. The last thing that you want to do is get your website up and running or marketing materials printed, then find out that you can’t use any of the free stock photos that you downloaded. That would be incredibly frustrating!
Third, what the heck is attribution?
When using free stock photos, one of the things that some sources require is attribution for the images. This means that you must give the photographer credit when you use the photos. For some things like blog posts, attribution is super simple. You just add a little link in there or a quick credit line beneath the photo. This isn’t as easy when you’re designing brochures or using images on the home page of your website.
If attribution is required for the free stock images that you want to use, you need to really do your homework and credit the photos properly or you may even want to find a new source. It depends on how good you are at paying attention to details and following the rules.
Fourth, modification.
Yep, always a concern when it comes to any type of photography. Once you’ve found these free images to download, you need to know what you can do with them. Some sources add limitations to how they can be used (no editing including cropping, changing the colors tc.) while others say have at it, do whatever you want.
Modification rights is something you have to keep in mind even if you hire a private photographer to come out and do a photoshoot for you, specific to the needs of the project. Some photographers will give you full rights to do as you please where as others will take major issue if you do any type of editing to the final images that they deliver.
Fifth, fit.
Are free stock photos the right fit for your project? The answer lies in the photos that you find and all of the considerations listed above. Before you start searching, you should have some type of vision in mind for the free images that you want to download.
Are you looking for a person, place, or thing? Should there be some type of action involved? What colors should the photo include in order to add to the aesthetic of your project? Having a vision in mind for what fit you need the free images to download for will help you find the right photos to do the job.
Ready to start looking for free stock photos?
We’ve compiled the ultimate list of sources for free stock photos, which is detailed below. Keep in mind that all sources are updated at different rates and include different licenses. You’ll need to sort through each to make sure that they work for your needs. Once you’ve found the perfect free images to download, get to work and create something beautiful!
The Complete List of Free Stock Photos Collections:
1. Pexels
All images included on pexels.com are absolutely free for commercial and personal uses.
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- All photos on Pexels can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use.
- Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
- You can modify the photos. Be creative and edit the photos as you like.
Pexels is my personal favorite, as I love the general aesthetic of the images on their site.
2. Stocksnap.io
Photos on Stocksnap.io are free, but governed by the Creative Commons license.
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for details!
- The Creative Commons license that StockSnap uses is the CC0 license. Specifically, that license means you can do any and all of the following:
- Download the image file
- Publish, revise, copy, alter, and share that image
- Use the image (as-is or as you’ve altered it), in both personal and commercial contexts
- Moreover, you can put StockSnap CC0 images to any of these usages without buying the right to do it, acquiring written permission from the image’s creator, or attributing the work to the image creator.
Learn more about the Creative Commons CCo license.
3. Shotstash
You are allowed to use photos for personal and commercial uses, but the copyright remains that of Shotstash.
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
You can:
- Bundle in HTML/PSD templates & themes.
- Illustrate articles or blog posts.
- Print in t-shirts, phone cases and book covers.
- Post in social networks.
- Distribute in your design.
- Keynote or Powerpoint presentations.
4. mmtstock
MMT offers free stock photos and videos, along with premium upgrade paid options. For details on their license details and how they apply the Creative Commons license, click here.
This free images download resource also allows users to upload photos of their own for sharing.
5. Realisticshots
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- All photos published on Realistic Shots are licensed under Creative Commons Zero which means you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos, even for commercial purposes.
- Attribution is not required, but appreciated.
The website mentions that new photos are added every week, which is very nice if you like the style of their photos and require new free stock photos to add to your blog or website regularly.
6. Foodiesfeed
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- Food photographers from all around the world share their photos under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license to help accomplish the ultimate goal of Foodiesfeed, to make the online space related to food more beautiful and eliminate all the ugly sterile stock photos that people still keep using.
- Whether you’re a hobby or professional photographer, food blogger, passionate foodie or there are just some food photos hanging in your cloud drive that could be used by other modern creatives, join the community and help us with our mission.
This collection of gorgeous free stock photos is a foodie’s dream! They have everything you might need and update the site regularly, so there’s bound to be something new you’ll love.
7. NewOldStock
If you’re looking for historic images and aren’t too picky about what you get, this may be the perfect opportunity for free images to download for you. The website says that these photos come from public archives and are free of any known copyright.
8. StyledStock
A super trendy option that gives you a handful of free stock images along with a plethora of paid options. Check their usage agreement for details on how you can move forward with using the free images you download from the site.
9. Burst by Shopify
This collection of photos was designed for Shopify stores but can be used for free for personal or commercial purposes. Usage terms are pretty detailed. Check them out here.
10. Gratisography
According to the website, you can do almost anything with the free images to download contained on their site for both commercial and personal uses.
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- You may use Gratisography pictures as you please for both personal and commercial projects. You can adapt and modify the images and get paid for work that incorporates the pictures.
- This includes advertising campaigns, adding your logo or text to an image, printed in any size print runs (e.g., book covers, magazines, posters, etc.), on your website, blog, or other digital mediums, and on merchandise as long as the picture itself is not the merchandise.
The free stock photos on this site are less traditional than others and may appeal well to personal blogs.
11. FreeImages
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- You may use content in digital format on websites, blog posts, social media, advertisements, film and television productions, web and mobile applications
- in printed materials such as magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, flyers, product packaging
- for decorative use in your home, office or any public place
- or personal use
- The rights granted to you by FreeImages.com are:
- Perpetual, meaning there is no expiration or end date on your rights to use the content.
- Non-exclusive, meaning that you do not have exclusive rights to use the content. FreeImages.com can license the same content to other customers.
- Unlimited, meaning you can use the content in an unlimited number of projects and in any media.
The collection includes a HUGE amount of free images to download for your marketing materials. The images seem generally vibrant and sharp. Lots of animals and architecture, along with many other free stock photos subjects.
12. Reshot
Known for being unique, non-stocky photos, Reshot is an excellent resource for bloggers and website designers who want a unique look and feel for the brands they are developing.
Here’s what Reshot has to say about the license for their free stock photos:
- All photos published on Reshot are free to use, both for commercial and noncommercial purposes. Go crazy!
- More precisely, Reshot grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Reshot for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Reshot. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Reshot to replicate a similar or competing service.
- Questions? Check out our FAQ or read the legal jargon in our terms.
While I typically use Pexels, Reshot may be my new go to resource for free images to download for my blog.
13. Freestocks.org
Freestocks.org features a collection of images that are free to use under the Creative Commons Zero license. Here’s what they have to say about the use of their free images to download.
- All photos on freestocks.org are free and licensed under CC0 (Creative Commons Zero). You can copy, modify and use them both in personal and commercial projects. However, you can not sell the photos themselves.
- Please do not redistribute our photos on other free stock photos websites without our permission. Instead of doing that, you can use a thumbnail photo and simply put a link referring to our single photo page, for example: http://freestocks.org/photo/tie/.
- Remember to respect registered trademarks, intellectual and private property. It is in your best interest to use the photos in a lawful way.
14. Picography
Similar to other free stock photos sites, Picography has a use license based on Creative Commons Zero. Here are the details about how they say you can use the photos:
All photos on Picography come with a CC0 license, this means that you can:
- Use, copy, edit, or share that photo.
- Use it for personal or commercial purposes.
- And to do so without purchase, permission, or giving attribution to the creator of the work. While we do always encourage attribution, it is not required.
Their collection of free images to download includes a variety from moody to vibrant and everywhere in-between.
15. picjumbo
On top of offering a wide variety of free stock images, picjumbo also has a premium membership option that gives members exclusive access to even more stock photos (100+ premium collections) delivered directly to their Dropbox accounts each month.
Free images you download from picjumbo can be used personally and commercially, but they do ask that you respect registered brands and trademarks (as usual). Here are the details and FAQ for image use.
While there are many different options for downloading free stock photos, I absolutely love that the guy who created this did so out of need. He was rejected by other stock sites due to ‘lack of quality’ and decide to create this project (free stock photos download site) on his own. I’d love for you to support his work and download a few photos, maybe even sign up for a premium membership! Here’s a link to his story if you’re interested in learning more.
Location specific free stock photo collections:
Detroit Stock City
You guessed it. All photos of Detroit. Images on the site are available for personal use only, so be careful businesses!
Here’s a quick snapshot of their free stock photos license. Be sure to check their website for full details!
- The content from Detroit Stock City is free to use for personal, editorial, and other non-commercial use. Use it in articles, blog posts, school projects, as your desktop wallpaper – or plenty of other non-commercial purposes.
- The content found here on DSC is totally FREE, so spread the word.
- We simply ask that you…
- credit the photographer and DSC collection
- do not redistribute or host the content on your own page
- do not use the content in any offensive or unlawful manner
There’s a full infographic created just for those trying to sort out whether or not they can use the photos from this site.
Throughout this post you’ll notice that we discuss a lot of what you CAN do and not a lot of what you CAN’T do. Please be sure to check the terms for each individual free stock photos website before you download and use the images. That way you can ensure that you won’t be in violation of their terms or use license. Please do NOT rely on the contents of this blog post as a way to find out if you’re using the images properly.
Free Stock Photo Resources Update
Last updated October 2018. We’ll continue to update this list as additional sources for free stock photos become available. If you know of something incredible that isn’t listed, please leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to add it.
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