Where can you get Free Images from?

We talked about a major issue with self-publishers in India being using images from the internet. Most images are copyrighted and are not for indiscriminate use. But there are many sites which provide free images.

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Here are five websites which provide free images you can use In your books:

  1. Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/

Unsplash has some cool high-resolution images, 10 new photos every 10 days. All images can be used whichever way you want.

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2.Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/

Pixabay  has 620,000 images and also links to some sponsored images, which are not free. For free images, stick to the non-sponsored ones. All images can be used whichever way you want.

3. Realistic Shots: http://realisticshots.com/

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.

4. Life of Pix: http://www.lifeofpix.com/

This site is free and all pictures have no copyright restrictions, with pictures being added on a weekly basis. All images can be used whichever way you want.

5.Flickr: https://www.flickr.com

Flickr is a free service. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo in 2005. You can share, store, search, and sort your photos here. You need to use the license filter to get images that can be used whichever way you want. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to flickr.
  2. Search for a term.
  3. There is a license filter available, select “Commercial use and mods allowed” there.

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Advantages of these sites:

  • The images you get are high resolution images that can be used for print.
  • The license is not restrictive. So you can use the images in any way you want.
  • Many good quality images are available.

Disadvantages of these sites:

  • While there will be ample choice for generic images, if your needs are very specific they are unlikely to be satisfied. For example, most of these sites won’t have many Indian images. They are also unlikely to have images of celebrities or historical figures.
  • Since the images are free to use for anyone, they aren’t going to be unique to your book, especially when used as is. So you have to be prepared to see those images pop up at all kinds of places.

Let us know if there are any websites that you have come across that provide free images.

Disclaimer: Licenses were checked at the time of writing the post.

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