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Last Updated on February 26, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
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
- GoodFreePhotos
- Google Images – select “Labeled for reuse” under “Search tools”
- GraphicBurger
- 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.
Maybe add http://www.authenticsnaps.com 🙂
Thanks Valentin, I added AuthenticSnaps to the list!
Great list of free image sites to use on your site Kim.
I use many of those you have listed. Have you ever tried kleki? It is an image editing tool you can use online, no plugin or download. It’s a straight online graphics program to make or edit graphic files. Google it…I just started using it myself
Paul
Thanks for the list, this is really useful, one of the things I love best about blogging is not the writing but being able to create images myself. Sometimes I hit brick walls and can’t be creative so going elsewhere for images is a plus. No days people are ready to sue you, if you are not careful and doing the right thing. By the way, I am a new comer to blogging and every time I find posts like this one I am very grateful
Awesome list. Thank you. I am using a few of them, but it is always awesome to have some additional sources.
Brett
Pixabay is my first stop when I need a free image. It has not disappointed me so far.
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Peter
Hi,
Nice Article with great resources.
Please also check out https://www.goodfreephotos.com for thousands of unique public domain photos, all high-resolution and categorized by location free for use for any purpose. Appreciate it a lot if you could add it to your list. Thanks
David and Brett, thanks for the kind words!
Peter, Pixabay is my favorite, too!
Yinan, thanks for the resource – it’s on the list!
Paul, I will check that resource out – thanks!
This is an amazing list! I look forward to branching out and trying a few of these.
Hi,
Very useful article.
Please also take a look at https://blogpiks.com for tens of thousands of unique images, free of charge for any purpose.
We specialise in images for blogs or web content, notably business, technology, education, backgrounds and more. I appreciate if you can add us on your listing of internet sites.
Thank you,
Stuart