We all need that perfect image to attract our audience’s attention. Unfortunately, too many people are using Google images to steal from.
Read Petal Pixel’s 10 Bogus Excuses People Use When They Steal Photos from the Web.
Maybe people don’t care they are stealing images. Will the police come knocking on your door? No. But a lawyer could be suing you because you didn’t ask permission to use that image.
I believe people just don’t know they are stealing. Watch the video to see where you are stealing from when using Google Images.
There are many sources for images online. I’m providing you with a list of 12 FREE Stock Photo Websites.
123RF – Good selection of free photos
Bigfoto.com – Free photos from around the world. Use sitemap to browse by categories
Dreamstime – Paid photos but do have a selection of free photos
Flickr – Free photos, but best practice is to link back to the source
Free Digital Photos – Free photos are small sized. You can buy the larger sized images
Free Range – Great selection of free photos
Hubspot – 75 free photos
Morgue File – Free photos and it has a resize/crop tool you can use right on the website
Photogen – Good selection of free photos
Photo Pin – Anything below the dotted line is free
Free Images – A huge selection of free photos
Stockvault – Has both paid and free photos
Terms vary from site-to-site. Even though these photos are free to use, it is important to read the terms of use. Sometimes it’s just as simple as attribution. You can do this by putting “photo credit: urlofphoto” directly on the photo or add it to your blog under the photo.
Let me know if you found the list helpful or if you have another free photo site that didn’t make the list.