You’ve written a terrific article and now it needs a finishing touch – an image. Most people skim articles on the internet, engaging your reader with a great image is a great way to get your article noticed. I always add an image to my blog posts.
But where do you find a great image that looks professional and is “legal” to use? Skip Google Image Search and look no further than my 5 favorite low cost or no cost sources for images.
Note: I have updated my favorite count to 6. Check out the new addition, Creative Commons.
Low Cost Royalty Free Stock Photo Sites
Quick definition:
Royalty-Free means if you purchase a RF image you pay only once and not every single time it’s used or viewed by your visitors.
My favorite low cost image sources:
1. Bigstock Photo
Bigstock prides themselves on delivering quality and value, offering two options to purchase photos: Pay as you go with single photos start at $2.99 or Credit Packs starting at $49 for 25 credits. Images cost between 1 and 6 credits depending on the size and format.
2. iStock Photo
iStock has quality photos at a variety of prices. Look for the gray camera icon for pricing starting at 1 credit. The blue and gold cameras denote the high price Vetta and Agency Collections. Pay-as-you-go credit packages start at 6 credits for $9.75.
3. 123RF
One of the most affordable stock photo sites with credit packages start at $15 for 15 credits making a small photo just $1. Register to the site to gain access to thousands of free images.
Free Creative Commons Licensed Images Sites
Quick Definition: An alternative to full copyright laws allowing creators to specify different licenses for their photos. Check the license or reuse to see what attributions and conditions apply to the photo.
My favorite free image sources:
4. Picasa
Members can find Creative Commons Photos in the Picasa Community Photos Section
5. Flikr
In addition to searching the website’s creative commons area you also can use Compfight. A search engine tailored to efficiently locating Flikr images for blogs. Choose the Creative Commons link in the left sidebar.
6. Creative Commons
This great site allows you to search for images and more! Choose from Flikr, Google Images, Fotopedia, Open Clip Art Library and Pixabay for images. Need a video or music? Creative Commons has sources for that too.
My favorite used to be dreamstime.com, but now has been surpassed by 123rf which you listed above because it’s a little bit cheaper.
My second favorite is a site called fotolia.com which I go to if I can’t find the images I’m looking for on 123rf.com.
Also, a friend recently showed me sxc.hu which contains free images but it seems I usually don’t find what I’m looking for, but hey, check it out. You just may find what you’re looking for and its free =)
Rick and I love 123rf. Great selection and good prices. Thanks for sharing fotalia, dreamstime and the sxc.hu (Stockxchng), they are great additions to the low cost and free image list. It is nice to have choices when searching for that perfect image!