LibGuides: Finding Media: Find Images

Find Free to Use Images

All of the websites below provide images that are free to use. Some images are licensed through creative commons, others are hosted on image databases that use licenses similar to creative commons, and some are in the public domain. Always look at licensing information to determine how to properly attribute your sources, if images can be used for commercial purposes, and whether adaptations or derivatives are allowed.

Graphics & Illustrations

The Noun Project
"Icons are some of the most universal communication tools available, crossing language and cultural boundaries. From icons for Artificial Intelligence, to UI elements and Beyoncé, we've got you covered."
Open Clip Art
"Open Clipart is an online media collection of more than 160 000 vectorial graphics, entirely in the public domain."
Vecteezy
Vecteezy has a large collection of easy to search and free to use vector art, stock photos, and videos. To limit results to free use footage only, apply the "License Type" filter "Free License" after an initial search.
Creative Commons Search
Search creative commons and public domain images straight from the Creative Commons website. After an initial search, results can be filtered to include only certain types of images (ex: illustrations) or certain CC licenses.
Pixabay
"Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes."
Disabled and Here Collection
"This stock library is a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive images from our own perspective, with photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)."

Photos: People

WOCinTech
The #WOCinTech stock photo project was developed to combat the false idea that there are no women of color in the tech industry and to increase the visibility of these women in the workforce. These stock photos capture images of real technologists at work.
The Gender Spectrum Collection
"Stock photos beyond the binary. The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés."
Plus Size Stock Photos
This free stock photo collection "of plus-size people doing normal things" was created to address a lack of inclusion of fat bodies in existing stock photo collections.
Queer in Tech
Queer in Tech provides creative commons licensed stock photos of queer professionals working in tech and office spaces.
Jopwell Collection
Jopwell was founded "to introduce Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American students and professionals to career opportunities and resources." As part of this mission, they started the Jopwell Collection, "an album of more than 100 free-to-download stock photos featuring" diverse workplaces and workers.
Nappy
Nappy was launched "to provide beautiful, high-res photos of black and brown people to startups, brands, agencies, and everyone else. Nappy makes it easy for companies to be purposeful about representation in their designs, presentations, and advertisements."
Disabled and Here Collection
"This stock library is a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive images from our own perspective, with photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)."

Photos: People, Landscapes, Objects, Etc...

PICONI
PICONI recognizes that most other stock image websites have few, if any, photos of people of color. They "sought out to create a space where publishers, bloggers, website owners, marketers, designers, graphic artists, advertisers and the like can easily search and find diverse multi-racial images."
Unsplash
All photos on Unsplash are covered under a license that lets users download images for free for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Pexels
"Pexels provides high quality and completely free stock photos licensed under the Pexels license. All photos are nicely tagged, searchable and also easy to discover through our discover pages."
Pixabay
"Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes."

This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Finding Media

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Find Free to Use Images

Graphics & Illustrations

Photos: People

Photos: People, Landscapes, Objects, Etc...