One of the easiest ways to instantly grab people’s attention on social media is by using pictures; it’s always handy to have a bank of images for any publications you’re putting together too. Google Images is one of the quickest and simplest ways to add pictures to posts and other documents but you have to be careful to change the search settings so that you are not illegally using an image. Don’t worry though; there are lots of sources at your fingertips with fantastic free photographs, drawings and vectors. We’ve listed 5 below, they’re all free to use and because these sites use imagery that falls under the Creative Commons Zero license you can use, share and modify them, even for commercial purposes, without having to worry about copyright restrictions. Some sites stipulate that you must give credit to the original artist, or state when you have modified the picture (although even if they don’t, it’s still nice to be nice).
FancyCrave
This is an excellent place to start. It’s easy to use and a great source for pictures to use on social media. There’s lots of bright, good quality images plus photo packs you can download, and you’ll instantly have a handy collection of photographs in your chosen category.
Unsplash
This is another easy site to use, you can view photographs on their website (either as large, almost full screen, shots or in a grid layout that makes them easier to select if you’re in a hurry). You can also subscribe and have ten free images emailed to you every couple of weeks. As well a
s having a ‘collections’ section where you can view by category, you can also search the site for something specific. If your search comes up blank they encourage you to look through their images and tag them, helping to refine future searches and make it less likely to throw up blank findings.
StockSnap
Not only can you quickly and easily search by category, nature, landscapes etc. you can also look at the images that are trending, the most popular downloads and see a view count for each photograph, so not only do you have access to great quality pictures but you can also keep your finger on the pulse too.
Kaboompics
As well as high quality images this site also has some excellent background options that will look great as the background for things like flyers, invites or brochures. The images take up a lot of screen space so browsing to find the perfect pic can take time, but it’s well worth having a good old peruse and get inspired!
Gratisography
Certainly no boring, same old same old in here, if you’re looking for quirky or eccentric images this is the place for you. As well as typical categories such as animals and people they also have more off the wall things in their whimsical category. The search bar is initially difficult to spot, click the middle of the page just above where the photographs start and a search bar will appear but other than that it’s really easy to navigate.
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