The best websites to find images and photos
Why to talk about best websites to find images and photos?. You have started your professional activity, created your website, blog or e-commerce and now you are facing a delicate moment: the choice of images!
Can’t you just get those sad 90s-style photographs out of your mind, with self-styled businessmen shaking hands, who have served us up hundreds of presentations, pdfs, powerpoints?
Good news
I tell you the good news: today you have much more choice, there is a great variety of photos, undoubtedly more captivating and in many cases they are even free!
Copyright: does it also apply to images?
Before starting to talk about the different platforms, a small clarification.
Today, with a simple click, we can download an image; what not everyone knows, however, is that the images found on the web are subject to copyright law. Therefore, we cannot use any of them found on the internet.
The contrary constitutes an offense and although it is complex to become aware of the abuse, complaints from the authors of the photos are not so rare.
Sometimes, authors protect their work by affixing a watermark, which can only be removed by purchasing the image and granting a regular license to use it. In some cases, authorization may be required for the use of images for commercial purposes, in other cases, a license for the use of the photos may be required or, they may be completely free, ready to be used without breaking the law.
Where to find royalty free images?
To sleep peacefully you can use royalty-free images, i.e. freely usable, or images licensed under Creative Commons or similar licenses.
“A CC License can be used when an author wants to grant others the right to use or modify a work that he (the author) has created. CC allows the author to choose the methods of use (for example, he can only allow non-commercial use of a certain work) and protects people who use or disseminate a work of others from the concern of infringing copyright, as long as the conditions specified by the author himself in the license are respected “. (Source Wikipedia)
It is always advisable, in any case, to check the type of license as they are subject to change.
What are the best websites to look for good images on?
Like a digital Odysseus, I have been browsing for a long time to be able to list those that, in my opinion, are the most well-stocked sites, which could be for you. Let’s begin.
The first to try is undoubtedly Shopify’s Burst. A platform where you can find images suitable especially for e-commerce. These are good quality images, in line with current trends.
Thumbs up for the search engine, which suggests images similar to those entered through a keyword, thus allowing you to view a greater number of photos with the same common denominator.
Flickr is a real image bank. You have to register, after which you have access to a truly unlimited number of different photos, for various types of use. The main advantage is that, boasting millions of members, the contribution of each one continuously feeds the range at one’s disposal.
As the name suggests, here we can find excellent quality stock images, especially suitable for startups, bloggers and developers. I recommend it to anyone looking for 100% free images and especially to websites that deal with technology.
It is a very popular site among designers, e-merchants, developers and bloggers. It gives access to free photos and videos but it is necessary to mention the author and the platform. In addition, it comes with a blog, where you can find useful tips for editing and editing your photos.
If graphics are your passion, you are on the right platform. Here you will find, in fact, a wide range of vectors, icons and PSD files, to modify and adapt to your needs. On Freepik you will find mockups to layout your graphic creations on material supports (a table, a wall, etc.).
Watch out though! You will need to flag the “free” option to exclude paid images.
If you are looking for naturalistic, abstract or technological photos, Pexels is for you. On this site you will find free images to use for both personal and commercial purposes.
The ultimate source of lifestyle and other types of photographs, available for commercial use. Cities, culture, tourism, people, landscapes, roads: free your imagination and let yourself be inspired.
Where to find paid images.
If your business is already well underway and / or you have decided to invest in high definition material, the web will certainly not leave you dry-mouthed. I have selected for you those that, in my opinion, are among the best platforms where you can find varied and quality material.
Here too you will find royalty free content but this site also allows you to purchase collections of images, photos, videos, music and editorial content. The icing on the cake, in the PRO version (the plan is annual, monthly and even includes packages), includes the possibility of using a professional image editor, directly from the site.
With its simple and attractive interface, GettyImages ranks among the best sites for the purchase of images (single or packages) and licenses that allow you to combine photos, videos, vector images and much more. Through a search bar, you will easily find the images of your interest. Are you short of keywords to enter in the search engine? No problem! Here you can do a reverse search, uploading your own file.
Do you want to invest, or maybe not … In short: you are undecided.
Adobe Stock allows free trial of the platform. By registering, you will get ten images for free, after which the monthly subscription plan will be automatically renewed. You will then have access to various paid content. Here too there is the possibility of a reverse image search.
Last but not least… you can sell your productions, thus becoming Adobe Stock authors!
It is the legitimate child of GettyImages and allows you to find and search stock of images, photos, videos and illustrations. The latter also offers the possibility of annual or monthly subscriptions, in addition, it is available as an application for Smartphones (both Android and iOS / iPadOS devices) so that you can use the service even in the absence of a PC.
EXTRA-TIP!
Let’s continue talking about best websites to find images and photos. An apparent off-topic to suggest a new entry, which some of you may have seen among the sponsored of Instagram, Facebook or Youtube.
Creative Cloud is a creative community, a collection of over twenty applications and services, for pc and mobile, that encompass photography, design, video, web, UX and more. It includes, in its subscription plan, more than twenty apps including Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe Fonts and many other functions that are perfectly suited to various needs, creative and commercial.
Now you just have to take a look at the one that, among the proposed solutions, has intrigued you most and start shaping your dreams and your projects, in a more concrete way and always with a lot of critical spirit and a strong dose of curiosity.
However…
Creativity is
Intelligence that
entertains itself
