Flickr
As you probably already know, Flickr is one of the most important sites in the world to find free photos and images to download. Thanks to its advanced search engine, it allows you to quickly find photos distributed under the Creative Commons license, which can be used for free in various projects (sometimes even commercial ones, of course citing the original author of the shot).
To find photos with Flickr, connect to its advanced search page and type the terms to search for in the appropriate bar located in the center of the screen. Then expand the drop-down menu Any license which is located at the top left and select the type of license that best suits your needs.
- All those related to Creative Commons - to view all the photos distributed under the CC license, even those that cannot be used for commercial purposes and / or cannot be modified.
- Commercial use permitted - to view all photos that can be used in commercial projects, even those that cannot be edited.
- Commercial use and modifications permitted- to view photos that can be used in commercial projects and can be freely edited.
Once you have found an image of your interest, to download it from Flickr, first click on its thumbnail, then on white arrow located at the bottom right and select the item View all dimensions from the menu that appears. Next, click on the option original at the top right and save the photo by right clicking on it and selecting the item Save image as give the menu to compare.
FreeStock
LibreStock is an exceptional search engine that allows you to find photos distributed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, that is, they can be used freely even for commercial purposes, can be modified and do not require the author's mandatory mention. It indexes results from 45 different sites, then delivers numerous, high-quality results.
You ask me how LibreStock works? Look, the site is so intuitive that it is almost useless to explain it. All you have to do is connect to its home page, type the search terms in the appropriate text field and press the button Find Photos. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can view the most popular tags (i.e. the most popular photo categories) by consulting the appropriate list located under the search button.
Once you have found an image of your interest, presses on its thumbnail and download it from the source site: usually just click on the button download for free or right click on the enlarged version of the photos and then select the item Save image as from the menu that opens. In short, easier to do than to say.
Unsplash
Unsplash is another site that you should immediately bookmark. It offers a very wide range of images to be used and modified in any context (even the commercial one), all of the highest quality. To use it, connected to its home page and click on the icon with i four squares to view photos in a grid style. When you find one of your interest, click on its thumbnail and start it download for free pressing the appropriate button located at the top right.
If you want, you can also search for photos using the appropriate one bar located at the top left and "browse" the collections of photos created by Unsplash by clicking on the item Collections which is located at the top. No registration is required and it is not necessary to mention the original authors of the shots.
Gratisography
Gratisography is an extremely interesting site that collects all the shots taken by photographer Ryan McGuire. The images are related to various themes and are all of the highest quality. You can download and use them freely in any project even without mentioning the author (who still says he appreciates those who do this "courtesy").
The Gratisography archive is updated every week. To browse it all, use the categories listed at the top of the home page: Animals, Nature, Objects, People, urban etc. To download the photos, however, click on their thumbnails. That's all!
OpenPhoto
Another real catalog of free photos and images to download is OpenPhoto, where you can find hundreds of photographs to be used freely even in commercial projects. The images can be browsed according to their categories, which are listed in the tab Browse of the site (animals, art, people, technology, etc.) or search by clicking on the item SEARCH(top left).
Photos available on OpenPhoto they are distributed under various licenses. To know in detail how to use each of them, consult the instructions at the bottom of the download page.
Getty Images
In conclusion, I want to tell you about GettyImages, a very popular service for purchasing images for professional purposes. For some time now, the site has made available to the public an image embedding feature that allows third parties to use some of the photos on external sites and blogs. Be warned though, you cannot download images from GettyImages and upload them to your blog. You have to embed them with an HTML code, kind of like you do with YouTube videos. Furthermore, the photos cannot be used on sites with advertising or in any case for profit.
To find a photo on GettyImages, connected to the site, type the search terms in the search bar located at the top and click on the button with the magnifying glass. Then place the mouse pointer on the thumbnail of the image you want to embed on your site, click on the icon and copy the HTML code that is provided to you. Read carefully the terms of use of GettyImages, and in particular the paragraph Built-in viewer, before proceeding!
Where can I find free photos and images to download?
