No one denies that having good, quality images is almost as important as content. There are many times when creative professionals need a decent image for their project or content and sometimes finding websites with stock photos can be a bit difficult.
There are a growing number of websites that offer incredible stock images, some of which are free and some of which are paid for but are worth paying for. Of course you can find some images on Google, but if you are a content creator, you know the importance of showing a really good design and quality images for your viewers and customers, as everything is about the image and your brand has to look its best at all times. In addition, many of the images found on Google don’t have good resolution and most of them don’t have an adequate license for free use.
Many of these websites offer images free of copyright restrictions or under a Creative Commons license, which means you can copy, modify, and distribute the images for commercial purposes – all without official permission. However, some images may require attribution, so please be sure to check them again.
Here are the websites you can visit to find the best high quality images for your website.
- Dreamstime I really like this site because it has a lot of high quality images and a lot of variety. It is a paid site, but it is worth it if you are taking your business seriously and are looking to improve your image. They have monthly subscriptions and credit packs and it is cheaper than many other paid subscription sites. They also have a free photo gallery when you register.
- Pixabay This site has thousands of photos that you can download for free. You can freely use any image of this website in digital and printed format for personal and commercial use. All images are published under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain script.
- Pexels This is one of my favorites, they have over 10,000 free stock photos that are hand selected to ensure high quality. They add 20 new images a day and you may like the photos and save them for later. No attribution is required.
- Unsplash This site provides 10 new high resolution photos every 10 days. Most of them are about breathtaking landscapes. No attribution is required as the images are also published under Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Script.
- Death to the stock They will deliver 10 photos within a specific category each month directly to your inbox. The goal of this website is to give you options to use in your layouts, social media and blogs. They have their own license that can be read on your website.
- Gratisography This website has a really large collection of photos that are free of copyright restrictions. They have different categories like animals, nature, objects, people, urban and capricious. Every week new photos are added, all taken by Ryan McGuire.
- Shutterstock This site is extremely popular and has images, videos, music and graphics with a lot of variety in each category. Prices are based on the use of images, which means that the more images you download, the more discounts you get.
- Adobe Stock This site has one of the largest libraries with over 23 million media pieces. Fotolia is also very easy to navigate. They have credit-based subscriptions and memberships. Just take a look.
- Freepik This site has over 1 million free photos and vectors, as well as videos, illustrations and PSDs that you can use for your designs. This site produces hundreds of vectors and photos every day, so it’s definitely worth a look.
- Depositphotos Trust me on this. They have thousands of photos, vectors and videos and daily, monthly and on-demand subscriptions. This site has an affordable pricing structure and an excellent selection of media. Audio files are not offered on this site if that’s what you’re looking for. Apart from that, they have tons of images to choose from.
Images have the power to convey messages and influence emotions beyond words. Choose the right images and your message will have more impact than you think! So make sure you don’t skimp on creative quality, as it affects your image and value.