When building a website or a design for print, you typically have two options. Paying ever increasing fees for decent quality stock photos, hiring a professional photographer, or scouring the internet for anything free that’s usable (and hopefully licensed in a way that works for your project).
This leaves you with a huge bill, or a website full of really lousy photos. We’ve compiled a list of 6 great sites for downloading amazing, high-resolution photography that you can use just about anywhere. It’s still up to you to read the license and see what you’re really getting into, but most sites license requirements are pretty easy to satisfy.
What’s your favourite free stock photo website – let us know in the comments and we’ll add it to our next compilation.
The Stocks
The Stocks has an amazing array of images and an amazing array of topics, great for pretty much any design project. It’s a bit of work to scroll through the images but you’re pretty much guaranteed to find something that’s a perfect fit. The Stocks is actually a collection of 16 free stock photo websites all in one convenient location. Please note that direct links to The Stocks images aren’t possible, all go to the original image elsewhere on the internet.
StockSnap
StockSnap calls themselves the best place on the internet to find beautiful free stock photos. Period. It’s hard to really analyze such a statement, but there is a pretty fantastic range of images so who am I to argue. Plus, all photos are released under a Creative Commons license and do not require attribution, which is super convenient.
IM Free
Daughter in the Sun by Jonathan Kos-Read
IM Free has a great selection of free stock photos. But unlike most other sites they also offer a selection of design templates and icons. Everything is categorized really nicely and it’s pretty easy to find something you need without doing a lot of searching. Most (if not all) images are licensed for commercial use but do require attribution to the creator.
Jay Mantri
Tons of great nature photos, with 7 new photos added every Thursday. All are free to use without attribution too.
Top Image Photo Credit –
The Mechanic by Ryan McGuire
