10 ONLINE SOURCES OF FREE

IMAGES AND SLIDE SHOWS

By Anita C. Reyes, Director

Learn Online Academy

Email: anitareyes@cox.net

Web: http://learnonlineacademy.com

SEARCHING FOR IMAGES IN ALL THE

WRONG PLACES

A while back I retrieved a

picture I found from a search

of Google Images—an earth

globe. I did not see a copyright

mark on the image, so I put it

on my website. A few months

later I received a letter

demanding that I remove the

image or pay a fee of $3,880.

I promptly removed the image.

I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY THAT I HAD

TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT USING

MATERIALS FOUND ON THE INTERNET!

I knew that, from now on,

I would have to search for

copyright-free images or

write for permission to use

materials.

IN THE MEANTIME, I STILL NEEDED A

GRAPHIC OF THE EARTH

It occurred to me to check

NASA’s website where I

knew there were actual

photographs of the earth

from space. I found that

NASA allows the use of

these images with

attribution.

FREE MATERIALS ON THE INTERNET

In fact, I discovered a

treasure trove of free

images that can be

used on websites,

blogs, newsletters,

Facebook, brochures,

flyers, etc. And now I

want to share my top

10 favorites with you.

1. GOOGLE FREE IMAGE SEARCH:

In Google, you can make sure you search for only copyright free images:

1. Go to Google Images

2. Type in a term and click the Search button

3. Click on the Options button

4. Scroll down to Advanced Search

(Or go to directly to Google Images Advanced Search by clicking here:

http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en)

5. In Advanced Search, select any specifications that you want under “Narrow

your results by,” including usage rights:

image size aspect ratio

colors in image type of image

region site or domain

safe search file type

usage rights—from the drop-down menu,

choose :

“free to use or share, even commercially”

Beautiful NASA Images can be found here:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/

View the NASA’s guidelines for use of images here:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html

2. IMAGES OF THE EARTH

FROM NASA’S WEBSITE

3. HUGE COLLECTION OF PHOTOS

FROM THE MORGUE FILE

Here you’ll find beautiful photos that

can be used for any purpose without attribution:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive

4. COPYRIGHT-FREE PHOTOS ON FLICKR

Images are posted here by institutions

and museums all over the world.

For access to images, you can sign up for

a free Flickr account. And you can upload

your own photos, too:

http://www.flickr.com/creative

commons/

Find out about the restrictions on these

materials for each contributing

organization:

http://www.flickr.com/commons/

usage/

5. COPYRIGHT-FREE BACKGROUND TEXTURES

(155 in the set)

These are attractive and free-of-charge:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanne_exurban/sets/721

57622112724335/

Some photos, like this one, require acknowledgement to the creator.

Texture by adamned.age / H.Adam:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanne_exurban/3905274832/in/set-

72157622112724335

6. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

This site is a huge of source of free

images, sound and multimedia

materials:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/M

ain_Page

The public domain images on the site

are not copyrighted, and their use is not

restricted. In addition to the available

public domain images, there is a vast

collection of Creative Commons

copyrighted work:

http://creativecommons.org/

7. FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET

You can have a free, small sized version of

any image in their collection. When you

download a free image--or purchase a

larger one--you may use the image as an

illustration for almost any business,

personal, educational or charitable

purpose anywhere you wish for as long as

you want:

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

If you choose to publish a free image, you

need to include a credit to the creator of

that image wherever it is used. Review the

terms of use here:

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/

terms.php

8. OPENPHOTO.NET

This is a high-quality photo

sharing platform.

Contributors offer their

images for free under

terms of Creative

Commons licensing.

Usage conditions vary

from image to image.

Check out this resource

at: http://openphoto.net/

9. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The Library of Congress has thousands of copyright-free images and materials: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/ Most LOC copyright-free materials can be utilized for non-commercial purposes. Find out about restrictions here: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html#noknown

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (CONTINUED)

When materials from the Library’s

collections are reproduced in a

publication or website, or

otherwise distributed, the Library

requests the courtesy of a credit

line.

Ideally, the credit will include

reference to the Library of

Congress, the specific collection

where the image is located and the

image reproduction number

(negative, transparency, or digital

id number).

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (CONTINUED)

Example of Credit Line:

Wright Brothers collection, Prints & Photographs

Division, Library of Congress, LC-ppmsca-04598.

10. SLIDESHARE

SlideShare.net has more than

a million free slide shows you

can search for by topic.

You can also upload your own

slideshows to share.

Click the image above

to view a slide show

about SlideShare.

Find out more

about SlideShare here:

http://www.slideshare.net/about

I HOPE YOU FOUND

THIS INFORMATION HELPFUL

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Warmly,

Anita C. Reyes, MA, MS, Director

Learn Online Academy

OmniCare Education & Support Services

34145 Pacific Coast Hwy #185

Dana Point, CA 92629

Email: anitareyes@cox.net

Website: http://learnonlineacademy.com

Anita has 40 years

of experience as a

counselor, educator,

writer/editor and

business owner.

Since 2009, she has provided

online training on a variety of

topics for people all over the

world, including how to start

and run an internet business

from your home computer.