Free stock photos for newbie

A picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures are undoubtedly a powerful form of communication and they are necessities for any business. Fashion magazine, for instance, thrives on beautifully shot editorial involving photographers, editors, stylist, make-up artist and models.

Some media, however, don’t necessarily require a team of photographers, stylists and models. There are alternatives like using stock photos. It is a common practice in media regardless the size of the company.

There are plenty of stock photos to choose from. Popular stock photo agencies, such as Getty Images and Shutterstock, offer licensed images for editorial purposes. The price varies according to the type of editorial and the packages.

There are also free stock photo websites. The regulations of free stock photo providers are more lenient than their paid counterparts. Free stock photo websites allow users to use the images for commercial and non-commercial projects. Users are allowed to modify, download and publish without permission from the photographer or owner of the images.

Nearly all images on free stock photo sites have Creative Commons (CC0) license. This license implies that the work uploaded on the platforms are “public domain by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighbouring rights, to the extent allowed by law.”

The license prohibits anyone from suing or claiming liability against anyone who “creates the image on any kind of theory of warranty or guarantee in the image.”

Before publishing images to free stock photo websites, it is best for the photographer or owner of the images to inform the subjects or models where they are going to distribute the pictures. Ideally, all parties involved in the images should be aware of the terms of free stock photo platforms to avoid any misunderstanding. There is a possibility that the images uploaded to free stock photo websites will be used in public space - edited or modified accordingly.

Free stock photos give exposure to photographers should the users credit them in articles or projects - attribution or credit to photographer is not necessary for free stock photos. Some of the free stock photo platforms pay commissions to the photographers.

Those platforms also share a common rule. Users are not allowed to download and compile the photos to create a similar or competing platform.

Below are some of the free stock photo websites we curate:

1. Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock allows individual and creative cloud members to use its extensive range of images. The platform also provides commissions for photographers. However, the images are not entirely free to use. There are different types of license for the images, from editorial use to enterprise license.

Adobe is not the only company that ventures out to stock photos. Canva and Shopify have built-in free stock photos for their users.

2. Unsplash

Unsplash has a large collection of free images to use. They are in high quality too. Media companies from small enterprises to big corporation use Unsplash.

Cited from the website, “Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash.”

3. Pixabay

In addition to free images, Pixabay offers royalty-free music, video, illustration and vector.

4. Pexels

Pexels has free images and videos on its site. Like other free stock platforms, it allows users to modify and edit the images and videos for commercial and non-commercial projects. However, it is important to note that Pexels doesn’t allow users to sell unaltered copies of a photo or video. For instance, users have to modify an image before printing it on a merchandise.

For the complete licensing terms, visit https://www.pexels.com/license/

5. Gratisography

Gratisography allows users to use images for commercial and non-commercial projects. Users are allowed to adapt and modify the images to be incorporated in paid projects.

Compared to other free stock photo platforms, Gratisography has stricter rules. Users cannot redistribute the images on Gratisography, including to other stock photo websites. Users cannot claim the images as their own or imply they have been endorsed by Gratisography. The images can be printed on merchandise, but the image itself cannot be the merchandise.

It is also stated on its website that “Gratisography pictures can’t be used in pornographic, criminal, defamatory, hateful, degrading, unlawful, immoral purposes or to promote or sell illegal drugs, drug use, pornography, weapons, or prostitution.”

6. Reshot

Reshot offers free images from emerging photographers on its site. The regulation is similar to Unsplash.

7. Stockvault

Images of Stockvault are free to use. The website cites CC0 license under its terms of use.

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