Free Photos to Use on Your Webpage

You've got a great webpage written. Now all you need are pictures to put on it. But you can't just download any photo off of the internet. Those pictures belong to other people and companies. They own the rights to those photos.

So where do you find photos that are free to use?

When I was a newbie on Squidoo and making my second lens, I crashed head-first into that big roadblock that said, "You can't use those photos - they are not yours to use!"

After creating my second lens titled "Funny Images and Pictures", I submitted it for critique. And let me tell you - I got plenty of critique. I learned that more than 2/3 of the photos I used, were not free for me to use. I quickly learned all about photography plagiarism and copyrights. OK - I learned and understood quickly.

But - what I struggled with was where to find photos that I was free to use. So read on, and I will give you some links and tips on finding photos that you can legally use for your page. I am only providing links from sites that I have actually used and consider recommendation-worthy.

My very first lens was titled "Backyard Paradise". I didn't have to worry about finding free pictures to use. That was because I had taken all of the photos myself. It was a simple little lens about the place I enjoyed most - my backyard oasis. I used all of my own photos of my pool, garden, flowers, insects, sunset, etc.

I really think if you have a camera and enjoy taking photos, this is probably the easiest and safest way to legally post pictures onto your webpage.

This swallowtail butterfly is one of the photos that I took in my backyard. It is one of the many of my photos that I used on my "Backyard Paradise" lens.

My plan is to get more skilled at photography and then take my camera with me everywhere and start a collection of photos. Once I have a enough decent photos, I will include a link on this page for other Squidoo members to use the photos on their lenses.

You are welcome to use any of the photos from my "Backyard Paradise" lens. There are some really good photos there. Most of them are flowers and insects. A few are so-so - but I wanted to include them on my lens.

All I ask is that you link the photo back to my lens.

Photo Credit:

"Light Painting"

by jurvetson on Flicker

Creative Commons 2.0 Generic

HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE FREE TO USE THIS PHOTO?

1 - Click on link below - "Creative Commons on Flickr". (You do have to sign up for an account).

2 - When the page opens - enter what type of photo you are searching for in the search box - and hit search.

3 - Once the photos appear, you can scroll through lots of pages. When you find the photo you want - click on the photo.

4 - When the photo opens up in a bigger screen, scroll down to the bottom right side of the page under "License" (it's just below "Tags").

It most likely will say "some rights reserved". Click on those words. A new screen opens and tells you about the type of license it is. Most of them on this site are Creative Commons 2.0 Generic. This license says:

"You are free:

to Share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work

to Remix - to adapt the work

to make commercial use of the work".

All you have to do in order to use the photo is to link the photo back to the owner and include the creative common license.

If there are any other stipulations regarding how the owner wishes the photo to be used, it will also be listed under "License". You may not use any photo that says "All Rights Reserved".

HOW TO GET THE PHOTO TO YOUR PAGE:

After completing the above steps: Return to the photo.

Hold your mouse over the photo and "RIGHT CLICK".

A caption box will appear. See below.

Then "LEFT CLICK" on a picture size you would like.

The next screen will let you pick your photo size.

Then click to download to your computer.

Then just upload to your page.

Photo Credit:

"Creative Commons Logo"

By IvanWalsh.com on Flickr

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

THESE LINKS ARE "MUST VISIT" SITES. GREAT INFORMATION HERE THAT I FOUND EXTREMELY HELPFUL IN CLEARING UP THE CONFUSION REGARDING WHICH PHOTOS I COULD AND COULD NOT USE.

There are some licenses that prohibit you from using photos on commercial webpages. Squidoo is a commercial website - because you make money on your lenses.

I usually tend to stick to the "Attribution License" which has the symbol in the picture above. Just make sure you attribute the photo to the owner.

Proud by Sherri Hogue

Photo is from publicdomainpictures.net.

Click on the following links to receive access to free public domain photos.

PS - Remember to include the site where you got your photo from.

© Photozek07 | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

I really like these two sites.

You will find well over 400,000 free images on these sites. You can use these images on webpages, magazines, books, flyers, advertisements, etc. You cannot use them on items that you create to sell (such as mousepads, tee-shirts, etc). There is a restriction on the number of copies that you are allowed to make using the free images.

Remember to always read the type of license the photo is placed under and the terms of use.

NOTE: The photos I have used are too large to use on Squidoo. After downloading, you need to click "edit" photo and then click "compress" to fit on webpage. Then save and upload to your lens.

1 - After clicking on the above link, go to the top middle section under "Guide".

2 - Click on "Where do I download free images?"

3 - You can then either enter the type of photo you are looking for, or scroll down the list of subjects. Click on the subject title - and you will have pages and pages of photos to scroll through.

4 - Click on your photo and download (at the top of the page - it's not a big button - but you will see it)

Remember to always read the terms of use. The terms of use on this site are at the bottom, below the photo.

*** NOTE: ON THE HOME PAGE - YOU WILL SEE LINKS TO DREAMSTIME, STOCKFREE IMAGES, FOTOLIA AND MORE. ***

I did mention Dreamstime and Stockfree Images separately above, because I like those sites.

Photo by Stefan Baudy on Flickr

Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

Your comments, ideas and suggestions are welcome.