Reference number: CH000845

Where can I find free public domain images and pictures?

Question:

Where can I find free public domain images and pictures?

Answer:

Today there are dozens of great Internet web pages that offer hundreds of thousands of free public domain and royalty free images that have been taken by other users on the Internet. Below is a list of some of the best available sites to find these pictures.

Note: Keep in mind that while these sites have free images some of them may have different agreements. Make sure the images you're copying have no restrictions or license agreements or if they do you follow them.

Stock Exchange
http://www.sxc.hu/

In our opinion the best site to locate free stock photo's. The site contains in our opinion the best site to locate free stock photo's. The site contains thousands of free images that can be used. While many of the pictures are free some of the images do require written permission first.

Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Fantastic media repository that is part of the Wikipedia umbrella project where users are free to use any of the sites photos, audio, videos, and other media freely.

Flickr: The Commons
http://flickr.com/commons

A great feature from the popular photo sharing site Flickr where institutes such as The Library Of Congress, Powerhouse Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and various users can post and share images that have no known copyright restrictions.

MorgueFile
http://www.morguefile.com/

Another fantastic location to locate high resolution digital stock photography. The site offers thousands of free images almost all of which have no restrictions or agreements attached. In addition the site requires no login to download the high quality files.

U.S. Government Graphics and Photos
http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml

Another fantastic site linking to other U.S. government sites containing hundreds of thousands free and public domain images linking to image categories such as: Air Force, forests, animals, Army, birds, coast guard, crops, fish, fire, fruits, geology, Indians, lab research, mammals, money, mountains, NASA, Navy, parks, plants, Presidents, space, storms, veggies, volcano's, war, wildlife, and much more.

StockVault
http://www.stockvault.net/

Another great site that contains thousands of free stock photography in a large variety of categories.

PD Photo
http://pdphoto.org/

Another great collection of thousands free public domain pictures. This site contains one of the best collections of travel pictures from around the world.

Liam's pictures from Old Books
http://www.fromoldbooks.org/

A good collection of original pictures from old books that are no longer copyrighted and considered public domain. This is a great place to find obscure and unique pictures and illustration.

WorldImages
http://worldart.sjsu.edu

California State University product that contains over 60,000 images around the world that can be used freely for non-profit and education use.

Other

The above list is just a few of our favorites sites and sites we found useful for locating free public domain images. If the above links do not have the images you're looking for there are hundreds of other available services online. Click here to open a search for hundreds.

Additional information:

• Additional information and locations where you can post your own pictures online can also be found on document CH000755.
• See document CH000760 for additional information about editing any of the images you may get from these sites.