17 Aug Best Free Image Sources and Other Media for Your Blog & Social Media Posts
Want to make your blog post more entertaining, appealing, and engaging? – You should definitely include some images, artwork, or other media like audio or video files, books, or even movies. By doing so, you will attract more visitors and make sure they come back to your site. However, a great portion of the content on the internet is subject to strict copyright laws. Luckily, the number of free image sources and websites which offer copyright-free content increases. What’s even better, you can use such content on your blogs, free of charge.
To be more specific, most free content is defined as 1) belonging in the public domain, in other words, not subjected to copyright laws due to being old enough; 2) copyright-free (usually known as copyleft); 3) GNU Free Documentation licensed; 4) Creative Common licensed for redistribution and use.
In addition, bear in mind that there are exact rules about how this free content can be used. In general, there is usually the requirement that you give credits to the original artist or site. Still, there may also be some other restrictions, for example, you cannot use the content for commercial purposes. Therefore, make sure to go through the site’s stipulations or check the license under which the content is released before you use it.
For that reason, we provide you a list of the best image sources and some extra options for free media:
This stock photography company offers millions of images from a one-hundred-year period. All of these bulk images can be embedded in blogs or websites, at no cost. Moreover, you can also use the images for publication or some other uses only when you purchase a license. And, embedding images on your WordPress website is pretty simple thanks to the partnership with Getty. All you need to do is use a simple embed code.
Also known as Archive.org, the Internet Archive gives you the chance to get free audio, videos, or books from the public domain. For embedding a video, you’ll first have to find the video’s information page and then simply grab the filename from the URL, create a shortcode and add it in the filename.
Similarly, if you want to embed books, first find the book listings, then go to the View the Book column, select the Read Online option, and click on the sharing link. Finally, choose the “Embed a mini Book Reader” link and paste that link directly into your blog in the Text editor.
Here’s a nonprofit organization that allows content sharing and use through free legal tools. In other words, they provide an option to change the terms of the copyright instead of providing an alternative to copyright. The Creative Commons Search site features searches within YouTube, Open Clip Art Library, Wikimedia Commons, etc. Using their search box you can find content licensed for commercial use and content that can be additionally modified.
If you’re looking for publicly-held photography collections, Flickr Commons is the site you should visit. It includes images that are archived by cultural heritage institutions from all over the world. On the Flickr Commons usage page, you can find more information about the rights to the media and the institutions participating, which include some long-existing and popular museums and archives.
Here’s yet another non-profit organization specifically created for making books and other literary materials available for use and free of charge. A great portion of their material is now in the public domain which means that they can be used at no cost. Moreover, they also include copyrighted materials under different licenses.
Unsplash is one of the best free image sources. It offers only photos that are licensed under Creative Commons Zero. This means that you can use, copy, modify, and distribute all of their photos for free. What’s even more convenient, the use for commercial purposes is also free of charge without the need to provide attribution to or ask for permission from the photographer or Unsplash.
- See the Latest Free Graphics, Images, Plugins & Themes on Envato
Envato is the best place for passionate creatives who want to launch amazingly beautiful and fully responsive websites. On the Envato market you can find everything from website templates to stock footage, basically everything you need for your next creative project.
Click here to view this month’s free files on Envato
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Finding free images and other media isn’t as difficult as you have imagined since all of the sources above are pretty easy to use. All of them provide amazing and versatile content that you can use on your blog or site to increase views and reader engagement. So, why wait? Visit these sites and use their images and other media to take your blog or site to the next level!
Thank you for reading this article. If you need additional help, or have any questions regarding this article, please feel free to contact us below in comments, and we will do our best to help you in any way we can.
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