How to find Royalty Free Stock Images for your websites

Images grab the attention of the reader and help to effectively convey messages. That a picture is worth a thousand words cannot be understated, especially for webmasters and bloggers. However, one of the most common dilemmas for bloggers and webmasters is how to find that perfect picture for their site, and find it royalty free. Here are some of the top sources of royalty free images online.

Stock.xchng

This source has one of the largest collections of photographs, all of which are categorized neatly and tagged. This makes the process of finding a photo on this site relatively easy. One can either browse the images by category or use the search feature. The images on this site are of a very high quality, making them ideal for websites without having to worry about quality. It is also one of the most commonly used sources, and has some of the most recognizable images. However, the large collection means one can easily find unique images.

Creative Commons Search

This is essentially a search feature rather than strictly a database of images. It offers visitors a way to search through multiple websites for images they can use on their blogs or websites. However, before using an image here, it is important to understand the licenses. In many cases, the copyright owners of the images require a specific type of attribution. Most of the cases, a link back to the image source is enough to fulfill the criteria. At the small cost of attributing the image owner, one gets access to many image sources, many of which are completely unique and look good with one’s site content.

Photo pin

This is another creative way to search for photos to use in articles and posts. It uses the Flickr API to look for commons licensed photographs. Like the creative commons search feature, many of the photos that are available on this site will require some sort of attribution. However, the search feature on photo pin is more visually appealing and easier to use than the one on creative common search. For every search conducted, one will receive the sponsored results first. To see the actual results, one would have to scroll down. After clicking on the sponsored photographs, one will be redirected to the third party websites where they will have to purchase the photos. However, when one scrolls down, they will be able to see the actual results. Clicking on one of the actual results will reveal a larger image with links showing how one can download the image in different sizes.

Wikimedia commons

The Wikimedia commons site is a project of the Wikimedia foundation. It is a large library of not only images but audio and video files that can be used freely. This is important considering the popularity of audio and video alongside images today. The images can be browsed by the image type, from drawings, illustrations and photos or by the file type like audio, image or video. Many of the images here are images that are in the public domain, and one can therefore use them without the need for attribution.

Here are some more websites where one can find royalty free images:

https://www.500px.com/creativecommons
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

http://cupcake.nilssonlee.se/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://epicantus.tumblr.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://getrefe.tumblr.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://images.superfamous.com/
Searchable: Search by category
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://nos.twnsnd.co/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Some

http://photos.bucketlistly.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://snapwiresnaps.tumblr.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.albumarium.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.bigfoto.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Some

http://www.camarama.de/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Some

http://www.compfight.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.crowthestone.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Some

http://www.deathtothestockphoto.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.designerspics.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.everystockphoto.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Some

http://www.finda.photo/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No, but double check
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.foter.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.freeimages.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: No

https://freeimages.red/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.freenaturestock.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.freerangestock.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.goodfreephotos.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.gratisography.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Appreciated
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.imcreator.com/free
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.isorepublic.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.jaymantri.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.jeshoots.com/
Searchable: By category
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.kaboompics.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.lifeofpix.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.littlevisuals.co/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.lockandstockphotos.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.magdeleine.co/browse/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.mmtstock.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.morguefile.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.moveast.me/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Sometimes

http://www.pickupimage.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.picography.co/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
Size of Gallery: Medium
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.publicdomainarchive.com
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.raumrot.com/10/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.resplashed.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.rgbstock.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: No, but check
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.skitterphoto.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.snapographic.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.splashbase.co/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.splitshire.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.startupstockphotos.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: No

http://www.stock-image-point.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Some

http://www.stockpholio.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Some

http://www.stockphotos.io/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Some

http://www.Stockvault.com
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.stokpic.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Not required, but gently requested
High Resolution: Yes

http://www.travelcoffeebook.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Some

http://www.upicm.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.foodiesfeed.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Not required, but requested
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.pexels.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.picjumbo.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Yes
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.pixabay.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No, but helpful
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.stocksnap.io/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.unsplash.com/
Searchable: No
Membership Required: No
Attribution Required: No
High Resolution: Yes

https://www.wylio.com/
Searchable: Yes
Membership Required: Yes
Attribution Required: Sometimes
High Resolution: Some