Break free from expensive images by incorporating royalty-free images into your
content.
While creating content, you may want to include some free images that further explain your content and make it visually pleasing while maintaining coherence with your content.
You open google.com and search some keywords of your desired photo or images and, boom, you have come across a beautiful and accurate picture required by your content. You download it and include it in your draft.
Wait! what you have downloaded is even eye-pleasing and relevant but, you can’t include it without permission from the respective owner. Failing to, do so may result in you in legal consequences.
Copyright – but what is it?
You’ve probably heard of copyright, especially if you use YouTube; it’s a common misconception that copyright only exists on YouTube, particularly when it comes to videos. But what if I tell you that every other form of art is copyrighted? Video, audio, writing, and images are also included. As a result, you can’t simply download an image and use it anywhere.
Copyright, as the name implies, protects all forms of art, whether created in the digital or analog category. It has the power to prevent the unauthorized use of art.
Because images and graphics are included in this category, the images we use after conducting a Google search are usually copyrighted.
When we use them in commercial freelance writing, things take a serious turn which leads to legal problems.
You might be thinking that if we can’t use googled images in our content, how can we obtain pictures and graphics? The solution is royalty-free images.
Famous Websites to Download Royalty-Free Images
Royalty-free images are the images that the authors allow to use without legal issues.
As we have discussed, copyrighted images are someone’s intellectual property, as they can’t be used without the permission of the owner.
Most of the time, finding a royalty-free image is arduous but, here I will tell you 5 free websites that allow you to download millions of royalty-free images to use in your content without any payment.
UnSplash.com
Unsplash is one of the best websites for royalty-free images. The website currently offers over 3 million images to be downloaded for free.
The community is comprised of about 300k active photographers and novices who upload their images in high quality to the website.
Besides offering the best royalty-free images, it also allows everyone to upload their images and photographs to share with the world.
The website currently offers high-quality images that can be downloaded without any signup process which makes it the number one choice.
Pexels.com
Pexel.com stands second in our royalty-free images list.
As the name suggests it sounds similar to pixels – the building block of any image. Pexels offers images in multiple domains such as Nature, Business, Water, Abstract, Landscape, City, Mountains Food, Beach, Technology, and many more.
The best thing about this site is that it allows its images to be directly edited in Canva – a graphics design website specialized in making social media post, and posters directly from the downloading page.
Also, the website has a hassle-free downloading option, without making any account or the login/signup process.
Pixabay.com
Pixabay is another website on our list, which has around 2.7 million stock photos. The website allows you to simply download its offering without any signup process.
You can make an account and jot down images you like which can be further used in your projects.
Not only does it provide some royalty-free images, but it also provides royalty-free Illustrations Vectors, Videos, Music, Sound, Effects, and GIFs.
Vecteezy.com
Vecteezy makes its list on the 4th number in our repertoire, as the website has a good collection of not only images but the websites also offer png images in high resolution.
While a png image may not be your priority but it comes in handy when you have to remove the background of an image, or in making logo and graphics art.
Along with stock photos and a png collection, Vecteezy also has a good collection of Vectors graphics and Videos, which makes it a complete fit for grabbing any kind of royalty art.
Stockvault.net
The final website in our list that allows one-click downloads of royalty-free images is Stockvault.
It contains a good selection of photos and vector graphics. Stockvault, founded in 2004, is one of the community’s oldest websites for serving royalty-free images.
While the majority of its content is free and can be downloaded without payment, it does charge a fee for some of the premium photos and vector art.
Conclusion
So, these are some of the best websites when it comes to finding great royalty-free images for your project.
As we all know that content is king but including royalty-free images along with engaging content is the most convenient way to spice up your projects with eye-catching visuals.
It may also be worth exploring each site as every website has its style of presenting and categorizing content. With some patience and research, you will eventually find that perfect image.