Sometimes we need a photo, but there is no camera, no abilities and what’s most important – no cash 
Then we need an angel of mercy or simply just a few places with free images 
Through all my years of designing I’ve gathered some useful links I’d like to share with you now If site is listed here it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to read the terms and licenses. Some images might have some additional rights, so please be a careful reader.
Public Domain Images
You can say that not copyrighted works are in the public domain. Anyone can use them in any way. There are many sources of that kind of images on the Web. Some of them have a nice high resolution so you can freely use them in your printed designs But if you intend to use an image for commercial use, please be aware that standards for such use are higher. You should assume no model release was obtained and pictures featuring products or property should be used with care.
PD Photo – Unless something is clearly marked as being copyrighted, you can assume it is free to use. No logging, many categories, mostly landscapes and places but you can find something useful here
Public Domain Pictures – All images on the site are free for commercial and personal use. You don’t have to create an account to download some really big pictures. Images above 3 Mpx are hosted on Fotolia server where you can purchase them for a small fee.
DefenseLink – All of the images are in the public domain unless otherwise indicated, however they request you credit the photographer or the Department of Defence.
NASA Images – images are not copyrighted so you can use them freely for private and educational purposes, however if you would like to use them for commercial purposes read the guidlines first.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Most NOAA photos and slides are in the public domain and CANNOT be copyrighted. Credit MUST be given to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce unless otherwise instructed to give credit to the photographer or other source.
Karen’s Whimsy Pubilc Domain Images – You’ll find hundreds of scans of images from of old books, magazines, and postcards. They are all from material printed prior to 1923 and are in the public domain.
BurningWell – a repository for public domain (free for any use) images. You are free to download, copy and use the photos you find there for any purpose.
From Old Books – Scanned images, engravings and pictures from old books which are mostly public domain.
Photo 2007 – They say that website consists only free public domain images, so unless something is clearly marked as being copyrighted, you can assume it is free to use.
Free Photos – Nice photos dedicated to the public domain
WP Clipart – Public domain images optimized for word processors
Creative Commons and GNU GPL licenses
Those are popular licenses for free but still copyrighted images. Before you use the licensed work you should read the proper license, because even if it’s free it doesn’t mean there are no restrictions and rules.
Read GNU General Public License
Read Creative Commons Licenses
Wikimedia Commons – Images and other media files under GNU GPL license and other licenses. Commons only accepts free content as long as the works can be used by anyone, for any purpose. Commons does not accept noncommercial-only content. So the conclusion is: You can use anything you can find on Wikimedia Commons website But even if something is free, always check the terms of use and copyrights!
Wikipedia – You can also check Wikipedia images
Worldpapermoney – 150dpi scans of banknotes from all over the world licensed under the Creative Commons: Attribution 2.5 License
OpenHistory – Photos of Japan under GNU GPL license.
GNU Art – Various works under GNU GPL license
Free Images Under Other Licenses
Stock.Xchng – free high-resolution stock photos for private and commercial purposes. This is my favourite source Read the image license agreement first.
StockVault – free photos for non-commercial use. Read the usage guidelines first.
Cepolina – 5800 free images for private or commercial use. Search by color, category or by keywords.
Image After – Large collection of free photos and textures without copyrights. You don’t have to be logged in to download images.
OpenPhoto – free stock photos. You can download them as a guest or as a registered user. Downloading for guests is a bit more complicated though
MorgueFile – free photos for private and commercial purposes, however, you should read the terms of use first. You don’t have to be logged to download images.
Pixel Perfect Digital – free textures and photos. Read the terms of use first.
Free Digital Photos – thousands of images you can use for free, but read the terms of use first.
Big Foto – mostly landscapes and outdoor. The photos are free if you place a link to BigPhoto or make a donation. Read the copyrights.
E-Cobo – whole Bulgaria, Fishing, Food, Scenery and Fruits and Vegetables collections are free. They plan to make more collections free, but before you use their images read the terms and conditions.
Free Pictures Photos – High resolution images. They are free if you place a link to BigPhoto or make a donation.
FreePhoto1 – free photos in various categories such as animals, food, electronics, transport and other.
Free Photos – free photos organized in categories. You can download them for free one by one or download them all at once for $ 10.
Free Images – images organized in many categories. Free to use, but read the terms of use first.
Freemages – French site witch free images. License is in French, but you can also find the English verion of Free Art License
Photogen Free Photos – Free stock photos. You have to be registered to download images.
Copyright-Free Photos – The only exception is that images may NOT be added to other photo libraries (either online or offline) – without written permission from the site owner.
Free Range Stock – Free high-resolution stock photography and textures. Registration is free, but you don’t need to be logged in to download images.
O2 Photo – free digital photos in resolution up to 1600×1200. Photos are send by e-mail. Payment access to photos of highest resolution, but I couldn’t find the amount anywhere.
Free Stock Photos – Free photography for personal and commercial use organized in categories.
Free-StockPhotos – Free photos for presonal and commercial design projects. Read the terms of use first.
Free Photos from Royalty-Free Photos Websites
I’ve found some websites with royalty-free photos, where you can also find some free photos. Be sure to read the terms and licenses though.
Dreamstime – Free registration. Free images section is constantly updated. The photos are under Limited Royalty Free Licenses and it refers mainly to numbers of copies. Read the license carefully.
Fotolia – Registration is free. You can download daily 10 free photos from 15 available. New free photos every day! Read the license before you download any images.
123 Royalty Free – You can download all free photos available. And there are many of them. Each photographer contributes some works to be for free for 24 hours. Only registered users can download images, but registration is free. Read the license before you download any images
Free Images Search Engines
Creative Commons at Flickr – many photos are uploaded by useres under a Creative Commons license and you can browse or search through photos under each type of license.
YotoPhoto – search engine finding images under Creative Commons, Public Domain, GNU FDL license. Site is indexing images from Flickr, Wikipedia, Stock.Xchng, Morguefile, Pixelperfecr Digital, Open Photo and more.
Creative Commons Search – Meta search finding Creative Common-licensed media on the Web that you can legally share and reuse for free.
Yahoo Creative Commons – beta search engine which finds content across the Web that has a Creative Commons license.
Something else?
If you know some great websites with good free images not listed here and would like to share your knowledge feel free to write me and I’ll update .
If you use any image from any site always read the terms and licences, because I’m sure you don’t need any troubles with some wacky artists and copyrights police
Enjoy your designing!
RSS Posts
June 3rd, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Wow, this is so helpful – thanks for taking the time to put this all together!
June 4th, 2007 at 12:23 am
No problem
I’ve bookmarked them for couple of years and choose the best and most useful.
June 10th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
thank u very much for shearing all these information..good luck
June 26th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
well, i use http://www.sxc.hu – thousands of free photos, – really friendly stock, it also works as a forum. You can share your own pictures and rate others. And meet really nice people there
June 28th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Great Job! Thank you for posting this. I especially like the scans from old books.
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
aaahhrrg
I LOVE YOU! tks for your help
July 16th, 2007 at 6:01 am
Wow, what a great list! Thank you very much for taking the time to post these. I know it will be very useful to me! Thanks again.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
[...] (more…) [...]
October 19th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I am a yearbook advisor and your brushes are amazing! Now, having discovered these photo links – I am speechless – you rock! (ok – so not so speechless)
Tab
October 31st, 2007 at 6:25 am
what a help you are! Oh my goodness. I knew a few sites, such as the big ones like flickr, but I had no idea there were so many available sites. Thank you so much for taking the time to help so many. Have a great night.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
hello ..
im using this source .. http://www.freepictureclick.com
all photos are free
have a nice day
March 13th, 2008 at 4:49 am
This is awesome! Thanks.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I’ve been trying to find sites like these – with little or no luck. But you found them for me! ^_^ Thanks so much.
October 28th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
I read some of the posts and I think it is a great place! I want to improve my funny partner Good joke
What did the elephant say to the naked man? How can you breathe through that?
February 1st, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hello. And Bye.
March 11th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
thank you so much for sharing this GREAT list!
June 28th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
YotoPhoto doesn’t working. Instead I’m using http://www.everystockphoto.com
Nice source of PD photos is: http://www.photos8.com
Pozdrawiam i dzięki za fantastyczne brushe do GIMP’a:)
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 am
hi, nice work! I’d like to ask whether i could use some parts from your images for my future illustrations for my books?
April 20th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
G’day, great post, I’ve book marked your webpage
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