Featured photo: Gallery | © Alexa on Pixabay
Over the years, I have repeatedly tried to design my weblog without images. In the end, I always returned to the “lead images” because they usually beautify the blog but definitely attract more readers to the blog posts.
And so every time I was faced with the challenge of getting enough photos for the articles. Since I wasn't able to add my own recordings to every post, I had to look for other sources very quickly. This also led to the question of the respective copyrights.
Here you will find a collection of different image providers that offer royalty-free photos or photos for which you have to purchase usage rights.
Table of Contents
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock emerged from the 2015 acquisition of Fotolia, which was founded in New York in 2004.
Downloading the photos is subject to a fee. In addition to a subscription, Adobe also offers so-called credits with which you can purchase usage rights.
Website
Freepik
Freepik was founded in 2010 by Alejandro Sánchez, Pablo Blanes and Joaquin Cuenca founded in Malaga.
Since 2015, you can purchase more image rights with a premium account; The source does not have to be stated, which I still recommend.
Getty Images
Getty Images was founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein was founded and has an archive of more than 80 million images and illustrations as well as around 30 hours of film footage. This makes it one of the largest photo agencies in the world. The company headquarters is in Seattle.
The rights to use the photos and other media are subject to a fee.
IMAGO (cooperation with Shutterstock)
IMAGO was founded in Berlin in 1997. Over 300 million images and videos from the areas of news, sports, entertainment and creative can now be licensed via IMAGO.
iStock (by Getty Images)
iStock was founded in 2000 by Bruce Livingstone founded in Calgary. In 2006, iStock was acquired by Getty Images. Originally free, it is now paid for.
openverse
Openverse is the successor to CC Search, which was launched by Creative Commons in 2019. It has been part of WordPress since 2021. The images are free, but you have to be careful to make sure that the licenses listed there are valid.
Pexels
Pexels was founded in 2014 by Ingo and Bruno Joseph founded in Fuldabrück and is a database for stock photos and videos. The use and downloading of the media is free according to the current license. However, I recommend naming the source.
Photocase
Photocase was founded in Berlin in 2001 and offers license-free photos for a fee. “Short and painless via direct purchase or cheaply and conveniently via credit. ... Royalty-free photos (royalty-free), in contrast to photos subject to license (rights managed) and despite the misleading name, only have to be paid for once. There are no free images at Photocase, nor Creative Commons licenses, but the prices are fair.”
Pixabay
Pixabay was founded in Ulm in 2010 and is a website for photos, illustrations, vector graphics, videos as well as music and sound effects. It was developed by Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger and now includes more than four million images made available to the online community by photographers and graphic designers.
The photos are subject to a “Pixabay license” and can therefore be used for many applications free of charge and without mentioning the source. However, I recommend citing the respective source.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock was founded in 2003 by the photographer Jon Oringer founded in New York. It now has a library of over 200 million stock photos, vector graphics and illustrations.
The rights of use for the respective photos and graphics must be purchased by the user.
Unsplash (cooperation with Getty Images)
Launched in 2013, Unsplash is a website for photos made available for free use by their creators to the online community. The website is from Montreal and the founders are Mikael Cho, luke chesser, Stephanie Liverani and Angus Woodman.
The currently valid license allows extensive, including commercial, use of the recordings without attribution. I recommend always citing the respective source. The Unsplash license does not apply to people photos, company logos, and artwork.
For simple “illustration images”, I switched to creating them myself using AI. ChatGPT with DALL E provides usable images quickly and easily. This usually gets rid of all the copyright discussions/threats.
Is ChatGPT with DALL E actually free and usable for everyone?