Professional photos online - diverse, royalty-free and free

Pictures say more than a thousand words. Everyone knows this saying. And in fact, an image has many features. Imagine a website without any graphics and images, for example. It's unimaginable — isn't it? On the one hand, images serve as pure decoration and information carriers, but on the other hand, they can also present the company and highlight the content. Many companies use meaningless and arbitrary images, which are also used by many others. But how do you get creative, high-quality and, above all, free images? Hiring a photographer is therefore no longer necessary - just like the Google image search. Because the photos listed here may generally not be used without the express consent of the copyright holder. However, there are numerous sites that offer royalty-free, beautiful and original images. These so-called “stock photographs” differ from commissioned photographs because they are produced in stock. The term comes from the English verb “to have something in stock,” which means as much as “to have something in stock.” On the one hand, however, there is the risk of getting lost in the large number of images, and on the other hand, it is important to clarify copyright issues. That is why we are presenting ten pages below that make their images available royalty-free and free of charge for both private and commercial use.

License-free is not always free

As mentioned earlier, many believe that using photos and images from Google Search is free. However, this is incorrect. Each image is protected by copyright. The term “license” is particularly important here. In German copyright law, license means as much as right of use. In this context, the difference between license-free and subject to licensing must be explained. In the case of royalty-free images, also known as Royalty Free (RF), the user acquires a lump sum right of use through a one-time purchase or use. This usually means that the image may be used an unlimited number of times, for an unlimited period of time, in different media and also commercially. This is not the same as the term “free of charge.” In the case of photos subject to a license, on the other hand, the right of use is acquired by paying a fixed license fee. However, the price here depends on various factors such as duration of use, size of the image, quality of the resolution in pixels and the intended use. An image is free if there is no one left who can assert the copyrights (in case of death over 70 years ago) or if the author waives his rights to the image. Accordingly, the image is freely publicly available and may be edited. The latter applies to the images on the following websites. However, be sure to read the relevant declarations from the providers before use.

Picjumbo

Picjumbo offers a large number of images in 20 different categories. The keyword search results in high-quality images, which can be downloaded without registration. When used, the author does not have to be mentioned, but it is appreciated.

Pixabay

With around 2 million freely available offers, Pixabay to one of the largest and most well-known databases. The site offers various options. The images can therefore be sorted into different categories and filtered by size and color. In addition to photos, illustrations, videos and sound effects are also freely available here. All Pixabay content may be printed as well as digitally used for commercial and non-commercial applications.

Foodiesfeed

Foodiesfeed is the source for visually appealing free food photos. Here you can find perfectly staged photos of food and ingredients. All published photos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CCO). This license transfers all rights to use the materials in commercial and non-commercial projects, but not copyright. It is still free to use.

Pexels

Pexels offers a wide range of topics. From food photography to street photography, everything is included. The function to filter images according to popularity serves as an inspiration for the user's own search. According to the license agreement, it is not necessary to name the author or link to the source.

Unsplash

Unsplash offers over 2 million freely accessible photos. From background images to beautiful, high-quality travel photos, Unsplash has a wide range of images for every purpose. The images are freely available for private and commercial use. However, the use of content for a competing website is prohibited.

Gratisography

If you want to stand out from the crowd with your pictures, you are at Gratisography Just right. Many of the photos are very unique and special, yet they are of high quality. Sorted by different categories and thanks to the search function, the right image can be found very quickly.

Kaboompics

The selection at Kaboompics is very large: nature, food & drink, urban, people, technology, travel, beauty, animals, etc. You can also filter the images in a specific color so that only photos in that one color scheme are shown to you. As long as the images are not sold as separate images, they are free to use.

Barnimages

A rather unknown page is Barnimages.com. The special thing about the site is that it is not a traditional stock image database. The founders Igor Trepeshchenok and Roman Dits upload new pictures here every week, most of which they shot themselves. You can see the site more as a photography project. They provide you with stock photos that don't look like stock photos.

Wunderstock

Wunderstock offers a wide selection of 20 different categories. Most topics relate to the term leisure and wellbeing. Accordingly, the terms include vacation, yoga, beaches, workplace, modern architecture, etc. Before downloading, it is possible to edit the images (crop, filter, text, etc.) Users can use the images in any way they want, free of charge.

ISO Republic

Isorepublic offers high-quality free images as well as videos for free download. The site is currently divided into 22 categories. You will also find the corresponding number of videos and photos under each topic. All images may be used under the Creative Commons Zero license.

conclusion

Use the databases presented here and embellish your social media channels with beautiful, unique and high-quality images. Stand out from the crowd with your photos and videos. However, make sure you have the exact usage rights before downloading by clicking on the license details of the images. More information about the Socialwave marketing package can be found here.With our WLAN marketing package, your customers/patients/guests advertise for you, are happy and recommend you to others.