Marketing | Free images | Content Creation
Searching for great resources for free images? Need some new ideas?
50 Sources to Curate and Create Content
If it seems like it’s getting harder to grab the perfect image for free anymore, you are in good company. Many of those great shots have gone behind pay walls.
But don’t despair, there are still a lot of wonderful places to get just what you are looking for that are still free. I’ll share my favorites with you, plus show you several places you might not have considered.
“One picture is worth 1,000 words.” Click To Tweet
It’s true. Images both grab the attention of our visitors and also convey emotions faster that words.
Marketers today are challenged to use increasing numbers of images in our content creation engines. The budget-strapped appreciate go-to resources. Check out my list of 50 free sources. Here’s what I like about a fourteen of them (with examples):
- Canva (affiliate link) is a common favorite for photos and graphics that you can grab and/or tweak. While many photos have gone into the premium level including their acquisitions of Pixabay and Pexels, you can still go directly to those two sites to get images for free.
Canva is a shoo-in for me when I’m looking for a quick pre-made quote to use as is or modify. Like the one shown here.
2. Unsplash is another favorite for photos, now available as a WordPress plug-in and inside Medium.
3. For business and marketing planning, Xmind and ConceptBoard are two super spots to create a visual to go with a blog post. Here is an Xmind example about writing.
Check out ConceptBoard’s templates, like this one for a marketing funnel to fine-tune for your needs.
4. StockSnap is another source for free images. Stokpic and DepositPhotos offer a limited selection for free and they’ll want you to sign up for their emailings.
5. Snappa and Stencil are alternative design platforms to Canva where you’ll capabilities, images and quote posts for free.
6. The Library of Congress is an amazing place for free historical photos. For Women’s History Month, find this shot of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
7. Flaticon is a neat source for vector icons.
8. If you are looking for some interesting backgrounds, create an image from the topics of your Twitter followers with Portwiture. Images are pulled in from Flickr. Do you think maybe mine were thinking about sailing when I pulled the one at the top of this article?
9. Or grab shots of all your employees, or recipes together in one image or video when you use Picture Mosaics. Here I grabbed pictures of people sharing hugs. PictureMosaics.com is a neat source for compilations of photos on a subject.
10. If you want to truly transform a photo to create interest, upload an image to GoArt on Fotor. I used one of a small plant and chose Magic Cube (one of 39 artistic choices) to create a piece of art. From Van Gogh to Pop Art, you’ll be sure to have fun.
11. Have a statement to make? Maybe you’d like to create your own meme. Try Imgflip. I chose anime to make a statement about engagement vs. likes.
12. Giphy is a fun resource when a little humor is appropriate for your blog post. Here’s one from Schitt’s Creek that helps me make my point about Likes.
13. Search Creative Commons’ 500 millions images. Looking for something to use commercially and/or to modify or adapt? This is the place. Attribution is an important part of the permission process. The right way to attribute an asset is to include:
1. Title with hyperlink
2. Author with link to their profile page
3. Source with link to original photo
4. License with link to the license deed
14. Create a Word Search Puzzle with the terms for your business or hobby. It’s a fun way to get interaction. Find a generator for your puzzle at Education.com. Enter your terms, then download your Worksheet and Answer Key. Here’s a shot of one I made.
It’s often frustrating to find the perfect image for your content. It’s also getting tougher as more and more of the best images are getting put behind pay walls.
Click the link to view my list of fifty sources for curating and creating images. Many of them are my favorites.
For more free tips, check out Dmcenter.com/category/freebies
Originally published at https://dmcenter.com on June 17, 2021.
