Where can you find good images?

A lot of people ask me where they can get good-quality images, so I thought it would be good to have one post that I could bookmark and send out to people. I mentioned before that I use iStockphoto.com the most (as well as more expensive sites — though I do that much less now — and high-quality photo discs from Japan). A few people gave links to their favorite free or inexpensive sites as well. Below, then, are links to both inexpensive sites and sites offering free images in searchable databases (but check terms of use). The quality ranges from "excellent" to "not too bad." If you can suggest some other sites which have worked well for you (free or inexpensive "but good"), please let me know and I'll add them below after I check them out. The sites below are not necessarily in order of quality, though iStock is my favorite. (Updated August 22, 2006)

Inexpensive (but good)
(1) iStockphoto.com
One dollar for low-rez images and two-three dollars for higher-rez images. This is my favorite site.
(2) Dreams Time
About one dollar for high-rez images for members.
(3) Shutterstock
750 royalty-free downloads per month for $139 (US) subscription.
(4) Fotolia
One or two bucks an image.
(5) Japanese Streets
Excellent source for Japanese fashion, street scenes, people, and much more from right here in Osaka. About $1.50 per pic via paypal. 
(6) Photocase. A German site (English and German versions). Low-cost download options.
(7) Stockxpert. Great pricing and great images. Easy-to-use site. Uses credit system.
(8) ShutterMap.com. From $1USD to $4USD for high-rez.
(9) Creative Express (Getty Images). With Getty's Creative Express you can buy one-month or one-year subscriptions and download up to 50 stunning images a day. The Express catalog has 75,000 great Getty images. The license works differently for subscription, but this may be a wonderful option for the right project (check out the FAQ). I will be using this for certain.

Free (but not bad)
(1) Morgue File
Providing "...free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits.
(2) Flickr's Creative Commons pool
Search the myriad photos people are sharing on flickr by the type of CC license.
(3) Image*After
From their site: "Image*After is a large online free photo collection. You can download and use any image or texture...and use it in your own work, either personal or commercial."
(4) Stock.xchng
Close to 200,000 photos. Some gems in there if you look.
(5) Everystockphoto. Indexing over 283,000 free photos.
(6) Studio.25: Digital Resource Bank.
(7) Freepixels. About 2000 photos.
(8) The Photoshop tutorial blog. This cool blog has a laundry list of free photo sites.
(9) Robin Good has a good page dedicated to helping you find good images.  

Fonts (free or cheap)
(1) 1001 Fonts.com. A lot of free fonts. You get what you pay for, but many are pretty good. Find by most popular, highest rated. Articles, message board, etc.
(2) 1001freefonts.com. 4000 fonts for $9.95 (download).
(3) iFree. This Australian site links to free stuff in Australia and worldwide, like fonts, freeware, etc.
(4) Indezine on fonts. There are so many font sites out there, I trust the folks at Indezine to narrow it down. They list about ten.
(5) HighFonts.com. Database of about 3000 free fonts.

("Elvis" image from iStockphoto.com)

Comments

[Thorsten]

Photocase.com has really beautiful free pics, also pixelquelle.de (text in German)

[photohome.com]

http://photohome.com has free stock photos for non-profit, academic, and personal use. There is a fee for commercial use - high resolution images are available.

[Grace Tan]

Great list! I run ShutterMap.com, which offers photos from as low as $0.80, and most expensive (super high res) are $4 only. Currently have thousands of photos - with lots of underwater images, asian/travel photos, daily life, interesting abstracts and lots more. Log on and sample free high res images.

[Jack]

Here's one with the largest collection of royalty free images.

http://www.inmagine.com

[free dating services]

Would like to see photo blogs also. Anywayz, found it interesting and informative.

[Steve]

You can find a wide selection of original free-to-use images at http://www.trainingreference.co.uk/free_pictures/index.html
Categories include: Animals & Birds, Fish, Flowers, Fruits & Nuts, Insects & Spiders, Materials, Plants, Sky, Snow, Trees, Water

[Eric]

Very good list!Thank's very much.

[Drew]

Good to see a lot of people are submitting recources for images, I'm gonna check some of them out.

A friend of mine used some of the imagery at I Love Prints (http://www.i-love-prints.com) in a presentation with remarkable results. Of course he got permission to use them first!

[sascha]

Bei uns gibt es ziemlich gute fotos ab 19 euro. Schaut doch mal bei uns vorbei:

http://www.picture-shuttle.de/

[Tamer Salama]

A wonderful image resource is at NWYH (Now Wash Your Hands) - http://nwyhstockimages.com/ - these as you will "not" notice in the few first moments are funny business photos taken seriously :-)

[Peter Galbraith]

http://www.stockxpert.com is a great source for cheap images, similar to iStock or Shutterstock. It has the same great design as the famous Stock.xchng and images are normally a bit larger and more clear. Check out http://www.microstockforum.com for cheap stock photography and discussion about licensing and selling images.

[Chris]

Another good one - http://www.freepixels.com

[Octavian]

here is another free stock community

[g_i_heros]

also big collection of free images.
http://www.studio25.ro

[Kari Nilssen]

Our site www.crestock.com is a new site with lots of good images at 10$ per image.

[annab]

gettyimages.com is really good.

[Robin Good]

Thanks Garr for bringing in all of these resources.

I have myself spent the last two years collecting, testing and reviewing all of the free image stock libraries available online.

As a result I have published a comprehensive catalog, which I keep updating nearly every month which includes them all. It is called:

"Where to Find Free Images and Visuals..." - here the URL: http://tinyurl.com/7ko6p

Feel free to add from it and share the info there contained with your readers.

[Hilary]

Thanks for this listing! I totally love sxc aswell and Im a member there, and also at this new site that models itself on sxc, http://www.freestockmagic.com
It just looks promising I think!

[ativan withdrawal]

hi

[eirikso]

Or you can make the illustrations yourself:
How to make illustrations even if you can’t draw
http://www.eirikso.com/2006/06/22/how-to-make-illustrations-even-if-you-cant-draw/

[Niki Faldemolaei]

If healthy, happy lifestyle is your pleasure you have to check out http://www.SunStarPhotos.com for thousands of images of travel, sport, kids,seniors, men, women, and loads of beach fun.

[Jonathan]

You can search over 280,000 free photos at http://www.everystockphoto.com - enjoy!

[Richard Barclay]

Try http://filemagazine.com there is some unique stuff there.

[Super Bowl Tickets]

thanks for these information .

[Manjoor]

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