How many times have you needed a little extra punch for your drab presentation, post, or website. You add some photos and you turn your project into a masterpiece!
Let’s be honest it’s hard to argue with FREE high resolution stock photos. Right?! However, check out this in depth review of sites with free photos.
there’s a problem all the stock photo sites are every You search for the
What are stock photos?
Stock photos are a collection of professional grade images that could dramatically upgrade your site, social post, articles, templates, and more! If they are labeled for commercial use, you are able to use the stock photos for-profit purposes ex: marketing, advertising, websites, etc.
Yep! That’s right you don’t have to book your own photo shoot to get great photos. Stock photos are usually known for having over exaggerated or stiff images but there are some pretty cool options out there. they can actually be extremely extravagant and bring character.
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/street-art
How Do I Find Stock Images That Compliment My Business?
The first thing you’ll want to do is search for what you want for instance if you have a bakery themed business I would search for something like sweets or donuts. From this point a plethora of images will appear according to the search. You should definitely stay consistent with your theme stock images can make your website look alot more professional but if you choose a lot of images that don’t blend well your site could look very cluttered.
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/dessert
Overwhelmed By The Amount of Results?
Sometimes the amount of results are just absolutely shocking! Don’t worry! You can sort the images by color and relevance. When you search by color it can be much easier to match your website theme. What a lifesaver right?! When you search by relevance the images are more closely connected with the search. However, you can sort the images of your search by the newness of the images. This will bring the newer images up to the forefront but the images might not be as relevant to the search. To use the dessert example again I’ll select yellow as the color
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/dessert?color=yellow
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/dessert?color=yellow&order_by=latest
The Best Sites For Free Stock Images
If you’ve heard of stock photos I’m sure you’ve heard of Unsplash. Wikipedia says, Unplash generates more than 11 billion photo impressions per month on their growing library of over 1.5 million photos.
Unsplash has been noted to be the world’s largest free stock photo websites.
Best Use:
Unsplash is really good for things like cover photos, blog posts, instagram posts, presentations, etc.
How You Can Use It:
Free for everyone including commercial and non-commercial
Worldwide, non-exclusive copyright Royalty-free
No attribution required
What We Love:
- Totally free high-resolution images.
- Create collections, save, and organize photos
- Free community that allows even more inspiration.
- Be notified when your favorite contributors add to their photo collection.
- API partnerships with tons of sites such as BuzzFeed, Dropbox, Medium, Squarespace, and Trello.
What We Could Do Without:
- Mostly abstract images
- Not many business themed photos
This is the best place to virtually eat. Get your fill without the calorie overload. There’s nothing but photos of food from appetizers to dessert.
Best Use:
Scatter Jar provides stock images for people who enjoy the culinary arts. It is strictly focused on pictures of extravagant photos of food.
What We Love:
- If you are into the culinary arts business it will be much easier to find food images
- Professional images
- Filters are easy to use
What We Could Do Without:
- If you aren’t looking for food images this is not the place for you because there are only images of food here
Raw Pixel has images sectioned by category. This site has premium and paid membership plans. They provide logos and illustrations as well.
What We Love:
- Nicely organized by category which makes searches easier
- You are able to edit the images
- Free Mock up options
- Photos with transparent backgrounds
- Vast number of photos for business owners
What We Could Do Without:
- If you don’t have the paid version you have are restricted to 10 image downloads a day
Fancycrave
This site has flavorful and artsy images. There is a good amount of free images but there is also a paid version that provides more images.
What We Love:
- Professional images
- Helps the search process with specific themes
What We Could Do Without:
- There can be a lot less results under a specific theme which means there are less to choose from
Styled Stock Society
This website has feminine themed images so it would be wonderful for a website with feminine or or delicate qualities.
What We Love:
- Great for Feminine websites
- Color filters
- The pictures are available to be edited
What We Could Do Without:
- A lot of the pictures have to be paid for (membership)
Startup Stock Photos
What We Love:
- The images are professional grade
What We Could Do Without:
- There is no search bar! This can definitely slow down the process of looking.
Visme.co
This site has a plethora of images! In the learning tab you can “Learn from top industry experts in marketing and design by taking part in free, educational webinars.” Also there are plenty of guides!
What We Love:
- Over a million photos in landscape and portrait
- You can edit the photos
What We Could Do Without:
- The search filters could use a bit of improvement
Picjumbo
This is a very popular stock photo site because it has a wide range of photos. Yes that’s right majority the photos on this site are free! It is extremely organized and easy to use.
What We Love:
- The images are high quality
- Plenty of search friendly categories
What We Could Do Without:
- Some images require a paid membership
- Some categories have more limited photos than others due to the paid membership
Rgbstock
This site is extremely well known for its bright high quality images. It’s one of the best sites for graphic designers and cartoon artists.
What We Love:
- The search categories are extremely precise, you can literally search by the texture of the images you are looking for!
- You can edit the pictures you select
- Portrait and landscape photos
What We Could Do Without:
- You have to make an account before you acquire access and permission to download images.
- You cannot use these images for profit
- Some categories have a very limited amount of results
