If you need images for a project, you have a lot of affordable options. Why then, do so many of the images used on websites and marketing materials look exactly the same? Without breaking the budget, how do you find graphics that help you stand out — not blend in?
Popular stock photography sites like iStockPhoto and Fotolia offer images starting at $1.00. But many of their graphics look similar and have that unmistakable “stock” look.
The next time you need to do an image search, use Creative Commons and Flickr to find free images that don’t fit the “stock mold.”
To start a search, go to the Creative Commons search page and enter your search term. In addition to a general search, you can limit your options to works that can be used commercially or works you can modify. Select one of these modifiers if you’d like. Hit “go” and your search results should appear. If you do not get a list of Flickr photographs, make sure you have selected the Flickr tab (this is the default).
If you find an image(s) you want to use, give attribution to the photographer who took it. Many of the images I’ve used on this site were found on Flickr; you’ll notice that I give credit and provide a link to the original image location.
Finally, a note to you Firefox users: the search box of this browser has a drop-down menu — click on it, and you’ll see that Creative Commons is there. You can begin your Creative Commons/Flickr search without navigating to the Creative Commons site.
About Regina Fried
