Royalty Free Images

Royalty free images are a great resource to have at your fingertips when building a website, a blog, a presentation or when building a brand for a small business. But, royalty free images are also great for craft projects like scrapbooking, collage, and altered art.

Many of the images found online are protected by copyright, even though people might not be aware of it. This page is dedicated to helping you find a variety of resources that will suit your needs for commercial, business or personal use.

Some images can be easily downloaded for free, while others may require a usage agreement and small fee. Either way, knowing that you are using an image that is rightfully yours will give you peace of mind and you also won't have to worry about infringing upon copyright laws.

Several websites offer images that are royalty free and can even be reproduced for commercial use. iStockphoto has an image library of more than 6.5 million photos that can be used without licensing. To use the service, however, you must create an online account. While the membership is free, you will have to pay for each image you choose to use. Prices vary depending on the size of the image and whether you will be purchasing through a subscription or per photo.http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

For an online image collection that is available without charge, consider using Google Images. http://images.google.com/ When you go to the page, however, you will need to click the button for an Advanced Image Search. On the refined search page, type in the keywords or exact phrase you’re looking for and then go to the bottom of the search box. In the field for Usage Rights, select “labeled for commercial reuse”. This will eliminate any photos or images that require a license from your search results.http://images.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en

While you may not be required to license the use of a royalty free image, it’s still a good idea to credit where you got it from. A simple acknowledgement such as “image courtesy of (the person or username that uploaded the image)” is a good way to properly cite the source.