The ultimate guide to free images

Where can you find free, quality images to use in blog posts or social media content?

It’s a question with a lot of answers and caveats. Nearly every image created in the last 30 years is still protected by copyright—a protection that gives every image creator the exclusive right to use or reproduce their work. But you can find a public domain photo, use a Creative Commons image that might need attribution, or even create your own image.

We’ll explore all of these and more. Here are things to know before we start:

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.

There are various Creative Commons licenses that range from allowing any type of use with no attribution to allowing only certain uses and no changes.

What is public domain?

Works in the public domain are those whose copyrights have expired, been forfeited or are inapplicable. Finding something on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s in the public domain.