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11 Awesome and Free Image Resources for Your Next Presentation

Images make presentations and videos better. Not Text. Not Audio. It is the image that rules this world.

Why? Because images have the power to trigger an immediate and emotional response. This is especially true when it comes to presentations.

But, Not all images are created equal.

When I refer to powerful images, I am referring to GOOD images. Not the cut-and-paste stock images of men in business suits with bright, bleach white teeth laughing at what he sees on the computer screen. I’m talking about clever images, scenic images, animated images, and images that are full of color, life, and originality. The images that take us to a different reality are the ones that leave a lasting impression.

So, we found you 11 websites that will provide you with the best Free images available on the web .

Copyright Warning

One major caveat before we move on; there is a little thing called COPYRIGHT that can cause a big problem. Let’s say you finally find an awesome photo you want to include in your presentation. If you are using a library of free images, in the creative commons public domain , then you are in the clear.

If not, then you have 2 choices: you can download the image, close your eyes and pray that the image owner will not find you and sue you. (You should also pray that karma doesn’t bite you in the butt, tools like TinEye are getting better at spotting image thieves). Or you can pick the safer and morally justified route; just agree to the terms and conditions of the copyright . This usually means that you will have to add a link to the image URL or an owner attribution at the bottom, or in the worst case scenario, you may have to pay a small fee (if commercial use is involved).

Now that you know WHY images are so important and HOW to use them, here’s where you’ll find them: 11 Best FREE Image Resources.

1. Animated Characters

The immense power of the animated image is often overlooked. Cartoon characters and animations have the power to convey a message in a way that a ‘real human’ or ‘real scene’ could never accomplish. Kellogg’s is a great case study. Would Frosted Flakes sell so well if a middle-aged woman told you ‘Theeeeey’re great’? Nope. It’s a whole lot cooler if a cartoon tiger told you how unbelievable his bowl of cereal is. Below is an example of the standard business handshake and the same scene using Powtoon Characters .

2. Pexels.com

Pexels.com is a search engine for CC0 images (creative commons zero), with funky categories like vintage, abstract, and tech. Browsing through the wide range of styles and themes is a real treat for the eye. You can scroll randomly or set the filter by categories like ‘new’ and ‘trending’ photos.

3. Freeimages.com

The title says it all; loads of free images. In addition, you can see how many people have downloaded each image, just in case you wanted to use a more popular image or perhaps the opposite is true, maybe you’re in the mood to be a trendsetter.

4. New Old Stock

Ever wonder who owns the rights to a cool vintage photo from the 1920’s? The answer is usually NO ONE — they are dead. But, just to be sure, you’ve come to the right place. New Old Stock has a great collection of real vintage photos taken from the public archives that are completely free of known copyright restrictions.

5. StockSnap.io

StockSnap.io stands out for 3 major reasons: it has an easy search bar, adds new images frequently and — the cherry on top of the sundae — every single image is free from attribution. I think the site could be renamed don’t-worry-this-image-is-good-to-go.com.

6. Unsplash

Unsplash definitely makes a splash, a huge splash. The variety and quality of their high-resolution pics make them a top choice for bloggers and website owners alike.

7. Superfamous Studios

If you like Nature and Geography, especially mountains, rocks and water- this is the place for you. ‘ Superfamous ‘ is the Los Angeles-based studio of Dutch interaction designer Folkert Gorter. As long as you add a tiny attribution to Folkert, the images can be downloaded and used for whatever your heart desires.

8. Picjumbo

Picjumbo is a quite interesting collection of free photos that can be used for your commercial & personal works. Many of the pictures contain abstract themes, therefore, your search may not always deliver the typical results you’d expect. I typed in ‘Roses’ into the search and here’s the second picture that showed up:

9. Wikipedia

Yeah, I know… Wikipedia!? Wikipedia may be overused and a bit boring as far as common objects or themes are concerned, but when it comes to specifics, such as foreign foods or microorganisms, almost no other site can compete. In addition the guidelines for image use are laid out nicely and clearly under each image. Below is your average Philanthus triangulum feeding on nectar.

10. Getrefe

Getrefe calls themselves the place ‘where humanity and technology collide’ and they provide royalty-free, high-quality, natural looking photos of people interacting with technology. Many photos have an artsy Instagram feel. But be aware, they do have galleries of images that charge a fee.

11. Pixabay

This Google-Images style search is fantastic because the results page allows you to see so many options in one place. The drop down menu is pretty cool and allows you to sort from ‘Vector graphics’, ‘Illustrations’, and even ‘Wildcard Matches’.

There you have it; an Awesome and Free collection of websites that contain original photos, scenic pictures and abstract images to make your next presentation effective and engaging! Hope you enjoyed these 11 Awesome and Free image resources! We’d love if you’d leave a comment and let us know which one is your favorite!

Looking to create a video or presentation with out-of-this-world visuals? Powtoon offers thousands of royalty-free videos and images for users. Start using Powtoon for free here !

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Blog > Best Sources of free Images to use in PowerPoint Presentations

Best Sources of free Images to use in PowerPoint Presentations

01.01.20   •  #powerpointtips.

Finding license free photos on the internet can be difficult. Many good pictures are not free or not usable for commercial purposes – looking for good ones that are free to use can get exhausting. Therefore, we decided to show you our 5 favourite websites for free images that you can use for PowerPoint presentations (or for anything else).

1. Unsplash

Unsplash is an amazing resource for high-quality images, which can be used for private or commercial purposes and can even be modified. Pictures are distributed by photographers all around the world. Even though crediting isn’t required, it is very much appreciated and a way for the artist to gain more prominence.

https://unsplash.com

The Pexels-License is simple – you can edit photos as you like and use them for all purposes. Crediting is not required. We adore this resource for its huge variety of categories and professionally shot images.

https://www.pexels.com

3. Freerange

Freerange images are distributed by their “in-house”-photographers or by the community. Just like the previously mentioned ones, it is free for non-commercial as well as commercial use – attribution not necessary. You can find all kinds of content in the photos, and the amount grows every day.

https://freerangestock.com

4. Creative Commons

CC is a giant network that was built to provide content that is free to use. They provide public licenses and a feature for searching pictures – where you can choose if you want something for commercial purposes, something that can be modified, or both.

https://creativecommons.org

Pixabay provides tons of pictures (photographs and also great illustrations!) and even videos. They’re being shared by a community. To use Pixabay’s content you do not need permission, and it is free to use for all purposes. Pictures and Videos can be changed and adapted as you would like.

https://pixabay.com

6.PikWizard

PikWizard holds a large library of free and paid stock images and videos. The are images for which you need to pay for are labeled with "Premium". For the free images no attribution is required. What's cool is that you can directly edit the images on the site without the need to download.

https://pikwizard.com

With SlideLizard CREATOR , you can quickly update images, logos and colours automatically. You can save your slides in a central library and changes are automatically updated on all presentations. To find your slides as quickly as possible, you can also organise them with tags and folders.

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Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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100+ Free PowerPoint Graphics For Better Presentations [Free PPT]

PowerPoint graphics to move your presentation up a level, and plenty of top quality free options.

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By Lyudmil Enchev

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PowerPoint graphics are a great addition to all PowerPoint presentations no matter what the audience. A Powerpoint simply containing text and bullet points is not going to hold the attention, even with your hot topic content. You run the risk of being dry and dull, and simply put graphics are more visual and therefore more interesting. You know it too if you are happy with your material you feel better and more confident as a speaker. Double plus.

Of course, the quality of your PowerPoint Graphics is important, this isn’t just a case of adding visuals for visual’s sake. High quality, highly appropriate, thoughtful graphics will enhance any presentation and will be a vital tool in getting your message across, succinctly and memorably. Equally poor quality clip art type graphics, blurry, pointless, and inappropriate images may get you to remember as well, but probably not how you would wish.

So let’s look at some great keys ways you can impress with a presentation, it’s not hard but it is effective.

In this article: 1. How to insert graphics into PowerPoint 2. 100+ Free PowerPoint Graphics by GraphicMama 2.1. Free PowerPoint Templates 2.2. Free Arrows, Pointers, Bullets for PowerPoint 2.3. Free Icons for PowerPoint 2.4. Free Stats, Charts, Graphs for PowerPoint 2.5. Free Numbers and Steps Graphics for PowerPoint 2.6. Free Text Section Graphics for PowerPoint 2.7. Free Presentation Graphics for PowerPoint 2.8. Free Speech Bubble Graphics for PowerPoint 2.9. Free Sale Graphics for PowerPoint 2.10. Free Infographic Kit 2.11. Free Infographic Templates 3. More places to find PowerPoint Graphics

In the meanwhile, do you know, that you can use premade infographic templates? Check out our  50 Free Timeline Infographic Templates .

1. How to insert graphics into PowerPoint

Once you’ve created your presentation it’s time to add those all-important PowerPoint Graphics. And it’s easy, easy, easy.

Step 1: Go to the slide and create a space for your graphic Step 2: Go to insert on the toolbar at the top of PowerPoint, click on it Step 3: This will open up insert options depending on your version of PowerPoint ( 2019 reveals online pictures, photo albums, pictures, or screenshots, older versions are similar but replace online pictures with clip art.) Step 4: Choose an image from your files or online through categories or the search bar – filter general images through creative commons only licensed pictures (free to use), select, click on insert. Step 5: Resize and reposition

Alternatively:

Step 1: Select an image, right-click, and copy. (Ctrl+C) Step 2: Right-click and paste on the desired slide. (Ctrl+V)

It really is that easy.

2. 100+ Free PowerPoint Graphics by GraphicMama

One of the best ways to make your presentation look professional is by using professionally designed PowerPoint graphics and one of the best design agencies, Graphic Mama has plenty of options to choose from. As well as paid-for bundles of design icons you can take advantage of a great range of free graphics from sales icons, holiday icons, speech bubbles, people avatars, and many more. These are graphics designed in a vector file format, so the quality will stay as good even when resized. there are free backgrounds, templates, and infographic bundles too. It’s a no-risk option that will certainly add a high-quality, professionally designed look to your slideshow. Just click on the links below and you are almost there.

2.1. Free PowerPoint Templates

A tremendously good way to create a stunning professional look is by using templates for your PowerPoint Design and the good news is there are lots of free options out there just waiting for you to fill with content.

Free Hand-Drawn PowerPoint Presentation

This freebie from Graphic Mamas’s collection of free templates shows off the power of a sketched hand-drawn style in adding a customized look that is both attractive and clear.

Free Corporate Presentation Template

Ideally suited to a business proposal, this free template can be edited and customized for anything that would benefit from fresh, clear colors and fantastically designed and organized slides.

Free Business PowerPoint Presentation Template

Another free business template that benefits from strong structural elements and a great mix of text boxes and images in this modern-looking option. Superb editable infographics to get that all-important message to stand out.

Free Minimalist Presentation Template

This minimalist template broken up into large blocks of strong color is perfect for making a statement. Instant impact and full of confidence.

Take a look at Graphic Mama’s Modern Templates for the New Era of PowerPoint Presentations

2.2. Free Arrows, Pointers, Bullets for PowerPoint

Basic icons such as arrows, bullets, and pointers are so ubiquitous that they are often forgotten about. Big mistake. These free PowerPoint graphics show just how much impact well-designed elements can make and they’re a quick and easy way of raising your presentation to another level, and all for free.

2.3. Free Icons for PowerPoint

The cool, simplicity of these PowerPoint graphic icons can add swagger and style to your show. This completely free bundle gives a great selection all in the same consistent style and multiple usages will hold a presentation together in a subtle way.

2.4. Free Stats, Charts, Graphs for PowerPoint

Powerful infographics give you a great chance to get inventive and creative. Fully customizable, fully editable, and a fantastically varied and imaginative selection of all kinds of charts, graphs, and pictograms. It’s difficult to believe they are free but they really are.

2.5. Free Numbers and Steps Graphics for PowerPoint

You will need numbers, so why not take advantage of this free collection and make the mundane come alive. The key is to keep a consistent design and it will create a magical flow throughout the whole show from beginning to end.

2.6. Free Text Section Graphics for PowerPoint

PowerPoint graphics for text sections do a vital job. It is well known that text-heavy presentations are not popular and therefore less effective but you do need text. A great way of drawing the eye, focusing on text content, and still keeping people awake are these text section graphics. Customizable colors (ideal for branding), all forms and functions, a fully flexible and fully free bundle of creativity.

2.7. Free Presentation Graphics for PowerPoint

PowerPoint Graphics come in all shapes and sizes and illustrate all kinds of ideas. Download this free pack and check out a wide range of options to create visual impact, a professionally customized look, and vitality.

2.8. Free Speech Bubble Graphics

Speech bubble PowerPoint graphics can make your presentation pop, and with this stylish selection, you can’t go wrong. Flat, shaded, angular, rounded, clouds, and all sorts of variations on the theme. Impactful and fun they help create the conversation you want to have.

2.9. Free Sale Graphics

PowerPoint graphics for sales will do the crucial job of getting you and your product noticed. Fit your show with these free high-quality vector graphics and watch the crowds flock in. Once you’ve downloaded the graphics, you are not limited to PowerPoint, use the same images on posters, advertising, social media, etc., and get selling. The vectors’ technique means that there will be no loss of quality whatever the size and function.

2.10. Free Infographic Kit

A fully comprehensive infographic PowerPoint graphic pack that is crammed full of everything you could want to bring your statistics to the audience. Carefully crafted, tremendously varied, customizable, editable, flexible, and all this with the added professional pizzaz of expert design. It’s free and it’s ready to rock.

2.11. 20 Free Infographic Templates

If you want to speed things up, you can try using premade PowerPoint templates for your presentation. In this huge bundle of 539 infographics, you will find 20 free infographic templates. They are made with a lot of graphics, and you can easily grab some of the elements and adapt it to your presentation.

3. More places to find PowerPoint Graphics

Although it’s difficult to believe you haven’t found exactly what you are looking for already in our classic collection, let’s not worry. The one thing we do have now is plenty and plenty of choice. Here are some paid-for possibilities that you may want to jazz up that make or break a presentation.

PresentationPro

For $49.00 you could check out this royalty-free Graphics pack from PresentationPro. This pack contains thousands of graphics, clipart, and illustration in all sorts of categories from geography to calendars, from Scrabble to sport, and in differing styles. The graphics can be used in other formats too so you are not limited to PowerPoint.

GraphicMama

As well as the free offers, already covered Graphic Mama has a top-class selection of paid-for bundles ranging from characters to graphics assets, backgrounds , and templates from a little as $31 per set. This is ideal if you’d like to theme your presentation around a character as there are multiple gestures and poses for each. All are easily customizable, editable, and adaptable to any project and design. A gallery of cartoon characters , including businessmen, animals, robots, superheroes, doctors, ninjas, and more. Graphic Mama also offers custom designs, so you can turn yourself into a caricature and animated puppets to really make waves.

GetMyGraphics

At GetMyGrpahics you can take up a subscription giving you access to over 9,000 professional PowerPoint graphics starting at $49 per month or a Pro package at $99 per month.  Obviously, at this price, it is not for a one-off or occasional piece but for professionals it does provide plenty of options. They include infographics and illustrations in a wide range of categories and differing styles.

Final Words

The old PowerPoint presentation. It’s been around for years and it truly isn’t enough to just churn out the old stuff. Vital though they may be, people always expect more, always expect better, and why not? With a little extra effort, you can turn your slideshow presentation into something that isn’t just a time filler but that really makes a difference, communication, and shows you off in the best light. PowerPoint graphics can make all the difference by breathing life and energy into your presentation and consequently your performance. If you feel confident in your material it will help your delivery. Best of all you can step it up for free, so why wouldn’t you?

You may also be interested in some of these related articles:

• The Best Free PowerPoint Templates to Download in 2022
• Need PowerPoint Backgrounds? The Best Places to Check Out [+ Freebies]
• 10 PowerPoint Tutorials to Help You Master PowerPoint

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Lyudmil Enchev

Lyudmil is an avid movie fan which influences his passion for video editing. You will often see him making animations and video tutorials for GraphicMama. Lyudmil is also passionate for photography, video making, and writing scripts.

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How-to: Finding Free Stock Photos For Your Presentation

They say a picture is worth a thousand words— but how much is that actually worth in your wallet? 

Imagery is a strong tool for many different aspects of a business. From marketing assets and sales collateral to pitch decks and proposals, good photography can take your efforts to the next level. But where do you find the images you need? The way we see it, companies have two options; 1) take the photos themselves in-house, or 2) outsource by way of stock photography websites or freelance photographers. Obviously with the latter, you run the risk of being hit with licensing costs and usage agreements. 

But maybe it doesn’t have to be that hard. 

In this blog, we share the importance of photography in presentations, when it’s acceptable for your presentation to include a photo found on the internet, and how to find free stock photos in Beautiful.ai. Let’s dive in. 

The power of photos in presentations

It’s no secret that images are important in presentations, they help put your story in context for your audience. Collectively, your audience remembers 80 percent of what they see, as opposed to 20 percent of what they read and 10 percent of what they hear. We’re visual learners, there’s no doubt about it. So it goes without saying that strong visuals can help your presentation land better with your audience. 

The power of photos in presentations is three-fold. 

Images support the overall branding of your presentation. Any image you use should be consistent with your story, and your brand. Selecting high quality images for your presentation that align with your other marketing assets will help build trust and familiarity with your audience. 

If there’s a slide full of text, and a slide with one big, beautiful image, which one will your eyes be drawn to? We’d be willing to bet it’s the image. By using relevant imagery within your presentation, you’re demanding the attention of your audience and keeping them more engaged than they would have been otherwise. 

As we mentioned above, your audience will remember what they see before they’ll remember what they read. In fact, research done by 3M (the OG’s of Post-it Notes), revealed that visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. Consider that when you’re deciding whether to use a text box or an image to drive a point home. Using the right imagery can help those with (and even those without ) photographic memories remember what you told them long after they’ve left the meeting. 

When is it acceptable for your presentation to include a photo found on the internet?

The million dollar question: what images are you actually able to use without paying for usage rights? It depends on what you need it for. Wanting a free stock photo for commercial use is different from using a stock photo for a class presentation. But you can check the licensing all the same. If you’re googling specific photos, you can toggle between usage rights in the image search tools to see what images are okay to snag from the Internet and repurpose for business or personal use. That said, stock photography websites are generally a safe zone as all of their photos are royalty-free and available for download with the click of a button. Some of our favorites are Pixabay, Pexels, and Unsplash. 

Finding the best free stock photos in Beautiful.ai

Finding free stock photos anywhere on the internet is relatively easy. There are plenty of stock imagery websites that offer royalty-free photography and free downloads. But when you’re elbows deep in your presentation, and really cranking away at your slides, the last thing you want to do is leave the presentation to scour the internet for the perfect photo, then have to download it, re-open your slide and upload the photo to your deck. So, we removed two of those steps for you. 

Beautiful.ai offers hundreds of thousands of free images right within the product. When you want to add an image to the slide, you can simply click the camera icon and search our free library without ever having to leave your presentation. You can instantly see which images work with your content without having to go back and forth from Google to your deck. 

With stock photography there’s always a preconceived notion that everything is too “stocky”, AKA stale, dated images. We don’t want that for you, or your presentation, so we pulled in hundreds of thousands of free images from some of the top stock photography websites so that there's truly something for everyone, every team, and every story. 

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

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Where to Find Free Pictures for Your PowerPoint Presentations (10 Great Stock Image Sites)

Find Free High-Resolution Images for Your PowerPoint Decks

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated September 27, 2023

Applies to: Microsoft ® Word ® 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 365 (Windows)

You can find beautiful free pictures that you can use in your PowerPoint presentations online. There are plenty of great stock photo sites that offer high-quality images at no charge. Images can make a big difference for audience engagement and can help your presentations look more professional. You can search for images on these sites by keyword and download images at different resolutions. Most of them allow personal and commercial use of images based on their license terms.

If you're a PowerPoint 365 user, you also have access to Microsoft's free stock image library .

Some stock photo sites have free images and may also offer paid images on a premium plan. For free images, there is an element of risk in terms of copyright (as many users upload images). However, the following sites have better policing, known copyright owners, review processes or business backgrounds so they have a higher trust ranking. Be sure to check the site's license terms when you're using images.

Here's our list of the best sources for free pictures to use in your PowerPoint presentations (links below):

• Life of Pix
• Morgue File
• StockSnap.io

Recommended article: How to Compress Images in PowerPoint to Reduce File Size (10 Ways)

Do you want to learn more about PowerPoint? Check out our online (virtual classroom) or in-person classroom PowerPoint courses >

The following are our picks of the top 10 websites (in no particular order) where you can find high-quality, free stock pictures for your presentations.

1. Unsplash

Unsplash was started  by Crew, an online platform connecting freelance creatives with customers, that turned viral. It was started as a give-back project. Their images have a modern and artsy style and are high quality. Unsplash started as a Tumblr blog offering leftover professional shots for free. It has grown into a stand-alone website offering more than half a million royalty-free stock photos from contributing photographers.

Photo by Mo on Unsplash

License Details: Unsplash uses their own custom license, enabling free use in commercial projects with no attribution required (just like a Creative Commons Zero) but forbidding image compiling. Unsplash has recently added a premium paid version (Unsplash+) for some images.

2. PIKWIZARD

PIKWIZARD is a professional stock photo site with over a million free high-quality images in multiple popular categories. It's owned by Wavebreak Media, a stock video and photography production company led by Irish videographer and entrepreneur Sean Prior. The images come from various contributors, most of whom are known stock media producers. PikWizard also offers great image editing with a DesignWizard tool where you can add text to images.

Photo by PIKWIZARD

License Details: PIKWIZARD has their own custom license allowing free use in commercial projects, with a sensitive use clause. They don't allow resale or use in products for resale (t-shirts, posters, etc.), but those are the only copyright restrictions.

3. Life of Pix

Life of Pix  is owned by Canadian digital marketing agency LEEROY and provides hundreds of thousands of artistic and high quality photos. All files have been submitted by photographers and are free to download and use.

Photo by Cyril Mouty on Life of Pix

License Details: Life of Pix images are Public Domain so they are not subject to copyright. This allows free usage for commercial purposes, no attribution required, but the site does not allow mass distribution

Public Domain licenses should be safer for commercial use since there's no copyright attached to the images. However, this only works if the contributor who donated them is the original copyright owner and all other required rights (such as model releases) are cleared. Since Life of Pix is owned by a reputable company, it is capable of providing trust in its free images.

BURST was launched in 2017 by Shopify and offers free stock images intended for e-shops and commercial use in general (although you can use the images for social media, blog posts and presentations). The site has a large library with thousands of high-resolution images with a current style covering popular commercial categories. Burst images are sourced from hired photographers and user submissions and all images are free to use.

Photo by BURST

License Details: BURST has two licenses: Creative Commons Zero (CC0) which is free usage for commercial purposes and a custom license which is almost identical to CC0 but which allows using photos in products for resale and has a sensitive use clause. Besides a no compiling term, there are no other copyright restrictions.

Pexels is a free stock photo site offering hundreds of thousands of royalty-free stock images in high resolution submitted by artists or added from other free photo sites. It was created by German twin brothers Bruno and Ingo Joseph. The images are beautiful and modern and all images are free to download and use. Pexels accepts user submissions but also aggregate images from multiple other sites which increases the risk of potential copyright or right of privacy infringements.

Photo by  Marta Dzedyshko on Pexels

License Details: Pexels photos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) so are free for commercial purposes, no attribution required.

6. Rawpixel

Rawpixel was founded by Robert Churchill and has thousands of trendy, authentic and high-quality images submitted by qualified contributors. It offers free and premium pictures and you need to be sure you search for the free images. Users are limited to 100 free downloads per user per month.

Photo by Rawpixel

License Details: Rawpixel uses a custom license with free usage for commercial purposes. There is a sensitive use clause and no resale is permitted.

7. Morgue File

Morgue File has over 400,000 free images. Most images are free for commercial use but check each image for any license restrictions. You will need to set up an account to download images for free.

Photo by Gary3141 at Morgue File.

License Details: Morgue File contains thousands of images that are free for commercial use but check each image's license for restrictions.

Pixabay is a free stock photo site founded by German technology experts Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger. It is crowdsourced from a global group of users. The library is huge (over 1 million) and the royalty-free images are all available for free. Most of them are high definition and suitable for commercial use. Pixabay has a professional curator that manually reviews and vets images for technical quality as well as legal validity. There are also paid images that will take you to another site for purchase.

Photo by Amy Irizarry on Pixabay

License Details: Pixabay uses a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license so images are free for commercial purposes with no attribution required.

9. Kaboompics

Kaboompics is owned by designer and photographer Karolina Grabowska. It offers free high-quality stock photos with a natural feel and multiple subjects. There are more than 8,000 images in the library and the pictures are quirky and modern. You can even search by colour palette.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Kaboompics

License Details: Kaboompics has a custom license granting free usage for commercial purposes that includes a sensitive use clause. Images may not be sold as-they-are-downloaded (so alterations to the original file are a requirement) and redistribution is also forbidden without permission. There is also a warning about the commercial use of photos with brands or trademarked subjects on them.

10. StockSnap.io

StockSnap.io is a stock image site by Christopher Gimmer and Marc Chouinard who also developed the graphic design tool Snappa. The site offers free high-resolution images in a modern and trendy style. Users submit the photos and all images are free so there is the usual risk in terms of copyright. There are also paid images that will take you to another site for purchase.

Photo by  Travel Photographer from StockSnap

License Details: StockSnap uses a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license so images are free for commercial purposes.

Choose Quality as a Priority

There are many other websites offering free images but these sites combine the benefits of quality, library size and trustworthiness.

This article was first published on May 17, 2020 and has been updated for clarity and content.

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Once Centers Of Soviet Propaganda, Moscow's Libraries Are Having A 'Loud' Revival

Moscow's Fyodor Dostoevsky Library was renovated in 2013 and now sees some 500 visitors a day, up from just a dozen or so per day in earlier years. The library hosts language clubs, readings, lectures and concerts. Lucian Kim/NPR hide caption

Moscow's Fyodor Dostoevsky Library was renovated in 2013 and now sees some 500 visitors a day, up from just a dozen or so per day in earlier years. The library hosts language clubs, readings, lectures and concerts.

The Chistye Prudy neighborhood is one of Moscow's liveliest, with restaurants and cafes clustered along a boulevard with a tram line and grand old apartment buildings.

Before the bars fill up in the evenings, the neighborhood's most popular hangout is the Fyodor Dostoevsky Library, named for the 19th century Russian writer. While young people huddle over laptops as city traffic growls past the large windows in the main reading hall, a theater group is rehearsing a play in another room. A constant stream of visitors comes through the entrance, with the front door banging behind them.

"It's one of the best libraries here in Moscow just because it has changed so much," says Alsu Gorbatyuk, 40, an English teacher who popped in after a visit to a skating rink. "I suppose that right now, Moscow is one of the centers of library culture."

Until recently, that culture seemed doomed to become a relic of the analog past. After Russia's rocky transition from Communism and the rise of the Internet, there seemed little use for the more than 400 city libraries as public spaces fell into neglect and Russians found new sources of information. Unexpectedly, Moscow's libraries are now experiencing a transformation from musty houses of Soviet propaganda into bustling work spaces for 21st century city-dwellers.

"People are voting with their feet, we get a lot of visitors," says Andrei Lisitsky, the director of the Dostoevsky Library. "But this isn't just a busy place like a train station, church or cafe. It's a place for creating new ideas about the urban space and a center of informal learning."

An outside view of the Dostoevsky Library in Moscow. In recent years, the city's team in charge of libraries has discarded almost all traditional conceptions of what a public library is. Lucian Kim/NPR hide caption

An outside view of the Dostoevsky Library in Moscow. In recent years, the city's team in charge of libraries has discarded almost all traditional conceptions of what a public library is.

In recent years, the city's team in charge of libraries has discarded almost all traditional concepts of what a public library is.

"We have a different idea from the way things used to be. A library can be a loud place," says Maria Rogachyova, the official who oversees city libraries. "Of course there should be some quiet nooks where you can focus on your reading, but our libraries also host a huge amount of loud events."

The Dostoevsky Library hosts three to four events a day, including language clubs, readings and lectures. Once an acoustic music concert got so loud that there were noise complaints from the hookah lounge in the basement, Lisitsky recalls, laughing.

If a dozen or so people per day came through the doors of the Dostoevsky Library before its renovation in 2013, Lisitsky says it now gets 500 daily visitors, who are drawn by its modern facilities and evening events.

Andrei Akritov, 22, an aspiring standup comedian from out of town, says he discovered the library when he walked by and saw people reading inside.

"I'm staying at a hostel, and it's impossible to concentrate there," he says. Working on his monologues, he says, "Here I can spend three, four, even five hours."

The Dostoevsky Library was part of a pilot project to renew Moscow libraries. The city commissioned a Russian-Dutch design bureau to do away with the library's original floral curtains, potted plants and mustard-yellow paint in favor of a contemporary look with open stacks, modern lighting and white walls. Opening hours were extended until 10 p.m.

The library now has its own website , Facebook page and even YouTube channel .

"Moscow libraries aren't competing with modern technology, they're trying to use it," says Rogachyova. "The rise of electronic media shouldn't spell the death of libraries as public spaces."

While some employees certainly preferred whiling away their time knitting in empty libraries, she says, most of the changes have taken place thanks to the initiative of librarians, who came up with new ideas to attract visitors. Only last May did the mayor's office allocate an additional 500 million rubles (about $7.5 million) per year for library renovation.

"Our job is to develop the most democratic and accessible cultural locations for Muscovites," Rogachyova says. "This isn't about libraries for the sake of libraries, as it sometimes seemed in the past. We need to listen to what Muscovites' needs are, so they start loving us."

The city's libraries aren't just competing with the city's myriad parks and museums, she says, but also with the lure of the couch and TV set. That has meant coming up with events to attract professionals and families, putting catalogs online and even opening onsite coffee shops.

"The library of my childhood was a lot more boring, and I wouldn't have imagined it as a place to spend time," says Ksenia Yeltsova, 20, a student who likes to study at the Dostoevsky Library. "This isn't just a place to check out a book but where you can work, learn something new, listen to a concert and meet people."

While Moscow is at the vanguard of rethinking its libraries, Lisitsky says the trend is picking up across Russia.

"Probably the most negative legacy of the Soviet Union was that people expected the state to take care of everything," he says. "Now they are coming to understand that they can solve many of their own problems without the government."

And the public space where people can meet and discuss solutions, Lisitsky says, is their local library.

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Step inside 'Leninka,' Russia's largest and oldest library (PHOTOS)

The Russian State Library, and the monument to Fyodor Dostoyevsky in front of it

The camera clicks cause all eyes in the hall to switch disapprovingly from the reading material in front of them to the photographer – the source of unwelcome noise. “Keep silence” here is as common a sign as “No smoking” on board a plane.

The moment we show up with our photographic gear, the library supervisors, like hawks, swoop on us from all sides, demanding to see our permission to take photos (thankfully, we have it on us). With custodians such as these, the largest book collection in Russia need never fear for its security .

Some history

Initially, the library collection was formed from the personal collection of manuscripts and rare books of Count Nikolai Rumyantsev, a Russian statesman. By personal order of Nicholas I, the Rumyantsev Museum was founded in St Petersburg in 1828. Over time, however, it could not withstand the competition from other institutions in Russia’s then capital, so the decision was taken to relocate the institution to Moscow. It was assigned one of the most beautiful buildings right outside the Kremlin walls, Pashkov House .

After the 1917 Revolution, the library flourished. The capital followed the library to Moscow, and the Rumyantsev Museum essentially became the country’s main depository of books; a new building and indeed a new book depository were subsequently built for it. Today, the library buildings occupy an entire block. And Pashkov House is also home to a music section, as well as a manuscripts and cartography department .

In Soviet times, the Rumyantsev Museum was renamed the Lenin State Library of the USSR, in whose honor the nearby subway station, opened in 1935, was christened Biblioteka imeni Lenina (Lenin Library). In more recent times, the library shed its Lenin prefix, but by then the name had stuck, and it is still referred to today as the Leninka.

In 2013, a special library department and reading room opened at Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. It houses the Schneerson Library – a collection of religious and secular literature by Hasidic Jews. Since then, however, the materials in the collection have been completely digitized .

Some modernity

Visiting the library of, say, Oxford University in Britain, one feels the hand of ancient history resting on the shoulder. Likewise, the Leninka plunges the curious visitor into the past, nearer in time, yet still gone. Green halls, cloth-covered tables, lamps – it is embalmed socialism with a human face, and perhaps the best that remains of the lost Soviet empire .

The Leninka is never empty, its cloakroom always buzzing with people. Every second, young women in short skirts and bespectacled professors ascend the main staircase of exquisite beauty. An eccentric fire-red haired lady of indeterminate age, humming something to herself, strides confidently into the music section, clearly a frequenter .

Inside the library are several reading rooms kitted out with computers, as well as endless corridors and recesses with reading desks. The conveyor belt continuously churns out all kinds of volumes and folios from the book depository. Yours truly has time to catch sight of an Italian teach-yourself guide, a book on the basics of accounting, and a rare edition of Boris Pasternak .

For some pilgrims, the library is a near religious experience – a ritual replete with antique books and tables with the old-world scent of wooden cabinets, parquet floors, and history itself hanging in the air. Switched on, the legendary green lamps plunge the room into an atmosphere of wonder .

A smartly dressed elderly gentleman examines a manuscript through a magnifying glass, nearby sits a stern-looking middle-aged woman in glasses, clearly a teacher. Their neighbor is a bearded professor, and one table away a group of students are taking selfies. Other students, Chinese, are diligently studying Russian (making up for time lost on less academic activities).

In the hall with card files, the atmosphere is more relaxed. A pensioner reads freshly pressed magazines so as not to purchase them. At the next table, a man in a tracksuit is solving a crossword puzzle. Is he passing time before catching a train? Or just exercising the grey cells? On the topic of exercise, some even do the physical kind. One visitor, for instance, spreads out a rubber sheet in a remote corridor and does gymnastics, nourishing the mind and body in true Ancient Greek style .

Some numbers

Today, the library houses more than 47 million units of storage in 367 languages, including some rare Oriental ones. In addition to publications (the library receives an obligatory copy of all printed works), there are rare manuscripts, printed versions of visual arts, photo materials, maps, sheet music, periodicals, regulatory acts, military literature, and, of course, literature on the art of librarianship. Here, one can also find every dissertation written in the country since 1951 .

The library has 36 reading rooms open to visitors, and Wi-Fi is near ubiquitous. Around 100,000 new users register annually. Employees offer up an interesting statistic: Every minute the library doors are opened by five visitors.

The Leninka is currently in the process of digitizing its archives. Its electronic library already has 1.3 million documents, not to mention access to remote electronic databases, including those of Cambridge University Press and Springer Publishing, various online library databases, and the JSTOR archive of digitized journals. The full list is available on the Leninka website .

Citizens at least 14 years old of any country can register at the library. And it is absolutely free – all that’s required is a piece of ID (plus passport and visa for those without visa-free entry to Russia) .

The procedure takes no more than ten minutes. You will be photographed and issued a plastic library card. Students often joke that the mugshot on your Leninka card is bound to be the worst you’ve ever had (you can always blame the photographer). That said, these days it’s possible to sign up online .

After registration, you will need to offload your coat and any large bags or rucksacks to the cloakroom. One small bag and a laptop can be taken inside .

The library is open from 9 am to 8 pm every day except Sunday. Be prepared to have to wait for the book you want, perhaps even a few hours while it gets delivered from the book depository. If time is short, you can always order a book and pick it up the next day .

For many a long year, the Leninka had a reputation as a place for meeting one’s better half – a wife or husband from a respectable professorial family. Some visited the library with this specific purpose in mind. If the walls of the Leninka smoking room could talk, they would tell quite a story. For it was here that romantic hopefuls came to chat so as not to violate the hallowed silence of the reading rooms .

In the Oscar-winning movie Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears , the heroine, a provincial student, pines away in the Leninka reading hall, eyeing up any number of suitable matches, before heading into the smoking room, where two young academics simultaneously offer her a light. According to the library supervisors, visitors still ask about the famous smoking room, but alas, it is no longer there – smoking is now prohibited inside the building. But don’t despair, there’s a wonderful canteen instead. If that’s not a place for kindred souls to find each other, what is?

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