Online Image Sources

Finding The Right Graphics for Your Website

If you are wanting to add images to your website there are a number of good online image sources, depending on your budget and whether you need to use images with copyright permission.

You have a couple of options regarding images, you can:

• provide your own
• find free images online
• use paid images from the web
• become an affiliate to give you access to free images while also the ability to make money from them

Providing Your Own Images
Providing your own images, from your own work portfolio, your experiences is a good start as it means that your site will reflect YOU and your business.

The problem can be with finding a continuous source of images, and images of things not in your own collection. Time to use the power of the web...

Free Online Images
There are a couple of great free image websites, most are for photography buffs, giving a huge range of subjects which you can search for using keywords.

If you are using someone elses work, always check the copyright policy and/or the license agreement first. These should be easy to find on any of the major stock photography websites and can differ between artists.

Stock.xchng -also links to Stockexpert for paid images. commons.wikimedia


Paid (but cheap!) Online Images
Paid photos online usually start from $1-$5 per image depending on size, and the images are referred to as being 'stock images'. Generally you will need to create an account and buy $10 or $20 worth of credits which you can then use at you leisure.

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a photographer you can also apply to have your images in the gallery and then get paid when others want to use them!

istockphoto- probably the largest online site for stock photography, illustrations and videos.

**Istockphoto seem to be steadily increasing their prices, making it expensive for web designers! Other suggested stock image websites are:

123rf - close to 10,000,000 royalty stock free photos, icons and vectors.

Dreamstime - huge collection of stock photography, some freebies.

Graphic River - more choice!

Affiliate Sites
Another option can be to sign up as an affiliate of the major art or poster websites. It means you have free use of their entire gallery of images and can earn commissions when your visitors make a purchase.

Some of the above stock image websites also have affiliate programs, but you will still have to pay for images that you want to use. Art.com - over 500,000 images (and prints) for you to display, buy or have others buy earning you affiliate income.

AllPosters.com- large range of images to use on your site and to promote poster, canvas and apparel sales.

Home from Online Image Sources