Where do graphic designers get their images?

StyleStock offers free feminine stock photography for every woman entrepreneur. Reshot is a massive library of handpicked free stock photos you won’t find elsewhere. Built for startups, freelancers & makers who are sick of tacky stock photos. It is a growing family with over 240,000 creators who use this platform to build their portfolios. Head over to Startup Stock Photos — another niche stock site, where you’ll find thousands of high-quality images of office environments and startup boardrooms. You’ll find photo essays, editorials, photojournalism, historical photos, 4K and HD videos, music, graphic design resources, and other media produced by hundreds of thousands of creators.

Not only do they carry large selections of affordable (or even free) artwork, they’re your best bet for finding images that will look fantastic in print. The images on this website cover a wide range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, health, climate change, energy, and many others. These images are available for use under a Creative Commons license, which means that they can be used for educational, personal, and commercial purposes as long as proper attribution is given. Openverse is a project by Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that advocates for open access to creative works.

Vintage Stock Photos

You won’t find isolated shots, and photos are frequently just a tiny bit lower quality than you’d pay for. The Creative Commons Search finds images through Google and Yahoo, Flickr, Blip.tv, jamendo SpinExpress and Wikimedia Commons. Probably the largest collection of free images in one place but beware, some search results may not be Creative Commons so do your homework before using a photo. You can search for a single term across quite a few different media quickly. Standard photo prints require a resolution of at least 640 x 480 pixels, but your printer and designer might well want something higher.

When you consider which stock photo site to choose, keep in mind that the longer subscription you choose, the cheaper the photos will be. Pixel Perfect offers a decent number of free stock photos, but what really makes the site stand out is the fact that it can be searched and filtered based on specific RGB or hexadecimal color values. This makes it a good resource best free photo stocks for designers if you want your stock artwork to match or complement the hue of other elements in your print design. A healthy selection of nearly 1 million photos puts Stock Free Images at the top of the list of free stock photography sites for designers. Getty Images is a paid stock image website that offers a large collection of high-quality photos, illustrations, and videos.

Free Nature Stock

For food bloggers and content creators in the restaurant space, Foodiesfeed is a must-have. The founders of Startup Stock created the site in 2014, starting with just a few photos of their friends and family. Today, the site attracts thousands of visitors, especially bloggers, freelancers, designers, and content marketers. It offers over a million professional photos, graphics, templates, mockups, and other design and illustration resources.

Powered by the photography of Martin Vorel, Libreshot offers some of the brightest and most visually dynamic stock photography. Graphic designers may also work with photographers or illustrators directly, commissioning them to create bespoke images for their projects. This usually results in unique, tailor-made visuals that perfectly match the designer’s vision. Regarded as one of the best among stock photo sites, it boasts quick responses via live chat and email responses within one to three business days. Depositphotos takes user experience up a notch with features such as integration with the VistaCreate editor and additional tools like a free background remover, an image upscaler, and an API.

Styled stock refers to professionally styled and photographed stock images that are designed to be used in marketing, advertising, and branding materials. These images often feature beautiful, trendy props, such as flowers, coffee mugs, and office supplies, arranged in a visually pleasing way. They may also include styled flat lays or mockups, where products are placed in a setting to give a sense of how they would look in use. The site is owned by Shopify and has a wide variety of images, from lifestyle shots to business-related imagery. Unsplash has slowly been launching new features and tools targeted towards businesses, so it’s a stock photography website worth keeping an eye on. If you’re looking for something a little more specific, you can also take advantage of Getty’s custom content options.