As a Visual Designer you have probably needed a few stock photos on some projects. Before dishing out hundreds of dollars on Gettyimages or any other expensive stock photo site, check out some of my favourite free stock photo sites.
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✘ Unsplash—Unsplash is probably the most popular between designers. Unsplash offers some of the best hi resolution free stock photos on the web. All photos are released under the CC0 licenses.
✔ Re:Splashed — Re:Splashed was a weekend project created by Tyler wanlass that allows you to search for photos on Unsplash. All photos are released under the CC0 licenses.
✔ Pixabay — Pixabay has Over 670000 high quality photos, illustrations, and vector graphics. With all images released under the Creative Commons CC0, you are bound to find the right image for your project.
✘ Gratisography — Gratisography has a wide selection of Unique high-resolution stock photos, you’ll understand when you go there… Every photo are released under the Creative Commons CC0, which means you are allowed to use any of these images for personal or commercial projects.
✔ Stocksnap—Stocksnap has hundreds of free stock photos free of copy right restriction. They have a large selection of different photos and new photos are added every week.
✔ Stock Up — With Stock Up you are able to search through 13,014 free stock photos across 27 websites. Stock Up is your one stop shop, they index free stock photography from some of the best free stock photography websites on the web, which allows you to search through every picture on one website. Every photo are released under the Creative Commons CC0.
✔ Negativespace—Negativespace releases free stock photos every week which are licensed under the CC0, no copy right restrictions. They have some amazing free stock photography, and they also have some unique search queries such as Colour and Copy Space Position.
✘ Moveast — Moveast is a journey of a Portuguese guy moving that decided that every photo should be used for free. Every photo is released under the CC0, no copy right restrictions. Moveast also has some great photography of countries and cities all over the world.
✔ photocollections — Free Stock Photography has a wide selection of high resolution photography. All the photos are released under public domain, which allows you to use the images any way you want, personal or commercial.
✘ littlevisuals—Littlevisuals has a variety of many free stock photography released under CC0. Though the site hasn't uploaded any new stock photography for over a three year, the young man who was running the site died of S.A.D.S at the age of 26. Even with out any new content the site still has some of the best free stock photos on the web.
✔ lifeofpi—lifeofpix was developed by LEEROY advertising agency in Montreal, the site uploads new stock photography every week, every photo is released under CC0.
✘ deathtothestockphoto—deathtothestockphoto was created to help designers able to find great stock photos that fit their vibe. All the photos on deathtothestockphoto are free under their own license, but you are able to pay for a premium account to help fund the photographers to publish on the site. Deathtothestockphoto releases every photo under their own licenses.
✔ tookapic—tookapic has over one thousand free stock photos. tookapic pushes the idea of taking a photo every day, so the site has a large selection of stock photos, and new stock photos uploaded everyday. Every photo is realised under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Creative Vix — Creative Vix is a combination of web design and free stock images. With a large selection of free stock photos under these 5 categories —people, landscape, city, animal and flowers. Every photo is realised under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ Cupcake — Cupcake was developed by Jonas Wimmerström a photographer, he publishes some of his photos under the Creative Commons license CC0 for designers to use. From the time of this writing the site hasn't been updated for over 7 months, but the site still has a large collection of free and great stock photos.
✘ Superfamous — Superfamous doesn't have the largest selection of free stock photos, but what it lacks in the selection, it makes up for in their beautiful hi res photography. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
✔ picjumbo—Picjumbo has a huge selection of stock photos, with over 16 categories. Picjumbo releases new stock photos every day. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ New Old Stock — New Old Stock is a collection of Vintage photos from the public archives. With no copyright restrictions, every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Freely Photos—Freely Photos are high quality Christian stock photos and images totally free. All photos are released under the CC0 licenses.
✔ TheHungryJPEG—The Hungry JPEG has a large selection of graphic design resources and stock photos. As not all of their resources are free, they do have a large selection of freebies available, which are looking into. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ freestocks — Freestocks offers Free high quality images for your website and blog. All of the images are released under CC0. The site has over 6 category of photos and has a large selection of photos in each category.
✔ stockvault—Stockvault has thousands of free stock photos, illustrations and textures, and hundreds more added each week. With such a large selection of free assets, you are bound to find what you are looking for. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Snapwire Snaps—Snapwire Snaps has hundreds of great free stock photography, with all the photos under CC0, so you are able to use the photos how ever you would like. While using Snapwire you are also able to work with photographers directly to create the perfect shot for your project.
✘ jay mantri — Jay Mantri is a very talented photographer that publishes his work under the CC0 license. His photos consist of different counties and cities.
✔ Picography — Picography by Hidden Depth provides some stunning and hi res stock photos. New stock photos are added every month and as well are able to submit your own photos as well. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ fancycrave — Fancycrave has a huge collection of stock photos, with over 10 categories. Fancycrave adds two new hi res stock photos every day. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ publicdomainarchive — Public domain archive is a site that is dedicated to publishing public domain stock photos. The site is updated very frequently with new stock photos every week. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ jeshoots — jeshoots provides great stock photos for free. My favourite part of jeshoots is the device category, their are some great mobile device mock ups on jeshoots. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ cc0 — CC0.photo is an archive of totally free stock photos by one photographer. Their are many categories and different types of photography on this site, so you’ll be able to have a wide variety to pick from. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ travelcoffeebook — travelcoffeebook, is a great stock photo site that host tons of great travelling photos. The site offers photos of outdoors in different regions and different cities in different countries. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ Startup Stock Photos — Startup Stock Photos offer some great free stock photos of the startup life style. All photos are free of copy right restrictions. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ SpaceX—SpaceX Flicker offers some great high resolution photos of space and more. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Skitterphoto—Skitterphoto offers over 800+ photos and over 9 categories of free stock photos. With photos added everyday, they are a great site to find stock photos. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ MMT—MMT was developed by Jeffrey Betts, a photographer. Jeffrey publishes great free non copyright photography of flowers and offices/desk. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Kaboompics — Kaboompics offers hundreds of free stock photography, as well as device mock-ups. All stock photos are free, and free of copy right restrictions. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ Epicantus — Epicantus host tons of great photography by Daria, a photographer. All of the photos are 100% free with no copy right restriction. Daria will also take request on photos, so if you have an idea for a photo you are wanting to use in your next project and are unable to find it, you can send a photo request to Daria. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Realistic Shots—Realistic Shots offers a wide selection of stock photography, from photos of mobile devices, all the way to monkeys. Seven photos are added every week. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ Photocrops — Photocrops offers a wide selection of creative stock photo, the site doesn’t update as frequently as some other sites, but the site offers some great creative stock photography for free. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ Good Stock Photos—Good Stock Photos isn't the most popular free stock photo site, but they do offer some great photography. My favourite aspect of Good Stock Photos are the categories, some of the categorises include ‘Bikes’ and ‘Interior of a building’. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Free Stock Image Point— Free Stock Image Point was developed by one photographer, he only publishes his work alone. The site offers great photograph from all over the world, featuring shots from Indonesia and Europe. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Free Nature Stock — Free Nature Stock has a wide variety of nature photography which is all released under the Creative Commons license CC0. Free Nature Stock is updated every day with new stock photography.
✔ DesignerPics — DesignerPics has a wide selection of over 300+ hi resolution photos with no copy right restriction. Some of the photos range from fruits to boats, so you are bound to find the photo of you choice. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ Barn Images — Barn images was created by Igor Trepeshchenok and Roman Drits, two photographers from Latvia. They add new photography every week and every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✘ The Pic Pac — The Pic Pac has a large selection of photography from urban environments all the way to barber shops. Not every photo is free, but you pay how ever much you want for each photos. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
✔ FoodiesFeed — FoodiesFeed offers a large selection of stock photos all about food. Every photo is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.