Using Images

Whether you’re creating a project for class, blog post, webpage, ebook or any other piece of content, adding visuals improves the overall user experience.

You can’t, however, just pull images off the internet – it’s your responsibility to determine if and how you can use the image without violating copyright.

Every image – whether you find it on Google, social media or on a stock photo site – gains copyright as soon as it’s created, and it’s up to you to know whether or not you have legal right to use it.

If you use images from Google images, you need to visit the original site where the picture appears and cite that page, not Google. 

* Remember to always cite images and video content in your bibliography or references list!

1. Use Public Domain Images (a.k.a. ‘No Copyright’ Images) 

•  Google Image Search:  Advanced search feature allows you to narrow results by usage rights.  Choose the appropriate setting (most common academically is the “free to share  or use” option.  If you are going to make changes or adapt the photo choose “ free to share or modify” instead.   You can allow filter the search by size, color, or type such as photo, clip art, or animated drawing. 

• Wikimedia Commons:  Part of the Wikipedia family, Wikimedia contains images, video and audio files that are explicitly free to use with public domain and freely-licensed educational media content.  Click on the image to view copyright parameters.   

• Flickr:  Flickr does not search the web for images but is an online photo management site with individual and institutional participants.  Be sure to change the license settings from Any License to Creative Commons Only.  Hosting various institutions “no known copyright restrictions”, The Commons on Flickr is also useful for historical images. 

• Unsplash

• Pexels

2.   Use Creative Commons Images

3.   Use Stock Photos. Pixabay, Freeimages, Getty images (music, video, images)

4.   Use your own Images

5.    Use Social media Images only with permission