Using Royalty Free Images

DarthHazard Level 1

July 15, 2017, 5:57 pm

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Using Royalty Free Images

When designing graphics or images for your website, blog or forum, do you tend to use royalty free images that allow you to use them with/without any credits? Or do you prefer to purchase specific images and use those in your graphics? I have only bought a graphic once which I used to create a cover for one of my websites social media pages. It wasn't too expensive either, just a few dollars although I did recently see that the download link was taken offline which means I cannot download that image again. Other than that, I always tend to use freely available images because they are just as good and when you're building massive websites you tend to need a lot of graphics which means it can become quite expensive having to purchase loads.

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

I think it all depends on how tied you are to the design. If I'm not using my own photography, I prefer to go through places like Shutterstock or Pond5 to get the photos and video I need, as you're more likely to higher quality stuff by purchasing through them. Not to mention their portfolios are immensely larger than that of royalty free images you may be able to find, which means you're more likely to find exactly what you're looking for.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I agree. I always try and sift through free resources first if I can but sometimes it's just too tiring or I'm just too lazy to go through so much just to find a specific type of picture or graphic. The benefit of using these paid services really is having access to their huge libraries where you could easily find whatever it is you're looking for very easily.

7 years ago

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Authord

Authord

Exactly, finding free high resolution images for some specific types of services or design are sometimes tedious and so stressful, you will probably have no option than to pay for the one at hand. But some people don't bother though, they keep on mining, especially when you don't have the bucks.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

Yeah that is very tedious but thankfully these days you could find a lot of resources and it's definitely a lot more than even just a few years ago. Now there are a lot more sites that offer images for free or even ones you have to credit which really isn't that much of a pain to do anyway. However, the really good images usually have a price tag attached.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

Finding the right photo, especially if you are searching on the sites that offer royalty free photos, can be really difficult. However, in order to keep the cost to a minimum, I always look for royalty free images. If you are already paying for images, then your startup cost will increase.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

Oh yeah, I agree. It's always easier to sometimes just purchase the images and graphics from sites like Shutterstock especially because of how large their portfolios are. I'll spend ages looking for a particular image on the free royalty free images but I will find something that I am looking for in a few seconds on a site like Shutterstock.

7 years ago

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Authord

Authord

Yeah, it's dependent on the individual, because not every one can buy images, due to financial differences. Because almost. everyone would like to get their images from those topnotch sites, but they don't have the bucks, so they go the free way.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

YOu cannot just search something on google, copy the text and use it on your website. This is stealing. Likewise, you also cannot use randomly found images. This is also stealing. In order to use any work, photo, video or text, created by another person, you should have rights to use or should be royalty free. You can get the rights to use by paying the creator. Rotalty free images can be founbd in various photosharing websites such as pixabay, flickr, wikimedia, freedigital image etc.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Yeah, it helps a lot to have more options for images that will fit more for the purpose of your website and there are a lot of good sites where these are available for a reasonable fee, and it saves you a lot of time and effort compared to looking for free images.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

I know Shutterstock because it's quite impressive with what it offers in terms of good images and nice portfolio but I'm not familiar with Pond5. Would you be kind enough to give me more details about the site and how it works?

Thanks for your response in advance.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I think my answer is going to depend upon what the project itself is. Take creating a YouTube video for example. If I am uploading just another video to my channel, I don't mind using your average, every day royalty free images in it. If you're putting out videos on a weekly, or even daily basis, it just isn't feasible to be using newly bought images all the time as you'll probably go bankrupt, especially if you're just starting off. On the other hand, it is different if I'm working with something that has more value than just another video, like the cover art for a new project or website. In that scenario, I want it to be something unique that isn't being used by every other person on the internet. It's like how I might use readily available royalty free music for an average video, while I might want something uniquely made for a special video.

7 years ago

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fishmonk

fishmonk

I do not mind using royalty free images if I want to save time. Most of the time, I will use my Adobe Illustrator to create personal logos. I keep them in an archive. Sometimes, I will purchase images or graphics if I deem them necessary. If I can produce an image myself, I will just get my DSLR ready to capture images for my projects.

7 years ago

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Authord

Authord

Yeah, that's the best way sometimes, using your DSLR, to capture and create your own images, that's what i do most times, but you will get at a point, where you will discover you can't create every image, or scenarios you need, for some specific projects, other than buying them.

7 years ago

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kammy143

kammy143

Using royalty free images is useful but in the same time it can also limit your work. I think it is better to produce your own images which will likely fit the project you are making. Limited resources could only limit you on things that you want to have as results.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

In some cases, it's even easier to take the picture yourself instead of using lower quality free images which do not perfectly fit your intended output, not to mention that you have to search tons of images just to get what you're looking for.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Using DSLR to capture images can go sideways, there is no guarantee that one would get good quality images that would give you exactly what you need for your site setup. Free royalty image designs are good but I believe that paid ones are a lot more better.

7 years ago

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Authord

Authord

I create my own photos sometimes, but i don't mind using Royalty free images, if it has what am looking for. I usually go for shutter stock and purchase for my clients though, for higher quality, but i will check it out and toggle between the images. to know whether i will soon port. but i don't really think it will beat shutter-stock though.

7 years ago

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galegatling

galegatling

Nice to hear that. But do you also use the same images all over again? Or probably recycle them for future use? Would your clients mind that? Or they wouldn't since you can always find something similar to that in the Internet? I am really curious about the clients who would buy articles or post with images since those images can always be copied and would end up on the Internet at some point.

7 years ago

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Authord

Authord

I do both, i recycle them and also look for them on the internet, but somethings you can't find what you're looking for on the internet without a watermark. so what i do is create the scene or the image i need, if it is at my disposal and then edit and tone with Photoshop.

7 years ago

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galegatling

galegatling

This has been the case for most of the images uploaded on the Internet. Some images may have watermarks that aren't somewhat visible at first glance. And some others put their watermarks on the edges wherein you can always edit to remove them. But there will be others, who would slap their watermarks all over the images. And I'm like, 'we get it, you don't want your picture to be copied'. And if you somehow try to edit it, it will take you a very long time since you will be cloning and patching a lot of broken parts of the image.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

That's actually really good because then you don't have to waste any time looking for the perfect image or wasting time looking at whether you are allowed to use that particular image on your website or blog. I have actually noticed quite a lot of people have started to design their own graphics. It's quite nice because they are truly custom to that blog and makes reading the content a lot more interesting.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I agree. Another good thing about making these images yourself is that you get to maintain consistency in the quality and type of content you are using, since more likely you will end up with the same quality of pictures and logos throughout, whereas when you use royalty free images you tend to end up with some subtle differences between the pictures and the standards and feel of them because they all were made by different people that put their own signature or style on them.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I don't mind using royalty free images if they fit my design, and I often would first search for free resources if I can, before turning to paid ones when I cannot find what I'm looking for among the pool of freebies. I think getting accustomed to using paid resources can be very beneficial as there is a significant increase in quality in paid images and resources, and not to mention it also saves a lot of time, since sifting through the freebies can be time consuming most of the time whereas categorized paid sites make sure that customers have it as easy as possible when looking for what they need, as well as just having a lot more in their library than their free site counterparts most of the time.

7 years ago

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galegatling

galegatling

Really depends on what I need. I wouldn't say that I am not using those free images because, who doesn't even use them? It's like the Internet is our go-to when it comes to free images. Just a couple of keyboard taps and mouse click, and voila~ you got yourself an image, which is free! But you should also take note that it is better to include the source and give credits to them. And as much as possible, never edit an image specially if it has watermarks on it. You would sound like a criminal; you already stole and you even took credit.

7 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Agree. For sure everybody has used free images, I had, and that saved a lot of time. The issue comes with credits and source. Generally, people tend to avoid mentioning those, and eventually some of them can get into trouble. Editing an image that is not my own is not my thing either, and shouldn't be done, keep in mind that behind that image there's the work of someone, who really put big effort to have it done.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

It's true what you just mentioned about how to go in choosing the type of design images to use for one's site set. Everything depends on the nature of what one is looking at working it, there is no doubt that making use of free royalty image designs aren't good but when what you are working on beats the offers of free features, it's best to go for paid services.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I am definitely on a tight budget right now, so I can't afford to buy a lot of images. Because of this, I use my own art, free images, free templates, my own photography, and the art and designs of my friends who are generous enough to donate or to share them. I think that I prefer to use my own images, anyway, so that I can further customize what things look like at my blogs. Still, this is not always possible, and sometimes I see an image out there that I really want, so I can totally understand why someone would pay for images to use. When I do have more of a budget, I might do the same myself here and there.

7 years ago

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Soulwatcher

Soulwatcher

I try to use all of my own images but every once in awhile I will use royalty free images. I think its very important to keep your blog as unique as you can. Because if someone comes to your website and see's the same image on the last 5 blogs, it's going to be a huge turn off for them.

7 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Using your own images/pictures/art, also shows your personality, so whenever someone checks on your blog/forum/website, can have a general idea of your style. This is a good tip for beginners also, more often than not, we newbies don't have a very wide budget, so using our own material can save us money, and will demonstrate our abilities. Of course, it's ok to invest some money on our own business, so paying for one or two images, is not going to get us broke.

7 years ago

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