LibGuides: Find Images & Media: Images

Stated Licenses (Creative Commons & Public Domain Images)

Google Images
Click on the Search Tools button to see helpful limiters, including image size, color, type, time, etc.

Google Images search with arrow pointing to Search Tools button

Not filtered by license - Results will include images that are protected under copyright (All Rights Reserved). They may be usable under Fair Use with proper attribution, but we recommend that you select another option.
Reuse - Results will be Creative Commons or public domain images that allow you to reuse them. Look for the individual license to know what specifically you need to do to reuse the image. Alt. term: free to use or share.
Modification - You can change these images however you would like. Include adding borders, making collages, etc
Noncommercial use - You cannot use these images for commercial purposes.

Flickr
This link brings you to the Advanced Search page. Place your search term in the box, then scroll down and check the box to search "only within Creative-Commons licensed content." If you wish to make any changes to the image, you'll also want to check the "find content to modify, adapt, or build upon" box

Flickr Advanced search Creative Commons options

WHEN SEARCHING, TWO THINGS TO NOTE:

If you re-enter a search in the top box of Flickr, it sometimes loses your Creative Commons limiter. You can reset it by selecting Creative Commons from the License drop-down list.
Results are ranked by relevance. You can change this to see "Interesting" photos that have been viewed, tagged, commented on, and favorited most.

Flickr results page limiters

FINDING A FLICKR IMAGE LICENSE:

Key information underneath the photo tells you who its creator is, how many times the photo has been viewed, and any provided details about the type of photograph or camera used. On the far right, you will see three icons. The second icon (arrow pointing right) allows you to share the photo and gives a direct url back to the image. The third icon (arrow pointing down) allows you to select a size and download the photo.

Under these icons, you'll see the date the photo was taken. Directly underneath is the photo's license. You can click on the hyperlink to see the actual Creative Commons license and specific details about requirements for reuse.

Options beneath a Flickr image show number of views, date taken, license, and download information

Wikimedia Commons
Large collection of public domain and Creative Commons images, sounds, maps, and other media.

FINDING A WIKIMEDIA IMAGE:

Browse through categories or use the search feature at the top of the page. Images are nested in categories and folders; if you don't appreciate their search interface, remember that Google Image searches will return items within Wikimedia Commons.

FINDING A LICENSE FOR A WIKIMEDIA IMAGE:

If you can get to the Image File page, you'll be set. You may have to click on "More Details about this File" to get to this page.

There are helpful options to the right of the image on this page. You can download the file and get information about how to reuse the file in various ways. License information, image url, and author information is provided.

Wikimedia Commons image file page

License information is provided in an easier way if you continue to scroll down on this page. There will be a section labeled "License" that gives an explanation of the image license and links to additional information too.

Wikimedia commons image license

Creative Commons Search
Portal for searching various sites for Creative Commons images, audio, video, and other media. Select a site to begin your search; your currently selected site will be highlighted in light blue.
Photos for Class
Photos for Class is an excellent tool to locate and cite Creative Commons images with just one search! This resource pulls from several different CC websites to compile a rich collection of openly licensed images.
Pixabay
Huge variety of public domain images. Warning: the first row of images in any search are sponsored results from Shutterstock and are not in the public domain.
Unsplash
High resolution, gorgeous photos that are open for use.
FreePhotos.cc
A free resource with stock creative commons photos
Photogrammar
A web-based project that organizes, searches, and visualizes photographs produced by the US Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information from 1935-1946. Over 170,000 photographs in the public domain that are fully searchable and plotted geographically.
Scrabble Tiles
Scrabble Tiles is a gallery filled with numerous words that are spelled out with wooden tiles.
The British Library on Flickr
The British Library on Flickr offers over 1 million public domain photos and images.
Openclipart
Openclipart is a collection of clipart that has been released to the public domain by the creators.
Pexels
Pexels is a collection of free stock photos that are within the public domain.
The Public Domain Review: Images
The Public Domain Review: Images gives users access to photos and illustrations whose copyrights have expired.
U.S. Government Photos and Images
U.S. Government Photos and Images allows users to search for public domain images related to government, historical, art, health and nutrition, the environment, energy, agriculture, science and technology, money, defense and international relations, and public safety and law.

Diverse and Inclusive Image Databases

Disabled And Here Collection
This collection is a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive stock photos shot from our own perspective, featuring disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) across the Pacific Northwest.
The Gender Spectrum Collection
The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities—people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.
nappy
nappy is out to provide beautiful, high-res photos of black and brown people to startups, brands, agencies, and everyone else. nappy makes it easy for companies to be purposeful about representation in their designs, presentations, and advertisements.
PICONI
PICONI is a coop of stock image photography. They recognize that most other FREE stock image sites have very few or no images of people of color. They sought out to create a space where publishers, bloggers, website owners, marketers, designers, graphic artists, advertisers and the like can easily search and find diverse multi-racial images.
Plus-Sized Stock Photos
AllGo, a company that focuses on increasing the accessibility of spaces for people of all sizes and abilities, created this free stock photo collection "of plus-size people doing normal things" to address a lack of inclusion of fat bodies in existing stock photo collections.
Women of Color in Tech (#WOCinTech)
#WOCinTech Chat started out as a Twitter chat and quickly evolved into an initiative to connect and empower WOC in the tech world. As part of this work they put together a photo shoot of real WOC technologists at work. The stock photos are meant to combat the idea that there are no WOC in the tech industry by increasing their visibility.

Courtesy of University of Illinois Library

Attributing Images

FOR CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGES:

Your attribution should follow this format, which adheres to Creative Commons best practices.

Title of image/video [linked to original image] by Author [linked to profile page] under License [linked to license deed].

FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGES:

Your attribution should follow this format:

Title of work [linked to original image] by Author, Date (if known, or n.d. if not known). Public Domain.

WORKS CITED FOR A WORK OF VISUAL ART: PRINT OR ONLINE REPRODUCTIONS

Artist LastName, FirstName. Title of Work. Date of Composition. Medium of Composition. Institution Housing Work, City Where Institution Is Located.

If you are citing a work that has been reproduced in the online environment, remove the medium of composition and add this string to the end of your citation: Website Title. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
If the year of composition is unknown, us N.d.
If the work is from a private collection, name the collection (Collection of ...) instead of the institution. Or list "Private Collection" in place of the institution and city if the collector wishes to be anonymous.

EXAMPLES:

Monet, Claude. Water Lily Pond. 1900. Art Insitute of Chicago, Chicago. Artic.edu. Web. 4 August 2014.

Kandinsky, Vasily. Orange. 1923. Museum of Modern Art, New York. WikiArt.org. Web. 25 July 2013.

da Vinci, Leonardo. Mona Lisa. 1503-1506. Oil on wood. Louvre, Paris.

WORKS CITED FOR A WORK OF VISUAL ART: ONLY CITED ONLINE

Artist LastName, FirstName. "Title of Work." Date Created. Editor/Author/Compiler Name. Name of Website. Name of Website Publisher. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.

If there is no editor/author/compiler or date of website creation, skip those sections.
If the year of composition is unknown, us N.d.
If the work is available under a username, include that in place of the artist's name.

EXAMPLES:

javacolleen. "Lantern Floating." 2010. Flickr. Web. 2 December 2012.

Elson, John. "4Palmount." 2009. Wikimedia.org. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 4 August 2014.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Section 5.7.6 of the seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

UCI Libraries: MLA Citation Rules for Images

The sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association does not have guidelines for images, artwork, sculpture, photographs, etc. However, here are some guidelines from the APA Style Blog:

SOCIAL MEDIA PHOTO, GRAPHIC, OR PHOTO ALBUM

Creator, A. (Date Posted). Caption text [Medium]. Retrieved from http://website.url

If no caption is provided, place a description of the image in brackets in its place.
If you are are citing a photo album, replace the caption text with the title of the album. Italicize the title.

EXAMPLES

APA Style Blog: How to Cite Social Media in APA Style
Includes examples of the original graphics, reference entries, and in-text citations.

VISUAL ART PIECE

Arist, A. (Year Created). Title of work [Medium]. Location of work: Institution housing work.

If you are viewing the piece online, leave off the location information for the piece. Instead, end your citation entry with "Retrieved from http://website.url"

EXAMPLES

APA Style Blog: There's an Art to It
Includes citation examples for several different art pieces, including work viewed online.

Edit or Create your Own Images

WEB APPS

Pixlr
A free photo editor and collage making tool. Also has an app version.
PicMonkey
Edit images or create collages. Must create a free account. Additional features available for a fee.
BeFunky
Edit photos, create collages, and more. Also available as an app.

SOFTWARE

Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Photoshope is available on several Butler computers (click the link to learn more. It also can be purchased at a Butler discount price for personal use.
GIMP
"GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages."
Fotor
"Utilizing cloud computing to provide a suite of image processing tools ranging from basic cropping to HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing, Fotor has made professional-level photo editing accessible to everyday users through a clean, intuitive interface and workflow."

Easel.ly
A user-friendly tool that allows you to create and export infographics. You will need to create a free log-in.
Infogr.am
Create infographics and data visualizations. Must create a free account first.
Piktochat
Limited features if you sign up for a free account. They do have special pricing for Education.

WORD CLOUDS

Tagxedo
Allows you to create word clouds with more customization options, including shapes and colors. Does not require you to create an account.
Free Word Cloud Generators tools and tips
word clouds

MAPS

Header Image Attributions (From Left to Right)

Character Design by Tom Hoyle. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo passion by Jose Maria Cuellar. Used under CC BY-NC 2.0

My Camera by Paul Reynolds. Used under CC BY 2.0

A frantic week of painting by Janne Hellsten. Used under CC BY 2.0

Want to Reuse this Content?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are welcome to reuse the content of this Guide as long as you attribute Butler University Libraries.

We used some content from the "Public Domain Resources" and "Creative Commons Resources" documents created by Indiana State University and licensed as CC BY-NC-SA.

Find Images & Media: Images

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