Where Can I Copy Free Images For My Web Site
Where Can I Copy Free Images For My Web Site
Why images should be used
Images which relate to the topic at hand help the reader to visualize the essence of a presentation or article.
Gaining the attention of a potential browser is one of the most critical points to selling an idea or production. The visual senses of all people are attracted by beautiful pictures, especially when they pertain to something of interest. If a writer or content publisher can grab the attention of someone passing by they are much more likely to turn them into a customer.
Images which relate to the topic at hand help the reader to visualize the essence of a presentation or article. If considering the use of pictures on a blog or website, images named in relation to the written content, help a website to be found by potential visitors. Engaging website content certainly provides an enhanced experience for the visitor.
Best places to find Free Images
Digital camera technology has enabled even the most novice photographer to capture images in stunning detail and clarity. The most obvious source for free images is simply using a personal digital camera. Not everyone has access or the means to use a digital SLR camera, but pocket size cameras can easily capture high resolution images for use in any media project. One consideration that should be kept in mind is to avoid trademarks and proprietary logos that could appear in an image.
Another great source and probably one of the best, is Wikimedia commons. This media resource can be used to find images for free, according to creative commons licensing. Image content is categorized into many sections such as topic, location, type, author, license, and source.
Another favorite of many digital and graphic artists is a photography social network called Flickr. The resources which are found on this photography network are nearly limitless. Millions of photographers from all calibers upload and share images on this portal. Since the photographers who upload their images to this site are typically not professional photographers, often the images are openly free to be shared according to the creative commons license. However, there are a lot of professional photographers who upload images as well and it is important again that notice is given to the creative commons license. The advanced search feature of the website allows for an easy searching filter by creative commons license type. When or if there is a question about the license of a particular image or set of images, it is always best to simply ask a photographer. There is an easy messaging system that allows for messages to be sent directly to any member of the site.
Although it may be a common practice by some to browse Google images for free pictures, this is not a recommended method. The search engine robot indexes these images without regard to licensing or royalties, and the search display relies upon the website owner to protect or allow the images to be indexed. Images which appear in the search results are subject to copyright, which is stated in the search query.
Integrating free images to a publication
No one single method can be applied for all types of communications. Publishing images to websites and blogs can require completely different procedures than publishing an image in a magazine or advertising brochure. If these processes are considered prior to beginning a project then time, space and cost can be controlled to a minimum.
To view a step by step video of these procedures you should watch the "images for free" video which provides a comprehensive demonstration. Hotlinking is a method used when an image is displayed on a website, blog or bulletin board post, but actually is hosted elsewhere. This is very common for website developers who host their images on content delivery networks.
Get Free Images Video
Image hotlinks allow an image to be published into a website, blog or bulletin board post but hosted and stored elsewhere. This can reduce website load times significantly which is something that search engines have begun to factor into rankings. However, although an image hotlink can be generated from just about any website it is not always allowed per the website policy. When an image is hotlinked Copyright infringement and intellectual property laws can come into play. It is important for webmasters to obtain permission prior to generating a hotlink. This is especially true if the website does not provide an automated method to generate the code for a hotlinked image. Some webmasters consider image hotlinks to be bandwidth theft and are not tolerant of image theft. This is because they pay for their website hosting by the bandwidth used each month.
Many websites offer the ability to automatically generate the code to hotlink images into posts and websites. This can help any web design novice begin to understanding how the code must be formatted to hotlink an image. Once a general understanding is learned then alternative file paths can be substituted for other websites that do not offer this automated function. Again, make certain that hotlinked images are permitted. The hotlink code must be placed in the appropriate place with the appropriate format. For instance HTML code would typically be placed in an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) compatible form, CMS (Content Management System) or a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. Bulletin Board code (BBCode) can be placed in its respective locations as well. PHP Bulletin Boards are very popular throughout the internet and this Hotlink code is specifically for these types of Bulletin systems. If there is doubt as to whether the code will actually work or not, a test can be performed by pasting the code into a form and then utilize the preview button.
Transferring free images to a PC
Static documents such as brochures, greeting cards, magazines and other physically printed medium are designed using images that are manipulated and edited on a local PC. Although this process is more involved it does allow for great customization and changes to be made to a free image that has been downloaded from the internet. Again, creative commons intellectual property rights licensing must be observed. Some license types allow for derivative works to be created as long as the original author is credited but then again some do not allow their work to be changed.
Organization planning should be the first priority for a webmaster that plans to build a local image cache for offline manipulation. External storage has become relatively inexpensive and it is a good idea to purchase a storage device or even online storage when planning to build an image library. Also, it is good to plan a file and folder structure according to a commonly known standard. This can be accomplished by naming folders according to date, subject, topic or even season, etc. Many image editing applications provide a image name prefix to be added to each image as it is saved or processed. It is much easier to plan this ahead of time rather than depending on software to help organize later. The time saved in creating an efficient structure will be well valued in the long run.
If a webmaster allows their images to be copied for free, then it is very easy to copy the images to a local PC. Most websites allow the right click option to be used which will produce a menu option "save as" or "save target as" when right clicking on top of a website image. Again make certain this is allowed prior to copying images. Nothing could be worse than building a great web page or nice looking web post and then receive a DMCA take down notice. It is always better to ask first as many professional photographers will allow their images to be copied free of charge as long as they are given credit for their photography work.
Image Intellectual property laws
Intellectual property laws have recently become a more prevalent issue since the inception of the internet. Hence the US government has heightened copyright laws and penalties for breach of copyright. If a webmaster were to receive a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take down notice from an internet service provider or other legitimate authority it is in the best interest of the webmaster to immediately comply with the request. This is especially true if the webmaster knows that they have copied the image from another website.
A common licensing structure is well known throughout the internet called creative commons licensing. This license structure is not only applicable to images but to video and written work as well. Webmasters which plan to copy free images would be well advised to first research creative commons licensing regarding which models allow copying and which allow derivative works, et cetera. This is important for hotlinked images as well as copied images.
With a little time and research, artists, webmasters, developers and graphics designers can find many sources of images for free on the internet. All image content needs can be fulfilled while complying with copyright laws, this will help to build relationships with content providers for months and years to come.
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