Written by Shannon Gammell
The power of Images
The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than writing, so good photos are vital for a business in grabbing attention.
If you don’t have the resources to source your images, then you’ll need to rely on stock images.
What is a Stock Image?
Stock images are photos that are already captured, edited and available for use. They are a great resource of high-quality images for you to use in your websites and projects.
There are two types of stock images: those that require you to pay and those that are free- the majority are royalty-free, which means you can use them without having to credit anyone if you know which free sites to go to.
Free stock photos are time and cost-saving methods of gaining images you can personalise and customise to suit your needs without getting the necessary equipment and skills to create images yourself.
Both premium and free stock images websites have their advantages and disadvantages when you’re sourcing images for your company. Here are the key points to consider when choosing which option is the best fit for your business.
Top Free Sites:
1. Unsplash- https://unsplash.com/
- Unsplash has over 300,000 high-resolution images with a large database of images suiting all requirements.
2. Pixabay- https://pixabay.com/
- Pixabay is the biggest collection of free stock photos, vector graphics, illustrations and videos online.
3. Pexels- https://www.pexels.com/
- Pexels is a free domain of stock photos from around the world where anyone is welcome to upload images for use.
4. Shopify Burst- https://burst.shopify.com/
- Shopify Burst is a free stock image platform aimed at entrepreneurs with a ‘Business section’ displaying categories of images targeted toward companies.
5. Canva- https://www.canva.com/en/
- Canva is a graphic design platform, used to create social media graphics, presentations and other visual content. It is free to use but also offers paid subscriptions for further features.
6. Picjumbo- https://picjumbo.com/
- Picjumbo displays free stock images as collections. This is when you see the same image from various angles so you can then pick the best shot for you.