Open Education: Images & Illustrations
Finding Openly Licensed Photos and Illustrations
Google Advanced Image Search (Scroll all the way down to the bottom to "Usage Rights")
Usage rights correspond to Creative Commons Licenses (see the abbreviations above in red) which allow free use and sharing with attribution, but not always modification or commercial use.
Other Ways to Locate Openly-Licensed Images
Creative Commons (Cultural Heritage) Search (beta) (Images only with an emphasis on openly licensed cultural heritage images)
CreativeCommons Search Search for openly licensed images in: Europeana, Flickr, Pixabay (public domain), Open Clip Art Library, and Wikimedia Commons. (Also includes options to find music & video)
Wikimedia Commons (Terms: CC and public domain)
Creative Commons Image Directories (Terms: CC and public domain)
The Noun Project (search CC-licensed and public domain icons by keyword)
Figshare (Terms: CC-BY Licensed) research-related images, data etc.
Compfight (Terms: CC and Commercial)
PhotosForClass (Creative Commons licensed images from Flickr -- required citation information is automagically added!!)
These are just a few of the many places to find openly-licensed images or illustrations.
Don't forget to attribute CC-licensed images ------>
Public Domain images
* Public Domain: Works whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been waived, forfeited, or are inapplicable.
* Find more information on the Public Domain
OpenClip Art (No cost. No attribution required)
Unsplash (No cost. No attribution required)
Getty public domain content (Attribution required: "Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program")
Library of Congress (click on "Rights and Restrictions")
Various public domain image websites (Terms: public domain, but read the fine print)
Nearly public domain
Pixabay & Picsbuffet (Terms: Pixabay license). Video about Picsbuffet
Pexels "The world's first inclusive free stock photo & library"
Pxhere CC0 images. No attribution required.
Permission REQUIRED
ImageBase (Virginia Tech Special Collections) Request permission
Reverse image search: TinEye and Google Images Reverse Search
Creating Required Attributions for using Openly-Licensed Works
Attribution is ALWAYS REQUIRED when using works that have a Creative Commons license. Learn how to attribute CC-licensed works by following these best practices -- or use a browser plug in such as OpenAttribute to help you.
The most common forms of attribution include the three elements, two of which are hyperlinked:
(c) Author Name "Name of work [hyperlinked to where you found the work]" License [hyperlinked to license]
For example:
SAMPLE ATTRIBUTION: (c) Quinn Dombrowski "Red and blue" CC BY-SA 2.0
License terms on some sites (this one is from Flickr.com) may appear as Creative Commons icons or appear when a hyperlink is moused over.
Learn how to attribute CC-licensed works by following these best practices -- or use a browser add on such as OpenAttribute to help you.
Diversity and inclusion image collections (a selection)
- Women of Color working in tech (WOCinTechChat)License CC BY. Attribute: #WOCinTechChat or wocintechchat.com
- Pexels"The world's first inclusive free stock photo & library." Attribution is appreciated but not required. More details: https://www.pexels.com/license
- Plus-sized stock photosRequested credit: Michael Poley of Poley Creative for AllGo. Also at: https://unsplash.com/collections/8927612/the-office-collection
- Disabled and Here CollectionStock photos featuring disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) across the Pacific Northwest. License CC BY. Information on model rights: https://affecttheverb.com/usage
- nappyBeautiful, high-resolution photos of black and brown people. License: CC0. Requested photo credit: Photo by @[username] from nappy.co
- Redefining Women (Noun project icons)Public Domain. by Iconathon.
- Images of EmpowermentThese images show the connection between women’s work, their health, and ability to care for themselves and their families in elevent countries around the world. CC BY NC 4.0. Terms of use: https://www.imagesofempowerment.org/about
- OpenPeepsHanddrawn vector graphics. Mix and math. License: CC0
Warm thanks to Heather Blicher for suggesting many of these resources.