Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 1 There’s a whole lot (and I mean a WHOLE lot) of posts out there that talk about getting free images for your blog, but a lot of them make it look much bigger of a deal than it really is. So I’ve decided to simplify the whole process, taking out the jargon, and including the only two free stock photo sites you really need. The basic two steps are searching for images, and crediting the photographer/creator. That’s it. Shall we get started? The Two Free Stock Photo Sites That Work Flickr – if you haven’t heard of Flickr yet, then you are probably still living in the dark ages. Flickr is by far the most popular desktop photo sharing site (Instagram being the most popular mobile photo sharing app), and it is also probably the number one source of high-quality photos you can use for free. Compared to other free stock photo sites, Flickr is usually the best in terms of image definition and quality. However, be careful when using an image from Flickr — you can’t just pick up just anything, y’know (more on that and how to find free ones later). Stock.xchng – Although it might not be quite so popular as others, stock.xchng is one of the best free stock image websites out there. What sets it apart from the rest is just how easy it is to find and upload free images — there are fewer steps involved in finding and uploading images than in any other site. Like most free photo sites, stock.xchng makes its money by including affiliate links to paid pictures (usually ones from iStockPhoto). Finding Free Images With Flickr The steps to finding free images with Flickr are a little complicated, but in the end, it only takes about 1-2 minutes. First off, visit their homepage and type whatever keywords you need in the provided box in the upper right-hand corner and hit enter. Right now, you’ll have a bunch of awesome pictures — you’ve probably already found a couple that you think would make a perfect fit for your blog post. But wait! Some of these are copyrighted, and you can actually get sued if you use them. Someone did go to the trouble of photographing/creating in Photoshop, y’know. To remedy this so that you are only viewing pictures that you can use for free, click on “Advanced Search” (a blue link right under the search box in the upper right-hand corner. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and tick the checkbox that says “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content”. Creative Commons, by the way, is basically a license that states that anybody can use the image for free, provided that they credit the original author for it. After checking the box, hit “search” again. Click on any image you like, and download it. Upload it to your blog post, and caption it with “Image credit(s): username via Flickr“. Link their username to the original picture page. And … you’re done! You’ve found a free image for your blog post in two minutes or less. Finding Free Images With Stock.xchng If you don’t mind settling for lower-quality images, and you just need an image fast (as in, 30 seconds), then head over to Stock.xchng and sign up if you haven’t already. After confirming your e-mail, login, and make sure that you’ve set it so that the computer remembers you. Now, just search your keywords. Pick any image you like. Add in a comment notifying the user that you are going to use it on your blog. Then, download the image by clicking on the “download” button, and right-clicking and selecting “Save Image As…” on the page you will be redirected to. Upload the image to your blog post, and caption it with “Image credit(s): username via SXC.HU”, linking their username to the original picture page. And … all done! Wrapping Up Finding the perfect free image for your blog is definitely not hard, and it sure does pay off in the long run. Don’t just download any image you come across on Google Images — keep it up for a few months, and you are sure to get sued sooner or later. Spend an extra couple minutes per post finding the right free images you can use legally to prevent a whole lot of trouble in the future. Tip: Use this short guide to optimize your images for search engine credibility, and view this RooJoom for a quick tour on how finding images works. All images screenshots at respective websites. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on JRJ Writes and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage Author: James Spillane James is a BSc Physics grad, attending Imperial College London and becoming interested in cryptocurrency shortly after. His previously published work can be found on Rakeback.com and more recently InsideBitcoins.com and DeFicoins.io. Currently James is a content editor and writer covering Bitcoin and DeFi related news, as well as enjoying … View full profile ›More by this author:Cryptocurrency Fan Tokens Are The Top Crypto Gainers TodayMetaverse P2E Games Token IBAT Lists Today on Pancakeswap 16:00 UTC / GMTBC.GAME Releases An NFT, The Degen Pass