Where images come from
Where are we?
You know what images are for (information or structure), that they’re made of pixels and color codes, and that they’re stored in one of the Big Three image formats.
But where do you get images?
This page’s goals
Images come from two source. You make them, or someone else does. By the end of this page, you should:
- Know how to find images other people have created.
- Know about different image licenses.
Using other people’s images
Humans have created millions of images you can use on your Web sites. Before you use an image, make sure you understand its licensing terms.
There are many different licenses. In fact, image owners can make up any license they like. For example, a photographer might say that you can only use her images for free on alternate Tuesdays.
But some licenses are more common than others. Here are some samples.
- “Public domain” means that the image is free for any use, including commercial use.
- An attribution license means that you can use the image, as long as you say where the image came from.
- Free non-commercial use means that you can use the image for free on personal and non-profit sites. You may need to pay for commercial use.
- Paid royalty-free non-exclusive license means that you pay once to use the image on a site, no matter how many people view your site. The “non-exclusive” part means that other mammals can buy a license for their sites as well.
Note that I am not a legal expert. I don’t guarantee anything about this. YMMV.
When in doubt, check. For example, take the paw prints in the header image at the top of this page. I got the image from Dog Paw Print. I didn’t want to follow the exact image terms on the site, so I emailed the site’s owner, asking permission to do something a little different. She wrote back immediately, giving permission.
Let’s look at some image sources.
BurningWell
BurningWell is a collection of public domain photos. The collection is not large, but there’s still a lot of stuff there, and all for free.
morgueFile
morgueFile is one of the better known free photo sites. The images can be used for commercial purposes. The photos are categorized and searchable.
US government photos
Links to various government sites. Most images are in the public domain, but not all.
123RF
This service lets you license images from photographers around the world. Image licenses start from around under $1 per image. You’ll find photos of just about anything here. They have over 4.5 million images at the time of writing.
stockxpert
You can buy images to use on your Web site from $1 each. There’s some great stuff here.
Stock.XCHNG is is part of this family of Web sites. Images can be used for free, with some restrictions. Check the license.
iStockphoto
Like stockxpert. Same parent company, in fact.
More, more, more…
There are hundreds of sites with free or low-cost images. Add your favorites to the links list.
Exercise: Get some dog photos
Find a few dog photos we can use later in this lesson. Make sure they're public domain, or you can use them for free on personal sites.
(Log in to enter your solution to this exercise.)
Creating your own images
Digital camera
Every Weber should have a digital camera, even if it’s just in a cell phone. You never know when you’ll get an opportunity to take a cool photo. And maybe one of your photos will show up on FAIL Blog!
When you buy a cell phone with a camera, make sure there’s an easy way to move images to your computer.
Drawing software
Every Weber should be able to make simple drawings. We’ll talk about that on the next page.
Draw and scan
That’s where the robot dog came from.
Summary
There are many sources for free and low-cost images. Make sure you follow license terms. When in doubt, ask.
What now?
Let’s cover some of the tools that should be in your image toolkit.
