Professional Stock Photo sites I use to get free Images

One of my awesome YouTube viewers had requested that I make a list of some of the Professional Stock Photo sites I use to get free images from and graphics.  As a designer just starting, it is very difficult to produce professional-level graphics, if you don’t have the means or access to them. Professional stock photo sites are extremely expensive. The monthly cost can range into the thousands. 

 Back when I was starting as a designer, photos and content were rarely provided for free. This was largely due to digital not being as accessible as it is today.   However, since the birth of digital photography and the ability to take so many photos on a single SDHC card; more photographers have more photos than they know what to do with!

 This, in turn, has made professional stock photography more accessible to more users. More and more people are getting into photography and choosing to offer their photos for free, in exchange for some type of exposure. This is a win for graphic designers and non-designers a  like because we have access to professional-grade stock photos free!

 Even though this information is widely available on the internet some people are still unaware that this is possible!  So, I made this nifty list of Professional Stock Photo sites I use to get free Images for my viewers! I hope you enjoy and find it useful!

Pexels
 Pexels is a free photo site that allows you to download free photos for both personal and commercial use. Attribution is suggested but not required.

 https://www.pexels.com/search/work/

Unsplash
unsplash is a community of photographers who upload free photos for everyone, commercial and personal use is allowed.

 https://unsplash.com/s/photos/free

Pixabay
Pixabay is definitely one of my favorites, it also is a community based free content, photos can be used for both commercial and noncommercial use.

https://pixabay.com/

Stock snap.io
stock snap offers hundreds of free images provided weekly free from copyright restrictions.

https://stocksnap.io/

Gratisography
 Gratisography offers a quirky selection of high-resolution photos, they provide a collection of some very unique content photos on this site can be used without restrictions.

 https://gratisography.com/

Pikwizard
 Pikwizard has a library of over 1 million stock photos that are royalty-free and safe for commercial use.

https://pikwizard.com/

Negativespace.co
Negative space offers beautiful photos for personal and commercial use however they do have some paid versions on the site.

https://negativespace.co/

Freepik
Freepik offers tons of free content, pictures, graphics, and mockups just to name a few, however, they do have a subscription-based model for some premium content. You can only use these photos for commercial use if you subscribe to the premium content however we included it in the list because its highly affordable, less than a subscription to Netflix.

https://www.freepik.com/home

Burst by Shopify
Shopify offers it's content users free photos for their websites with a site called burst, it offers tons of photos that can be used copyright free and you don’t have to subscribe to a Shopify store to take advantage of these wonderful free stock photos.

https://burst.shopify.com/

Reshot
 Reshot is a free stock photos site that offers tons of free photos for content for startups and small businesses.  These photos are free to use and without restrictions.

https://www.reshot.com/

Foodiesfeed
  Foodiesfeed offers free food stock photos and is a perfect site to find free high-quality professional-grade photos for restaurants, bars, cooks, and foodie enthusiast,  it doesn’t mention license limitations. So, we are unsure if you can use these photos for anything more than personal use.

https://www.foodiesfeed.com/

Freestocks.org
 There’s not much of a selection of these photos but they do offer some unique content and it allows for both commercial and personal use.

https://freestocks.org/

Picography
Picography also has a small or limited library but what they lack in size they make up for in substance, they have a gorgeous library of free stock photos in a variety of different style’s and content, They offer what’s called a free license.  The details of this type of license can be found on their website.

https://picography.co/

Focstock
 Focastock offers a variety of free stock photos, videos, and templates in an array of styles and content, they allow for both commercial and personal use.

https://focastock.com/

Picjumbo

Picjumbo offers an array of professional free stock photos as well as backgrounds, iPhone wallpapers and more. The stock photos on this site can be used for free for personal and commercial use.

https://picjumbo.com/

New old stock
 Newoldstock is a collection of old and vintage style photography these are mostly historical photos that have already expired in copyright so they are free to use in any matter.

If you like this site or old vintage photos in general than  you will also love these sites as well:

 flikr commons / Old book illustrations  / The British Library on flickr / The public domain review  https://nos.twnsnd.co/

Startupstockphotos
 Startup stock photos are free professional photos for start-up business they offer free and commercial use.

https://startupstockphotos.com/

Designerpics
Designer pics has a small library of some really unique and great photos I included them in this list because even though its small it has some really great content.

http://www.designerspics.com/

Lifeopix
 Lifeopix While I absolutely hate the linear layout and the lack of search features, this site does offer some hidden gems I especially love the historical building and drone and ariel shots that this site offers and those are particularly hard to find. 

On the plus side they also offer some free video clips as well. I couldn’t find any information about licensing they only mention that the photos are free.

https://www.lifeofpix.com/

Canva
 Canva even though Canva is primarily a subscription-based model they do offer tons of free content as well so we included it in the list. As for licensing goes with all subscription-based models, commercial use is only allowed for paid subscribers.

https://www.canva.com/

Deviantart 
DeviantArt offers free content through a community of designers while this community has practically died since Wix took over there are still tons of resources and stock images provided for free by the community of artists on here. 

The artist individually set the standards as far as licensing goes, most of the content provided by these artists are mainly for personal use but many YouTubers such as myself have used these photos for manipulations in complex composites for YouTube.

 https://www.deviantart.com/