Tips For Acquiring Royalty-Free Website Images
Websites need images, but how do you access them without breaking the law?
It’s a measure of the internet’s maturity that poor quality photography can seem so jarring nowadays. Back in the late 1990s when corporate websites were still relatively novel, images of any kind seemed glamorous beside those grayscale backgrounds and blue hyperlinks. Today, Instagram and Flickr have turned everyone into an amateur photographer, while web usage has educated us to subconsciously reject images that don’t display products effectively.
Follow the Rules
To the entrepreneur creating a new website from scratch, this creates a challenge. How can a site be given that all-important visual flair without breaking the bank, or risking a call from lawyers? After all, republishing content of any kind without the copyright owner’s permission is an absolute no-no. That rules out downloading and reusing photos from a Google Images search, or ‘borrowing’ them from competitor websites – even foreign ones.
These are five popular ways to acquire royalty-free website images, which will complement written content and deliver the visual flair modern audiences expect:
Pay for a License
Getty and Shutterstock are among the companies selling individual photographs to corporate and private clients. Their databases are stocked with professional images captured on expensive camera equipment, often composed in studios and starring attractive models. Do bear in mind, though, that excessively staged photos have become clichéd through overuse, such as multi-ethnic sales meetings with suited professionals smiling at flipcharts.
Investigate Sharing Sites
Websites like Pixabay or FreeImages allow amateurs to share photographs without any fees or copyright issues. It may be necessary to upload a few images of your own before downloading anything else, though many sites simply provide a keyword search bar without restriction. These sites are typically run by enthusiasts and don’t generate any revenue, so image quality can be patchy; contrast the often cartoonish submissions on Stockvault with the far superior (but costly) Shutterstock images advertised alongside Stockvault’s own search results.
Run a Copyright-Free Google Images Search
It isn’t necessary to avoid Google entirely, since some of the photos in its vast archives can be republished without legal impediment. Search for your chosen term, click the Images tab on the results page and go to the Search Tools sub-menu. From the Usage Rights dropdown, select ‘Labeled for reuse’ (which can be edited and trimmed) or ‘Labeled for reuse without modification’ (which can only be published as they originally appear.)
Acquire Your Own Images
If the above options aren’t practical, why not take your own photos? Modern tablets and smartphones have high-resolution cameras whose images can fill a webpage without pixelating, while some high-end devices incorporate wide-angle lenses and bolt-on accessories. A digital SLR camera offers a more professional approach, creating drag-and-drop JPEG files, and the addition of a flashgun can illuminate everything from a ball gown to a ballroom. A tripod provides much-needed stability for product shots, though it’s easy to frame hand-held images correctly by ensuring vertical lines appear straight when seen through the viewfinder.
Hire a Photographer
Although this represents poor value compared to taking your own photos, it can make a real difference to a website’s professionalism. Sites like Freelancer and Gumtree are packed with ads from freelance photographers for hire, who will combine their expertise with your instructions on how to style each photo. The one-off cost of a photoshoot can pay for itself many times over if the resulting images add flair and polish to a website in the coming years.