On a budget? Need to include images in your flyer, brochure, or postcard? Here are some suggestions to find low cost or free images.
Purchase Stock photography. Stock photography websites offer high quality, royalty free images. Royalty free images are images that you purchase for a one time fee and have unlimited use1. You will not need to pay additional royalties after the initial purchase. Images on these sites are purchased individually and usually run less than $5.00 per image (cost varies based on size and resolution). Purchasing these images can help you create your own photo library and use those images on other educational materials. A quick google search came up with the follow stock photography websites:
Go to social photo sharing websites. Photo sharing websites, such as Flickr Creative Commons, are websites where everyday people are posting images they have taken. Each image should provide rules and guidelines for the images’ use (i.e. use for academia, unlimited use, etc.). You can also use the website Behold to help you find images or do your own search. Go to Social Times to see how they rated the top 5 free photo sharing sites.
Search in Microsoft Office Images. This is already included as part of your Microsoft Office (Word, Publisher, PowerPoint) package. The images here are free and you have unlimited use. Many of the stock photography websites contribute images to this database. You can also visit their Microsoft Office Images website.
Search in Google images. You can always search in Google images; just make sure you provide a citation for the images.
Take your own images. You can use your own camera or camera phone. This is a great way to include your own community in your educational materials. Additionally, it will allow the reader to relate to the message you are trying to convey. For example, if you are developing a material about smoke-free outdoor dining, take a picture of a local restaurant that has no-smoking signs posted in their outdoor dining areas.
Read more about using Compelling and Appropriate Images in the Learn How Section of our website.
Resources:
2 http://www.sonicfoundry.com/webcast/How-to-Create-Slides-that-Dont-Suck.aspx