BudgetStockPhoto.com

Public Domain Images

PD Images are pictures that have been placed into the world 'public domain' and are free to use by anyone, they are sometimes also referred to as 'copyright free'. In some cases though there are special requests made that the author of the photos be attributed so read the terms of use on each site you plan to source your images from.

Also see our listing of CC0 websites
(a new license type / standardised public domain dedication that many photographers are now using.

There are some great images to be found; below we have listed some of the better sites we have come across:

Site:	Resolution (typ.)	Collection Size
pdphoto.org	1024x768	1000's
unclesamsphotos.com showcasing pd images from the US government	N/A	Directory
public-domain-photos.com lots of flowers, landscapes and travel images from the creators of pdphoto.org	1024x768	13,000
oldbookillustrations.com some lovely old illustrations and etching from bygone books	400x600	100's
publicdomainpictures.net nicely setup archive of user contributed PD images	1280x900	13,000
grin.hq.nasa.gov and/or nix.nasa.gov Great images in nasa is a collection of high resolution space related images.	1000x1000 varies	1000+
usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml US Government Photos, wide selection of topics	N/A	Directory
openclipart.org PD licensed clipart from contributors and via wikimedia commons	small / varies	?
photolib.noaa.gov National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Photo Library	1024x768 varies	32,000
gimp-savvy.com/photo-archive collection of PD images from US government sites	small / varies	27000
ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos US Department of Agriculture. animals, crops, research, fruits and veggies - good quality	2700x1850 (varies)	1000's
nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/index.htm gallery if PD images from yellowstone national park	2000x1300 (varies)	1000's
logodesignweb.com/stockphoto small collection, described as PD but credit required	600x400	100's
burningwell.org community repository of free use images	3072x2048	2000?
copyrightfreephotos.com small collection of location within the uk, nature, technology	1700x100 (varies)	300?
defense.gov/photos US department of defnece image collection	2100x1300 (varies)	Lots
logotypes.ru/default_e.asp almost 5000 company logos in vector format (for editorial use only)	adobe illustrator .ai files	5000
public-domain-image.com just horrible when it comes to ads, but good categories of reasonable res PD stock	2700 (varies)	2000?
archives.gov the US national archives, 30 million items (not all photos) organised under various subjects	varies	Lots
digital.library.northwestern.edu/wwii-posters collection of WWII vintage American posters	460x650 (varies)	300
pdpics.com small bug growing collection of pd	varies (up to 24MP)	1800
picdrome.com small collection of pd, mostly travel locations	1600x1200	700
pixabay.com user contributed PD site, nice search	varies	Lots
clker.com vector clipart and tools	PNG varies, SVG	?
new old stock nice collection of vintage PD images on tumblr	Varies	?
publicdomainarchive.com nicely curated collection of pd images from various sources (modern style stock, sadly no search!)	Varies	?

 

Commercial Use Allowed

Attribution Required

Free Signup Required?

Image Resolution

Approx size of Collection

(v) = Varies ?=Approx/Guesstimate, Always confirm the license information before you use any image you find on a site listed here.

lifeofpix.com	Yes	No	No	varies	100s
nicely styled modern stock photos, no search makes the 'list of photos' limited use for more than inspiration

gratisography.com	Yes	No	No	3828	100s
stylish and trendy, hipster style images, but no search makes the site limited use (CC0 license)

stocksnap.io	Yes	No	No	Varies	~1000
collection of images from various photographers CC0 licensed, good search

thepatternlibrary.com	Yes	No	No	Varies	~100
really nicely put together website with a small collection of tileable background patterns

goodfreephotos.com	Yes	No	No	Varies	<1000
small collection of PD images.

skitterphoto.com	Yes	No	No	Varies	<300
nicely implemented site, featuring a small collection of PD images.

1millionfreepictures.com	Yes	No	No	Varies	~800
despite the title, this site seems to have about 800 oddly selected photos, no categories

Disadvantages of using PD Images

• Very limited choice, although there appears to be lots of PD images out there, it's actually quite difficult to find an image suitable for most concept topics (lifestyle, metaphors, images with people suitable for advertising etc.) wide coverage is limited to areas where US Government agencies are involved so there are some good pickings to be found in agriculture, food, minerals etc.
  
  
• Stylish, up to date stock images... hmm, no, look elsewhere, or look every hard indeed.
  
  
• Most of the images are dated looking or have some technical problems, while you can correct some of these issues in Photoshop it's often better to save time and spend a couple of dollars on a microstock image if your budget allows.
  
  
• Unlike Creative commons there is no easy (reliable) way to search several PD websites at once, and typically each site only has a few thousand images. Unless you regularly need images on a specific topic that is served by one of the PD sites then you will spend a lot of time searching for suitable pictures.