5 Free and Affordable Sites For Blog Images

Bloggers are always needing images.

Truth be told- stealing them seems like the only possible solution to many people who simply don’t make enough to hand out hundreds of dollars for monthly image subscription plans. But don’t risk your reputation or being sued by believing Google Image search is your free resource of blog images.

Keep your integrity and do it right! There are plenty of very affordable and even completely free options.

Here are 5 of my favorite resources for blog images.

1. PressFoto

PressFoto is a new stock image website that takes a very unique approach to affordability. Rather than buying the rights to images, you have the option to rent the images. For as little as one penny for every one thousand views- PressFoto makes for an excellent blog image resource.

The site is easy to browse and the images are high quality and unique.

Not only will you find images at PressFoto but you can purchase videos, vector images and clipart too.

Not sure about renting the images? You can buy the rights to them as well and it seems most images in the size the majority of bloggers would need run around $2-4 a piece. That’s not a bad price considering many of these stock photo sites won’t allow you to buy by the image but rather through subscription plans (which PressFoto gives you the option of as well).

 

2. Canva

Canva is a handy site to be a member of. They provide stylish and modern templates for all things your blog will need. From social networking headers, blog posts, business cards or flyers- Canva is an excellent resource. I also like Canva because they have an extensive collection of images for only $1 a piece!

I enjoy browsing through the templates and pre-designed images that Canva designers put together. They are so inspiring. It’s such a life saver when you are in a mental rut for what kind of picture you need for your blog post. Just spend some time browsing through Canva for ideas and your mind will start sparking again.

We also recently reviewed Canva as a home business solutions site if you want to know more.

 

3. Bigstock

Bigstock has been my go-to site for blog images. You can buy credit packs or subscription plans. I love that Bigstock offers low priced credits. For $35 you can get enough credits to download around 35 images (sized about right for a blog)!! That’s just $1 an image!

Sometimes Bigstock will offer you a low priced plan where you can download a set number of images a day for a month. The recent plan I did allowed me to buy 5 images a day. So, every day I did my best to go on and download 5 images. After a month I had a nice collection so I canceled my subscription. You just have to watch for the deals. I believe my deal came to me while I was browsing the site- an ad appeared offering me the deal, when I turned it down, it offered me an even better deal- some might say a deal I couldn’t refuse.

Also, Bigstock offers a free image each week. It’s a great way to start a free collection of blog images.

 

4. morgueFile

morgueFile is completely free!! Of course, you don’t usually get the same quality of images as you can see at places like Bigstock but when you need a basic image or you’re in a crunch and have no budget for blog images- morgueFile is the best place to visit. The search feature works well and there is a big collection.

Plus it’s great to get creative sometimes. Some of the photos can go from bland to amazing with a little photoshop skills or filters. Or, try blurring some of the images and placing text over as a way to make the text pop and hide the fact the image is lower quality. Of course, not all images on morgueFile are low quality. There are a lot of great images too- just not as easy to come by on your subject of interest sometimes.

 

5. Flickr

Flickr is an open source for people to share their images. However, not all images on the site are available for you to go picking through and placing on your next blog post. To find the images that artists have deemed okay to use, go to the Creative Commons section of Flickr. Then, you can choose between which licensing will suit your blog. Most of them will require to be credited for the use. For a brief explanation of each licensing type to know which will meet your needs- there will be a description of each on the right side of the screen.

Or, when you find an image you like, click on it and look to the right of the screen for the licensing type (example: Some Rights Reserved). You can click on the licensing type for a detail description of what you can and cannot do with the image.

Flickr takes more work but it can be fun to browse and who can beat free?

 

Freebie Solution

As an added solution- consider taking some of your own images! Even just a picture of a brick wall, concrete, rugs- anything with texture. If you have a lot of natural light- even your cell phone camera can take amazing photos! You can use them in sites like PicMonkey, Canva or your own Photoshop software program to add text, color blocks or whatever you need to make your very own free image.

Related Posts:

• Create Affordable Business Materials with Canva
• Best Websites for Free Stock Images and Videos
• Foap: Sell Your iPhone Images
• Want Free Stuff? These 53+ Amazon Review Sites Give You Free Products
• How to Choose a Blog Domain Name- Blogging 101