As you all know, I love to use photographs for inspiration. Color, shape, design; all these things can be captured in a second and stored for future reference.

Taking your own photographs is of course a simple way to collect copyright free images; however the internet also has many resources that offer copyright free images that can be used not only for inspiration, but for other things as well.

Most of the photos I use on this blog come from these free sources, and I think you’ll agree, they certainly add extra emphasis to the blog posts and grab your attention.

Just a note, even though these sites claim “copyright free”, make sure you read their copyright rules – “free” often comes with conditions.

Here are a few websites that offer free images:
www.Morguefile.com
Visipix
FreeFoto.com
PD Photo.org

and finally . . .

Flickr

Special notes about Flickr images:
You’re not allowed to use Flickr images that are marked as copyrighted or ‘All rights reserved’ unless you get explicit permission from the author. However, a lot of images on Flickr are shared under various Creative Commons Licenses listed here, but briefly:

• Attribution License
  You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.
  Search page for this license
• Attribution-NoDerivs License
  Same as Attribution License plus you let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
  Search page for this licence
• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
  Same as Attribution-NoDerivs License plus you let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.
  Search page for this licence
• Attribution-NonCommercial License
  Same as Attribution License plus you let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.
  Search page for this licence
• Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
  Same as Attribution-NonCommercial License plus you allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
  Search page for this licence
• Attribution-ShareAlike License
  Same as Attribution License plus you allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
  Search page for this licence

So you can see that there is virtually an endless source for free images on the web – so go get em!

We all love freebies, and we all just love freebie images that are both inspirational and useful.

These free images are high resolution, free for both commercial and non-commercial use; and include 160 images of natural, industrial, grunge and fabric textures.

Print them out on paper or fabric and use them in your projects or journaling; or combine them into a slideshow and use them for inspiration when you’re feeling blocked.

You can download the images from Ar-bent-ing – the act of being creative and if you download them, make sure you leave a small thank you in return and drop them a note in their comment box and say “thanks!” for providing such a wonderful batch of photos with no strings attached.