Research by Subject: Psychology: Finding Images Free to Use and Share

Image Collections

GraphicStock This link opens in a new window
To access, click "Sign in with Google"

Download high quality, copyright- and royalty-free vector graphics, illustrations, and stock photos, including icons, design elements, infographic components, and backgrounds to enhance your poster, website, infographic, video, presentation, or other visual project. Check out Videoblocks and Audioblocks to find additional royalty-free elements.

NOTE: Some collections require that you limit your search to find images that are free to use and share.

CC Search
CC Search is not itself a search engine. Instead, it offers easy access to search services provided by other organizations - such as Google Images, Flickr, and Fotopedia. You should always examine the information that accompanies the images you find to verify that they are in fact licensed under Creative Commons. For information on using CC Search, take a look at the "Finding Images Free to Use and Share (Tutorials)" section of this page.
Wikimedia Commons
A collection of freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
You should always examine the information that accompanies the images you find to verify that they are in fact in the public domain or licensed under Creative Commons.
Google Images
Using the Advanced Search on Google Images, you can limit your search to find images that are free to use and share on the open web. For information about how to do this, take a look at the "Finding Images Free to Use and Share (Tutorials)" section on this page.
Flickr: Creative Commons
Use this page to search and browse images on Flickr that have been licensed under Creative Commons. Select "See More" after the name of the license, and then use the search box to find images with that license.
Flickr: Advanced Search
Search only Creative Commons-licensed content on Flickr by using the Creative Commons limiter on the bottom of the Advanced Search screen. If you want to create a derivative work (such as a video) with the images you discover, be sure to check the box to "Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon."

Finding Images Free to Use and Share (Tutorials)

Using Flickr to find Creative Commons photographs
In this video, you will learn how to find images with Creative Commons Licenses on Flickr. The video was created by Justin Unrau, a graduate student at the School of Library Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia.
Using Creative Commons to find images on Google Image
This video, produced by Whatcom Community College (Bellingham, WA), takes you through the steps of using search.creativecommons.org to search Google Images. NOTE: This video should help you to perform most searches using the Creative Commons search portal, not just the Google Images search.

Why Should I Use This Page?

The resources on this page will help you find images without copyright restrictions or with licenses permitting that they be used and shared.

Remember, it is still important that you read and comply with any use restrictions and that you provide proper citations for your images. Some of the resources listed below require that you take additional steps to narrow your search to images that are in the public domain or that have a Creative Commons license.

What is a Creative Commons License?

A Creative Commons License is a special form of copyright license that is used by creators to indicate that the public may use, share, and sometimes even build upon their work. For more information, take a look at the Creative Commons Website.

There are several kinds of CC License, some of which are more restrictive than others. Because of this, it is important to review the terms of the license for any image that you want to use. Keep in mind that if you plan to alter an image in any way (include it in a video, for instance, or modify it using Photoshop) the license must be one that allows you to make derivatives. You can find more information about the various CC Licenses here.