MAKADON

Seen so many websites that say royalty free, yet they are not free, u have to buy credits. Prime example is vectorstock.com. I guess the only way to get free vectors/stock images are from tech forums when people post up shutterstock files....i have seen so many, but never the ones i want :(

Anyway, does anyone here have links to websites that provide free print quality images. Just realised all the thousands of wallpapers i have are 72dpi even though they are 1924x1200 in size, which are not good enough for print :(

Minuteman Press

Our favourite image sources are here - Minuteman Press Pictures - some of which are free.

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this_is_peter

The best on I know of is Stock.XCHNG Everything there is free.

MAKADON

Ah yes, i knw about sxc. But the pics and vectors i REALLY want are the ones in shutterstock and similar websites like it :(

'Minuteman Press' nothing is free on those images links apart from few low/medium resolution pics :(

Boss Hog

The best images are the ones you pay for and lets face it they're not that expensive, get your hand in your pocket

Fotolia are pretty cheap.

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JMCDesigner

istockphoto.com are also not bad, sometimes you can find good stuff in the bargain bin (even vector stuff!) for a quid!

pcbranding

Royalty-free refers to the nature of the license for the use of the image - you purchase the image and can use it for pretty much whatever you want depending upon the terms of the agreement with the company you are buying it from. It doesn't mean 'FREE OF CHARGE'!

You get what you pay for in this world. If you want quality you have to pay for it. Or else purchase something cheaper and modify it to suit your brief.
If you are a designer then you should be more than capable of making it your own.

I agree 'put your hand in your pocket'.

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dasmon777

Which is a very good spot to give a warning.

Check your sources extremely carefully, even though the website may appear to be supplying very low cost or free stock images when they do not have the rights.

Getty images are undergoing a massive and wholly provocative campaign against site owners over the use of copyrighted images. Most of the site owners being targeted are completely unaware that they have an image that they shouldn't have.

One cited case is where someone used a cart image within and overall design and got clobbered for £1500. Another is where they used a picture of their own church on their site, unaware that the photographer had also listed it on Corbis - £3000.

Getty are kicking out thousands of these threatening and scary demands every week now and in most cases it is where people have obtained them through free or low cost sources.

In the past I have used what I considered to be reliable sources but so many people in the last few months have been hit with demands for well in excess of £1000 for an image worth about £2 that I will only use a trusted site.

As a web developer all I want is to have access to good graphics and images for which I am prepared to pay a reasonable commercial fee for. But Getty's tactics recently have left me and many like me cold. I genuinely do not feel I can trust Getty or related sites anymore.

I now refuse to to purchase from istockphoto, Corbis or getty (all owned by Getty). Fotolia seem to be genuine and I have written to them to get confirmation that they are providing properly authorised images and that they will not be pursuing the scorched earth policy that Getty do.

I totally agree that designers and photographers should be paid a rights fee and that copyright infringers should be stopped. But most of the targets that Getty are pursuing are first time offenders and most of them are innocent or unaware of any wrong doing. A simple, 'please remove it' or pay a small fine but not one in the 000's!

Be extremely careful where you source your imagery. It is your clients who will get a very big shock.

JonHurley

Totally agree with above. Getty are an unethical company cynically trying to squeeze as much as they can from their Rights Managed collection before it collapses.