Places to get images
These are a few of our favorite places to get free or low cost images and videos for your website.
Note: If you will be downloading media, you should read our post on How to Avoid Copyright Infringement — This article explains how you should read the license agreement on any media website and take steps to make sure photos you download aren’t licensed elsewhere.
- https://www.pexels.com/ – free photos &videos* for personal and commercial use
- http://www.freeimages.com/ – has free images & links to paid images at Getty
- https://unsplash.com/ – free photos
- https://stocksnap.io/ – more beautiful free stock photos
- https://www.istockphoto.com/ – paid high quality stock photos and videos*; many between $10 and $100
- https://www.videvo.net/ – free stock footage video*
*Many free videos are too large to use on a website as is. Most likely, they will need editing to reduce the file size. There is an extra charge if we need to edit the video for you.
Editing images & videos
If you do not have photo or video editing software, you can use an online service with free editing tools:
- https://www.adobe.com/express/ – create graphics, collages, flyers, videos and animations that look professional in just a few taps with Adobe Spark
- https://www.fotor.com/ – easy photo editing and design; also has a Pro (paid) version
- https://www.picmonkey.com/ – paid photo editing service with free trial
- https://imagecompressor.com/ – free image compression (no editing)
- https://clipchamp.com/en/ – free video editor
Or, we can optimize and upload images for you under our standard design rate.
Naming images
We recommend renaming images before you upload them. Each filename should describe what is in each image. This helps with ADA compliance and SEO. Use all lowercase letters and no spaces.
Good filenames: man-cutting-grass.jpg or fun-wedding-guests-23.jpg
Not as good: DSC-0493772.jpg or “DOG Sleeping.jpg”
Blog posts images
There is no set size, but 1200 or 1600 pixels wide for landscape images, or tall for portrait images, will work nicely. All images should be saved at 72 dpi and compressed as low as 30% to help pages load faster.
Sliders and page title images
For sliders or page titles on most websites, images should be at least 1800 to 2400 pixels wide, 72 dpi. Landscape images (those wider than tall) work the best.
