How to search for Open Images
On Google
Google Image search offers a quick way to sort for only images that are Creative-Commons licensed. To do so, do a regular Google image search:
Make sure you’ve selected “Image” and not “All”.
Note that the top row is always going to be ads, so be sure to scroll down after you change the kinds of images to Creative Commons licensed.
Under the Google search bar on the right is a button marked “Tools”. Click it and a submenu will appear, like this:
Choose the drop down arrow under Usage Rights.
Select Creative Commons licenses and then you’ll scroll down past the ads to see a new set of search results.
You will have to do a bit of extra leg work to find exactly what the CC license is for a particular image by clicking on the source listed below each image result.
Media Repositories
If you are looking for generic images, try these openly licensed source photo sites:
Open-source mojis–in color–for designers, developers and everyone else.
Nature photos released by the creator under a public domain license: https://jaymantri.com/
Flickr images released under a Creative Commons license https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ See, for instance, their Women in Tech collection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/
Internet Archive : This is a unique conglomeration of text, audio, image, and video. Most but not all content is actually open–read their statement on Internet Archives and Copyright and their post, Fair Use and Access to All Human Knowledge
Collections – The Public Domain Review
If you would like sleekier, commercial stock images, try these (not open-source, free to use, yet require you to use the company’s license in most cases–make sure to read the rights info):
If you are looking for science images:
National Institutes of General and Medical Sciences Image and Video Gallery–scientific photos, images and videos
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library–the digital image library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
The Cell Image Library: Not all images are license-free–make sure to check.
Bassett Collection of Stereoscopic Images of Human Anatomy
If you are looking for arts and culture images/video:
Search the Collection – The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tens of thousands of art images from its collection that the Met released into the public domain.
Search the Collection | Cleveland Museum of Art This collection is notably smaller than the Met’s but contains images from the museum’s collection.
Collections | Smithsonian Institution See the Smithsonian’s statement on using the 4 million+ images of objects in their collection: Smithsonian Open Access.
Digital Benin This site brings together images of art taken from Benin and dispersed across museum and private collections. Only a portion of the images are in the Public Domain, so be sure to check.
If you are looking for history/social sciences images:
Vintage photos from the public archives: http://nos.twnsnd.co/
Library of Congress: the largest library in the world’s historic video, photographs, and more
David Rumsey Map Collection : Over 150,000 maps and images from the 16th through 21st centuries licensed under a Creative Commons License though not for commercial use.
NYPL Digital Collections : To date, this collection has 924,903 items, over 180,000 of which are in the public domain and reproducible as high-resolution digital downloads. See Public Domain Collections: Free to Share & Reuse | The New York Public Library. See here for the public domain collections – “no permission required[,] no restrictions on use.”
