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People will always be drawn to free stuff. For designers, it’s free fonts, free icons, free Photoshop extensions, etc.
Recently I have seen more and more beautiful photos used on websites, themes, design mockups and shots on Dribbble. I don’t know who has started this out but I highly appreciate Unsplash initiative for providing gorgeous free stock photos to do whatever you want.
As a designer personally, I can’t stand ugly cliché stock photos, amateur level pictures and other low-quality imagery used in any form of design. I am constantly in search of beautiful photos for my personal and client work and thought that you may find this collection of best stock photo sites useful.
Before You Scroll Through Best Stock Photo Sites
Important note: make sure to check the licenses of pictures you intend to use. Not all of the images you will find on these websites are free photos for commercial use. Give a shout-out to authors, optional but they love it.
Exclusive Bonus: Need only the best free images available? Grab this free pdf with a list of 60+ best websites that regularly post new free photos.
Unsplash
Free high-resolution images. 10 new photos every 10 days. Do whatever you want.
Burst
High-quality, free stock photos created with entrepreneurs in mind. They’re permitted for commercial and personal use with no attribution required.
Picjumbo
Totally free photos for your commercial & personal works. New photos daily.
Refe Free Photos
Refe is a marketplace of the best mobile photos. Here are free photos for your personal or commercial projects.
Pixabay
Huge collection of free images for commercial purposes without attributing the original author or source.
Death to the Stock Photo
Free high-res lifestyle photography sent to you monthly, to do whatever you please. For your blog, social channels, mockups or even to hang on your wall if you’re so inclined.
Little Visuals
Sign up to get 7 hi-res images zipped up in your inbox every 7 days. Use them anyway you want.
Superfamous
Superfamous photos are available for free and you can use the work for your own purposes — including commercial use — as long as credit is provided.
Gratisography
Free high-resolution images for websites, that you can use on your personal and commercial projects.
Compfight
Compfight is an image search engine tailored to efficiently locate images for blogs, comps, inspiration, and research.
SplitShire
SplitShire is a delicious collection of free stock photos for personal & commercial use.
IM Free
A curated collection of free resources, all for commercial use.
New Old Stock
Vintage photos from the public archives free of known copyright restrictions.
Photo Pin
Similar to Compfight, PhotoPin helps bloggers find photos for their blog and makes adding them to their post fast and easy.
Function Free Photos
Nice initiative by Liam McKay. Beautiful photos, 100% free to do whatever you want with.
Free Photos by Paul Jarvis
Another great initiative by Paul Jarvis. Currently, just 20 high-resolution photos to use where ever and however you please.
Did I miss any great resource? Please share your hidden free photography gems with other designers.
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