If you've been looking for graphics to add to your web pages, articles or blogs you know that professional graphics can be expensive, so getting free web graphics can be a real benefit, especially if you're trying to impress and lure readers in.
If you've been having trouble finding free graphics that look good and are easy to create or download, here are a few great ways to get them…
Check out some of the great websites that offer free stock photos. The photos you'll find on these sites are of good quality and have thousands upon thousands of available photos, either for free or a very reasonable price. Once you get your photo images, you can insert them on your web pages or blog posts and even add your own text.
For example, Flickr has tons of stock photos you can use for free, however those photos are protected under creative commons licenses so before you use any Flickr photos just be sure you understand the legal stipulations for using photos taken by other people that have creative commons licenses attached to them.
Another option is to use open source graphic sites and programs. These are programs that give you access to all that you need to create your own graphics. Granted, these might require you to have a little bit of computer knowledge, but some open source graphic programs like Openclipart.org are very user-friendly and have images you can download immediately.
There are also open source graphic programs like Xara that allow you to create your own great images for banners and buttons, icons and anything else you might need to create the look and feel that is right for your web pages or blog posts.
Finally, don't forget that there are websites that offer free or very affordable clip art. Gone are the days of lame clip art that looks elementary in nature. You can find quality clip art graphics that convey meaning and help to build confidence among your readers.
The whole point of using graphics on your web pages and posts isn't to overwhelm or even impress your readers, really. It’s to give them a little bit of entertainment and something else to please the eye besides boring text.
Interesting images, photos, icons and banners can help identify you and your products in a more fun and pleasing way. Graphics are important, but they don’t need to be budget busters.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I enjoy your blog, thanks for posting.
Another great source of free images is sxc.hu.
I agree that using graphics is a great way to catch your visitors attention.
The places and things that you recommend are right on the money. You can also download free website templates and use the pictures from the free website templates on your web page. The pictures are already copyrighted!
Very great advice some of the graphics are really good. You can use them for logos on your websites. You can also download free website templates and use the graphics for whatever you want.
great information! use Photo-shop for image editing if you are good in that tool
Twitter: JohnMossBlog
June 28, 2010 at 1:04 pm
While not a “free” resource, fiverr.com is a good place to get small graphics done for just $5. It’s hit or miss, though.
I commonly went to same site whenever I need to have web graphics. So sick of having same graphics all the time. So glad to read about this one. Thanks for the tips and advices.
Thanks for the tip! There are some really good images here.