People often say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This certainly rings true in elearning when there is often so much information to deliver. Images can grab a learner’s attention by creating an engaging and riveting scene. Using images can help brighten up boring subject matter, or use a diagram to convey a complex topic. By using photos or illustrations, you might trigger an emotional response in your learner that helps move them to a deeper level of understanding and help commit this particular fact to memory

Stock image sites can be a great way to source images for your project; however, they can often be costly. We have rounded up our favourite 5 sites where you can get free images to use in your courses.

Most of these image are free from copyright restrictions or licensed under creative commons public domain dedication. This means you can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, without asking permission. Where noted below, some do require attribution, which means you have to give kudos to the photographer.

https://burst.shopify.com/
No attribution required
A free site with CCO (Creative Commons Zero) license. Lots of photos on many topics, also searchable.

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
No attribution required
Download free and premium stock photos and illustrations for websites, advertising materials, newspapers, magazines, ebooks, book covers and pages, music artwork, software applications and much more. If you want higher resolution images, they are available for purchase.

https://stocksnap.io/
No attribution required
Approximately 9000 beautiful images on a wide range of topics. Site is searchable; photos are on CCO license.

https://unsplash.com/
Attribution required
Absolutely stunning photos of various topics, portraits, landscapes but you do have to give credit to the artist.

https://picjumbo.com/
Free images for use but not for resale.

https://pixabay.com/
No attribution
This site is a game changer. Over 1 million free images, vectors and videos, all under CCO license to use in elearning. Search, browse, enjoy!

http://www.gratisography.com/
No attribution
Another site with a range of topics and free hi res images.

http://publicdomainarchive.com/
Most free, some premium images require subscription.

https://foodiesfeed.com/
No attribution required
Great for anything food related.

http://www.freeimages.co.uk/index.htm
Attribution required
18,000 images available, must provide attribution to the photographer.