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Finding Images Online
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Check out this video on Copyright and Images
Library Image Resources
Oxford Art Online (only accessible from AiPD campus computers) has images from many museums in a variety of resolutions.
Copyright Information
PDF handouts:
Finding Copyright-Free Materials
more information
Finding Images on the Web & Copyright from Boston University
Images on the WWW
Art History & Architecture
AHDS Visual Arts - explore collections (600 px) The Visual Arts Data Service provides access to the digital archives of many organizations including the African and Asian Visual Arts Archive, The Imperial War Museum's poster archive and the design archives of a number of Universities.
Artchive (1065 px) Free ad-driven site with many art images from ancient contemporary art. Contains more than 2,000 high-quality scans of artwork from Abakanowicz to Wyeth. Created by Mark Harden.
Artcyclopedia Another free ad-driven site with manylinks to art images from ancient contemporary art, mostly from museums. Bills itself as the guide to great art on the Internet.
Art Images for College Teaching (765 px) An educational resource intended primarily to disseminate images of art and architectural works in the public domain on a free-access, free-use basis to all levels of the educational community, as well as to the public at large. The images displayed on this site have been photographed on location by the author, who consents to their use in any application that is both educational and non-commercial in nature. Collections include Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, 18th-20th Century and Non-Western Art.
The Society of Architectural Historians (768 px) The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) provides a world survey set of digital images of architecture and built environment in two parts. Part I: Ancient through Mid-evil plus early non-Europe and Part II: Renaissance through Modern.
The Visual Arts Data Service (1024 px) Collections include London College of Fashion: College Archive, London College of Fashion: Paper Patterns, the British National Fine Art Collection, Oxford Portraits, the South Asian Diaspora Literature and Arts Archive and many more British and international images.
Web Gallery of Art (1300 px) The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Romanticism periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 18,400 reproductions.
The Wolfsonian-Florida International University Modern Dutch Collection (2725 px) The Wolfsonian's digital image collection is accessible via PALMM, Publication of Archival and Museum Materials. PALMM is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida to provide digital access to important source materials for research and scholarship. Scroll down on the page and click on The Wolfsonian-FIU Modern Dutch Collection.
WorldImages Art & Architecture Portfolios (1028 px) Great images from a variety of disciplines.
Images on the WWW
Creative Commons
Abstract Influence (3456 px) requires registration in order to enter the site, but once you’re in, you can upload or download, and participate in the forum, all for free. Photos are grouped by category but there is no photo search function available.
Cepolina (1024 px) is an international Creative Commons site that offers collection browsing using maps of the world. You can also browse by category, or use a search function.
Creative Commons This website provides links to search engines that can be used to find images, video and audio that are not protected by copyright or allow manipulation under certain circumstances.
Dreamstime (3456 px) is a free Creative Commons source for stock photography. Registration required.
Freepixels (2700 px) has a search function, categories, and a tag cloud to access a wide spectrum of stock photography.
Freerange (2400 px) offers a wide range of free stock photography, but requires registration before you can download.
GeekPhilosopher (800 px) is another source for royalty free stock photography, wallpapers, and desktop backgrounds. Browse images by a variety of collections.
Imageafter (3564 px) has 20,000 images available. There are two drop-down menus (one for textures, one for images) for category browsing. Imageafter allows you to use their images on printed material for resale.
Imagebase (3072 px) The photos on Imagebase are free to use, and are licensed under a Creative Commons license.
MorgueFile (very large) contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use. The term "morgue file" is popular in the newspaper business to describe the file that holds past issues flats. Although the term has been used by illustrators, comic book artist, designers and teachers as well. The purpose of this site is to provide free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits.
Nations Illustrated (1100 px) houses a collection of over 7,000 photographs from around the world.
Openphoto (4200 px) Another free Creative Commons site with pictures accessed via category browsing or search engine.
Photo Rogue (2560 px) lets you request a picture of anything you want, and volunteer photographers might go out and attempt to actually take the picture you want. This is a great place to find free, large photographs of unusual subject matter.
Pixel Perfect Digital (3888 px) has a growing collection of images and textures. Registration allows you to upload to your own personal gallery. A search function allows searching within one or more category.
Public Domain Photos (2024 px) All photos on this web site are public domain. You may use these images for any purpose, including commercial. This site is especially helpful for finding photographs of nature.
Stockvault (4200 px) features thousands of images and some Photoshop tutorials. Membership is free and unlocks some additional features, such as a lightbox.
Stock.xchng (very large) SXC is a "friendly community of photography addicts who generously offer their works to the public free of charge."
Unprofound (1167 px) groups photographs by by color, rather than category. There is also a search function.
Wikimedia Commons Images (very large) Images are available from 47 subcategories including 3D computer graphics, Advertisements, Illustrations and Maps.
Woophy (1280 px) is another international Creative Commons site that incorporates a map of the world. Every dot on the map represents photos taken at that location.
Images on the WWW
Federal Government
The BLM Image Library (2000 px) contains more than 60,000 images of public lands, mostly in 12 Western states, including Alaska. A special collection maintained by the BLM’s National Operations Center includes 3,600 historical photos dating back to the early surveys of the West.
Library of Congress American Memory Well over 5 million sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions.
The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (large) www.loc.gov
The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalogue offers digital images of much of the Prints and Photographs Division's holdings including architecture, design and engineering, among other categories.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Image Gallery (large) Includes direct links to the NASA Image Exchange, the Dryden Image Gallery, the Kennedy Multimedia Gallery, the Earth Observatory, Great Images in NASA (GRIN), and the Planetary Photojournal.
Public Health Image Library (PHIL) (3000 px) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a searchable database of photographs, micrographs and illustrations relating to public health.
Smithsonian Institution (1245 px)
Note: Go into the "Research" tab for extensive listings. The Smithsonian Institution's Online Resources in Art and Design offers a collection of digital images including architecture and gardens, crafts, folk and decorative arts, film, theatre and TV, graphic art, industrial design, music, painting, photography, sculpture, stamps, letters and coins, writing and literature. Also see Galaxy of Images here.
Smithsonian Institute Le Garde-meuble collection Explore images from this furniture repository created from 1839 to 1935.
U.S. Air Force Link (large) Over 1500 pages of Air Force photographs.
U.S. Army Images (large) Over 2300 photographs or Army-related material.
U.S. Coast Guard Visual Information Gallery (large) Houses over 15,000 photographs as well as art, graphics, video and audio.
U.S. Department of Defense Image Collections (large) Hi-resolution, public domain downloads available on many subjects including military leaders and official graphics. Video also available.
U.S. Navy Newstand Photo Galleries (1008 px) Great for images of airplanes, ships, soldiers, government ceremonies and military officials.
Textures on the WWW
Absolute Background Textures Archive
Imageafter (3564 px) has 20,000 images or textures available. There are two drop-down menus (one for textures, one for images) for category browsing. Imageafter allows you to use their images on printed material for resale.
Pixel Perfect Digital (3888 px) has a growing collection of images and textures. Registration allows you to upload to your own personal gallery. A search function allows searching within one or more category.
Other Links of Interest
Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. The New Testament appears in the original vernacular language (koine) and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection (1536 px) The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection contains to date over 10,000 maps online and focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented.
The Farber Gravestone Collection (1536 px) The Farber Gravestone Collection is an unusual resource containing over 13,500 photographic images documenting the sculpture on more than 9,000 gravestones, most of which were made prior to 1800, in the Northeastern part of the United States.
The Internet Archive The Internet Archive provides access to digital records of moving images, live music, audio recordings, and text.
MorgueFile
Free high-res stock photos for corporate or public use
Library of Congress American Memory Maps Collections
PicLens is free browser plugin to help view images and other information
Multnomah Public Library Databases
*Accessible with a Multnomah Public Library card
AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive The Archive is a primary source database from the Associated Press that takes users on a sensory journey of photographs, audio sound bites, graphics and text spanning over 160 years of history. (lower res)
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a searchable collection of online reference books and information databases. Many of the books (especially in the arts) have pictures. (lower res)
Oxford Art Online is accessible online with a library card.
Images on the WWW
Advertising
Ad*Access (1500 px) Images of over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955. From The John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History at Duke University.
Emergence of Advertising in America (1900 px) Images of 9,000 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920, illustrating the rise of consumer culture and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States. From Duke University.
Library of Congress American Memory Advertising Collections Collections include Broadsides and Printed Ephemera, Coca-Cola Advertising, and WPA posters from 1936-1943.
Medicine and Madison Avenue (1700 px) Images of over 600 advertisements and historical documents dated between 1911 and 1958, relating to the creation and influence of health-related advertising. From Duke University.
Images on the WWW
Colleges and Universities
Brown University Archive of Early American Images (1536 px) The Archive of Early American Images database is intended to assist historians in their quest for contemporary images to illustrate their research findings and to facilitate the study of historical images in their own right and in proper context. It is also intended to be a unique resource for picture researchers, documentary filmmakers, and others looking for material for commercial use.
Harvard University Art Museums collections online (512 px)
Stanford University's Online Collection (768 px) Stanford University's digital collection includes digital audio and video from the R. Buckminster Fuller collection and links to other important collections.
University of Edinburgh Charting the Nation (1536 px) Collection includes a wide variety of single maps and maps in atlases and other bound books, together with important manuscript and printed texts relating to the geography and mapping of Scotland from 1550 to 1740 and beyond.
USC Digital Archive (1024 px) Collections include Automobile Club of Southern California, California Historical Society, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Greene & Greene Digital Archive, Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive, Korean American Digital Archive, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, and more.
University of Wisconsin Digital Collection (1500 px) Digital holdings include The Arts Collection, Artists' Book Collection, Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture, Ecology and Natural Resources Collection, The Science Collection and much more.
WorldImages provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 60,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery. WorldImages is accessible anywhere and its images may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes.
Images on the WWW
Geography & Area Studies
Image Database to Enhance Asian Studies (1700 px) A searchable image database with a wide variety of historic images of asia. Great for people, places and artifacts
Images on the WWW
Graphic Design
AIGA Design Archives
The AIGA Design Archives provides access to a collection of digital images of contemporary design with an emphasis on American design in the categories of book design, brand and identity design, corporate communications design, editorial design, environmental graphic design, experience design, illustration, information design, motion design, package design, promotional and advertising design, and typographic design.
The Chicago Design Archive
The Chicago Design Archive offers a selection of digital images of three graphic design exhibitions from the Society of Typographic Arts in 2002. "Fifty Years of Graphic Design in Chicago 1927-1977", "Fifty Years of Chicago Graphic Design 1941-1991", and "Seventy-five Years of Graphic Design in Chicago." Search for images by designer, firm, client and date.
Eames Office Web Sites
The Eames Office offers a large digital archive of Eames design and
blueprints including furniture, toys, accessories, etc.
Grapus Poster Archive
The Grapus Poster Archive offers digital images of the posters and graphic work of Grapus between 1970 and 1990.
The Gutenberg Bible at the Ransom Center
The Ransom Center at the University of Texas offers a complete digital
archive of over 1300 images of the pages of the Gutenberg Bible including detailed images of illuminated letters.
Images on the WWW
Illustration
The Golden Age of Illustration: Artists and their Work Artcyclopedia provides access to digital images of illustrators work from"The Golden Age of Illustration" between the 1880's and 1920's.
NMAI: Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth (558 px)
The National Museum of American Illustration offers digital images of the work of many great illustrators from "The Golden Age of Illustration" including Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Howard Pyle, H.C. Christy, J.C. Leyendecker, J.M. Flagg, Charles D. Gibson, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Harrison Fisher, Dean Cornwall, John Falter, Elizabeth S. Green, Meade Schaeffer, and Frank E. Schoonover.
Image Search Engines
Ask.com Images is an Internet search engine that offers search expanding and refining options. You can limit by image size or file type.
Clusty Images Clustered results from many other search engines. Users can limit by image size or coloration, and filter adult content.
Dogpile Images fetches metasearch results from Google, Live Search, Yahoo and others. Users can limit by image size or coloration, and filter adult content.
Exalead A global Internet search engine offering a novel way to preview results and refine image, video and text searches. 8 billion pages indexed to date.
Everystockphoto.com is a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific. You can view a photo's license by clicking on the license icon, below and left of photos.
Google Images Many searchable images on a dazzling variety of subjects. Tip: limit results to higher resolution images.
Live Search Images Images and pictures from across the Web courtesy of Microsift. Allows limits for image size, safety and display language.
Pic Search An image search service with more than 2,000,000,000 pictures. Advanced searching allows a variety of limits.
Yahoo Search Images Another image search service. Advanced searching allows a variety of limits including size, safety, coloration and domain.
Images on the WWW
Public Libraries
NYPL Digital Gallery (760 px)
The New York Public Library offers 550,000 digital images under the categories of illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, etc.
Oregon Historic Photographic Collections (400 px)
Thousands of photographs dating to the mid 1800's from the digital collections of the Salem Public Library. Many black and white images from Statesman Journal, Oregon Archives and other sources.
Images on the WWW
Museums
bauhaus-archiv museum for design
The Bauhuas-Archiv Museum for Design offers archives on the history of the
Bauhaus, its people, workshops and production.
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (400 px)
The Cooper Hewitt's eMuseum provides access to digital images of many objects in the museum's collection including product design, decorative arts, drawing, prints, graphic design, textiles and wall coverings.
The Huntington Library Art Collections (400 px) www.huntington.org
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens offers digital images from their art collections including, American paintings, American Sculpture, British drawings, British paintings, British Sculpture and William Morris Collection.
MoMA.org (500 px)
The Museum of Modern Art's online collection offers digital images of over seven thousand objects in the Museum's collection including architecture and design drawings, painting, sculpture, photography, prints and illustrated books, film and media.
Victoria & Albert Museum (768 px)
The Victoria & Albert Museum's online collection offers 43,000 images from the V&A collection including ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photography, prints, sculpture, and textiles.
Images on the WWW
Patents and Blueprints
The-Blueprints.com is a free, ad-driven site with over 23,000 schematic drawings of vehicles, people and science fiction creations.
Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of patents made available by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)—from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in the middle of 2006. Over 7 million patents are covered. Patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months are not included.
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the official source for patents filed in the United States. This site contains one database for issued patents and another for published applications, both viewable as full-page images.
Social Networking
deviantART.com An international art networking site with over 46 million images.
flickr.com Flickr is a way to store, sort, search and share your photos online.
Street Art & Graffiti
on the WWW
The Wooster Collective (1024 px) was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.