Content photos and images – where to get them and why not to use those from Google?

We find ourselves in similar situations as well, which is why we decided to describe the best ways to obtain quality and, most importantly, legal images for every occasion. So let's start from the beginning.

The best way is to use your own images

Own images have a huge advantage in their authenticity. Unlike stock photos, the same image will only appear with you, and you can fully influence what will be in the image and what will not. You can easily show your potential clients how things work at your place and introduce them in advance to the environment, people, and even processes through photos. When they visit you, they will feel like they are in a familiar setting.

Investing in a photographer pays off

Creating your own image gallery may be a bit more expensive when involving a professional photographer, but it is a worthwhile investment. Every graphic designer will thank you for a quality custom photo gallery. It will also save you a lot of time searching for that specific photo you have in mind but can't find in the stock library. You will also eliminate the frequent need to edit photos from other sources to make them look consistent and match each other. A suitable time to prepare a corporate gallery is, for example, when preparing a new website. 

Paid Stock Photo Banks

If for various reasons it is not possible to create your own gallery, stock photo banks come into play. The paid ones offer an enormous amount of different photos, images, and videos, with the largest exceeding 300 million items. They allow for efficient filtering and quick finding of the best materials. Some stock photo banks also provide tools for quick editing of purchased materials directly in the browser.

Paid stock photo banks typically offer various modes for acquiring photos, where the rule is that the more you buy, the more advantageous it is. This is particularly useful for frequent bloggers, for whom creating complete original content would be time-consuming.

So, which are the most well-known and largest stock photo banks?

Shutterstock

A stock photo bank with over 300 million items. It contains a large database not only of photos but also of vectors, videos, music, and more. It allows clients to download previews, provides advanced search options, and the ability to download a preview with a watermark for proposals before the actual purchase.

Adobe Stock

A stock photo bank from Adobe that integrates directly into their graphic programs. Similar to shutterstock.com, it contains photos, vectors, and other content. By the way, in its trial version, it offers 10 images in full quality for free download.

iStock and Getty Images

Sister stock photo banks together form one of the largest photo databases on the internet. They allow for the purchase of individual images and also frequently offer freebies (free photos) for registered users.

Before You Buy Photos

Paid stock photo agencies seem like a great solution for now. However, they come with several pitfalls. The first is the fact that they are paid. With a smaller number of photos, the prices per photo are quite high. A bigger disadvantage is definitely the fact that many stock photos appear very staged and are overly common on the internet. With the amount of content bombarding users, it’s quite easy to come across your new key visual photo on other companies' websites. From experience, it can also sometimes be difficult to find suitable photos with the appropriate theme that are also suitable for the Central European market.

And one more note about paid stock photo agencies. People sometimes slip into using a watermarked preview on a live website, which is not the best idea. This severely violates licensing rules and the content then looks quite unprofessional. If you don’t want to pay for images, it’s better to try free stock photo agencies, which we will discuss further.

Free Stock Photo Agencies

If we don’t want to pay for images, it’s better to use free stock photo agencies than to just download them “from Google” or use watermarked previews. Images here are provided by enthusiastic photographers who want to share their work and do not ask for any money for the photos. They only require credit for authorship, and sometimes not even that. Information about the specific license is usually found directly with the photo or on the stock photo agency's page.

Free stock photo agencies are not as extensive as paid ones, and sometimes the quality of the images is lower. The search and filtering tools are also not perfect. However, the images here are more emotional and believable. They appear more natural and less staged than the standard stock photo of a smiling couple. We at PUX prefer to use them for these qualities much more than standard paid stock photo agencies.

And which free stock photo agencies do we use and warmly recommend to you? 

Unsplash

One of the most well-known sites for free images surprises with a large number of quality photos that are provided completely free of charge for commercial purposes without the need for attribution (although it is appreciated). The photos are divided into thematic categories and can be searched at least on a basic level.

Pexels

An extensive photo bank with interesting collections and photos available for commercial use completely free of charge. Architecture, nature, unconventional photos of people. There is truly a lot to find here.

StockSnap

A lesser-known but very useful photo bank for many occasions. Like the previous two, all available photographs are free for commercial purposes as well.

And after a little searching, you will find many more similar stock photo sites on the internet. However, we recommend sticking to the larger ones that strive to maintain a certain quality and also check the licenses of the available images. 

In conclusion – why should you avoid downloading directly from Google or Seznam?

Google and Seznam allow for the search of a vast number of images. However, these images usually do not belong to either of these companies. They are located on other sites and may have various licensing conditions attached to them. This is often a problem, especially for commercial use, where fines for violating licensing terms can be quite high.

Another practical reason is that such images are often very small in size and unsuitable for further use. This often leads to their unappealing stretching or loss of quality. Photos from stock photo sites, both paid and free, typically have significantly higher resolutions, are easier to work with, and look more professional.