Library Guides: Education Resources: Find Images

Warning

Always read and comply with the use restrictions for specific image sources. Always cite images someone else created. Unless specifically permitted, images should not be sold or used in commercial products or for commercial purposes.

Reverse Image Search

TinEye
The reverse image search on TinEye.com sometimes helps find an original owner of an image. There are often many to sort through. Use criteria used to locate credible internet information to narrow down leads to original source
Google Images-Doing a Reverse Image Search
When you search using an image, your search results may include:
Similar images
Sites that include the image
Other sizes of the image you searched for
Search using an image works best when the image is likely to show up in other places on the web. So you'll get more results for famous landmarks than you will for personal images like your latest family photo.
DIRECTIONS:
Upload an Image
Drag and Drop an Image
Search using a URL

A few suggestions about using Google Images

Google Image Search—Usage Rights

Google Images is a search for images. The search does not own images. The images are retrieved from a variety of sites/locations on the web. Care must be taken to find the original owner of the image. In Google Images, there is a link to the right of the image that says "Visit Page." Sometimes this link goes to a page that does not identify origination, creator, name or owner of image or license information.

The best strategy is to use Google Images and limit the search in order to locate images that are free to use, share, or modify.

Go to Google Images and enter your search terms
Select Settings
Select “Advanced Search” from the drop-down menu
On the Advanced Search screen, scroll down to “Usage Rights” and select the feature that you want to use in order to find images that you are free to use yourself.

NOTE: Under the "Usage rights" section, you can select the type of license you'd like to search for, such as those marked for reuse or even for commercial reuse with modification. Your results will be restricted to images marked with CC or other licenses. Once you confirm the license of the image and make sure that your use will comply with the terms of the license (such as proper attribution to the image's owner), you can reuse the image. There's some fine print, of course. This feature identifies images that are tagged with licenses that authorize reuse. You'll still have to verify that the licensing information is accurate. Google can help you take the first step towards finding these images, but they can't guarantee that the content we linked to is actually in the public domain, or available under the license.

Creative Commons Search

Creative Commons Search
CC Search is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone. Creative Commons, the nonprofit behind CC Search, is the maker of the CC licenses, used over 1.4 billion times to help creators share knowledge and creativity online.

Open Access Photographs & Historical Images

Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online
More than 1.2 million digitized images. mages from the Library of Congress, now in the public domain. Rights assessment is your responsibility.
As a publicly supported institution the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections
Wikimedia Commons
Historical and contemporary images contributed by participants. Millions of high-resolution images of art, architecture, design, people, historical events, diagrams, maps, and more.
WorldImages
The internationally recognized WorldImages database provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains approximately 100,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery.
Yale Digital Content
Yale’s digital collections, including images from the Peabody Museum, Center for British Art, University Art Gallery, Library Map Collection, and Walpole Library Prints and Drawings.

Websites with Free Images

These sites offer at least some images for free general use. These sites also contain advertising and/or offer images for sale.

Read each site’s conditions for use carefully. Different images from the same site may have different use restrictions, too. Make sure you know what they are.

Flickr Creative Commons
Flickr’s Creative Commons portal. Browse by license type or choose “Advanced Search” to limit to Creative Commons content.
Free Stock Photos
Over 10,000 images, browsable by category. Lots of clip art and clear photographs.
MorgueFile
Search image tags or browse by category. MorgueFile license clearly explained. Affiliated with dreamstime stock photo.
Noun Project
Noun Project is building a global visual language that unites us — a language that allows quick and easy communication no matter who you are or where you are. Icons are some of the most universal communication tools available, crossing language and cultural boundaries
Pixabay
All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required
Unsplash
All photos published on Unsplash are licensed under Creative Commons Zero which means you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes, without asking permission from or providing attribution to the photographer or Unsplash

Open Access Clip Art

Open Clip Art Library
Public domain contemporary graphics contributed by users.
Wikimedia Commons—Crystal Clear Icons
Icon collection in the Wikimedia Commons.
Wikimedia Commons—Tango Icons
Icon collection in the Wikimedia Commons.

ArtStor

To log in from off-campus use your Manhattanville username and password. (The same information used for Blackboard and WebAdvisor).

Image and Museum Collections

IMAGE COLLECTIONS AND ONLINE ART (University of Michigan)

Citing Images

For instructions on citing images refer to the appropriate citation Library Guide section below:

Fair Use Evaluator

Fair Use Evaluator
Help you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code.
Collect, organize & archive the information you might need to support a fair use evaluation.
Provide access to educational materials, external copyright resources, and contact information for copyright help at local & national levels.

Education Resources: Find Images

Visual Literacy