32 Royalty Free Photo Banks No Digital Marketer Should Live Without

Posted in Digital Marketing | General Guides & Tips

A picture is worth more than 1,000 words. It’s a well-worn cliché, but in digital marketing, it’s 100% true.

Whether it’s for your blog, website, or social media posts, having the right picture to convey your message can make all the difference. Lucky for you, you can now get a host of pictures for free! Here’s a list of 32 top picks that should meet your needs no matter the subject matter or industry you’re in.

1. Unsplash

Unsplash is one of the main sources of free images right now. With over 200,000 photographers uploading their work to the site and collaborations with Trello, BuzzFeed, and Squarespace helping to push their work out to the public, it’s safe to say that Unsplash is here to stay (plus, all photos are curated by the Unsplash team). Though the work is free, Unsplash asks that you help an artist by crediting their work whenever you use one of their photos. Sounds fair to us.

2. Gratistography

Looking for a picture that really stands out? Try Gratistography, a whimsical and colourful website packed with some left of field-visual content. All for the low price of free.

3. Nappy

Nappy celebrates diversity by offering free photos of black and brown people. Created as a response to “white-centric” and corporate America influenced photography found on most stock image sites, Nappy helps startups, companies, and bloggers have the necessary pictures to represent cultural diversity when they need it.

4. Foodiesfeed

Taking pictures of food … sounds easy, right? Well, not quite. The difference between making food look tasty or just “meh” lies in a quality camera, lighting, and some solid photo editing skills. If you don’t have the time or money to invest in all this, Foodiesfeed is your best friend. You’ll find plenty of free stock photos of a variety of food here, and since there’s a strong international community, you’re sure to find dishes from the four corners of the globe.

5. Burst (by Shopify)

Unlike most other stock photography websites, Burst was made from the ground up to provide entrepreneurs with quality photography for their marketing campaigns or websites. Since it’s by Shopify, the material here is excellent for anyone selling products on an online store but, what makes it extra special, are the business and marketing tips they provide, as well as regularly updated trending business ideas tips.

6. Life of pix

We don’t know if it’s the fact that they actively promote one of their photographers on their social media every week, but the quality you’ll find on Life of Pix is out of this world. There’s some serious talent contributing here, and it’s amazing that these pictures are available for free.

7. Reshot

Like Unsplash, Reshot offers a host of photos covering every category under the sun. If you can’t find what you need on other major free platforms, there’s a solid chance you’ll find what you need on Reshot. Also, you’re not required to reference the work of the photographers (but it’s highly appreciated).

8. Pexels

Pexels mission is to empower designers, writers, and programmers to help create their best work. And boy, do they do a good job of it. Pexels puts hundreds and thousands of free photos at your disposal, so you’ve got all the fuel you need to be as creative as possible.

9. Dreamstime

Ok, not all the assets here are free (most start at $0.20), but a lot of them are and what’s on offer is 100% worth it. Unlike the other sites on this list that tend to stick to photography and videos, Dreamstime also offers audio files, vectors, clip art, and a specialised “Editorial” section that offers photos of the latest events worldwide.

10. Picjumbo

When photographer Victor Hanacek had most of his photos rejected by stock photography websites, he decided to forge ahead and create his website to sell his photos. The result is Picjumbo, a website packed with high quality (and free) assets that thousands of bloggers and designers swear by.

These 10 websites offer thousands of free photos and assets for you to use … but they’re just the tip of the iceberg! If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the above (which would really surprise us) here’s 22 more to sink your teeth into.

There you have it, 32 great and free options to fuel your digital marketing efforts. Oh, and if you want to learn more about digital marketing, check out our curated list of websites where you can learn more about the subject.