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Image Resources |
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Free Images Sites The following sites offer images that can be freely used on most Web sites and other publications. However, many of these images are not in the public domain and have some use restrictions. Be sure to check the use restrictions at each of these Web sites. If you use any of these images, be sure to provide credit to the source, which should be noted underneath the image as well as a full citing on a separate page.
Amazing Instant Online Animated 3D Text Maker - www.3dtextmaker.com
Creates a text banner with your own text, then you can save the image as you would any other online image. Image Search Engines - Resources to Use with Caution Images found through the resources listed below can usually be used in your classroom under the Fair Use provision, but not necessarily for wider publication (like posting on the Web), unless you receive permission to use them from the copyright holder.
KidsClick: Kids Image Search Tools www.kidsclick.org/psearch.html
Several image search engines on one page, plus special image collections in categories such as art, astronomy, animals, history/society. Not just for kids! A great starting place for finding images.
PicSearch www.picsearch.com
Easy to use. Very clean -- no ads. Although it states that it is filtered and "family-friendly," some images may not be appropriate.
Image Finders and All Purpose Picture Files http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Online/pictures.htm
Image Search by Proteus www.thrall.org/proimage.html
Altavista Image Search - www.altavista.com/image/default
Type in a key word to find photos, graphics, buttons and banners. Provides thumbnail pictures (small version that loads quickly) that you can click to go to the page with the original image. This image search engine is not filtered; students should not use it unsupervised. Even with "family filter" set to "on," Altavista Image Search sometimes returns inappropriate images.
Google Image Search - www.google.com/imghp
Also has an advanced image search to narrow types of files, format, and filtering. Google's SafeSearch blocks Web pages containing explicit sexual content from appearing in search results. You can set the filtering for all Google services at: www.google.com/preferences?hl=en
Lycos Multimedia Search: Images, Video, Audio - http://multimedia.lycos.com Type a search term, then click Images & Video. To narrow your selection, select Images, Video, or Audio and then click GO GET IT!
Yahoo Image Surfer - http://gallery.yahoo.com Search engine, but also includes categories for images. Provides thumbnail pictures. Careful using this site; it sometimes returns inappropriate images. Best to search using the categories (not the search engine) on Yahooligans: www.yahooligans.com/Downloader/pictures or http://search.yahooligans.com/search/ligans?p=images
Artcyclopedia - www.artcyclopedia.com/index.html The fine art search engine. Search by artist name, artwork by title, or art museums by name or location. Or browse by movement, medium, subject, or nationality. Images are not copyright-free. See each individual museum site for usage restrictions.
Online Image Editing Sites
You don't need to install any software to rotate, crop, reduce pictures--and a whole host of other edits. Use free Web sites to help you make your images the right size and look they way you want so they are ready to put on your wikis, blogs, and other unit materials.
Phixr www.phixr.com
Photos you upload to phixr can be of (nearly) any size. However, phixr will scale down big photos to a smaller size, depending on your account's limit. The free account is currently limited to 1.6 megapixels, which means that the size of your photos cannot exceed approximately 1440x1080 (or any other width/height within the limit of 1.6 megapixels). Phixr is strickly for editing photos. Pictures uploaded for editing are removed from their servers after three hours in the free account. No registration, logging in, or downloading/installing software. Make your edits, then download the edit picture for immediate use.
Creating Online www.creatingonline.com/Online_Image_Editor/index.html
Nothing to download or install. No applets or activex. All editing is done via your browser. You can resize, scale, rotate, flip, crop, add text, add clipart, correct color, change to grayscale, colorize, make parts transparent, reduce File Size, edit photo dimensions, and more. Upload JPG, GIF, PNG image file formats. Images saved as JPG or PNG (including transparent PNG). Maximum size to upload: 2400 x 2400 pixels, 2 MB.
Pixenate http://pixenate.com
Upload your image and edit using easy-to-use browser-based toolbar. Make standard edits such as cropping, brightening, removing redeye, resizing, but also has fun effects, such as adding snow, changing pictures to look like oil paintings, adding text, and more.
Free Image Editing Software
Picasa http://picasa.google.com/
Picasa is a free software download from Google that helps you locate and organize all the photos on your computer; edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks; share your photos with others through email, prints, and on the web. It’s fast, easy and free. For Windows* and Linux*.
PhotoPlus 6 http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/photoplus/default.asp
PhotoPlus 6 is a free image editing software that enables you to create, manipulate, and enhance photographs, bitmap graphics, and web animations.
VCW VicMan's Photo Editor http://www.vicman.net/vcwphoto/photo_f.htm
30+ image file formats support, nearly 100 filters and effects, save images as JPG, BMP, TIFF, PCX and TGA.
Image Basics When uploading images to Web sites or sending by e-mail, it's important to have a sense of file size. Here are a few definitions, tips, and guidelines.
GIF and PNG - Type of image format. Use for text and text art, cartoons, line drawings, animations, and any art that needs transparent backgrounds. These files should have no higher resolution than 72 dots (pixels) per inch. The maximum number of colors GIF supports is 256.
JPEG - Type of image format. Use for color photographs; black and white photographs, unless very high contrast; 3D renderings; and art with many blends and gradients.
Pixel - A pixel is one dot on a computer screen. Older monitors are 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high. Typical monitors are 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768. Digital images are composed of pixels, and are therefore dimensioned in pixels not inches. Because monitors vary, the same image can appear to be a different size when viewed on different monitors. The dimension of an image equals some number of pixels wide and some number of pixels tall. The larger the number of pixels, the larger the image; quality of that picture, however, depends on resolution. For web pages, you would normally not want to use anything larger than 400 x 400, and often 150 x 150 will do just fine.
| Image Collections - http://bubl.ac.uk/link/types/images.htm | An unbelievable annotated list of image resource sites appropriate for education—132 different sites at last count. When using these images for purposes beyond your classroom, be sure to check each site's use restrictions. Although many of these sites contain images that are in the public domain or are freely available for non-commercial use, some have restrictions on their use. |
| Microsoft* ClipGallery Live - http://dgl.microsoft.com | Provided for the purpose of granting rights to licensed users of Microsoft Office. Examples of permissible use include, but are not limited to: newsletters, brochures, Web sites, presentations, flyers, postcards, trade show materials, newspaper advertisements, product catalogs, and reports. |
| The Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Reading Room - http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/pphome.html | The catalog includes about 250,000 records representing over five million items. About 90% of the records are accompanied by one or more digital images. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law or restricted by terms of Library of Congress gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. |
| Images of American Political History - http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/_browse.htm | A collection of over 500 public domain images of American Political History. |
| FreeFoto - www.freefoto.com | FreeFoto.com is one of the largest collections of free photographs for non-commercial use on the Internet. The site features 50 main sections with over 1,600 sub headings. The photographs are free to private non-commercial users and for sale to commercial users. FreeFoto.com includes over 58,000 exclusive images found nowhere else on the web with new pictures being added every week. Students may use their images in their own work. An individual teacher may make occasional use of their images in the course of their own personal teaching work. In both cases, a credit to Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com is required. No materials may be distributed that contain our images outside one's own classroom (so no use on classroom Web pages, wikis, or blogs). |
| FreeStockPhotos.com - www.freestockphotos.com | Download stock photographs absolutely free. Arranged in a variety of categories. Use in any Web site or publication you wish - personal or commercial, but must include the domain name (FreeStockPhotos.com) along with each FreeStockPhotos.com picture used. |
| Zettweb Photo Site - www.zettweb.com/grab-a-picture | More than 3000 jpg pictures arranged by subject. Non-commercial use: Web site, online, and multimedia designs; advertising and promotion campaigns; presentations and brochures; packaging for anything except software , books, CDs and cassettes, and videotapes. For all uses of images at this site, provide a credit: "Image © 1999 ZettWeb. All rights reserved." to appear adjacent to the images or in a credits comment. |
| CalPhotos: Plants - http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/flowers/index.shtml | At last check, this site contains 44,348 images of plants. A variety of organizations and individuals have contributed photographs to CalPhotos. Please be aware that these various contributors maintain copyright; follow the usage guidelines provided with each image. |
| The Society of Architectural Historians - www.sah.org/imagex.html | Somewhat difficult to navigate, but has a huge amount of resources for photographs and drawings of historical buildings. Most images can be used for non-profit educational use; republication must preserve the original credit for the source of the image. If any image is identified as "PR" (permission required), those images cannot be used without permission from the image provider. For easier access, categories are listed below: |
| World Survey, Ancient through Medieval, plus early non-Europe: www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wcapts1.html | |
| World Survey, Renaissance through Modern www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wcapts2.html | |
| American Survey [1600-1779] [1780-1849] [1850-1899] [1900-1944] [1945-1976] [addendum of less consensual pedagogical favorites]. |
NIX (NASA Image eXchange) - http://nix.nasa.gov
Photographs are not protected by copyright unless noted. If copyrighted, permission should be obtained from the copyright owner prior to use. If not copyrighted, photographs may be reproduced and distributed without further permission from NASA.
Photographs are not protected by copyright unless noted. If copyrighted, permission should be obtained from the copyright owner prior to use. If not copyrighted, photographs may be reproduced and distributed without further permission from NASA.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Photo Library www.photolib.noaa.gov/collections.html
Well-organized site containing albums and catalogs of over 16,000 images. Great site covering 18 different subject categories. "Most NOAA photos and slides are in the public domain and CANNOT be copyrighted. Although at present, no fee is charged for using the photos credit MUST be given to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce unless otherwise instructed to give credit to the photographer or other source."
Smithsonian - www.si.edu
The Smithsonian Institution ("SI"), and its Office of Printing & Photographic Services ("OPPS") image files are made available for non-commercial, personal use. Copying or redistribution in any manner for personal or corporate gain is not permitted. Images may be put on a file server in one's school, company, museum, etc. only if there's no charge for the user. All the accompanying text information, caption, etc. must be included, and must be presented completely and unchanged. Images cannot be placed on a CD-ROM, public domain or otherwise. See additional usage rules at: www.si.edu/siphotos/CAPTIONS/oppsrules.html
The Smithsonian Institution ("SI"), and its Office of Printing & Photographic Services ("OPPS") image files are made available for non-commercial, personal use. Copying or redistribution in any manner for personal or corporate gain is not permitted. Images may be put on a file server in one's school, company, museum, etc. only if there's no charge for the user. All the accompanying text information, caption, etc. must be included, and must be presented completely and unchanged. Images cannot be placed on a CD-ROM, public domain or otherwise. See additional usage rules at: www.si.edu/siphotos/CAPTIONS/oppsrules.html
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pictures/Images - http://pictures.fws.gov http://images.fws.gov
"Most of the images on our Web pages are in the "public domain" (which means they have no copyright restrictions). If an image on our Web site is not restricted and does not say it is copyrighted, then you can assume it is in the public domain. You may download and use those copyright-free images in your print and electronic publications. There's no fee to pay (i.e., they're free), and no need to get permission from the Service for reusing them."
"Most of the images on our Web pages are in the "public domain" (which means they have no copyright restrictions). If an image on our Web site is not restricted and does not say it is copyrighted, then you can assume it is in the public domain. You may download and use those copyright-free images in your print and electronic publications. There's no fee to pay (i.e., they're free), and no need to get permission from the Service for reusing them."
Pics4Learning - http://pics.tech4learning.com
"The Pics4Learning collection is intended to provide copyright friendly images for use by students and teachers in an education setting. The original photographers of each image retain the copyright to these images and have graciously allowed their use in this collection. Images in the Pics4Learning collection may be used by teachers and students in print, multimedia, and video productions. These could include, but are not limited to, school projects, contests, web pages, and fund raising activities for the express purpose of improving student educational opportunities."
American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov
"The nature of historical archival collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Whenever possible, the Library provides information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the catalog records, finding aids, special-program illustration captions, and other texts that accompany collections. The Library provides such information as a service to aid patrons in determining the appropriate use of an item, but that determination ultimately rests with the patron."
"The nature of historical archival collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Whenever possible, the Library provides information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the catalog records, finding aids, special-program illustration captions, and other texts that accompany collections. The Library provides such information as a service to aid patrons in determining the appropriate use of an item, but that determination ultimately rests with the patron."
American Memory: Selected Civil War Photographs - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
"There are no known restrictions on these photographs."
American Memory: America from the Great Depression to WWII (1935-1945) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
"Photographs in this collection were taken by photographers working for the U.S. Government. Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. While the Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright in the FSA/OWI Black-and-White Photos, there is a narrow possibility that a very small number of items may have copyrights associated with them Suggested credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USF35-1326]"
American Memory: Map Collections 1544-2002 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
"The maps in the Map Collections materials were either published prior to 1922, produced by the United States government, or both (see catalogue records that accompany each map for information regarding date of publication and source). The Library of Congress is providing access to these materials for educational and research purposes and is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection or any other restrictions in the Map Collection materials."
FDR Library & Digital Archives www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/photos.html
Copyright-free pictures of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the depression and New Deal, and World War II.
U.S. Air Force Photos www.af.mil/photos
"Information presented on Air Force Link is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested."
"Information presented on Air Force Link is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested."
U.S. Navy Online Library www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm
"To the best of our knowledge, all Online Library pictures are in the public domain and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose without requesting permission."
Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/index.jsp
The photographs in this collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time Charles Cushman extensively documented the United States as well as other countries.
Discovery School's Clip Art Gallery http://school.discovery.com/clipart/index.html
Permission is granted to download no more than ten different clip art images for non-revenue-producing use on hard copy documents or on Web sites with the following restrictions: Any reproduction must be unaltered from its original downloaded form. This includes, but is not limited to, colorization, cropping, or editing. Any use of clip art images on Web sites must credit Discoveryschool.com or include a link to the Discoveryschool.com Web site.
Icon Bazaar - www.iconbazaar.com
Lots of clip art and animations. Limited permission is granted for institutional use of up to twenty (20) images in toto from these archives by WWW developers representing not-for-profit organizations, governmental organizations or educational institutions. Copyright notification should be included wherever appropriate.
Graphics Libraries www.net-ads.com/development/graphics.html
List of links to graphics libraries with extensive annotations of each. Amazing Instant Online Animated 3D Text Maker - www.3dtextmaker.com
Creates a text banner with your own text, then you can save the image as you would any other online image. Image Search Engines - Resources to Use with Caution Images found through the resources listed below can usually be used in your classroom under the Fair Use provision, but not necessarily for wider publication (like posting on the Web), unless you receive permission to use them from the copyright holder.
KidsClick: Kids Image Search Tools www.kidsclick.org/psearch.html
Several image search engines on one page, plus special image collections in categories such as art, astronomy, animals, history/society. Not just for kids! A great starting place for finding images.
PicSearch www.picsearch.com
Easy to use. Very clean -- no ads. Although it states that it is filtered and "family-friendly," some images may not be appropriate.
Image Finders and All Purpose Picture Files http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Online/pictures.htm
Image Search by Proteus www.thrall.org/proimage.html
Altavista Image Search - www.altavista.com/image/default
Type in a key word to find photos, graphics, buttons and banners. Provides thumbnail pictures (small version that loads quickly) that you can click to go to the page with the original image. This image search engine is not filtered; students should not use it unsupervised. Even with "family filter" set to "on," Altavista Image Search sometimes returns inappropriate images.
Google Image Search - www.google.com/imghp
Also has an advanced image search to narrow types of files, format, and filtering. Google's SafeSearch blocks Web pages containing explicit sexual content from appearing in search results. You can set the filtering for all Google services at: www.google.com/preferences?hl=en
Lycos Multimedia Search: Images, Video, Audio - http://multimedia.lycos.com Type a search term, then click Images & Video. To narrow your selection, select Images, Video, or Audio and then click GO GET IT!
Yahoo Image Surfer - http://gallery.yahoo.com Search engine, but also includes categories for images. Provides thumbnail pictures. Careful using this site; it sometimes returns inappropriate images. Best to search using the categories (not the search engine) on Yahooligans: www.yahooligans.com/Downloader/pictures or http://search.yahooligans.com/search/ligans?p=images
Artcyclopedia - www.artcyclopedia.com/index.html The fine art search engine. Search by artist name, artwork by title, or art museums by name or location. Or browse by movement, medium, subject, or nationality. Images are not copyright-free. See each individual museum site for usage restrictions.
Online Image Editing Sites
You don't need to install any software to rotate, crop, reduce pictures--and a whole host of other edits. Use free Web sites to help you make your images the right size and look they way you want so they are ready to put on your wikis, blogs, and other unit materials.
Phixr www.phixr.com
Photos you upload to phixr can be of (nearly) any size. However, phixr will scale down big photos to a smaller size, depending on your account's limit. The free account is currently limited to 1.6 megapixels, which means that the size of your photos cannot exceed approximately 1440x1080 (or any other width/height within the limit of 1.6 megapixels). Phixr is strickly for editing photos. Pictures uploaded for editing are removed from their servers after three hours in the free account. No registration, logging in, or downloading/installing software. Make your edits, then download the edit picture for immediate use.
Creating Online www.creatingonline.com/Online_Image_Editor/index.html
Nothing to download or install. No applets or activex. All editing is done via your browser. You can resize, scale, rotate, flip, crop, add text, add clipart, correct color, change to grayscale, colorize, make parts transparent, reduce File Size, edit photo dimensions, and more. Upload JPG, GIF, PNG image file formats. Images saved as JPG or PNG (including transparent PNG). Maximum size to upload: 2400 x 2400 pixels, 2 MB.
Pixenate http://pixenate.com
Upload your image and edit using easy-to-use browser-based toolbar. Make standard edits such as cropping, brightening, removing redeye, resizing, but also has fun effects, such as adding snow, changing pictures to look like oil paintings, adding text, and more.
Free Image Editing Software
Picasa http://picasa.google.com/
Picasa is a free software download from Google that helps you locate and organize all the photos on your computer; edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks; share your photos with others through email, prints, and on the web. It’s fast, easy and free. For Windows* and Linux*.
PhotoPlus 6 http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/photoplus/default.asp
PhotoPlus 6 is a free image editing software that enables you to create, manipulate, and enhance photographs, bitmap graphics, and web animations.
VCW VicMan's Photo Editor http://www.vicman.net/vcwphoto/photo_f.htm
30+ image file formats support, nearly 100 filters and effects, save images as JPG, BMP, TIFF, PCX and TGA.
Image Basics When uploading images to Web sites or sending by e-mail, it's important to have a sense of file size. Here are a few definitions, tips, and guidelines.
GIF and PNG - Type of image format. Use for text and text art, cartoons, line drawings, animations, and any art that needs transparent backgrounds. These files should have no higher resolution than 72 dots (pixels) per inch. The maximum number of colors GIF supports is 256.
JPEG - Type of image format. Use for color photographs; black and white photographs, unless very high contrast; 3D renderings; and art with many blends and gradients.
Pixel - A pixel is one dot on a computer screen. Older monitors are 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high. Typical monitors are 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768. Digital images are composed of pixels, and are therefore dimensioned in pixels not inches. Because monitors vary, the same image can appear to be a different size when viewed on different monitors. The dimension of an image equals some number of pixels wide and some number of pixels tall. The larger the number of pixels, the larger the image; quality of that picture, however, depends on resolution. For web pages, you would normally not want to use anything larger than 400 x 400, and often 150 x 150 will do just fine.
| Physical Size | Pixel Dimension (width x height) |
| Small to Medium | 300 x ??? |
| Medium to Large | 400 x ??? |
| Large | 640 x 480 |
| Very Large | 800 x 600 |
| Extremely Large | 1200 x 900 |
Resolution - Resolution refers to the pixels per inch required for good reproduction. Most output devices such as printers are geared in dots per inch (dpi). Computer screens and programs are oriented to pixels per inch (ppi). Generally, the higher the resolution (the more dots per inch), the finer the detail and the larger the file size.