15 Best Public Domain Image Websites for Free Use

Downloading images from the internet is common, but there's a crucial distinction between using them for personal enjoyment and commercial projects. While sharing creative content on social media is generally acceptable, using licensed images commercially without permission can lead to legal issues with the copyright holder.

To steer clear of copyright infringement, it's essential to understand where to find royalty-free images that are safe for use.

Here’s a curated list of websites offering royalty-free, high-resolution photos, vector graphics, illustrations, and other visuals, all in the public domain. These platforms make it easy to find images for personal or commercial use without the risk of violating copyright laws.

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What are public domain images?

The public domain refers to a category of creative works that exist outside the scope of copyright, patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property laws. In simple terms, public domain images are not protected by copyright, making them freely available for use, including for commercial projects.

Photographers, museums, archives, and other creators or organizations often upload public domain images. This can be done to digitize and preserve works, provide diverse stock options, promote artistic endeavors, or simply share creative resources with the public.

Public domain content is generally free to use and serves as a fantastic tool for celebrating and sharing artistic creativity without restrictions.

How to Identify Public Domain Images

1. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) License-The image has been intentionally released into the public domain by the creator, allowing unrestricted use.
2. Not Copyrightable-The image cannot be copyrighted due to its cultural heritage, universal significance, or utilitarian nature.
3. Copyright Expiration-The copyright has expired, either because the legally defined term has passed or the original copyright holder is deceased, transferring the work to the public domain.

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15 best public domain image websites

Explore our curated list of websites offering free stock photos – a treasure trove of resources with extensive collections of public domain images to elevate your creative projects.

Although these archives host public domain content, some images may have additional licensing restrictions. Be sure to review each platform’s policies and guidelines, as well as attribution requirements set by the site or contributing artists.

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1.Unsplash

Unsplash is a powerful platform offering an extensive collection of free stock photos, featuring over 3 million high-quality images contributed by professional photographers worldwide.

All images on Unsplash are available under their unique license, which places them in the public domain. You can review specific guidelines on the Unsplash license page.

With its emphasis on visually stunning photography, Unsplash is ideal for finding aesthetic visuals, design mockups, and professionally composed shots. Popular categories include travel, street photography, interior design, fashion, beauty, textures, patterns, and more.

Usage guidelines:

• Suitable for both commercial and non-commercial projects
• Attribution is optional but appreciated

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2.Pexels

Pexels is a versatile platform offering royalty-free stock photos and videos, supporting millions of creators in producing exceptional products and designs. The collection includes hundreds of thousands of carefully curated images and videos contributed by a global community of photographers.

All content on Pexels is free to download and use, making it an excellent resource for personal and professional projects. However, the platform's policy prohibits using images in ways that portray identifiable individuals negatively or involve offensive content. For detailed guidelines, visit the Pexels license page.

Pexels provides an intuitive search and tagging system, allowing users to easily explore categories like fire, nature, cityscapes, pets, sky, space, and more. You can also create private collections to organize and save assets for future projects.

Usage guidelines:

• Suitable for commercial and non-commercial purposes
• Attribution is optional but appreciated

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3.Pixabay

Pixabay, a stock photo platform owned by Canva, offers a vast collection of over 2.7 million free assets, including photos, illustrations, vector graphics, videos, music, sound effects, and GIFs. These resources are conveniently categorized for easy navigation.

All content on Pixabay is free for both commercial and non-commercial use, with no attribution required—though giving credit is appreciated. Previously operating under a CC0 license, Pixabay now uses a proprietary license that prohibits offensive content and restricts unaltered redistribution of its images. Visit the Pixabay license page for detailed information on usage rights.

Pixabay excels in curated collections, featuring categories like seasonal events, mindfulness and meditation, wildlife, natural landscapes, high-resolution wallpapers, and diverse lifestyle and model imagery.

Key Features:

• Free for commercial and personal use
• Attribution optional, but valued

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4.Old Book Illustrations

Old Book Illustrations specializes in preserving and sharing public domain artwork from the 18th to early 20th centuries, highlighting the distinctive styles of Victorian and French Romantic art. The platform offers a carefully curated selection of high-resolution illustrations, engravings, book covers, and titles created by renowned artists of the era.

While all works are restored to high quality, users are encouraged to consult local copyright laws for commercial use. Non-commercial usage is permitted, but attribution is required under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Visit the Old Book Illustrations terms of use for more details.

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5.Rawpixel

Rawpixel is a platform offering a diverse selection of creative stock photos, with a strong focus on high-quality public domain content. The site provides a mix of free images, premium content, and resources for designers. With a free account, users gain access to a wide range of public domain images, including those enhanced from international museum collections and privately sourced libraries.

The Public Domain section is where users can explore a large variety of images that fall under the CC0 license, making them free for both personal and commercial use. However, if you plan to monetize designs using these images, Rawpixel requires that you add significant artistic value to the original work. Further details are available on the Rawpixel license page.

Key Highlights:

• Diverse creative and premium stock photo collection
• Public domain images under CC0 license
• Commercial use: Allowed with artistic transformation
• Non-commercial use: Free to use with proper attribution
• Attribution: Required under the free account for public domain images

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6.Heritage Library

Heritage Library offers a refined collection of stylized stock photos, perfect for personalized designs and web art. This collection combines the modern minimalist aesthetic with classic vintage elements, providing an elegant contrast for unique creative projects.

Explore the Heritage Library for timeless icons, typefaces, pattern designs, and collections inspired by cross-hatched sketches, old tapestry images, book illustrations, and vintage photographs. These graphic elements come with a free license, allowing you to commercialize and distribute your designs. However, there is a 10,000-unit limit on unaltered images, beyond which an extended license must be purchased. For further details on royalty-free usage, check the Heritage Library license page.

Key Highlights:

• Timeless and vintage-inspired graphic elements
• Free license for commercial use (with limits on unaltered images)
• Commercial use: Allowed with conditions
• Non-commercial use: Free to use
• Attribution: Not required but appreciated

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7.Public Domain Vectors

Public Domain Vectors is a fantastic resource for high-quality vector designs, offering a wide variety of free stock collections. It also features an intuitive SVG file generator and editor, allowing you to create and download your own vector images.

Explore categories such as animals, architecture, signs and symbols, flags, objects, and more. The website’s user-friendly interface and powerful search function make it easy to find the perfect design. All images are offered under a straightforward Creative Commons CC0 license, which can be reviewed on the Public Domain Vectors license page.

Key Highlights:

• Free vector images in multiple categories
• Simple design tools for creating your own vectors
• Commercial use: Allowed with no restrictions
• Non-commercial use: Free to use
• Attribution: Not required but appreciated

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8.Kaboompics

Kaboompics provides a wide range of royalty-free images suitable for both branded designs and personal use. The site is known for its smooth and intuitive browsing experience, allowing users to easily preview and download images without limitations. Kaboompics also excels with its integrated color palettes, which are especially useful for social media brands and curated feeds.

With features like color sliders and tags, Kaboompics helps you find the perfect images to match your style across various categories such as lifestyle, nature, food and drink, urban, and technology. Their policy is simple and transparent—images are free to download and use in your products and designs, as long as they are significantly altered. More details can be found on their license page.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed with proper alteration
• Non-commercial use: Free to use
• Attribution: Not required, but appreciated

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9.Public Domain Archive

Public Domain Archives serves as a directory of various stock image websites, including some already featured in this list, while also offering its own collection of free photos, which is updated weekly. Though the site’s search functionality may be limited, it remains a valuable resource for discovering new images.

You can explore a variety of photos, ranging from modern to vintage, all organized in a straightforward layout. All images on Public Domain Archives are licensed under Creative Commons CC0, allowing full commercial use without the need for attribution.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Free for use
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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10.Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons is a vast public domain image repository dedicated to educational and informational use. With nearly 100 million files uploaded by a wide range of contributors, from professional photographers to scholars, it’s an invaluable resource for exploring everything from scientific heroes to intricate graphs and diagrams.

If you're looking for a treasure trove of images to immerse yourself in, Wikimedia Commons offers an extensive library that’s sure to captivate. The site only hosts media that is either explicitly licensed for free use or already in the public domain. Learn more about their licensing policies on the Wikimedia Commons license page.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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11.Public Domain Pictures

Public Domain Pictures offers a vibrant collection of over 400,000 images, contributed by users and sourced from public domain archives. The site features a vast range of royalty-free stock photos, including images from museums, stamps, vintage sketches, symbols, and patterns from various cultures and time periods. You can find images across categories such as animals, backgrounds, business, still life, and seasonal themes, as well as trending photos.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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12.Flickr’s Commons

Flickr serves as a vast, long-term creative visual repository, housing tens of billions of images contributed from around the world. With a focus on preserving visual heritage for future generations, Flickr Commons offers access to one of the largest collections of images, including those from national archives and government institutions. It's like a professional photography library, fostering a creative community with events, trending blogs, and feature updates.

While the Commons section is dedicated to public domain or commercially usable content, personal works outside of Commons may still be under copyright protection. The site provides tags to filter and find images suitable for public domain or commercial use.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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13.Magdeleine

Magdeleine provides hand-picked high-resolution photos, curated for inspiration. The site offers a modern, aesthetically-driven feed with a collection organized into multiple categories, such as nature, city, people, animals, food, technology, and abstract. With advanced search filters and a dominant color feature, it’s a go-to platform for creators seeking visually appealing content.

Although the photos on Magdeleine are free to use, they require attribution. For more detailed information, check out the Magdeleine Privacy Policy page.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Required

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14.NYPL Digital Collections

The New York Public Library (NYPL) offers a digital database with nearly a million files, including prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, and more, showcasing our shared cultural heritage. Their public domain collections are free to share and use, making it an excellent resource for historical and cultural content.

To access royalty-free images, users should select the “Search only public domain items” option or use the “Show Only Public Domain” filter. While images are free, it's important to check for any additional copyright restrictions that may apply.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed (check for copyright restrictions in the image menu)
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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15.Negative Space

Negative Space offers a sleek and user-friendly website with smart filters, tags, and a variety of categories. It provides a broad selection of high-quality images that are tagged for easy browsing, making it a convenient resource for designers, content creators, and marketers.

All images on Negative Space fall under the Creative Commons CC0 license, which allows for free downloads, commercial use, and distribution without attribution. This makes it a perfect source for both personal and commercial projects.

Key Highlights:

• Commercial use: Allowed
• Non-commercial use: Allowed
• Attribution: Not required

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How to find images in the public domain

To find images in the public domain, here are a few effective strategies you can use:

1. Using Google Search

• Search for the image: Type the image or topic you want in the search bar.
• Filter by usage rights: Click on Tools below the search bar, then select Usage Rights and choose Creative Commons Licenses.
• Check the specific license: Always verify the specific Creative Commons license to understand if attribution is required or if there are any restrictions on modification.

2. Explore Online Museum Archives and Government Databases

• Many museums and government institutions have digital collections available to the public:
  • Library of Congress: They offer a collection of public domain photos and other resources.
  • Smithsonian Institution: Offers free public domain images and artifacts.
  • National Gallery of Art: Also provides high-quality public domain artworks.
• These resources are great for accessing historical and culturally significant images.

3. Check Out Tapstitch

• Tapstitch provides its own collection of free graphics for print-on-demand designs.
• The Product Creator tool allows you to design custom products, using the free graphics provided for commercial use.

4. Collaborate with Fellow Creators

• Many artists and photographers share their work under public domain licenses, contributing to the tradition of free image distribution.
• Attribution: If you use someone else’s image, ensure you provide the proper attribution if required, and don’t forget to ask for permission when necessary.

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Public domain picture websites: Final thoughts

Public domain images are a valuable resource for creators, offering free and creative materials. However, it’s important to check the licensing terms on each site, as some may have restrictions on monetization or attribution.

Always review the license to ensure you're using the images correctly. Many sites allow commercial use, but some require added artistic value or limit sales without an extended license.

These images can inspire amazing designs, and with platforms like Tapstitch, you can easily turn them into custom merchandise like apparel and accessories with no upfront costs.

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