By Mitchell Stukaloff

Consider adding an image to your blog post or writing project to spark interest. As an example, the image used for this article was free to use.

Five sites that offer free images are pretty-linked** below. You are likely to find others.

• Adobe Free Images (you must create an account to use this site)
• Pexels  (images and videos)
• Pixabay (images and videos)
• Pixnio (photos for free use)
• Unsplash (photos for free use)

Some Pointers

Several sites advertise “royalty free” images that are in the public domain, but they still charge for the image because they’ve photographed it and posted it on their website to sell.

Often images in the public domain can be copied and used freely if you indicate where the image was obtained from. For example, The Roerich Museum indicates that the paintings and photos of Nicholas Roerich are all in the public domain and that images on their website can be used without charge. Referencing where you obtained the image is still a good idea in this case, and is a good practice in general when using free images.

** Pretty links can be created using the Edit Hyperlink function of Word. Right click on the link. Click on Edit Hyperlink. In the text-to-display box, overtype the link with your chosen pretty-link term. Click OK.