Public Domain Images
PD Images are pictures that have been placed into the world 'public domain' and are free to use by anyone, they are sometimes also referred to as 'copyright free'. In some cases though there are special requests made that the author of the photos be attributed so read the terms of use on each site you plan to source your images from.
There are some great images to be found; below we have listed some of the better sites we have come across:
| Site: | Resolution (typ.) | Collection Size |
| pdphoto.org | 1024x768 |  1000's |
unclesamsphotos.com |
N/A |  Directory |
| public-domain-photos.com lots of flowers, landscapes and travel images from the creators of pdphoto.org |
1024x768 | 13,000 |
| oldbookillustrations.com some lovely old illustrations and etching from bygone books |
400x600 | 100's |
| publicdomainpictures.net nicely setup archive of user contributed PD images |
1280x900 | 13,000 |
| grin.hq.nasa.gov and/or nix.nasa.gov Great images in nasa is a collection of high resolution space related images. |
1000x1000 varies | 1000+ |
| usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml US Government Photos, wide selection of topics |
N/A | Directory |
| photo.itc.nps.gov/storage/images Photos from american national parks, in photo CD (.PCD) format |
up to 2048 x 3072 | 1000+ |
| openclipart.org PD licensed clipart from contributors and via wikimedia commons |
small / varies | ? |
| photolib.noaa.gov National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Photo Library |
1024x768 varies | 32,000 |
gimp-savvy.com/photo-archive |
small / varies | 27000 |
| ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos US Department of Agriculture. animals, crops, research, fruits and veggies - good quality |
2700x1850 (varies) | 1000's |
| nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/index.htm gallery if PD images from yellowstone national park |
2000x1300 (varies) | 1000's |
| logodesignweb.com/stockphoto small collection, described as PD but credit required |
600x400 | 100's |
| burningwell.org community repository of free use images |
3072x2048 | 2000? |
| photolibrary.fema.gov federal emergency management agency photolibrary, some useful PD images depicting disasters, floods, forestfire etc |
3747x2498 (varies) | 16,500 |
copyrightfreephotos.com |
1700x100 (varies) | 300? |
| public-photo.net somewhat ordinary in terms of subject / composition quality |
3072x2304 (varies) | 3500 |
| defense.gov/photos US department of defnece image collection |
2100x1300 (varies) | Lots |
| logotypes.ru/default_e.asp almost 5000 company logos in vector format (for editorial use only) |
adobe illustrator .ai files | 5000 |
| public-domain-image.com just horrible when it comes to ads, but good categories of reasonable res PD stock |
2700 (varies) | 2000? |
| archives.gov the US national archives, 30 million items (not all photos) organised under various subjects |
varies | Lots |
| digital.library.northwestern.edu/wwii-posters collection of WWII vintage american posters |
460x650 (varies) | 300 |
| pdpics.com small bug growing collection of pd |
varies (up to 24MP) | 1800 |
| picdrome.com small collection of pd, mostly travel locations |
1600x1200 | 700 |
| pixabay.com user contributed PD site, nice search |
varies | Lots |
| clker.com vector clipart and tools |
PNG varies, SVG | ? |
Disadvantages of using PD Images
- Very limited choice, although there appears to be lots of PD images out there, it's actually quite difficult to find an image suitable for most concept topics (lifestyle, metaphors, images with people suitable for advertising etc.) wide coverage is limited to areas where US Government agencies are involved so there are some good pickings to be found in agriculture, food, minerals etc.
- Stylish, up to date stock images... hmm, no, look elsewhere, or look every hard indeed.
- Most of the images are dated looking or have some technical problems, while you can correct some of these issues in Photoshop it's often better to save time and spend a couple of dollars on a microstock image if your budget allows.
- Unlike Creative commons there is no easy way to search several PD websites at once, and typically each site only has a few thousand images. Unless you regularly need images on a specific topic that is served by one of the PD sites then you will spend a lot of time searching for suitable pictures.
