When you leave university, and want to use images in your communications, you will find that most of the images you find on a Google image search are not usable without breaking copyright. Whilst at university, you may be asked to produce a piece of work for public communication purposes, in which case you also need to be aware of the copyright status of the images you use.
The websites below provide access to thousands of photos that you can freely use in your work. It is important to check the license of each image carefully as some will require attribution and some may not let you adapt the images as you require. It is really important to avoid copyrighted material in anything you intend to publish or share.
Don't forget - if you are using any images in written academic work or presentations, it is good academic practice to still cite your sources.
Confused by image licenses? Make sure you check our handy guide.
Most search engines allow you to filter for creative commons licenses and re-use. Check out Flickr, Google Advanced Search, Bing Advanced search and Creative Commons Search.
These websites offer thousands of public domain and CC0 images that are free for re-use and modification. Check the details of each website carefully as some will need attribution as part of the licence.
UK museum collections increasingly provide digital images which are often free for educational or scholarly use. Check the following websites for more information:
Some of these images may still be in copyright, so check each website for further detail of how you can use these in your work. Click 'more' under each link for more details of how these images may be licensed for re-use.