Research Guides: Finding and Using Library Resources: Images for Creative Use

High-Resolution Image Databases at SCAD

View All SCAD Image Databases

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Database containing full-text articles from scholarly journals and images from institutions around the world covering a variety of subjects.
JSTOR includes digitized articles from back issues of academic journals as well as book chapters, ebooks, abstracts, and primary sources from the humanities and social sciences. For help using JSTOR, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.

Artstor: Open Access Images
ARTstor is a digital library of over one million high resolution images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities and the social sciences. This link takes you directly to images Artstor has licensed as open access--- available to reuse without permission.

Digital Image Database This link opens in a new window
Image database maintained by the SCAD Visual Resources Center. DID contains a custom array of digitized images for the SCAD community.
The Digital Image Database (DID) contains images from prehistory through the twenty-first century in a wide range of topic categories covering all majors at SCAD. Searches can also be conducted by location, material, media, artistic movements, or artist name. In addition to published work, DID also contains student and faculty work. For help with the SCAD Digital Images Database, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.

Finding Images and Inspiration Online

The following online image resources are free and publicly accessible:

Sites offer copyright-free images or open license images for reuse.

Getty Open Content
Public domain art images from Getty collections.
NGA Images (National Gallery of Art)
Includes 20,000+ open access digital images, available free of charge for download and use.
Pexels
Free stock images and video browsable by color and collection.
Pixabay
1.9+ million royalty-free stock images with the ability to discover images by category and color.
Unsplash
Over a million high-resolution images to search and browse, from animals to textures to fashion.
Wikimedia Commons
Millions of high-resolution images of art, architecture, design, and more.
Yale University Digital Commons
Images from several museums and collections. Item records indicate when an image is public domain and available for open access and fee-free use.

Freeimages
Exchange for using and contributing free stock images.
MorgueFile Free Photos
Public image archive for creative work
Raw Pixel
Royalty-free stock images as well as high resolution public domain images available for creative reuse.

Open* Image Collections
The Open Image Collections is a collection of digital image sources suitable for teaching, learning and research. Sources include museum digital collections, stock images, photo archives, design resources and image search engines.

Openverse by Creative Commons

Openverse (formerly CC Search)
Through the use of CC licenses, millions of people around the world have made their photos, videos, writing, music, and other creative content available for any member of the public to use.

New Resource

Smithsonian Open Access
Download and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital collection items for free!

Flickr

Flickr
Millions of photos at your fingertips

Flickr Tips

To find images you can use on Flickr:

1. Search in the home page search bar.

2. Change "Any License" to "No known copyright restrictions"

3. Refine your search by color or image type.

Architecture & Environmental Panoramas

Artstor: Virtual Reality Panoramas
360-degree panoramas of both interiors and exteriors from around the world.
AirPano
Panoramic views and videos of cities and monuments around the world.
360Cities
Panoramic views of cities, monuments, and landscapes.

A panoramic view of Manarola and its terraces, Cinque Terre, Italy. License: CC0 Public Domain via Public Domain Pictures.

Refer back to copyright considerations and fair use for these resources! The majority of these panoramas are copyright, so make sure any use is limited and transformative.

Museum Resources

Looking for more historical clothing, furniture, or architecture? Many museums display these artifacts online, including: