Images, videos and plans: Images
Finding and using visual media in your research and studies
Using images in your work
Images can be easily found online and in textbooks, journals, and posters, but not all images are freely available for you to use in your own work. Copyright, image licensing and other conditions can apply, affecting whether an image can be downloaded, scanned, reused or modified.
Take caution and investigate any copyright restrictions or terms and conditions of use before using an image. This may include photographs you have taken of people.
Creative Commons (CC) licenses make content more useable, however you should always verify that the work is under a CC license by following the link. Since there is no registration to use a CC license, CC has no way to determine what has and hasn't been placed under the terms of a CC license. If you are in doubt you should contact the copyright holder directly, or try to contact the site where you found the content.
Finding images in UWA Library databases
- ARTstor Searchable database of more than 500,000 digital images and associated catalog data. See more information for subject coverage.
- Art Full Text (EBCOhost) Formerly Wilson Art Full Text. Indexes over 380 art periodicals and contains full text from 108 journals going back to 1997. Subjects include architecture, archaeology and the history of art, as well as crafts, costume and textiles.
- Bridgeman Education Search 300,000 images across all media including; photography, fine art, engravings, sculpture, architecture, archaeology & ethnography, history, science & medicine, the decorative arts, artefacts and applied arts.
- Getty Search Getaway Currently, there are over 100,000 images from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute available through the Open Content Program, including more than 72,000 from the Research Institute's Foto Arte Minore archive, other images include paintings, drawings, manuscripts, photographs, antiquities, sculpture, decorative arts, artists' sketchbooks, watercolors, rare prints from the 16th through the 18th century, and 19th-century architectural drawings of cultural landmarks. We are adding more images as high-quality digital files become available.
Free-to-use images
- Google: Find free-to-use images When you do a Google Search, you can filter your results to find images, videos, or text that you have permission to use. To do this, use an Advanced Search filter called "usage rights" that lets you know when you can use, share, or modify something you find online. Please note the usage rights described here do not necessarily apply to Australian copyright requirements. Always check the source of the image to verify it is free to use.
- British Library images Public domain maps and images from works in the British Library. Free to use.
- CC Search CC Search will help you find photos, music, text, books, educational material, and more that is free to share or build upon utilizing Creative Commons enabled search services at Google and Flickr. You can also access this tool via the Firefox web browser.
- Flickr Limit the search to items that are licensed for commercial use. Beware! Users may have uploaded infringing content, so it's best to double check.
- Freeimages Freeimages was launched as an alternative for expensive stock photography to create a site where creative people could exchange their photos for inspiration or work. Images are free as long as you stick to the rules in the Image license Agreement. In some cases you may need to notify the artists about using the images and sometimes you need to give credit to them. You can see these restrictions under the image previews, right next to the Download button.
- Google Arts & Culture A collaboration between Google and acclaimed art partners from across 40 countries. Users can explore a wide range of artworks at brushstroke level detail, take a virtual tour of a museum and even build their own collections to share. You may need to change your browser to access this resource.
- Morguefile Morguefile is a free photo archive “for creatives, by creatives.” Founded in the early Internet days of 1996, the site was created to serve as a free image exchange for creative professionals and teachers to use in their work. It is a community-based free photo site, and all photos found in the Morguefile archive are free to download and re-use in your work, be it commercial or not. The photos have been contributed by a wide range of creatives from around the world, ranging from amateur photo hobbyists to professionals.
- Pexels All photos on Pexels are free for any personal and commercial purpose.
- Pixabay Free stock photos (although some premium licensed photos appear in the search results).
- Visualhunt Visualhunt searches across several sites (including Flickr) to locate Creative Commons and Public Domain photos.
- Bridgeman Education (access through OneSearch) Bridgeman Education is a complete visual resource offering over 1,000,000 digital images of art, history and culture from global museums, galleries, private collections and contemporary artists all copyright cleared for educational use.
Copyright for Students
"Study Help: Understanding Copyright" by University of South Australia is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Copyright at UWA
For more information and support see Copyright at UWA.
CONTENT LICENCE
Except for logos, Canva designs, AI generated images or where otherwise indicated, content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
Staff & Students
The University of Western Australia
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PRV12169, Australian University