11 February 2017

Free Images and Manipulation Software

free images and manipulation software
It goes with the territory these days that writers of words need images, if not to enhance the text directly, then to draw a casually browsing reader to do more than casually browse.

I’m using an image with this post so that the reader will understand intuitively which subject the post will cover. In effect, it bolsters the post title. And when I Tweet or Facebook this post, that is all casually browsing readers of those media will see. If the pairing doesn’t engage a need, the associated link won’t be clicked.

This is even more important for book covers – the cover image has to convey the genre category and tone of the novel, leaving the title text to tease at the storyline content.

Most images online are copyrighted to their owners/creators, which means that even if they are referred to as royalty-free a charge is made for their use, just not each time they are used. See agency portals such as Shutterstock, Getty Images, etc.

Some owners assign their copyright to Creative Commons Licensing (CC0), offering those images free for personal and/or commercial usage. See agency portals such as Pixabay, MorgueFile, Wikimedia Commons. Some agency portals offer a small size free but larger sizes for a fee - see FreeDigitalPhotos. It always pays to read the accompanying information. However, don’t ignore museums. The New York Metropolitan recently announced that images of 375,000 items in its care, from paintings to suits of armour, are now offered “open access” for non-commercial and commercial use.

You have an image. Now what? If you are intending to do more than simply crop it to a required size, you’ll need image manipulation software. The most well known is Adobe’s ‘Photoshop’, in all its many guises. But it isn’t cheap and would you use most of its features? How about something like Serif’s Affinity coming in at just under £50?

No? Back to the free. If you want something more sophisticated than that bundled with your PC/Mac, how about the open source GIMP? Also, don’t ignore Adobe’s older versions or “lite” versions of Photoshop, some of which are free. Techradar lists and evaluates other possibilities, including Photoscape and Paint.NET.

If you don’t know how to crop an image or add a coloured framing edge, hit YouTube. A bit of research goes a long way. There’s no such thing as can’t do.

Which image sources do you use? List them in the Comments to help other readers.

Image: courtesy of the writer and Pixabay.com

3 comments :

  1. Great resource, Linda. Here are some other picture sites that might be of use. I haven't explored all of them yet, but at least the URLs should help those looking for images.Free pix:
    admin@freeclassicimages.com
    http://www.freeclassicimages.com/
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/sets/
    http://www.bigfoto.com/
    http://www.unprofound.com/
    https://morguefile.com/
    http://www.freepik.com/
    http://www.freepixels.com/
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
    http://www.pdclipart.org/
    http://www.photos-public-domain.com/
    https://images.nga.gov/en/page/show_home_page.html
    https://openclipart.org/
    Google Images (with a License Search)
    http://gratisography.com/#all
    http://nos.twnsnd.co/
    http://www.lifeofpix.com/
    http://www.freeimages.com/image
    https://freerangestock.com/about_us.php
    http://freephotosbank.com/
    http://search.creativecommons.org/
    http://www.vesterkopi.dk/en/help/561-convert-cm-to-pixels
    https://www.jukeboxprint.com/editor/poster_creator.php

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh wow! Thanks so much for adding in such a comprehensive resource, Stuart.

      Readers: highlight a single link, right click, & 'Open Link in New Tab'. Enjoy your hours of displacement activity.

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    2. You and your readers are very welcome!

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