Finding Good Images The Right Way

[Absinthe]

Hey peeps!

So in my day job I used to work with people looking to improve and pretty-fy their online stores, and a common topic that came up was always images, and why we can't just grab what we like off the internet to use for our own purposes. After all, how would you feel if someone stole some of your writing? Or worse, stole credit for the job you rely on to feed yourself, and possibly your kitties?

It's something I've been guilty of in the past, as I'm sure 99% of us here have been too. But by learning how to avoid it, we can look after our favorite creators and artists... and maybe even yourself one day!

But Absinthe, if it's on the internet, it's a free for all, right?

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Nope. If it's on the internet, it means you can look at it... but it doesn't mean you can just right click and download, or worse, hotlink. Not familiar with hotlinking? I'll cover that further down. ​

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We usually need written permission from the artist or creator to use their images or artwork. The exception to this, however, is when the art is licensed under what is known as a Public Copyright License. You're probably most familiar with Creative Commons, but even if you see that, you should check the terms and conditions. While you can get 100% completely free, no attribution required artwork, often you'll need to credit the original creator, or refrain from altering the image. ​

Dude, you just used a GIF that I'm pretty sure Disney didn't say you could use.

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This falls under what's known as Fair Use.​

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Fair use is determined not only by the nature of the GIF, but also by who created it and its intended purpose. Generally, something is considered fair use when the original material is used for a limited and "transformative" purpose, such as commentary, criticism or parody.

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Using images for RP usually isn't considered Fair Use in my experience... So I would suggest you avoid it.​

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So you mentioned 'Hotlinking' earlier...

Hotlinking is when you link directly to an image on a website. While this is cool on sites like Photobucket and Giphy, this can create a huge drain on bandwidth on sites not designed for this and push up their bills. If you're not provided with a link to use, it's best to upload to the site directly or host it yourself.​

Ugh, this all seems so hard. I can't Google for pictures of pretty people any more?

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Good news! Google can do this for you. If you switch to the Images tag in Google, and hit the 'Tools' button...​

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You can filter by images licensed by Creative Commons! Cool, huh! ​

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Unfortunately for me, it doesn't look like there are many images of cats in bumblebee costumes available under creative commons, so I'll need to adjust my search terms. or order one for my kitty, heh heh heh.​

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Abs, we both know that Google is evil.

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If you'd rather not use search engines that can and do gather creepy amounts of data on you and trap you in an echo chamber of your own creation for all eternity and worsen the divides of our already fractured society there are lots of other resources you can use! Everything below I've used and recommended to people who pay me for this advice. Most images are beautiful and unique, not awkwardly posed stock photos.​

• Unsplash: Unsplash is my personal favorite, with thousands of super high quality, beautifully shot images of almost anything you could ever think of. I regularly hit Unsplash up if I'm searching for a new wallpaper, character inspiration, or just some nice calm images to sooth my nerves.
• Pixabay: Pixabay also offers a collection of free to use images, but some may require attribution.
• Pexels
• Stocksnap