A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images
I don’t think this blog would be half of what it is without Flickr. The images included with most posts magnetize the eye to the page and create an atmosphere for the rest of the piece. It’s also one of the most commented-on aspects of the blog — the images are something I think leaves an impression on a lot of people.
A question I get often is: how do you find such great images through Flickr? Most importantly, how do you find such great images that you can use freely?
In this post, I want to share everything I’ve learned about how you can quickly and easily find Flickr’s best images to suit your needs, whether it’s for a blog post, an eBook, a design, an artwork or anything else. Secondly, I want to explain how Creative Commons works for Flickr images — and what that means for you.
Why choose Flickr photos?
The most common alternate options are Google Images and various royalty free and stock photo websites. There are some pretty serious problems with both these options, however.
Google images
It’s hard to guard yourself against copyright infringement when using Google Images. A page does not have to list copyright information for an image to be considered copyrighted. It’s also very difficult to know the original source of an image.
I’ve heard a story about a blogger who used Google Images to fetch an image for one of his blog posts. Unbeknownst to him, the website he’d taken the image from had copied the image from Corbis. Corbis then found out and sued him. I’m not sure whether this is a true story or an internet myth, but it’s entirely possible. It’s just not worth the risk.
Stock photos
While stock photos don’t put you at risk of getting in trouble, there are two key drawbacks: they often cost money, secondly, they’re often bland and formulaic. They’re so well-matched to business-friendly keywords like ‘honesty’, ‘environmentally friendly’ and ’success’ that most seem highly contrived.
Flickr, on the other hand, hosts millions of photos taken by amateur and professional photographers capturing photos of what interests them, not their stock photography bosses. The best of Flickr is vibrant, innovative and dynamic.
Finding images to suit your needs
The kind of photos you want to look for will depend on where you want to use them. Flickr images either fall under a traditional copyright or Creative Commons license.
You’re forbidden to use Flickr images marked as copyrighted (or ‘All rights reserved’) for your own purposes unless you get explicit permission from the author. Most of us don’t have the time or the patience to put up with the hassle. Here, I want to focus on Creative Commons licensed photos.
Non-copyright images on Flickr come under a different kind of license called Creative Commons. Each image is available under one of six customized licenses built to influence where and how each image can be used.
The starting point of your search for Flickr’s best photos will be the Flickr: Creative Commons page. From there, you can enter search portals for each of the six CC licenses. Below, I’ll explain how you can select which license is appropriate for you.
Attribution License
The images used at Skelliewag.org all come under this particular license. It allows you to modify the images (by cropping them, or writing on them, for example) and to use them in both commercial and non-commercial spaces. The only requirement is that you credit the author with a link back to their profile.
Link: the search page for Attribution Licensed photos.
Attribution-NoDerivs License
This license allows you to use the photo freely in any context as long as you credit the photographer. It’s more restricted than a simple Attribution license because you’re forbidden to modify the work in any way (that includes cropping and writing on the image).
Link: the search page for Attribution-NoDerivs Licensed photos.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
This license allows you to use photos in with a credit as long as they’re not modified and as long as you’re not profiting from the context of the image. Examples of such contexts would be: blogs displaying ads, inside products, online stores. In other words, anywhere it could be argued that the image helped increase your income.
If you’re not monetizing the space at the moment but want to leave your options open, it would be a good idea to stick with the more flexible licenses above.
Link: the search page for Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licensed photos.
Attribution-NonCommercial License
This license allows you to display and modify the image in any non-commercial space with a link to the photographer’s profile. Once again, if you plan to profit from the space in future, you’re better off sticking with the more flexible Attribution License.
Link: the search page for Attribution-NonCommercial licensed photos.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
This license allows you to use photos in non-commercial spaces with credit. There is one extra requirement, however: that you link to the license page with the image credit (alongside a link to the photographer’s profile). Share Alike means that you need to make clear the license of the image wherever you use it. Here’s a link to the Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license page, though you’d probably just link to it under (license)!
Link: the search page for Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licensed photos.
Attribution-ShareAlike License
This license allows you to modify the photo and display it in any context as long as you link to the photographer’s profile and the distribution license for the photo. Here’s a link to the Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.
Link: the search page for Attribution-ShareAlike licensed photos.
Finding the best images to suit your needs
Once you’ve navigated to the search page appropriate to where you want the photo appear it’s time to start sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Let’s use the search page for Attribution Licensed photos as a test case. Open the link in a new window or tab and search for the keyword ‘yellow’. This will search the tags and title of each image for matches. You’ll be returned with a bunch of ‘most relevant’ results, but nothing particularly interesting.
Now, click the ‘most interesting’ link above the thumbnails. The search algorithm changes and returns images for that keyword with the most buzz around them (comments and favorites, I suspect). As you can see, the images are of a much higher quality.
Within seconds, I have a gorgeous, targeted photo to use with a blog post — or wherever you’d like to use it.
Photo by nattu.
A bonus tip: above the images, click ‘Thumbnails’. This will return the images in a small cluster of thumbnails allowing you to get a much quicker overview of the page. It’s more light-weight too — something dial-up users will appreciate.
Your pictures are always so creative Skellie, but another interesting point is the way you’ve done the captioning, giving credit to the photographer. The size and styling of the text underneath each picture is perfect. Just more style heaped on the rest of your already polished layout.
I’m all set to start using this technique myself as an alternative to purchasing from stock photography sites or shooting my own. Thanks again for this helpful guide….
This is really great. I never would have gone through all these licenses to find out that I could actually use those images. Thanks.
I have been searching for a guide to Flickr like this! I don’t images as much as I would like because I am afraid to violate a copyright. Thank you for explaining the options so clearly.
A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images…
A question I get often is: how do you find such great images through Flickr? Most importantly, how do you find such great images that you can use freely?
In this post, I want to share everything I’ve learned about how you can quickly and easily find…
Thanks for another great resource article full of great tips and info! I have often wondered about the CC license, and since I am newer to Flickr, you just made things a whole lot clearer!
Great guide Skellie, especially for your readers with little artistic talent (like myself)!
Very nice article!
I’ve just started using flikr for my own photos… and prefer to use my own photos for my blog. That way, I know what the source is — plus I can show off some of my own images. However, I also like the idea of being able to use flikr to find the right images for a particular topic.
There are some absolutely fantastic photos out there.
One caution, though. I have seen a few instance of copyright infringement where people have uploaded photos to flikr that were not theirs. It’s a small problem compared to using photos off google.
This greasemonkey script will “lock” you flickr search settings to always search for CC images: http://internetducttape.com/tools/flickr-always-search-for-creative-commons/
(well, sometimes.. it’s a bit buggy)
This greasemonkey script will let you cut-and-paste flickr photos into blogger or wordpress with CSS wrappers around the image and automatic credit links:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/12118
Thankyou!!!
I’ve been wanting to know this for months and been hesitating due to not knowing about copyright and the problems it could bring. I’m probably one of the people who asked.
If you could do another post on how to copy/download the images this would be excellent.
Thankyou, I am very grateful.
Just the kind of article I was searching for today!
I happened to open Google Reader and this was right on top. Not only did it same me time, but gave me the information that I was looking for.
Thanks!
I think you should also ask the photographer for the right to use their photos it only takes a second and it gives the artist a good feeling to know you were not using them an inappropriate manner.
Plus they can help spread the word of your website to show off their work.
Skellie: What software to you use to add text to some of your images?
I wished you’d have written this article earlier! Otherwise I wouldn’t have spent almost half a day trying to understand what the different licenses meant on creative commons. That said, this is still a great resource for newbies who’re keen to add some images.
Excellent stuff, Skellie. I’m a new subscriber… and I’m sold.
Cheers,
Ellesse
Nice post… I’ve been using flickr pictures to illustrate my blog for a long while now… However, sometimes it just takes too long to find the right picture under the creative commons search.
It’s worth the trouble though!
Thanks for the great info. I still have one question though.
“whether it’s for a blog post, an eBook, a design, an artwork or anything else”
For every license stands the ‘BY’ icon. How should you do that with an artwork in a magazine for example? In a blog a link under the photograph isn’t that disturbing but in a advertisement it isn’t always possible.
Thanks for this post! Very informative. I just started using images from Flickr, so this was a great post.
One thing though, how do you get the captions under there? Whenever I try to do that, it gets all messed up.
Dugg!
hey, i am going to bookmark this…i found this i also worth bookmarking .. Incredible List of Flickr Search Tools ..
I do use photos from Flickr and Google Images as the image on my blog. Some photos are not downloadable and thus I can’t use them.
Some are but after reading this post of yours, I think I know what to do in finding photos for my future blog post.
Skellie, I’d also like to know how you do the captioning. I’ve been looking for a plugin that does it, but haven’t been able to find one.
Skellie,
Thanks for this post, iStock was getting expensive.
Skellie,
This is such valuable information.
I had no idea you could do this. To think that I’ve been paying for photos all this time and never even considered flickr as an option.
I will set some time to actually sit down and follow you instructions.
Thanks again for sharing!
Gisele
Great advice, though a word of warning from my experience. I have done searches through creative commons and found photos which people had uploaded but almost certainly hadn’t shot. They seemed to be posting pictures they liked to flickr, but had no right to offer them out under a CC licence. Some even had the “Getty Images” watermark all over them.
That was useful Skellie, even though I try to use my own material as much as possible.
Sometimes you need to illustrate something very specific, and Flicr seems to be a good alternative source.
I’ve been wanting to add a photo to my site, but I’d been a bit leery to pic a photo off flickr. Thanks for explaining this.
Really great post Skellie — I’m a huge fan of Flickr and the Creative Commons. As a blogger, I use Flickr’s CC images almost on a daily basis to support my writing. As a photographer, I license my work under the Creative Commons to give back to the community and promote my own work.
One other thing — when I use an image on a post, I notify the photographer with a link to the post and state that if they have any issues whatsoever with the use of their image I’d be happy to remove it. Nobody’s taken me up on that offer yet, and most people are ecstatic to see their image in a publication. This is a good way to make new friends and possibly regular readers too.
Very cool and useful post!
I always use istockphoto, as I’ve found some interesting veins to mine–I use a lot of animal and plant photography, which has slowly become part of the blog’s brand. Their lifestyle (humans, in other words) is typically a lot less interesting.
I use the dreaded TypePad and need to goof with it to figure out captioning. I don’t see anything in the WYSIWYG but I’m sure there’s some HTML code I can drop in–mostly I hate WYSIWYG so I don’t use it much.
Skellie, I’m a bit offended by the phrase “don’t have the time or patience to put up with the hassle” that you use to refer to copyrighted images. For one thing, certain people, me included, prefer to control the way their images are used, and that’s why we don’t use the CC license. For another, photography is still a job for many people. Is it so hard to send a Flickr Mail to someone whose photos you’d like to use? Yes, it requires a little more planning, and you can’t just dash off a post if you’re waiting for approval, but I think it’s worth it. And is it so hard to pay a photographer for their work, even if it’s only a few dollars per photo? Most things in this world aren’t free. Housing and food still cost a pretty penny…
One more thing: you recognize in the opening of your post that photography adds a ton of value to your site. Isn’t it only fair to reward the photographers whose photos you are using for the value they bring to you and your audience?
As a beginner blogger, figuring out images has been on my to-do list for weeks. So, thank you for helping me cross that off! One more item on my list, in case you are looking for related topics to post on: where to store images that you upload (for example, clip art or photos from a hard drive or CD).
Finding appropriate photographs that appear to be in the common domain are my number one time consumer in blogging. When I first began, I used only a title photo, but soon discovered that images throughout the text made my entries easier to read and more interesting as they draw the eye downward and break up the text.
It is a huge priority for me to credit artists, but I always worry that I am stealing. I go by the borderline assumption that if the image is able to be downloaded and I credit it, I can use it– but it always feels a little gray.
Thank you so much for providing this great resource so that I can ensure my blog’s good karma continues. I looked on Flcker before and wasn’t clear that this was possible.
Do you think it is important to let the user know that you are borrowing his/her image? Should a photoless Flckr account be created for this purpose?
(By the way, I see your RSS feed numbers are skyrocketing– you are a most deserving recipient of this good will). Thanks again, Skellie.
Maya Norton
The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy
I also use Creative Commons photos from Flickr on my blog. There are three points I would like to add to this great post:
1.Collecting images
A good way to collect images on Flickr is in the ‘Favorites’ folder that you can access from your Flickr homepage. So, whenever I spot an images I think I might use, I quickly tag it as a ‘favorite’. When it comes to choosing a photo for a post, I can then rummage around in the thumbnails in my ‘Favourites’ folder.
2. Inspiration
When I first started using photos on my blog, I thought of images as something that would add a visual interest to my posts, as well as set the mood for what I wanted to write about. But what I didn’t anticipate is that good images are a source of inspiration. When I fossick about in Flickr, I’ll often find an image that triggers an idea. I then tag it as a ‘favorite’ and paste a copy of the thumbnail—together with my post idea—in my swipe file.
3. Connection
I always email and thank the photographer whenever a post with a new photo goes up. In the process I invite them to have a look at how great the photo looks on my blog. This way I’ve made some lovely connections. For example, I’ve just published two posts on creativity and one of the photographers I’ve used wrote a fantastic comment, which amplified and deepened the theme. Another time when I included in a post a photo of people in a Zen ritual, it turned out that one of the participant on the photo is a famous Jazz musician. He has now posted a link to my article on his website. My point: don’t forget that photographers are potential readers of your blog, as well as possible friends.
Great guide Skillie, for my posts I use stock photos and as you pointed out in the article they can be a real hassle, the problem is I can’t find good pics on flickr, well until today atleast :D. Will be using flickr extensively now, thanks to you:P
Well, you’ve certainly found a winner with this article! It’s no wonder as it’s a fantastic article that should be added to every blogger’s list of essential “must read” articles.
From all the comments, though, I think you might have to write another article about how you did the caption…is it in the theme?
Excellent, I’ve already wasted too much time on Flickr just this week. This is certainly something that other bloggers should be reading. Thanks!
@ Patrick: Thanks! It’s really easy to do. A few people have asked so I’ll provide instructions below :).
@ Mike Goad: I’d hope that, if any trouble did arise, it would be clear that you had every reason to believe what you were doing was fair. But I don’t know enough about copyright law to confirm that, unfortunately.
@ Engtech: Thanks for those resources!
@ Evan: You just right click and ‘Save As’. If you want a bigger image, you can click ‘View larger size’. :)
@ Harvey Glick: I think that’s worthwhile, but I think the problem bloggers face mainly is that they often write and publish posts in the same space of time and it’s not feasible for them to wait on a response before using a photo. But if you’re going to be using the image in future, then I think that’s a really worthwhile thing to do.
@ Robert Tatum: Adobe Photoshop CS 8 :).
@ Sander: You might write the photographer’s name, then use an * and provide a link to her/his profile at the bottom of the page. That seems to be the procedure in magazines.
@ Zach: It’s simple — include this code after your images: < .br/.>< .font size="1">< .em>Photo by < .a href="profile of photographer">Name< ./a>< ./em>< ./font>
But remove the . punctuation — I included that so the code wouldn’t just format the text. The code without . punctuation gets pasted in the code panel of your blog software :)
@ Peter Smythe: You can find the answer above :)
@ Raoul: Sorry — I didn’t mean to cause any offense. I should have clarified that I was talking about getting photos to use for blog posts. Most bloggers write and publish immediately, so it’s impossible for them to wait for a photographer to respond to correspondence. I have absolutely no problem with photographers copyrighting their images, nor do I expect everyone to go with Creative Commons :).
@ Nancy: Imageshack.us is really great. I think you might find that suits your needs (it’s free).
@ Maya Norton: It’s not something I’ve tried before because I don’t have a Flickr account. If you’re complying with the license then it’s not necessary, but it’s certainly something you can do as an extra gesture of goodwill.
@ Jason: I’ve explained how to do the code in the answer to Zach above :).
[...] have been made available by their owners under Creative Commons licensing. His article is titled A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images and includes an explanation of the Creative Commons [...]
A very helpful post here Skellie, for people who want to visually enhance their posts while staying legal. I’ve wondered if Google itself is going to run into major copyright trouble at some point. After all, Google Images seems like an open invitation for the world to steal images. What else would it be used for?
By the way, you can usually display HTML code by using < and > instead of < and >.
Let me try it here: <br/><font size=”1″><em>Photo by <a href=”profile of photographer”>Name</a></em></font>
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images (tags: images photos flickr searching composite) [...]
at last, i’ve been waiting for this post! and it was worth the wait! thanks for another excellent post and one that is worth gold!
A really useful post - handy to have the difference licences laid out so clearly.
I recently came across http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/ which runs a Creative Commons Search on Flickr and returns thumbnails in a far quicker-to-view/find what you were looking for interface.
[...] need to register and buy a block of credits. You can then download them as and when you need to. Skelliewag posted a terrific guide to finding free photos on Flickr, this morning. Her description of Creative [...]
Excellent guide to using Flickr Images…
This is an awesome Guide that explains the ins and outs of images and licensing in general. I feel much more prepared for using images in the future !…
Thanks, Skellie. It’s always good to encourage people to do the right thing when it comes to using licensed content. CC is great and its evolution is good for everyone on the Web!
[...] Skellie has a guide to using Flickr images. [...]
[...] Skellie over at skelliewag has a great posting about using Flickr and Creative Commons images to enhance your blog postings. I’d say take it even further. Every teacher using technology should be familiar with Creative Commons and leverage these image libraries to get their point across. Nothing is a greater turn-off for students or an audience than page after page of text with no visual stimuli. Jump out there, get some pictures, and make your content interesting for crying out loud! addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fweavingaweb.edublogs.org%2F2007%2F11%2F30%2Fshare-and-share-alike%2F’; addthis_title = ‘Share+and+share+alike’; addthis_pub = ”; [...]
Thanks for posting this. I love your pics. I’ve always been nervous about posting pics on my site because I wasn’t familiar with the nuances even of creative commons and didn’t want to make a mistake.
Thank you Skellie! I’ve been hoping for this exact post! Your images are always so perfect for your posts, and sized just right! I have to try out PhotoShop, but I’ve heard so much about it, I guess I’ll have to get the program. Oooh, I’ll put it on my xmas list! :)
Thanks for the useful information in this post, a lot of things that you covered I wouldn’t have thought of which will save me time. Great post!
-Tre’
http://www.lingeringwords.blogspot.com
[...] to everyone for receiving my guide to finding and using incredible Flickr images so warmly. Finding photos through Flickr seems to be something many have wanted to do but [...]
[...] is one of my favorite examples for setting the right tone. Luckily for us Skellie wrote a “Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images“, so we can at least try to do as she [...]
[...] the LAW…. which pictures you can use for different purposes and what restrictions they have. (link) The second post is about how to caption or credit the images you choose. [...]
[...] which photos you’re allowed to edit or post, how to credit and write captions etc. Part 1 and [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images - Skellie [...]
This just became a training resource for our 60-plus business bloggers. Thank you, Skellie.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images How to Caption or Credit Photos in Posts Skelliewag.org These are more directed at bloggers and publishers, but it’s a good example of how many bloggers (including myself) utilize Flickr and the Creative Commons. [...]
[...] that I can freely post without copywriting problems. Skelliewag to the rescue with the guide to find incredible Flickr images for your blog. There are some decent suggestions in the post and I will definitely be bookmarking it. I’ve [...]
Wow,
You really made an amazing resource here.
Thanks!
[...] blog zonder goede plaatjes leest lastig. Maar hoe kom je aan goede gratis foto’s? Een complete guide voor Flickr met goede uitleg over de verschillende Creative Commons licenties die gebruikt [...]
Hi Skellie, I noticed that some of the credits point to the image that you are using, and some just point to the photographer’s profile on Flickr. What do you think is the best way to credit the photographer whose picture we use? A link to that particular picture, or a link to his profile?
I also noticed that you save their pictures and host them on your own server. Doesn’t this violate any guidelines? I’ve read that the Flickr Community Guidelines specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page.
Great piece Skellie. I use Flickr CC and Wikimedia CC for most of my photos.
I want to also mention in response to some comments above, ask and ye shall probably receive permission to use a copyrighted photo on Flickr. I craved using a particular shot of the Wollongong Lighthouse, and asked. Within minutes, I had permission. And Pelf, on the question you asked, I think it applies to the full copyright photos as there is also a “Blog this” link on Flickr, where you enter your blog details and api and Flickr posts it to your site with the links back as they want. You can even write your post through them. It’s a legal way of using the copyrighted images, too, as best as I can tell, because it’s a choice the photographer makes to put that particular option up. With a Creative Commons license, that doesn’t apply.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] unless you get explicit permission from the author.” (skelliewag.org - Good articles on finding, using and crediting flickr [...]
@Sue: I’m sorry but I don’t quite understand you :( I asked 2 questions in my earlier comment:
(a) whether we should link to the photo, or to the photographer’s profile on Flickr, and
(b) whether downloading the image and self-hosting it violates Flickr’s Community Guidelines.
@Pelf, if you go to Flickr, at the top of each photo whose author has it enabled, you will see a blog this button. If you use that function (which the photographer chooses) you will be able to post it to your blog directly through Flickr. Select the size you want to use first, then blog this button. Then you can write your post at Flickr for your blog if you want. When you’re done, hit publish and it goes over to your blog, and it will automatically have the links that Flickr requires. See this post of mine
http://lighthouse-news.com/2007/11/29/sankaty-relit/
that might show you what I mean happens. I did that through the blog this feature.
You do have to add your blog to Flickr, but the advantage is you can use these blog-this enabled photos. I do recommend you choose the Don’t save my login information option rather than store your blog’s login details at Flickr.
Contact me if you need any more info on this absolutely neat feature of Flickr.
[...] This website is well designed and very popular. Before using it check out the superb Flickr post on SkellieWag’s blog that shows what you can and can’t use and how to find the best pictures amongst the millions [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images “Flickr, on the other hand, hosts millions of photos taken by amateur and professional photographers capturing photos of what interests them, not their stock photography bosses. The best of Flickr is vibrant, innovative and dynamic.” (tags: flickr photos creative-commons blogs blogging graphics photography) [...]
@Sue: Thanks, I will drop you an email :D
[...] Vill du läsa mer om Flickr och hur du kan använda dess bilder klicka här. [...]
[...] Finding images isn’t very hard either, as Skelliewag points out in a great post on using Flickr images. [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images - A good explaination of Creative Commons licensing and Flickr Photos. [...]
[...] restrictions on how you use the images. I strongly recommend that you read Skellie’s A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Flickr Images for an excellent overview of creative commons [...]
[...] See here for the full article : http://www.skelliewag.org/a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-using-incredible-flickr-images-162.htm#mor... [...]
Thanks Skellie, really useful post. I’ve just added my first Flickr image: http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2007/12/09/three-ways-to-assess-your-own-creative-work/
[...] decided to use pictures after reading Skellie’s guide to finding and using incredible Flickr images. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of photographs, but it really helps to draw readers in. In the [...]
[...] Flickr: There are 42,000 images tagged with Christmas, but the quality is not high as on Stock Exchange. Check out Skellie’s post to learn how to find the best pictures on Flickr. [...]
What a great post Skellie I am a daily photography blogger and I use flickr and cc pictures almost EVERYDAY.
I 100% agree with you with the “Most of us don’t have the time or the patience to put up with the hassle.” I wish everyone made their pictures available under cc :D
However I have to add that, even if I am not required to, I always notify the original owner that I used his/her picture and in which post
1) I feel people have the right to know that their picture was used it may flatter them even
2) The original owner has always the right to refuse the use of his work on this or that article
Sorry for the long comment and happy holidays
I’m just wondering though - do you HAVE to download the picture? When I link to my own Flickr photos, there’s html code down the bottom of the screen according to whatever size I want. These CC ones don’t have those.
I’m just lazy I gues and want to get away with the old cutnpasting routine!
Awesome
Thanks for sharing this insight into Flickr - page is now bookmarked
this is, by far, one of the most useful postings I’ve read… I was wondering how I was going to keep up with the beautiful images thing… Thanks a mil, skellie, for writing this! :)
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images Nice article I’ve found on my Google Reader the other day… __________________ [...]
[...] I found this article on Skelliwag really useful as I was not totally clear on what the copyright rules were for using Flickr images in blog posts: A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
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[...] bloggers do, since I don’t really have time for that. So, I do a little search and find a wonderful guide to using Flickr on blog posts by Skelliewag, to which I also subscribed. (See Part 2 here [...]
[...] Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
Great article, but just a quick note; as someone who has had a fair amount of her flickred images blogged (and a few stolen & reproduced too), it would be great if a comment was left saying that the pic has been used. After all, if we are using the CC then we have given our permission, so it is just a polite & supportive thing to do. :)
[...] for example, Caroline MiddleBrook’s Twitter Guide or Skelliewag’s Flickr Guide. Both are great examples of a well written tutorial that have greatly enhanced the popularity of [...]
[...] Finding pictures. I like to put pictures in my posts, because it breaks up the page a little, making it easier to read. I usually find my pictures on Flickr, thanks to a post I read at Skelliewag.org. [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images A question I get often is: how do you find such great images through Flickr? Most importantly, how do you find such great images that you can use freely? (tags: flickr photos copyright images) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “links for 2008-01-13″, url: “http://www.hyperlinkguerrilla.com/2008/01/13/links-for-2008-01-13/” }); [...]
[...] is pretty much the definitive guide right here, in my opinion. __________________ Spiritual [...]
Great information - I was just looking for pictures to use on my blog (www.financeviewpoint.com). Now I know where to get them.
Thanks.
Andy
[...] Skellie at Skelliewag.org has written a great writeup on using Flickr photos for your site. Read A complete guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images for more great information, and check out her site. She is really a tremendous writer and offers [...]
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
Thank you, thank you, thank you! i knew there had to be a better way to find pictures than i was coming up with. and i knew the copyright was an issue….i figured the creative commons thing by clicking on a few of your pictures and noticing a theme. now that i’ve read this, i feel much more comfortable placing (good) pictures on my site
Flickr is new to me….Thanks for sharing this information; I will certainly make good use of it!
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
Thanks Skellie! This is exactly what I was looking for! :) Great work :)
[...] or graphic artist. I like using others photos along with my own. Today I was very happy to find a A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images by Skellie. Check it [...]
[...] I also started exploring Flickr as a source of images to enhance my posts, thanks to Skelliewag’s article, A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. [...]
[...] (a blogger from Australia that does a great job on blogging in general). Her article: Guide to finding and using incredible Flickr Images gives a step by step process on how to find Creative Commons (i.e. not copyrighted) photos that you [...]
I feel so blessed that there are people like you on the net just providing such valuable content. I really is inspiring.
I spent 3 hours searching all over the place trying to find out how to use those beautiful photos on my blog.
Thank you so much.
A very good guide that I was looking around for pictures. I always used to wonder how you ppl get these stuffs on hand. Whats the secret Ske ( if you don’t mind I feel easy to call you Ske rather than Skelle)…??
Thank you immensely.
I have been wondering how to reduce the time spent on this previously labour intensive task.
Great piece of info.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
[...] good advice on setting up a blog can be found over at Skelliewag.org, and in particular I liked this idea of hers to celebrate the great body of Creative Commons licensed work that is published on [...]
[...] is a great resource if you are looking for stock images, and are strapped for cash. I still prefer Flickr for getting photos for blog posts, but if you need stock photos and lack cash, check this site out for some free stock image [...]
[...] Optimize appearance - Pictures are worth many words but they also break up the wall of text, plus help the reader make that snap “yes” decision. Great pics can be found on Flickr. [...]
[...] Optimize appearance - Pictures are worth many words but they also break up the wall of text, plus help the reader make that snap “yes” decision. Great pics can be found on Flickr. [...]
Great help with this article. Thanks so much
Lori
[...] to suit your needs, whether it’s for a blog post, an eBook, a design, an artwork or anything else.read more | digg story [...]
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
I had been wondering about that! Thank you, thank you, and
thanks to the person who linked to this place.
Great blog, I will be back.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images for Free [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images looks interesting. The trouble is that given the general bent of this blog these days I’d need is more of a screenshot/fan art gallery. [...]
[...] I read a post over at SkellieWag, about using Flickr images licensed under the Creative Commons license to find great images to illustrate my posts. Check it [...]
[...] Flickr photos are a must for your blog, and I use them as much as possible. Skellie has an excellent tutorial on how to use them correctly. The absolutely gorgeous shot above of a Harley on the open road [...]
[...] How To Find And Use Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] Start using Flickr photos in your blog posts. Pictures draw your readers to your articles. Try to use a picture that relates to your article if you can. If you blog about a web browser, be sure to use the browser logo in your post. Link to the web page of the browser. Using photos makes your blog more compelling! I would be appallingly remiss if I failed to throw you some linkage to Skelliewag’s helpful guide, A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. [...]
[...] zu suchen, die unter CreativeCommons Lizenzen veröffentlicht wurden.?Skelliewag?hat dazu ein?ganzes Tutorial,?dass auch noch mal auf die einzelnen Lizenzunterschiede [...]
[...] the prospect of using graphics in posts here at TzuVelli. But, after reading Skellie’s "A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images" I have had much better success using Flickr. For low cost stock photography one of the best [...]
[...] - Skellie has put together a fantastic two part guide: A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images and The Flickr Guide, Part 2: How to Caption or Credit Photos in [...]
[...] in its database. What we’ve done is created a plugin that simplifies the entire process of finding and adding incredible Flickr images to your posts (just like the one [...]
[...] Not all photos here are free, but using the advanced search function will return some real gems. Skelliewag.org has a great guide to understanding Flickr [...]
That is a great guide thanks.
Thanx very much for this great guide!
Have been using only my own pics until now.
This opens a giant ressource!!
Best wishes from Germany
Detlev
[...] For a very nice explanation of using Creative Commons photos found on Flickr, check out SkellieWag’s excellent post. [...]
[...] Photo Dropper website also links to the great post by Skelliwag on a Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images which highlights the importance too of of checking the Creative Commons License on the original [...]
[...] that will allow me to insert Flickr photo’s to my blog posts, this all started when I read Skellie’s guide to using Incredible Flickr Images using images licensed under the Creative Commons [...]
[...] that the owners have marked for public use at no cost. Skelliewag has written a good post on Creative Commons and the use of Flickr [...]
[...] Skellie has written a comprehensive article covering this subject in detail. Learn how to find the best image and how to determine the proper Creative Commons license for its use. [...]
[...] in its database. What we’ve done is created a plugin that simplifies the entire process of finding and adding incredible Flickr images to your [...]
I can’t express how helpful this article is for me!
Now I have more resources to use when blogging. Sometimes I would stop posting pics because of fear of copyright violation so this article is a godsend.
Wow! Thanks for the help!
My site doesn’t use too many images but I can see that sometimes they can be useful tools to draw reader attention or emphasize a point.
This article helps make finding images and other resources easier, especially for newcomers like me.
[...] You can read more about it at ProBlogger. You might also want to have a look at this article at Skelliewag on using Flickr [...]
[...] photographs directly from Flickr’s CreativeCommons selections. Read Skellie’s article here on using Flickr’s CreativeCommons photographs. If you liked this article, consider one of [...]
[...] Read more about creativecommons and read the complete guide at skelliewag. [...]
[...] Nov 29, Skelliewag ran a story about finding Creative-Commons licensed images in Flickr ( through the Flickr: Creative Commons [...]
[...] while using the photographs from the photo-sharing website; not all photographs can be shared. Skellie tells you how to leverage the vast resource of Flickr without getting into copyright infringement [...]
Thanks for posting this. I knew my blog needed some images to jazz it up, but didn’t want to use personal photos and was afraid of getting sued sideways if I used someone else’s pictures without proper permission. Your explanation was a huge help.
Thanks, for this post! I’m using Flickr photos on my pages, for example I’m running a website for the capitol of Hungary, and on Flickr I can find thousands of great pics, without it, I don’t know what would I do… Thanks for posting the copyrights.
[...] That said, we should add a few caveats. First, be sure you understand the various types of licensing before you begin. Some images cannot legally be altered. Others can be used only for noncommercial sites. The various types of licensing are clearly explained in an article on skelliewag.org. [...]
Creative Commons photographs are not “non-copyright” photos. They are fully copyrighted, but the owner has allowed them to be used under the terms of the relevant Creative Commons license.
To Ange and others who suggest other conditions for use of Creative Commons photos, such as leaving a comment, that is not required, and requiring that would take the photos out of the Creative Commons license. Remember: You own the photos and you can create your own license terms. If you don’t like every detail of the Creative Commons licenses, come up with something else. You can copy the terms of the Creative Commons licenses and change them, but you can’t call it Creative Commons, or Creative Commons plus extra or whatever. Creative Commons is trademarked and which means the licenses they publish, no more, no less, no changes unless authorized in the license terms (there are a few “variables” in the licenses).
The whole point of Creative Commons is to have a small number of simple, unabiguous, clear licenses, where you learn the terms once. and you can apply them to anything without reading the details.
[...] Skellie put together a great guide all about it: “A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images“ [...]
[...] budge from the site. For those who need a refresher on how to legally take pictures from Flickr, this article covers all the bases mentioned in [...]
Great article. Thanx!
Thank you so much for explaining this!
Now I know how to find Flickr pics I can use!
And I’ve re-set the permission on my own pics, too!
Brilliant as always!
[...] So, a little poking around on the internets and I found this handy handy tutorial on how to do it. [...]
Thanks for the great article, Skellie! I’ve been using iStock Photo and Fotolia for my blog posts. Great because they’re usually only $1… BUT, if you add up all the posts… well those $1 here and there most definitely start to add up.
There are some gorgeous photos on Flickr! I think it’s about time I gave these a try. Plus it’s helping to promote other people as well, which is always a great thing!
This is a great article that will help a lot. I do have a concern, though. Looking at many of the Flickr photos, I see a lot of them are clearly recognizable photos of people. Some uses of the photos would require the _subjects_ of the photo to sign a release. Is there a way to determine if this has, in fact, been done, aside from asking the photographer?
[...] A Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images - describing (1) which Flickr images you are allowed to use; (2) tactics to quickly find best images. [...]
Brilliant post - I have a question for you too. How do you separate your trackbacks from your comments? Is it a plugin?
[...] Flickr creative commons license by attribute. You can read more about Flickr licenses here: Skelliewag Just make sure that the image you’re using falls under this license. It’s easy to hop around on [...]
[...] Flickr creative commons license by attribute. You can read more about Flickr licenses here: Skelliewag Just make sure that the image you’re using falls under this license. It’s easy to hop around on [...]
Wow. I didn’t know about the copyright stuffs about Flickr images till now. Thanks for bringing this up! :D
A great idea, and I’ve started doing it also. As alternatives to flickr, you could consider these two sites, which are a consolidated search of a number of different free use photography sites:
http://www.everystockphoto.com/
http://www.picfindr.com/
I find the first one gives me better results, but the second searches some different sites and gives the occasional useful hit.
Most of the ones I end up using seem to come from stock.xchg (http://www.sxc.hu/home). They have a large and well-organized collection with categories like “Concepts: Success”. And most (although not absolutely all) of the photos are free to use, without more than the most sensible of restrictions, including for commercial purposes.
[...] blog. One such goodie is Photo Dropper - I learned about that from Skellie’s post of A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. It allows you to pick and choose from some awesome pictures you’ll find at [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] from Flickr to use in my blog. Flickr uses the Creative Commons license, and there’s a great post by Skelliewag that explains what the different licenses mean and how to use images legally and [...]
[...] wrote an in depth post (Nov 2007) about Flickr and Creative Commons licenses and how they apply to blogs. It’s an in depth explanation and one worth while [...]
Thanks for the CC primer, Skellie. That is something I am currently researching and trying to decide where to go with it as pertaining to my blogs.
I like SXC, but I’ll be looking at Flickr for some better looking photographs. I don’t mind giving attribution — I frequently do — and photos certainly are a way to support what has been written, a real attention getter.
[...] tips skal du oprette en bruger, det er let og ligetil. Du kan se alle tips via RSS feed.Find ud af hvilke billeder du må bruge fra Flickr uden at skulle tænke på [...]
This is exactly what I have been looking for, for the past couple of years! I’ve used flickr a couple of times but have never noticed that link before.
Great post, keep up the great work.
Hi Skellie,
I just came across a plugin “Photo Dropper”.
Photo Dropper is a Wordpress plugin that lets you add Flickr photos to your posts.
It searches for Creative Commons licensed photos - images that are licensed for shared use - and lets you drop them into your posts - right from your dashboard with just 1 click.
Check it out at http://www.photodropper.com/wordpress-plugin/
Hope this helps. :)
Cheers,
Austin
Austin, Photodropper is the berries. Thanks!
You’re most welcome Mike! :)
Wow. What a difference! Thanx Skellie :)
[...] useful link that gives ‘A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Image’: http://www.skelliewag.org/a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-using-incredible-flickr-images-162.htm (November 29, [...]
[...] A useful habit — Make a pact with yourself to add at least one image to each post you write, even if the post is short (and even if the image is very small). By adding align=”left” or align=”right” to the HTML tags for your image, you can push your image to the left or right of surrounding text. You can use stock photography, take your own photos or, my favorite option, find and use great Flickr images. [...]
[...] I haven’t used this yet, but I plan to. Many of the images have a Creative Commons license. For more information about how to use and search for these images, I recommend A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. [...]
[...] found Photo Dropper, which allows you to easily search for and add creative commons licensed [...]
[...] if anyone wants to know how to get great images for their posts, this article from Skelliewag explains [...]
[...] dari flickr - attribution licensed photos -. skellie ade tulis pasal ni - complete guide -. > A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] if anyone wants to know how to get great images for their posts, this article from Skelliewag explains [...]
[...] in your blogging platform, tips for checking the spelling and grammar of the post, a guide for looking for photos from Flickr, a tutorial on using your blogging platform, a process for marking the post done and notifying the [...]
[...] I was a little surprised at first to find that Flickr is one of the best sources for royalty free photos. Without doubt, Flickr has one of the greatest and constantly growing collections of individual, unusual and beautiful images. Now, you can’t just use any photo found on Flickr. If you want to stay within legal boundaries, start right here at Flickr’s Creative Commons page and pick the license agreement that suits you best. With The Attribution-Non Commercial License for example, there are almost 10 million photos to pick from. Click on “See More”, then go ahead and use the search as usual. It might be helpful to select “Most interesting” instead of “Most relevant” in order to see only the most popular images. It’s important to note that all Flickr photos must be credited, indicated by the BY: sign in the license. Now that I think about it, it’s quite logic that Flickr would be your number one stop for photos, but from the legal point of view, I didn’t expect it to be so well organized in the first place. And at this point I need to give credit to Skellie from skelliewag for a wonderful article on Flickr Images. [...]
[...] I was a little surprised at first to find that Flickr is one of the best sources for royalty free photos. Without doubt, Flickr has one of the greatest and constantly growing collections of individual, unusual and beautiful images. Now, you can’t just use any photo found on Flickr. If you want to stay within legal boundaries, start right here at Flickr’s Creative Commons page and pick the license agreement that suits you best. With The Attribution-Non Commercial License for example, there are almost 10 million photos to pick from. Click on “See More”, then go ahead and use the search as usual. It might be helpful to select “Most interesting” instead of “Most relevant” in order to see only the most popular images. It’s important to note that all Flickr photos must be credited, indicated by the BY: sign in the license. Now that I think about it, it’s quite logic that Flickr would be your number one stop for photos, but from the legal point of view, I didn’t expect it to be so well organized in the first place. And at this point I need to give credit to Skellie from skelliewag for a wonderful article on Flickr Images. [...]
nicely explained and useful article … thanks !
[...] Series was a time I truly enjoyed, as was the day I found out in Skelliewag.org an article on finding and using incredible flickr images. The lowest moments happened during our transition from Wordpress.com to our own self-hosted [...]
[...] Turns out I’m not smart enough to search for what I’m looking for on Flickr. +A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images Use those newfound Flickr photos for good. +Wikimedia Commons Free Content Underused resource. [...]
[...] I’ve started adding Flickr pictures to some of my posts. I got the idea/info from skelliewag.org. [...]
[...] wrote an excellent article entitled A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images which you might also find [...]
Thank you so much for this - I was always so scared of using things from Flickr, this makes it alot clear.
good site
Hi Skellie,
Your post is really helpful. Thanks for the clear explanation and instruction as to what to do. Now I know where to find good photos for my blog. Thanks a million!
[...] I placed a link to the author profile so you can contact him. You can also read this excellent Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images to help you find more free images for your [...]
[...] has different permissions for different uses. You can read and understand each of the level of copyright here. Actually you should have a good understanding of the types of license attached to the photos so [...]
[...] on using Flickr to find images that you are allowed to use on your blog, I suggest you read: ‘A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images‘ by [...]
[...] also must thank Skelliwag for helping me and others learn how and where to find images to use in posts, thus creating a nice visual flare to each post. Some of my earliest posts didn’t have any images [...]
[...] images in posts is quite fun and really adds visual appeal, and I thoroughly enjoy the ability to use images found on Flickr. I have yet to figure out how to add a space after the image thus creating a good separation [...]
Thanks for the tips. Finding good images on flickr has become faster and easier after following the suggestions mentioned. Saves up lot of time and energy :)
As an advertising professional, I have used stock photography for years, but am just now getting into blogging. This is a nice overview of a tool that will allow me to make my posts much nicer, without additional expense - thanks so much.
A JJL Mini Lesson on Publishing Photos Online…
Publishing online seemed to open up for me ten-fold the day that I finally figured out how to add pictures to my articles —and link them properly. There is no doubt that adding visuals to my repertoire has made me…
[...] - using the creative commons attribution license. I’d suggest you read Skellie’s explanation here before you go swiping images from [...]
[...] for example, Caroline MiddleBrook’s Twitter Guide or Skelliewag’s Flickr Guide. Both are great examples of a well written tutorial that have greatly enhanced the popularity of [...]
[...] Commons Attribution Licence, via Flickr. Hat tip to Lynnae at From Under The Clutter for mentioning this post at [...]
[...] How to source illustrations - Flickr is a great source of free images. Check out Skellie’s excellent article on how to find images on Flickr. [...]
[...] How to source illustrations - Flickr is a great source of free images. Check out Skellie’s excellent article on how to find images on Flickr. [...]
[...] How to source illustrations - Flickr is a great source of free images. Check out Skellie’s excellent article on how to find images on Flickr. [...]
[...] [insert picture from flkr. More flkr stuff - A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images] [...]
[...] gives us a Complete Guide to Finding and Using Flickr Images. Bookmark the Creative Commons search page, I have to say that I’m going to be implementing [...]
[...] já existem muitos artigos bons escritos a respeito, como o do Paulo que citei acima e também o do Skelliewag.org (em inglês, senão domina o inglês utilize o Google Tradutor ou o complemento do Firefox para [...]
[...] This article from Skelliewag.org lays out how to find great images on Flickr that are royalty-free, and how to make sure you’re not breaking copyright by using them. The good things about Flickr is that the images come from ordinary people’s cameras, and thus they are often more striking. [...]
[...] did I find in my research? There is a wonderful article by Skelliewag on finding good photos for your blog, I now understand the different types of creative commons [...]
[...] How to source illustrations - Flickr is a great source of free images. Check out Skellie’s excellent article on how to find images on Flickr. [...]
[...] [insert picture from flkr. More flkr stuff - A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images] [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images - Skellie explains the types of photos copyright in Flickr and a guide to find the photos to spice up your blog posts. [...]
Nice article. Here’s a tool for finding lots of gorgeous Creative Commons images: http://www.photoree.com
It was recently featured on CNET.com and Mashable
[...] to Skellie and Photo Dropper for tips on using Flickr images in blog posts — awesome idea.) (Like it? [...]
Thank you for sharing. Your blog is such a great help in locating all the great photos available from Flickr.
[...] - http://www.skelliewag.org/ It was this post on using creative commons (attribution license) images from Flickr that had me started out on [...]
[...] is a good place to look. Be careful of copyright infringement. Read Skellie’s guide to using photographs if you get your pics from [...]
[...] scads of places online to find legal, free, or cheap photos. Flickr is one of them, but please read this article about giving proper credit before using other’s photos willy-nilly. Successful blog that does this well: Soule [...]
[...] site Skelliewag.org has a great explanation of what these 6 different Creative Commons Licenses are for. I’ll just let [...]
[...] Flickr plugin Photodropper How to Rock Flickr Like a Champ A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images Turbo Charge Your Traffic With Flickr Groups A Comprehensive Guide to Using Flickr for Traffic [...]
if anyone is interested, i write a blog about creative commons, creative commons through the looking glass which explores a number of projects, developments and concerns with the cc licensing model.
[...] Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words and is extremely eye catching. I use the creative commons license for images at Flickr to get images for free. Take a look at Skellie’s post if you’re not sure how to use free images from Flickr. [...]
[...] 3. A Picture It is rightly said that a picture is worth thousand words. A picture can do wonders. A good picture at the start of the post or in the middle can draw people to your blog post. When a good picture can get stumbles for your post, it can surely get the attention too. If you are a newbie to adding good photos, I recommend you to check the article written by Skellie. [...]
Excellent article and one that will not age too soon Skellie.
The depth you went into clarifies a lot of the questions that people search for but hate to dig through so many pages to find.
Many people have the habit of putting things together without the hassle of reading the directions and the way you presented this is almost similiar. An easy no nonsense straight to the info set-up. Good post.
[...] really didn’t have much of a problem with the results we were getting, however I was reading an article on skelliewag.org about how she uses flickr to get pictures and thought we might give it a try here. You should read [...]
[...] that other people have taken on my own blog, but if you’re that way inclined, this guide to finding and using Flickr images is easy to read, and comprehensive in its coverage of the different copyright models that Flickr [...]
Great post Skellie, and one that should help people make the most of some of the great photos published on Flickr that are licensed for use on blogs and websites.
I use Flickr extensively, and also blog about my photographic wor, using Flickr to host the photos. A combination of wordpress and a little scripting means that adding photos to a post is simply a case of adding the photo id number (its part of the flickr url to any photo on the site) and the hard work is done, including linking back to the original photo on Flickr. This really cuts down on the work that adding photos to a post can bring, for very little work upfront. If anyone is interested in how this is done, just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to explain the steps required.
This is really useful as I always wonder why some blogs have great matching photos while I dont seem to know the how.
Thank you
[...] - right from your dashboard with just 1 click. (If you’re running a commercial blog, read this article to make sure you’re clear how Creative Commons works and what you’re allowed to do with [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images (post) [...]
[...] think is cool — this one’s from the first Wikipedia takes Manhattan project. There are lots of reasons it’s good to post images. And thanks to pharos for the [...]
[...] captions, I learned about using "Creative Commons" Flickr photos from the article here: http://www.skelliewag.org/a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-using-incredible-flickr-images-162.htm. For the photos without credit lines, I bought them from Dreamstime.com. And there are one or two [...]
[...] Please learn about the different types of licenses prior to using anything to be sure you don’t breach any of the copyrights. If you’re a blogger, Skellie wrote up a handy guide to finding and using incredible flickr images. [...]
[...] Damit sind solche Bilder schon unbrauchbar für Blogger, die Adsense-Blöcke geschaltet haben. Eine sehr gute Übersicht zu den verschiedenen Creative-Commons-Lizenzen hat Skellie von Skelliewag.org verfasst. Natürlich in perfect [...]
[...] Talked about Creative Commons and how to use Flickr images. Please read up on these matters here. We should all use these images from now on, to be on the safe side. No need to remove the old [...]
[...] Complete guide to using Flickr - comments on the ways to use Flickr. [...]
I’ve always wondered about Flickr copyrights. What a great resource. Thank you.
I quickly added http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=*&l=4 to my Launchbar list of search templates.
Wow Thanks this has allowed me to add loads of CC photos to my own site - I now also upload all my own photos with CC so others can do the same!
[...] thinking the licensing issues would be too complicated. Skellie set me straight on that with this useful, comprehensive post. Just search for images under the Attribution license and you’re set. The only thing [...]
[...] engagement (Problogger) • The new secret to blogging success (Six Pixels of Separation) • A complete guide to finding and using incredible Flickr images [...]
That’ll save me a bit of money at istock as well as finding something a little more original, I do like some of their photos and artwork at istock but like you say some of them being a little bit too clean stand out a mile as stock photography.
[...] Commons are free, as long as you credit the photographer. And I found Skellie’s article A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images helpful in explaining the six [...]
[...] questions I get is how do I get those images? Well, I used to refer them to an awesome post by Skellie where I learned of this method (I used to pay a dollar odd for stock [...]
[...] thinking the licensing issues would be too complicated. Skellie set me straight on that with this useful, comprehensive post. Just search for images under the Attribution license and you’re set. The only thing [...]
A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images…
In this post, I want to share everything I’ve learned about how you can quickly and easily find Flickr’s best images to suit your needs, whether it’s for a blog post, an eBook, a design, an artwork or anything else. Secondly, I want to explain ho…
Thank-you so much for this information. I have always wondered how to go about using and finding good photos for my blog posts and articles. I’ll be duly subscribing to your blog as I’m just going through the process of learning about the importance of great content for websites etc.
Time to get investigating your other posts I think…….
Cheers K
[...] amount as a license fee per photo. But there are plenty of ways to get free pictures too. Read this post about licensing before you go “borrowing” pictures from Google Image [...]
Hi!
Thanks for the good article! It helped me as well to understand better what sometimes seemed a bit complicated to me.
I still have a question though: What, if someone I took a picture from (and linked him/her of course), changes the licence of that picture I took from let’s say from “Attribution” to “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License” without me knowing that? Let’s say I cropped the picture when it still was under the first licence and now I wouldn’t be allowed to crop it anymore.
How to deal with that?!
Thanks for helping out!
Micha
[...] you can market a new product to your clients. Examples of this can be seen in Skeliewag and his method for finding interesting flickr images for posts or in Darren Rowse’s method of batch processing. I even use the things I’ve learned [...]
you have misinterpreted the attribution license. You must also provide a link back to the license when you use images released under these terms. Read the license again, particularly section 4.1. They way you are using images on your blog is against the terms of the license and leaves you open to being sued (however unlikely that is).
[...] find free images for your blog, it would be a shame not to do it. My favorite source for images is flickr Creative Commons and I sometimes buy images from iStockphoto as well, cause they’re very [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images How do you find such great images that you can use freely? (tags: flickr image) [...]
[...] Once it’s installed and setup to talk to your Flickr account, just select the Flickr icon in your post window. Note, you can also view everyone’s photos but because of copyright reasons I plan to avoid this. Here’s how to add others’ photos to your blog under the Creative Commons licence. [...]
[...] Legally use photos - I refer to Skelliewag’s fabulous article all the time about how to use and find great Flickr images. She perfectly describes the process I use to find my photos in every article I [...]
[...] scads of places online to find legal, free, or cheap photos. Flickr is one of them, but please read this article about giving proper credit before using other’s photos willy-nilly. Successful blog that does this well: Soule [...]
[...] a phase of finding a related photo to attach to the top of each post. Using services such as Flickr’s Creative Commons photos, it became very easy for bloggers to find good quality [...]
[...] learned about Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. That has made a big difference in the presentation. (Thanks, [...]
[...] Skelliewag.org: A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] Blog Skelliewag versucht deshalb im Beitrag “A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images” die Situation zu verdeutlichen. Obwohl dieser Beitrag auf Englisch ist, bleibt er doch gut [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
can we use these images for an e-card application with the credits intact of course. forgive me, I am a webmaster and hence that kind of question…
Thank you for taking the time to write this well-written guide. It cleared up the copyright and posting issues I needed answers. My blog posts will now have wonderful flickr eye candy pictures!
[...] [insert picture from flkr. More flkr stuff - A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images] [...]
[...] [insert picture from flkr. More flkr stuff - A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images] [...]
[...] I have found a really fantastic article today on skelliewag.org. The author provides a detailed guide on how to use Flickr images and how to find great photos using Flickr. You HAVE to check it out. A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. [...]
GOLD!!! This is the missing piece I was looking for. Thank you.
hi this is THE best informative page i have found on how to sue images. i’m pretty young and so this helped me a lot. thank you very much!
[...] find free images for your blog, it would be a shame not to do it. My favorite source for images is flickr Creative Commons and I sometimes buy images from iStockphoto as well, cause they’re very [...]
[...] images in the text will make your content easy on your readers eyes (and brain). Get images from Flickr Creative Commons, stock photo sites, or your own digital camera. A simple chart or illustrations can make a post [...]
You say
“The only requirement is that you credit the author with a link back to their profile.”
This is easy if you are putting the image on a website or blog, what if you are putting it in a presentation? What are the rules in this case?
thanks!
[...] pictures in certain situations under certain requirements of the orginal author. According to A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images, pictures should be used as followed. 1. copyright pictures. It is illegal to post the picture on my [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images - [...]
[...] to tons of pictures that are free to use in your blog by crediting the owner. Read this post on how to use flickr for more on using the images in [...]
[...] to tons of pictures that are free to use in your blog by crediting the owner. Read this post on how to use flickr for more on using the images in [...]
[...] enable RSS feeds and get to know these sites: Technorati, Google’s blog search, Friendfeed, Flickr, YouTube, Stumbleupon, Delicious. Tags:Austin, austin woman, blogging, blogs, Social Media, [...]
Great article!
One thing that I did not see mentioned was the fact that if people in the image can be identified, then a model release should be obtained. The person in an image has rights that are not necessarily waived by the photographer granting rights, especially if the image is used for commercial purposes like advertising.
A model release is probably hard to get for most flickr images, so it may be best (especially for commercial work) to stay with images that do not have people.
This issue resulted in Virgin Mobile getting sued some time ago due to an image they used from flickr under a CC license. See this in the New York Times http://tr.im/epbt
This was so helpful for me. Howver, I have a question. I’ve followed all of this and on the creative Commons page I keep trying to download the pics, give credit to the link/profile (on wordpress.com) and it won’t allow me to load them. When it says all rights reserved…does that mean I can’t use it….and if so, why is it on the page of shared pics that we can use???? I’m confused but want to do the right thing!
[...] good advice on setting up a blog can be found over at Skelliewag.org, and in particular I liked this idea of hers to celebrate the great body of Creative Commons licensed work that is published on [...]
[...] found Skellie’s Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images helpful. You may [...]
[...] Read this great post on finding really good photos: http://www.skelliewag.org/a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-using-incredible-flickr-images-162.htm [...]
You know how you tell yourself you are studying because you have your certification books opened in front of you? But you are really clicking on Stumble Upon to find interesting posts to read?
Yeah well, I came across yours and had to write to tell you I enjoyed it very much. I gave it the thumbs up, so more people can come across it and enjoy it also.
super useful info thanks so much
btw great site!
It’s such a relief to read blog posts like this that really puts an end to all your time-consuming search for answers.
Thanks a lot and keep writing the top posts!
[...] Guide to Finding Flickr Images - Excellent resource. Visit skelliewag and read this. [...]
[...] Skelliwag’s A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images and The Flickr Guide, Part 2: How to Caption or Credit Photos in Posts to learn more about using [...]
[...] system, you can market a new product to your clients. Examples of this can be seen in Skeliewag and his method for finding interesting flickr images for posts or in Darren Rowse’s method of batch processing. I personally use the things I’ve [...]
Great post! I was looking for information on where to get pictures to populate my blog which is suffering from a serious lack of visual appeal. Your post is going to save me a lot of time. Thanks for the great info!
[...] bästa tipset är dock att använda bilder från Flickr i sina inlägg. SkellieWag har en bra artikel om [...]
[...] wrote an excellent article entitled A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images which you might also find [...]
Hi,
If someone sees your photo on another site, is it better to have BY-NC-SA than BY-NC?
I’m using BY-NC-SA thinking that it’s better to require the CC license to follow along with my photo.
If I switch to BY-NC, and someone uses my photo, the resulting image might only have attribution on it. Then someone copying it might not know the CC licesne required it THEY want to use it.
Right?
Thanks,
–Steve
Thank you SO MUCH for this post!!
[...] Commons license when composing my blog posts. I started using flickr images after reading A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images. In this post I am sharing my favorite images that might work for you too. Each image is placed [...]
[...] Commons, Wikimedia commons and commercial stock photo sites - you should take time to learn about them before you hit “Publish” [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
I’ve been posting my photos to Flickr for a few years. I didn’t really know much about the Creative Commons and photo sharing. I share with the group I’m in but now you’ve got me curious about the bigger world out there. :)
Filed under: You Learn Something New Every Day - I use Flickr for 90% of the photos on my blog and yet I had no idea you could search by type of license - and display in thumbnails. Thank you!
[...] Understanding Flickr’s Creative Commons I’m a little thick with flickr’s creative commons: Flickr: Creative Commons Does anyone know if: 1) no derivative works mean no resizing of the image? 2) non-commercial usage means the image cannot go on a page with say Adsense. This is the next best piece of information I’ve found, but still can’t find an answer for these questions: Blogging advice that’s different - Skelliewag. [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
I’m here following the 31 Days Better Blog course, and wanted to say thank you for this great information. I rarely used Flickr, and could never seem to find what I wanted, but this has really helped.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
Very useful article. Just what I was looking for. Thank you very much!
And here is one more tip to make it even more effective:
After you have clicked on Thumbnails, use Cooliris plugin for firefox and scroll through the pictures in a very intuitive manner like scrolling through the pictures on a wall. Very powerful!
This information is awesome and the photos are amazing. I want to use this information to make my blogs more effective. Have you written a post on how to download and add the to your blog and link to the artist. I am not certian on how to do this. If you haven’t I think it would be a great post.
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
hey. compfight.com is a great service that will filter CC Flickr images for you (on a few other options) and display in an easy way to scan
[...] A complete guide to finding and using Flickr Images: this one outlines where you can find great royalty free images for both your blog and web [...]
[...] use large creative commons images from flickr [...]
Now that is a great tip!!!! Thanks for pointing to flicker and CC!!! ;-)
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
Thanks for this post. It’s been very helpful. I’ve now started putting images in my posts (where suitable) and it looks much better.
[...] I agree, one of my favorite blogs in the blogosphere. If you haven’t read her guide on how to use and find flickr pictures, you’re must be lost! Also, see Pocket Size Guide to Blogging and How to Get 1,100 [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
[...] Usually a Poor Decision 21 Tips to earn links and tweets to your Blog Posts Skellie from Skelliewag A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images How to Start or Start Over Building Your Personal Brand 25 Paths to an Insanely Popular Blog Chris [...]
[...] articles are always stronger when they lead-off with a great picture. You can use this guide to find a great Flickr image to include with your post. 60 minutes of writing - with a framework in place, it’s time to [...]
[...] Skelliewag Dodaj posta do: Powi?zane z tym artyku?em.Jak pobiera? du?e prewki z iStockphoto#1 Projektujemy [...]
Thanks for this! I know a lot of people really go for images, but I’m more of a writer. This is a great way to incorporate relevant images without stepping on photographer’s toes.
[...] Skelliewag: A complete guide to using images on flickr [...]
[...] How can I leverage my photos better for SEO? Label them well in Flickr, geo tag them, include links back to your post, pick appropriate rights for sharing (Skelliewag has a handy overview). [...]
[...] If you’d like to see more information about the various licenses and how they work on Flickr, check out this blog entry “Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images“. [...]
[...] a completely off-the-wall post image every now and [...]
[...] A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images [...]
This is what I’ve been looking for. Great info on the rules but where do you put the link back to the authors profile?
Thank you. I was wondering where people got all their fabulous photos - now I know.
just what I needed.
I’ve looked at the Flickr photos in the past but never been sure if you can use them
This article explains all… the “most interesting” link is fantastic.
This will be my new starting point for images… thanks.
This was an excellent article. I plan on using some of the ideas and information that it offered with my elementary-middle school students.
Thank you!
Skellie! THis is an awesome post. I’ve been trying to figure out a better way to use pics on my site http://www.daycommedia.com and my music blog http://www.davwrx.blogspot.com. Your article has been very useful. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this post, it has saved my bacon! I’d tried iphoto and the other royalty free sites, but the fees were still hard to justify given I’ve only yet started blogging.
I use Wordpress and initially the Flickr blog page wouldn’t accept my password. The secret is to ensure that in your Wordpress dashboard under ‘writing’ settings’ you check the box that says
‘Enable the WordPress, Movable Type, MetaWeblog and Blogger XML-RPC publishing protocols.’
After that, it works like a dream.
So glad I found you!
Kimberley
Excellent guide. I am a new blogger and have been looking for ways to spruce up my blog. Got this link through Darren Rowse’s e-book, 31 Days To Build a Better Blog. Thanks you for the research and the information.
This is fantastic!! Never knew we could use Flickr… i am going to start using Flickr pictures now.
Thanks a ton for this information.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.
I’ve just set up a new website and needed some photos, so I came back to this article.
Used the “search page for Attribution Licensed photos” link for Flickr and then hit “most interesting”. Found lots and lots of great photos.
This is easilly the best and most useful article on using Flickr that I’ve found.
Superb. Thank you v much. I found your post via Twitter [@petapixel] this morning. I’ve added it to my folder of photo tutorials, and I’ve RT (re-tweeted it).
This is so helpful and not the easiet information to find. Thanks for sharing it
This was really helpful, thank you!
Great article SKellie…really educational for me. Getting flick images for my blog is made easier by your tips. Very educational for an amateur blogger. flickr offers loads of variety on the blog and i love the attritbution caption at the bottom of the images. I found this article most useful. Have a great day.
I love using flickr, especially for image hosting.
Thank you for taking the time to post these.
Very Useful Post. I am looking for hassle free pics to use on my youtube movies!
Hi Skellie. Awesome guide. I will turn to the Flickr Creative Commons for images from now on and adhere to these guidelines! I’m so glad that there is a place to find real, organic images and actually use them!
Does anyone know the legalities if someone changes the term of their license after you have used their work/photo?
e.g. i create a collage that i put on my site that has ads.
I use part of someone’s photo from flickr in the collage that has the simplest license, so am allowed to use it for commercial use and and make a derivative.
What if the creator then changes the terms of their license for the original image to non derivative and non commercial After i have used their image?
Am i still allowed to use it as a derivative work for commercial use in the collage i may have created 12 months ago/ or that i created under the previous license?
thanks.
Best post on how to use Flickr that I have found.
I have returned to this page so many times to find the link to the Creative Commons section.
Great tip on the “Most interesting” section… nearly all my images are now from Flickr.
Many thanks.
Thanks for the guide!
Do I need to register to download the CC images?? It doesn’t mention in flickr.
Can I use the CC pictures without being a flickr member?
Thank you SO Much for this. I’ve been wondering if the people posting flickr images were allowed to or not. Thanks for the help.
Thank you so much for this article I just have found and published my first humorous and tasteful photo to go with my post! I always have struggled to find pics that were not tacky or boring…. A wholehearted thank you
Love this post and your site. Just wanted you to know I linked this post in a post I wrote. It’s just a little and new blog about nothing but when I find great stuff I want to share and let people know there are great sites out there; like this one. http://asimplecontenthousewife.blogspot.com/2010/01/getting-pictures-for-your-blog-posts.html
What a great post! I’ve never considered Flickr for my photos because I was worried about copyright issues. I’ll be sure to use them from now on after your explanation of all of the licenses. Already took a look and found some really incredible photos. Thanks again!
Flickr is one of my favorite websites. Now I know how to use some lovely photos I`ve found there.
Many thanks for usefull explanation.
hi,
thanks for such a great article.
i m web developer and looking for this kind issues from several days
and your post is one of bests
Thanks once again..
Aloha,
Thank you so much for this very informative post on how to use Flickr. I am just starting to use images in my blog posts and I am aware of copyright issues, however, you have made this “crystal clear”! I really appreciate you detailing this out for us newbies!
You are a gem!
Much mahalo (thank you),
Kellie :)