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I often come across articles listing great free photo sites. I save the articles to my Pinterest account, but then never have time to compare the different free photo sites. One site I have had time to investigate is Unsplash, and I’d like to share this great free photo site for bloggers. This is NOT a sponsored post. My hope is that maybe this post will save you some investigative time, my lovely, busy friends.
Table of Contents
Use Without Creating an Account
One very impressive quality about Unsplash is that users are not required to create an account in order to download photos. To get this beautiful sunset photo, for example, all I had to do was type in “sunset photo unsplash” in Google. I then clicked on the top result in the search results list, which was a direct link to the Unsplash site displaying a variety of free sunset photos.
Easy to Give Credit to Contributors
The photo above is gorgeous, and Unsplash does give permission to use any photo without giving credit to the photographer. However, the librarian in me always stresses to students the importance of giving credit (attribution, we call it) to each person for his or her creative work. This brings me to the next wonderful feature of Unsplash. The creators of the site make it very easy to give credit to the contributing photographer. Here’s the same photo, with the added text provided by Unsplash giving credit to the photographer. I could add the copied text to the caption of the photo.
If I wanted to promote the photographer and the Unsplash site, I could copy and paste the text directly into my post, which I’ve done here.
Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash
By linking back to the photographer, a blogger could let the photographer know that a photo he or she had taken was featured in a blog post. Who knows? The photographer might let you know when other free photos are made available. You might get a sneak peek at some awesome new photos to give your blog some unique sparkle. It could be a great way to collaborate with someone who provides great creative content. You could always set each link to open in a new window, so that readers would not be directed away from your blog post.
Unsplash even offers one more option for giving credit. (Do you get the idea that giving credit is important to the folks at Unsplash, even if it’s optional?) The third option for giving credit to the content creator is to embed a credit badge right into the html text of your blog post. Here is the result.
The badge option shown above automatically takes the person who clicks on the button to the photographer’s profile page on Unsplash in a new window. It’s up to each individual blogger which option to choose, if a blogger chooses to give credit. It’s nice to have some attractive options available.
Wide Variety of Photos
What about the number of free photos offered by Unsplash? According to information on the Unsplash site, there are over 850,000 high resolution photos that have been contributed so far. Thousands more are being added each day. Original content galore to keep bloggers happy!
Why Would Anyone Want to Join the Site
With all of the free photos available to use without an account, why would anyone ever want to join the Unsplash site? Well, there are a few advantages. If you join (for free), you can save photos to collections if you think you might use certain photos frequently. Members can also “like” favorite photographers. If you are a talented photographer yourself, you could submit your own photos if you are a member.
Is This Great Free Photo Site Worth a Try?
So, what do you think? Might this great free photo site be worth a try? I hope you’ve gotten some good ideas from today’s post. Do you have a favorite free photo site to share? I’d enjoy reading about it. If you have used Unsplash and would like to chime in, I’d enjoy reading your thoughts as well. If you like what you’ve read today, please consider subscribing. Have a fantastic week, and thanks for visiting the Fluxing Well site.
Thanks for the tip! I use and like Canva a lot, but it has bothered me that I can’t give credit or search by contributor if I really like a contributor’s particular aesthetic. (Maybe I can do that on Canva but I haven’t figured out how. 😉 ) I’ll definitely check out unsplash!
Aleassa
Aleassa,
Yes, I use Canva a lot as well. I noticed on another free graphic design site I use, Visme, they credit Unsplash with a lot of the photos. The more I use Unsplash, the more I realize what a great resource it is. Thanks for your comment!
Lisa
I’m not familiar with Unsplash so this was very informative. I use many images on my site so am always looking for alternatives. Like you, I would be inclined to provide the photo credit!
Candi,
I am happy you found some new information! I hope you find a lot of ways to use Unsplash in your awesome blog! Thanks so much for your comment.
Lisa
I use Unsplash exclusively but I never knew about the credit opportunities. Great info, Lisa. Thank you!
Wendy,
Oh I’m so glad you found something you could use in my post. I’m always getting great ideas from you! Thanks for your comment!
Lisa
Lisa, I had never heard of Unsplash before, this is a great post! Thank you
Holly,
You are so very welcome! I’m glad you found it useful. Thanks for your comment, and have a wonderful day!
Lisa
I have never used Unsplash before. I am going to go and check it out. I like the graphics that you used!
Carly,
Thanks so much for your comment. Was this the comment that you thought didn’t go through? Thanks for taking the time to read my post!
Lisa
I have not used Unsplash before, but really like the graphics you are using. I am going to go check it out.
Carly,
I hope you do get to try Unsplash. I think I could do a lot more with it than I do. I feel like I’ve just barely begun to use what it offers. Thanks for your comment!
Lisa
I hadn’t heard of Upslash before. Sounds like a great photo resource. Will definitely be checking it out.
Sarah,
I hope you get the chance to try it out. It’s so versatile and useful. Have a super day!
Lisa
I also love Unsplash! I was so happy to find it early on in my blogging journey. I have found some really nice photos to use. One thing I haven’t tried yet is the badge option…not sure I know how to do this but that’s a neat way to point people back to the photographer!
Thanks for the great information!
Nicole,
I’m glad you liked the post. It sounds like you have a lot of experience with Unsplash. The badge option was not too complicated. They give an embed code that can be pasted directly into your WordPress using the text editing option. I’d be happy to help if you decide to try it. Thanks for commenting!
Lisa
Unsplash is a great resource for photos. I didn’t realize how easy it was to credit the photographer. One free photo site a like is pexels.com, although I try to use my own photos when it comes to my blog.
Erin,
I will check out pexels.com! Thanks so much for sharing the site. I’m with you as far as trying to use my own photos for my blog when I can. I’m really hoping to improve my photography skills so I don’t have to depand on photo content from others as much. For now, until my skills get better, I’m really grateful for the photographers who make their photos available for others to use for free. Thanks for reading my post, and have a super day!
Lisa
Wow! This is a fantastic resource! It can be hard to come up with enough photos for blogging and social media. Definitely going to check it out!
Sarah,
I’m so glad you found this post to be helpful. I hope you enjoy exploring Unsplash. Thanks for your comment, and have a marvelous day!
Lisa
Even though I try to do all my own photos, sometimes when I’m on deadline I just can’t. Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pxhere are my go-to’s in this case. And you’re right, the not needing to sign in is always nice! 🙂
Flossie,
Thanks for sharing the names of the other sites you like to use. I will have to try them out! I appreciate knowing there are a lot of options out there. Have a super day!
Lisa
Thanks for sharing this great option for free photos. I love too that credit for the photo can easily be added. It’s important to give credit when possible!
Cindy,
I’m glad you liked the post. Ironically, I’ve been trying to take more of my own photos lately, so haven’t had to use Unsplash much, but it’s nice to know the option is there if I need it. Thanks for your comment, and have a wonderful day!
Lisa