# I'm Looking For Free Graphics Websites **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095 "2012-03-18T00:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/1 "2012-03-18T00:55:15Z")
I’m looking for free/non-copyrighted websites where I can find images that I can carve in clay to make decorative tiles (that’s my current hobby). I don’t need to be able to download them (I just print the image itself and use the printed image to transfer to the clay). Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/2 "2012-03-18T02:04:40Z")
Are you going to sell the tiles? Or are they just for personal consumption? FWIW, I see people making fan-art of Nintendo sprites all the time (knitting & drawings), and I’m wondering if this falls under Fair Use. Plus, 8-bit designs are easy to recreate. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/3 "2012-03-18T23:02:12Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Are you going to sell the tiles? Or are they just for personal consumption? \ They started off being for personal consumption, so I didn’t care where I got the images from, but I’ve made so many now that I think I will have to sell them (or just stack them up on the shelves). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/4 "2012-03-18T23:42:37Z")
Look for images licensed under a Creative Commons license that allows commercial reuse. You can actually google-search for images with this licensing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/5 "2012-03-19T04:20:15Z")
You can search for clip art with Google Image Search. Or you can buy very cheap clip art through [iStockPhoto.com](http://iStockPhoto.com). ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/6 "2012-03-19T07:27:03Z")
Recent find: [http://www.morguefile.com/](http://www.morguefile.com/) You can also search Flikr based on an image’s license, so look there for CC licensed images. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/7 "2012-03-19T18:07:48Z")
Google Image Search \> Advanced Options \> Search for what you want \> Click the “Gear” in Upper Right \> Advanced search \> Change settings under usage rights Wikipedia images are usually covered by Creative Commons or similar [Photos.com](http://Photos.com), but they’re watermarked until you pay, I believe. morgueFile looks interesting, but I was afraid to click it… And I would make double sure, but I agree that making clay reproductions of an image is not _likely_ to be as verboten as just grabbing the image. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/8 "2012-03-19T18:54:09Z")
I just want to add that if you do use CC-licensed images (which is a great way to do this) and the final product is close enough to the original (i.e. it can be fairly considered a copy or derivative), please take a moment to credit the original artist. It could just be a simple one-line note you distribute with the product, or under its title/credits, etc. CC means that somebody took the time to create a work and deliberately licensed it to the public to use provided they get credit, so please respect that 🙂 (I say this as somebody who regularly both uses and produces CC-licensed work.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/9 "2012-03-19T21:29:22Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. **Reply** , I was thinking that if I ever ran into someone who had supplied an image that I had drawn in clay, my response would be, “Well, this is for you, then” and hand him the tile. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-free-graphics-websites/616095/10 "2012-03-20T03:01:35Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Thanks for the suggestions. > > **Reply** , I was thinking that if I ever ran into someone who had supplied an image that I had drawn in clay, my response would be, “Well, this is for you, then” and hand him the tile. 🙂 That would be cool 🙂