Jonny Caspari

 

The truth of the adage 'a picture is worth a thousand words' has never been disputed.

Besides adding visual appeal to your website, images can enrich and emphasise the meaning of your articles. They are an effective tool to stimulate interest and attract a reader’s attention to your content.

Selecting the right image, however, can be a time consuming process. The web is awash with free stock images (of variable quality) and trolling through dozens of photos to find the perfect picture can be tedious to say the least. Having a few preferred go-to sources where you’re sure to find what you’re looking for can turn a chore into a pleasant break in the day. Here are a few image sites that stand out from the rest for the caliber of their free offerings.

The photos on IM Creator are conveniently organised into categories by theme. Their more limited selection offers enough choice without being overwhelming. It makes finding the right image a manageable process. An important consideration, when for many of us, time is a commodity in short supply.

Other treasure troves of beautiful photos can be found at Unsplash and Pexels. With both, you can even subscribe for a weekly delivery of random images.

For banners and backgrounds, The Pattern Library provides a kaleidoscopic array of stunning designer crafted patterns and textures.

And finally art lovers might wish to peruse the online gallery of the Rijksmuseum. It has made available high-resolution downloads of 125,000 artworks from its collection. It even provides online editing tools. While the downloads are free, Rijksstudio asks they not be used commercially.

So turn your website into a feast for the eyes.