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Other free image sources

There are a number of other sites offering free photo-publishing like Flickr. Make sure that they explicitly give permission for use of their photos. If no explicit permission can be found it is safe to say you have no right to appropriate the images.

Not free, but as good as free

A number of commercial image libraries now specialise in selling commercial images at very low prices, typically from between US$1 to US$5 per image. Dreamstime and IStockPhoto are two of the best.

You get what you pay for

Sadly this is still true. It is surprising what quality of photos you can acquire from talented amateurs, but if you look at the stock photos from larger and more expensive libraries like Corbis you can often see the difference in quality - as long as you don't faint at the prices.

Pay for an original

Much of the price difference is actually a guarantee of exclusivity. It was a few years ago now, but I remember browsing a marketing and design blog which recounted the story of a US business that used a particular image very prominently in its marketing. Unfortunately a much larger company also bought the rights to the image and used it in a nationwide campaign for a feminine hygiene product.  The original company found its brand hopelessly polluted by its larger competitor.