If you’re new to design, you probably have come across the term royalty free images many times, and you may start to wonder what royalty free images are. In this article, we’ll go through everything you should know about royalty free images, so continue reading.
With the huge number of illustrations, vectors, stock videos, and images that are only a click away, we are currently in the golden era of graphic design. Today, you can easily find unique and compelling images to use in expressing different concepts and moods.
However, each of these images is created uniquely by different designers from across the world. You may find that they usually come with certain restrictions, especially with respect to how they can be used. This is the part that confuses many people, especially when it comes to terms like commercial use, copyright-free, royalty-free, or other similar terms.
One thing you should know is that a royalty free image gives you and your company against different claims or a lawsuit in some cases. It’s a way of ensuring that the creators of the images you use to get paid for their images.
With that said, let’s go deeper into what royalty free images are, and everything you should know.
What is Royalty Free Images?
Royalty free images are a unique category of images that you’ll find on many stock photo websites today, and they are unique because of the type of license that they come with. Individuals and different businesses can license the royalty free images once, and after that, they can use these images without the need to renew the license.
There are other licenses that you can use, but these licenses are mostly like a short-term rentals, and you can use the images only during the lifespan of the license. After it experience, you’ll need to find the illustrator or photographer to obtain a new license before you can continue to use the images, which doesn’t really seem practical.
After you download a royalty-free image, you get to pay for the license, and this will let you use the image for different projects whenever you choose to. You only need to ensure that you don’t violate the terms and conditions of the license. With this, you can place the images on your website for as long as possible without having to bother about any issue or a lawsuit.
The Best Ways to Use Royalty Free Images
You can use royalty free images for almost every type of project. What’s certain is that you can make your project stand out with a strong and compelling image. It’s also a way to increase engagement on your blog and also solidify your brand.
Another thing to note is that royalty free images are a lot more affordable and can be used for different projects, which makes them unique and impactful for different businesses. If you are wondering where you can use royalty free images, consider one of the following options below:
Social Media Ads
One of the easiest ways for businesses to reach different customers is via social media, and they do this by posting different content on their social media platforms. A very integral part of this is the use of strong visuals in ads. Remember that you are in competition with many other people, and as such, you must ensure that you use the best visuals. For this, you only need to use stunning and attractive royalty-free images, especially those that were created by professional designers. With this, you can easily get your audience to like, click, and share.
Sales Brochures
You can use high-quality images to say a lot about your products and services. With royalty free images from leading photographers, you can easily boost sales and reach your business goals within a short period.
In-Store Displays
Another way to use royalty free images is for in-store displays. This is a way to get shoppers to stop and admire the display and possibly buy the product it’s attached to.
Corporate Presentations
When presenting in school or during an executive meeting, you don’t have to make your slides appear boring. It can only get your audience bored and reduce their engagement. But with royalty free images, you can add more life to your presentation and give it a dynamic appearance. With this, you can be sure that you’ll have everyone’s attention glued to the screen.
Blog Posts
Your blog posts should not just be filled with writings alone; you need to add images to your content. As a matter of fact, you can easily break the internet when you include stunning imagery in your blog posts. With eye-catching royalty free images, you can make your web pages more actionable and readable. Images will also increase your ranking on search engines because it’s good for SEO.
Are you wondering why you should pay for the images you use on your blog post? What you should note is that your content may be the first interaction a viewer will have with your brand. Images will help you make a good professional impression, which is good for business.
One of the interesting things you should know about royalty free images is that these images were made for different creators. This implies that you can easily retouch, crop, recolour, or make different changes to the images depending on your preference.
Another thing you should note is that the images come in different sizes, but you can easily edit these images to suit your preference or need. The main difference between royalty free images and free images is that you can easily edit the royalty free images.
On the other hand, free images are not editable because they are supplied in only one size. Therefore, if you make any changes, either by cropping or zooming the image, you will only make it look terrible, which is not what you want to achieve. Another key thing to note about the free images is that changing their colour or flipping the image may violate the agreed terms and conditions of their license.
Types of Projects that May Require Additional Royalty-Free Licensing
In some cases, the royalty-free license you use may not be all you need, especially for some high-value designs. Such cases often require additional royalty-free licensing, and here are examples of some of these cases you may come across.
Unlimited Print Runs or Massive Print Runs
It’s worth noting that, like other licenses, there are also a few restrictions on the royalty-free license. For example, if you plan to run massive print like running an ad in a national magazine, you may need to check the license to know if you’ll need an additional royalty-free licensing.
Products for Resale
In some cases, you may not be able to resell a product with the standard royalty-free licenses. An example of a resale is when you label a physical product, like placing the image on a shirt to sell it online. It can also be including the image on a digital product that can be downloaded, like a design template or an e-book. In such cases, you’ll also need to check and be sure whether you’ll need additional royalty free licensing or not.
Types of Projects that May be Prohibited
There are also a few cases where it may be prohibited to use these royalty free images licenses, and a few examples of such cases include:
Logos
Using these images on logos is usually against the terms and conditions of their license. It’s basically a bad idea to use the images on logos. Basically, the logos you design should be unique, and that won’t be the case if you pick them up from a stock image website. Remember that logos are a trademark of your business, and this won’t be valid if you use an image that was created by another designer.
Obscene, Libellous, or Pornographic Content
It’s also not a good idea to use images in this type of content. To avoid using the images in prohibited places, we advise that you go through the terms and conditions of the site where you get the images from and understand what’s permissible and what’s prohibited.
Are Royalty Free Images Free for Commercial Use
A lot of people often ask whether all royalty free images are free for commercial use. That may not always be the case, especially if the commercial use can trigger buying or selling a product or service. In this case, you’ll need to obtain a license that will let you use the image for both commercial and non-commercial purposes and for as long as you desire. As mentioned earlier, there are still a few restrictions that you may face, even when you use royalty-free licenses.
Using Royalty Free Images for Commercial Use
The ability to use these images for commercial use completely depends on the terms and conditions of the license. That is why we advise that you read and understand these terms before anything else, and you should not assume that the image is royalty-free.
The first thing you should note is that there are three different types of licenses available.
- Content fully released for commercial use
- Content without releases for commercial use
- Editorial-use only content
Content Fully Released for Editorial Purposes
A key thing to do before using an image is to sign the content release for the purpose you are using it for. This can be for recognizable things, places, or people. Things that appear in the image may have trademarks or copyrights, and you may not be able to use them without permission. Also, images that show places may have restrictions attached to them, and for images with people in them, you may not be able to use such images for commercial purposes.
Basically, you’ll need to be careful when using these images for commercial purposes, especially when the images are from different platforms.
Content Without Releases for Commercial Purpose
Some images and illustrations show animals, objects, and people that are not easily identifiable. You don’t require releases for such images.
Editorial-Use Only Content
These are photos that may include places, people, branding, or other peculiar artwork with no releases for commercial use. Since there are no releases for such images, you can’t use them for advertorial, endorsement, promotional, or commercial design projects. However, you can still use these images for non-commercial projects like newsletter articles, academic papers, or even on blog posts.
Where Can I Get Free Royalty Free Images?
There are so many sites where you can easily get royalty free images, and an example of such a site is Freeimages. Another reliable place to get these images is from illustAC because they offer royalty free images that you can use for both commercial and personal uses.
You can save a lot of money by using these royalty free images. In addition, you can also pay for some of the images, especially if you want higher quality. For emphasis, you should always go through the terms and conditions of the licenses, regardless of the site that you are getting the licenses from. The need to do this cannot be overemphasized, as it will help you avoid unnecessary issues or even a lawsuit.
Conclusion
We hope we have covered everything you should know about royalty free images, as well as how you use these terms and conditions without violating the license. As mentioned earlier, you can get different royalty free images from illustAC, in addition to a lot of other platforms that are available for similar purposes.
