A complete guide to stock photos
An online library of a high-quality professional photograph is referred to stock photos. Such a library of stock photos includes ready-to-use photographs of various categories such as nature, landmarks, common places, events, and models.

Stock photos can be used for commercial designing. They can be bought and sold on a royalty free basis.

Who owns stocks photos?

• Primarily, the photographer and the distributor of such images own stock photos.

Are stock photos free of cost?

• They are available in both forms, free and paid.
• The copyright-free images come free of cost and are available on public domain.
• Designers can download such photographs to use for commercial purposes without any pre-requisite permission.
• Few of such free stock photos require attribution during any commercial use.

How can you find royalty free photographs?
There are multiple online libraries available that provide stock photos for free. Some of them are:

• StockSnap.io – It is one of the most popular destinations for royalty free stock photos. Photos found here are high in quality. You do not require any attribution to use StockSanp.io. images. Also, their library adds more than a hundred new images daily.
• FoodiesFeed – The stock photos of FoodiesFeed are specific to food niches and are very attractive and high in quality.
• Gratisography – Gratispgraphy has high-resolution royalty free stock photos, which can be used for personal and commercial purposes.
• Pexels – Pexels is a website for free stock photos. Its stock photos are tagged properly and can be used freely under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.
• Unsplash – Unsplash offers a huge and unique collection of high-quality photographs, which can be free of cost under the Unsplash license.
• Burst – Burst is powered by Shopify. It offers royalty free stock photos of superior quality to entrepreneurs.
• Reshot – Reshot is a huge library of free unique stock photos, which are primarily created for freelancers and entrepreneurs. They do not require any attribution for commercial use.
• Pixabay – The stock photos offered by Pixbay can be used free of cost with the CC0 license.
• MMT Stock – It is a library maintained with the photographs clicked by famous photographer Jeffrey Betts. The royalty free stock photos of MMT Stock are related to workstations, computers, and nature.
• Picjumbo – Picjumbo is a complete royalty free stock photo library with the collections including fashion, technology, abstract, and nature.

Does Shutterstock provide royalty free stock photos?

• Shutterstock is the pioneer of the stock photo market.
• Royalty free stock photos are available in Shutterstock, but they come with an associated cost.
• Shutterstock offers vector stock photos for free on a weekly basis.

What are the benefits of royalty free images?

• Royalty free stock photos offer multiple commercial use post a single payment.
• It ensures that you get high-quality stock photos at an affordable price.
• Opting for royalty free stock photos is highly beneficial for the small business owners and freelancers.
• Royalty free stock photos do not fuel any legal implications.
• The royalty free stock photos can be used a number of times across various design works such as print materials, websites, and business collaterals.

Can you use the stock images found on Google?
Prior to using the images found on Google search, you need to carefully review the following factors:

• Check if the image is copyright protected.
• Find out if you can use the image free of cost.
• If the photograph is copyright protected, try to get the requisite permission before using it.
• Always prefer to use the photographs which have the CCO license.

The royalty free stock photos are the most preferred option to access the high-quality photographs at an affordable price. It is the most cost-efficient way of getting high-quality images without hiring a professional photographer.