Stock Photo and Illustration Sites
| 123rf | Decent collection of photos and some illustrations. Some images are unusual. | Buy credits to purchase images or subscribe. They also provide images that can be downloaded for a limited window of time. Registration is required. |
| AnimationFactory | Large collection (over 500,000 according to the site) of animated clipart and motion designs. Can be used in PowerPoint, video, Flash and websites. | Various membership plans. |
| 4FreePhotos | Images are offered by the photographer as public domain, but read the fine print. To save images, click the little disk icon. | Free |
| Big Stock Photo | Decent selection of low-cost photos and abstract/conceptual graphics. | Sign up and buy credits. Then buy photos through the credit system. |
| Caricature King | An artist caricature site that offers celebrity caricatures. | Free for non-commercial use. Must include the site url (which is on the drawing) |
| Clipart.com | Large collection of stock clipart, some photos and vector illustrations. | Subscribe by the week, month or year to download all the clipart you need. |
| crestock.com | Good selection of photos, illustrations and icons. | Buy single images or download 20 a day with a subscription. |
| Custom Medical Stock Photos | This looks like a good selection of medically-oriented photos. | Must login or register to get pricing of individual photos. |
| Cutcaster | Buyers can download royalty free images, stock photos, stock illustrations, clipart pictures, vector clip art images, eps files and free stock photography for use in elearning, publishing or web design. | Purchase images through these options: pay as you go, credits or bidding (for hi-res images) by submitting a price to the artist. |
| Depositphotos | This is a site where photographers and illustrators sell their work for credits. There are photos and illustrations (vectors). | Register and buy credits, buy a subscription plan or purchase by SMS if you don't like to use a credit card online. Note: Every time you purchase an image by credits, you get a bonus image for free which can be downloaded at another time. |
| Dreamstime | This site has a free area of downloadable stock photos. | Free |
| eLearning Art | Character packs of the same model (or illustration, animation) in many different poses. Also packs of workplace backgrounds. | Buy by the pack. |
| Every Stock Photo | Search engine for free photos. See the license for specific photos. | Free |
| Fotolia | Stock image site with photos, illustrations and videos. | Buy credits to purchase images. |
| Flickr Commons | Started by Flickr and the US Library of Congress, the site was created to increase access to publicly-held photography collections. | Free. Institutions who participate agree to a "no known copyright restrictions" on the content they share. |
| FreeFoto | Decent selection of stock photos within some categories. | Free with a required link back and attribution. |
| free ditigal photos | Good collection of photos and many categories. The lower resolution photo of a set is free. | Free with an attribution to freedigitalphotos.net. |
| fotosearch | Image search engine accessing more than 6.8 million images from over 100 stock photography, stock illustration, and video stock footage publishers at one website. | Cost varies per media asset. They also sell image collections. |
| Health Education Assets Library (HEAL) | A digital repository of 22,000 medical education resources, including medical illustrations, animations and photos. | Free with registration. |
| iCLIPART.com | Clipart images, photos, objects, web graphics (buttons, etc.), sounds and fonts. | Subscription by the week, month, 3 months or year. |
| Imageafter | A fairly unusual collection of photos in a broad range of categories. | Free |
| istockphoto | The original member-generated stock photo and illustration site with a good selection of photos, illustrations, flash, video and audio. | Buy credits in bundles to purchase individual items or subscribe. Plans are for 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. |
| Graphic River | Inexpensive design elements, such as backgrounds, flourishes and illustrations. | Pay by the graphic. |
| Kavewall.com | Unusual textures in categories like geographical or electrical for backgrounds and other uses. | Low res images are free; hi-res images are sold in groups. |
| Microsoft Office Online | Yes. Free photos and clip art from Microsoft. | Free |
| Morguefile | One of the few free photo sites that is clean and easy to use. | Free |
| Narrator Files | Single model photos in various poses. They also have Flash animated characters. | Sold in packages by model or character. |
| Openphoto | A decent photo collection with some unusual categories, like Color and Shapes. | Free with attribution requirements for some (giving credit to the photographer). |
| Photos.com | Popular subscription stock photo site with a good collection of professional photos. They now have illustrations too. | Subscription service (individual photos are expensive). |
| Pixmac | Another stock photo site but it's unique in that there are tabs for "Best Price," "Luxury," and "Free." | Several different models including: free pictures, one-time purchase, buy with credits and subcscription. |
| Public Domain Pictures.net | This collection is best to use for objects, nature and illustrations as the models and products do not have a release. | Free but there are no releases by the models, products or logos. |
| Public-Domain Photos.com | The site states it has 5,000 public domain photos and 8,000 clipart objects all in the public domain. | Free but there are no releases by the models, products or logos. |
| Russell Knightly Media | Scientific and medical illustration and animation. | Varied pricing packages. |
| shutterstock | Possibly the largest stock image site around. Great selection. | Purchase through various subscription plans. |
| stock.xchng | A photo exchange site where users can download photos for free. | Free with long registration |
| Stockvault | Another easy to use free photo site with a decent collection of stock. | Free, though low-cost photos from Dreamstime are listed at the top of the page. |
| Thinkstock | This site offers access to photos, vectors and illustrations from Getty Images, iStockphoto and Jupiterimages. | Monthly and yearly subscription plans. Coming soon (as of March 2010) will be a way to buy photos in packs. |
| Turbo Photo (Free Site) | Public domain stock images arranged by category. | Free |
| Turbo Photo | Lower priced and higher resolution images than the ones found in their free site above. | Buy single images or CD collections. |
| US Government Photos and Images | This page gives you links to the public domain image libraries of different government agencies and departments. | Free. Although most are probably public domain, they strongly recommend users thoroughly read the disclaimers on each site before use. |
| USAID in Sub-saharan Africa Photo Resources | Photos taken by USAID staff and development partners. | Free for non-commercial and educational purposes only. |
| Vector Art | A selection of vector art graphics. Vectors can be converted to any size. | Some items are free to download without registering and some are for purchase. |
| Wikimedia Commons | Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content. | Free as long as the source and authors are credited and as long as users release their copies/improvements under the same rules. See the license conditions for each media file. |
Other Resources:
Storyboard Depot (free storyboard templates)
Instructional Design Programs (US)
Image Editing and Optimization Tools (mostly online)
Icon Collections
