How To Find and Source an Image with Creative Commons and Flickr

by Jason Dirks / Getting Scene / Jan 31.10

Have you ever wanted to improve your blog posts or publications with great images and didn't know how to do it?  Well, last week Courtney introduced Creative Commons: The What, Why and How and today I wanted to share with you a Byte-Syze Learning on how to find and source Creative Commons images on Flickr to do just that. 

Description

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that allows people to license or grant permission for their work (like images, video and blogs) for others to use.  In this Byte-Syze Learning, you will learn step by step how to find and source a Creative Commons licensed image through Flickr.

Why Is It Important?

Utilizing images through Creative Commons is free and allows you to improve the look and feel of your blog or another publication if you don't have the photography resources that may be required.  And, for those that share their work through Creative Commons, it opens up a place to have their work gain awareness and visibility which can lead to future business.  So, let's get started on finding and sourcing a Creative Commons image through Flickr.

Step 1: Sign into Flickr

Go to Flickr and sign into your account.  If you don't have an account, sign up for an account to get a username and password.

Step 2: Search

Click on the drop-down list for Search and select "Everyone's Uploads".

Step 3: Advanced Search

Click on the Advanced Search button to begin your search for Creative Commons images.

Step 4: Enter Your Keyword(s) and Select Creative Commons 

Enter the keyword(s) for your search.  In this case, I've chosen to search for an image with a "sunset".  At the bottom of this window, you will need to check the box that is titled "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content" and then I've also checked the box "Find content to modify, adapt or build upon" because as you can see from the main image above, we added the Byte-Syze Learning icon and so we need to ensure it's going to be ok to modify the original image.

Step 5:  Find an Image

Find an image from the selection available and click on that image.

Step 6:  Confirm Creative Commons Licensing

Once you select your preferred image, scroll down on the right and view the section for Additional Information.  Click on the link "Some rights reserved" to see the licensing for the image.

Step 7:  Creative Commons Licensing

This will show you the licensing of the image and what you are free to do.  As you can see, we can share the image on our blog as well as remix or adapt the image as we have done by adding the Byte-Syze Learning logo above.

Step 8:  Select the Image Size

Once you have selected your image, select the "All Sizes" button above the image in order to select the size you want to download.

Step 9:  Download the Image

Click the "Download the Original size" link to download your image.  It is always best to download the image onto your desktop in order to use the image from your own files rather than link to it as the owner may move or replace the original image and if that happens, your blog or publication may be impacted.

Step 10:  Save the Image

Select "Save File" and then click the "OK" button to download the image.

Step 11:  Add a Comment on Flickr

After you use the image, make sure you add a comment where you found the image so the owner can see that you have used their work.

The last thing you need to do to finalize the process is to credit the owner by linking the image back to their original on Flickr or add their name and link below the photo or blog post crediting the owner with the use of the image (we've added a link to the main sunset image above for this post). 

That's it!  You can now find and source great images to improve the look of your blog and publications without having to be an expert in photography!  Thank you Creative Commons and Flickr for enabling this wonderful process!