Why I still purchase images, even though there are hundreds of free image sites online.

I bet you’ve seen this free stock image before.

I am frequently asked, “With all of the free image sites out there, why do you still purchase photos and graphics?” There are many reasons to use royalty free images. I work primarily with arts organizations and churches, so none of my clients have a lot of money. I value what free image sites have to offer and I do utilize them.

But here are a few of the reasons I still heavily depend on paid images and graphics:

1. Licenses and usage

Some people are blinded by the FREE sign on stock image sites and fail to understand that they aren’t free for everything. Want them for social media or your blog? Perfect. Go for it. Want to stick them on 20,000 postcards to sell? Not so fast. It’s good to learn the limits of what “free” means.

2. Certain content

For certain topics, there just aren’t a lot of (or any) free stock images out there. Try looking for a photograph of a specific city or location and see what comes up. Sometimes I luck out and find a fantastic photo for my project on one of my favorite sites. But when I strike out, I won’t hesitate to pay for a good photograph.

3. Quality is important

I’ll give the free places credit, they have some high quality, nice resolution, beautiful images available. This hasn’t always been the case, but they’ve been stepping it up over the past few years and weeding out the low quality images. But sometimes you get what you pay for and free is free for a reason.

4. Image recognition

“Hey, I recognize that image!” is not typically what you’re going for in a marketing campaign. If you’re relying on stock images instead of originals, paid for one to increase your odds that the same organization across isn’t using it.

Example: I’m working on a project for a local food pantry. I need your standard “canned goods” image to pair with a few social media posts. There is literally one photo I find over a dozen free image sites, so I use it. But so does every other food drive in town, so now we’re lost in a see of the same image being used with different text.

5. My time is important

If my options are to spend 15–20 minutes on searching free image sites, vs. finding exactly what I need on a paid platform with more options, I’ll frequently jump straight to the paid platform. On Shutterstock I spend roughly $9 an image with my yearly subscription package. If I can find and pay for what I need in under 5 minutes, vs. spending 20 looking through 15+ free sites, it’s actually cheaper. Don’t sell yourself short on what your time is worth.

Why don’t you just snag one off of Google and call it a day?

Why? Because karma. And legal stuff. And being a good human being. I don’t need a cease and desist letter messing up my day. And I don’t believe that stealing from other artists does my industry or my colleagues any good.