Using the right image in your content is very important. Namely, to spark the interest of your audience. Virtually all types of publications do this. From newspapers to posts on social media. As they say: “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
But to get the best results, you can’t use just any image. You should always use one that is relevant or illustrates the theme of the content.
There are several options, from creating your own images, such as image banks. But, we will give you some more suggestions.
Create your own images!
This is sometimes the most laborious option, but at the same time, the one that will give you the most credibility. Depending on the type of image you want to create, you will have to take into account what you want as a result. Do you want a photo to illustrate something? Or do you prefer a design without using real images? For photos, you will have to plan everything in detail, taking into account the following factors:
- Camera: Currently, any smartphone camera will be of sufficient quality to achieve your goal, so don’t worry if you don’t have a professional camera.
- Setting: Your setting is extremely important. Try to make it as neutral as possible, so that what you want to present is highlighted in the photo.
- Lighting: The correct lighting can transform a mediocre photo into something of professional quality, so don’t neglect this step. If you don’t have professional lighting equipment, some well-positioned lamps or sometimes even natural light is enough to get good photos.
- Edit: This step should not be careless. This is where you will put the final touches to make your image what you envisioned. Details such as contrast, brightness and saturation are very important. This is also when you may decide to add some text to your image.
Use Image Banks!
Image banks are a good alternative to finding the ideal image for your content, if you don’t have the possibility to create your own image. There are plenty of options, both paid and free. Below we present some.
Paid image banks
As we said, these image banks are a good option, and in the case of paid ones, they somehow confer a certain exclusivity to the images used, as each image involves a certain monetary investment.
Shutterstock – This is perhaps one of the largest and best-known paid image banks in the world. It has a database with more than 300 million images and videos, so you will certainly be able to find what you need here. If you need it, they also provide music that you can use in your videos. Prices vary depending on the type of content, and it even offers a 1-month trial, completely free for you to try it out.
Getty Images – Like the previous one, Getty Images is also known worldwide, both for the quantity of images available and for their high quality. In addition to photos, they also provide videos and music. Getty Images unfortunately does not offer a trial of products, but you can check the website and see everything they have available before deciding to buy.
iStock – This image bank belongs to the Getty Images group, but operates independently of it. The services it offers are identical to the previous ones, with the particularity of having both a credit and subscription system, depending on the needs of each user.
These are just some of the paid image banks that exist, and there are others with identical conditions. An important note to remember is that the same images are often available in several different image banks, so it doesn’t make sense to subscribe to more than one.
Free image banks
These image banks are quite attractive, but it must be taken into account that as they are free, more users will use them, running the risk of the same image being used more times in different types of content. Despite this, they have a high quality image.
Unsplash – This image bank (also belonging to the Getty Images group) works exclusively with photos. There you can find thousands of photos of all types of themes you can imagine, so you won’t have any problems finding the ideal image for your content. It also has a paid version, with very attractive prices, which will give you access to an even greater variety of images.
Pexels – Pexels is an image and video bank with thousands of images for all types of uses. Despite also having video, the photos are your main focus, which are of very high quality and quite varied.
FreePik – FreePik stands out from other alternatives, as in addition to offering images, it also offers vectors, Photoshop templates, fonts, illustrations and much more, all for free. There are limits on the amount of free downloads that can be made, but they are quite high, so you shouldn’t have any problems. They also offer a subscription model, which will give you access to an even larger database and some perks regarding image licensing (for example, not having to credit the original creator).
Usage licenses
We always recommend reading the usage license for each image, as even though some are free, they may have some usage limitations. Sometimes it is not allowed to be used in certain transmission media (such as TV or films), other times you just have to credit the creator of the original image, among other possibilities.
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