This article was updated July 2025
Digital image libraries are essential to today’s teachers and students. Yet while stock image sites such as Shutterstock, iStock, and Getty Images offer an impressive selection of high-quality images and vector illustrations, these sites are typically beyond the budget of most school districts.
Fortunately, the image and clip art sites below provide an extensive supply of moderate- to high-quality visuals for cost-conscious schools. Most of these sites are completely free, and most have a clear license/FAQ page explaining what uses are allowed or prohibited.
Best Image and Clip Art Sites for Education
Freerange boasts a stylish easy-to-navigate website with thousands of free high-quality images. Users can search easily by category or keyword, and filter by specific license and popularity. Download options include three sizes. Bonus- users can “download” directly to PIXLR for editing. While photos are tastefully and artistically composed, a few do include mild-moderate nudity. All photos and illustrations are licensed for commercial use, with details provided. Account required.
PROS:
- Clear Licensing Information and credit text provided
- Search by category, keyword, license type, recency and popularity
- High-quality photos and illustrations
- Three sizes available for download
- Users may share directly from image page to social media and email
- Users can contribute images
CONS:
- Occasional mild-moderate nudity may be considered inappropriate
One of the oldest and largest free image sites, Free Images was founded as Stock.xchng in 2001. Over the next 20 years, the site merged with several free illustration sites and was renamed Free Images. Available in more than a dozen languages, the site is a repository for thousands of free photos, vector images, clipart, and editable Photoshop templates as well as icons. The robust selection of free downloads is supplemented by AI-generated images and content from the paid site iStock. No account is required, but each download is delayed for six seconds in order to show users an iStock advertisement/promo code.
PROS:
- 16 languages available
- Photos, vector images, clip art, icons, and editable Photoshop files
- Search by categories and themes
- Very good image quality
- Download size options
- Attribution clarity
- No account required
CONS:
- Paid images from iStock sprinkled in free results
- Download delay due to ads
A safe, curated image library for classroom assignments, school websites, or any education-related project, Pics4Learning provides a diverse spectrum of images in subjects ranging from American Sign Language to fractals to weather. Contribute your own JPEG or PNG images. Fully free, no account required.
PROS:
- Thousands of images curated for students
- Search by keyword, themes and collections
- Download as .jpg or save directly to Google Drive
- Citation for each image provided
- Users can contribute their own images
CONS:
- While image quality is at least adequate, there are fewer high-quality, professional-style photos compared to other sites
In just 15 short years, Pixabay has grown to be one of the best-known and most comprehensive free image sharing sites. Here visitors can explore and download collections of photos, illustrations, vector images, videos, and even music. All are free to download and free to use under the Pixabay license, which is a modified Creative Commons CC0 license. Pixabay shines in another way as well—its blogs and forums keep users apprised of the latest news and tips to make the most of the site.
PROS:
- Extensive collections of quality free images, videos, music, sound effects, and gifs in a wide range of categories
- Search by content type, orientation, size, color, date of publication, AI-generation, popularity
- Clear summary of license dos and don’ts
- Users can contribute their own content
- User forums allow discussions about site practices as well as artistic techniques
CONS:
- Quality varies, as is true for all free image sites
From a partnership between Storyboard That and Pixabay, this education-focused image site allows teachers and students to download high-quality Creative Commons photos for school assignments. The main advantage of Photos for Class is that its curation process ensures that all images are appropriate for kids. However, no categories are listed for easy browsing and the search feature is limited, allowing only free text and voice search.
PROS:
- Four-step filtering process ensures that all images are appropriate for kids
- Downloaded images automatically cite author and image license terms
- Voice search
- No account required
CONS:
- Limited search capabilities
- No category list for browsing
A top resource not only for free stock images, but also free stock videos. Pexels hosts photo and video challenges for multiple categories, with professional photography equipment awarded to winners. While you’ll find many high-quality images and videos on Pexels, there’s no category list or dedicated color search, so finding a specific image may take longer. No account is required, but create a free account to collect your favorites and contribute your own images and videos. Currently, 28 languages are supported.
PROS:
- Search by keyword, orientation, size, color, popularity, user, or upload date
- License rules clearly explained
- 28 languages supported
- User challenges
CONS:
- No comprehensive category list for browsing
With photos, vector images, Photoshop (PSD) files, customizable icons, easy-to-edit illustrations, and an online template editor, Freepik is a one-stop shop for free images and image tools. Freepik’s, freemium model provides a generous selection of high quality free content, although free users are limited to ten daily downloads.
PROS:
- Easy sign in with Google, Apple, or email.
- High-quality photos, vectors, illustrations, 3D models, video snippets, and more
- Filters let users search by keywords, free or premium, orientation, color, AII-generated, file type, popularity, and more
- Built-in editing tools for images and videos.
CONS:
- Free plan limited to 10 downloads daily.
- No access to premium images with free plan
- Attribution required for free downloads.
Thousands of free sometimes ordinary—but often eye-popping—images include categories such as nature, current events, technology, and many more suitable for education use. Most are free to download and use according to the Unsplash License, with the exception of premium (Unsplash+) content. A fun feature for contributors is the “Made With Unsplash” page, which showcases creative remixes of its images. Unsplash provides strong support for its contributors, so it’s a great place for young photographers to get started sharing their work.
PROS:
- Many interesting, unusual, and stylish images to choose from
- Search by keyword or image
- Four download sizes
- Users can upload their own work
- Clear rules for licenses and attribution
- No account required
CONS:
- Premium content mixed with free content in searches
- Lacks comprehensive category list for browsing
A professional-looking site featuring free high-quality photos in diverse categories, from lifestyle to technology to healthcare. Users can search by category, color of the spectrum and image orientation. A nifty perk is that each photo includes a free downloadable complementary colors palette. No account required.
PROS:
- Each image includes a specific color palette with color hex codes
- Custom size and orientation downloads
- Search by keyword, category, color, recency, or popularity
- Photoshoots are a great way to explore a theme
- Clear license and attribution rules
CONS:
- Sometimes tricky to distinguish premium photo blocks from free content
- “View more” button links to paid image site
A stylish and professional-looking site offering a wide variety of free, high-resolution Creative Commons CC0 photographs as well as free virtual backgrounds for videoconferencing and remote teaching. More than two dozen categories are available, from Abstract to Virtual Backgrounds. Search by category, hashtag and color. Be sure to check out the awesome outer space photos! No account required.
PROS:
- Easy to navigate interface
- Browse two dozen categories
CONS:
- Keyword search is somewhat unreliable
- No choice of download size
Gratisography is a great resource for creative and quirky stock photos and vector images. It’s not only fun to browse, but also provides a clear, plain-language explanation of what users can and can’t do with the photos. Search by topic or browse categories including nature, food, urban and more. Collections range from “AI Generated” to “Artsy Architecture” to “Goofy Grownups” to “Hijinks Hands.” Although the site is heavy on whimsy, it’s not light on quality — vectors and images appear to be professionally composed and executed.
PROS:
- Unusual, uncommon, and amusing high-quality images
- Search by keyword or browse categories and collections
- Clear license terms
- No account required
CONS:
- No attribution provided for images
- AI-generated images are not always labeled as such
The Commons, from the photo-sharing site Flickr, serves as a free catalog of the world’s public photos with no known copyright restrictions, contributed by dozens of government and academic bodies. Comments from Flickr members provide context and additional information for many images. Search by subject, color, black and white, or seven different license options. Safe search option available.
PROS:
- Search by keyword, license, color, pattern, Flickr members, and themed groups
- Safe search available
- Users can contribute their own content
- Wide variety of image download sizes
- Great for historical images
CONS:
- Because contributors may disable downloading, not all images can be used
- License terms not always clear
- Account required
- Relatively high percentage of older content of varied quality
A relatively simple site, Vector Characters focuses on character-based vector art in categories such as man, woman, child, robot, etc. For adding a touch of whimsy or humor to any school project, check out the Fruit Vector, Monster Vector, and Animal Vector categories. Free and premium content. Find free content by entering “free” in the search box.
PROS:
- No account required
- Hundreds of free vector images.
- Browse by category or character type.
- Informative blog posts
CONS:
- Limited search options
- No photos or other types of illustrations
