I'm a graphic designer, photographer and college professor who has been brewing as a hobby for only the last 2 years or so. I want to share with you my free and non-copyrighted resources for graphics and photos that I've been using in commercial and educational applications for years so you can use them on your labels.
You guys create great labels here both from scratch, and found images online. This is where my heart aches... I've noticed that some very cool designs/drawings/photos that appear on labels here can be found with a simple Google or Yahoo image search. In fact, I've searched and found some of the exact graphics.
This is where ethics is an issue for us designers. Someone created that cool digital drawing you found, someone traveled to the wilderness to take that photo, and someone paid for the paint and paint brushes to make that painting you are using as a background on your label. A majority of those images I am sure are made by the designers as a way of paying their bills - it's our livelihood and career. If I didn't say anything, I'd be like the armed off duty cop who sees a purse snatcher and turns a blind eye.
In any event, on behalf of all artists out there who spend hours and hours in front of our computer, behind our camera, or holding a paint brush, we would love to let you use our creations - most times for free - but please please please be ethical and check with us, ask us, or let us see what you've made with our creations. Sometimes we charge $, sometimes we won't, sometimes it is impossible for us to ever know you take it. Nonetheless, we love flattery, we hate thievery. A simple polite email inquiry to us is all it usually takes.
A few of the resources I've gathered over the years are below. They are all free to use. In a few instances you may be required to supply an email or log in. A few require knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp or other similar design programs.
Free Photography
freedigitalphotos.net - lower quality photos are free.
Flickr Creative Commons - photographers who understand that sometimes there needs to be an alternative to full copyrights.
Stock.Xchng - must be a user. Most photographers just want to see your finished design, the rest don't care.
123rf.com - Not free, but great photos at a very cheap price. (thanks HawksGirl)
Free Vector Drawings and Graphics
vector4free.com
vecteezy.com
qvectors.com
all-silhouettes.com - Thousands of silhouettes of everything you can think of.
vectorstock.com (Thanks HawksGirl)
Free Fonts
1001freefonts.com
dafont.com
urbanfonts.com
Other Free Resources:
DeviantArt - Lots of GREAT stuff here, but not everything is meant to be free. Please email the artist, they'll love you. Most of the time, they'll let you use their artwork for free.
Microsoft Office Clip Art - requires Office. Just insert graphic into Word (for example). Then copy and paste into your design program of choice.
Textures - free textures like wood grain, cracked cement, dry mud/dirt, etc.
I could look at labels designed and posted on HBT for hours, so any questions you have about the software, file formats, or anything, I'd be more than willing to answer. If you would like to find an image but can't, I'll help you search... anything to help lower the probability of you using another artist's image without permission. Thanks for reading.
Free Software Programs:
Adobe Software Trials (30 days Only): Photoshop, Illustrator,
Corel Software Trials (30 days Only): PaintShop Photo Pro, Painter,
Gimp
Paint.Net (PC Only)
Inkscape
From user SilentAutumn
...I'd also like to mention the Wiki Commons image site as a great, great resource for some amazing images. Sometimes the posters want some kind of credit, but usually don't.
The National Archives have some great photos too. But it's hard to navigate and they're still in the process of digitizing a lot of media. You have to go to "Digital Copies" tab, then under the Advanced Search, only check "Photographs and other Graphic Materials". Otherwise you'll get some confusing results.
Photobucket has recently released some nice editing options for images with their free accounts.
And even Photoshop will let you make a some decent edits with their free accounts.
You guys create great labels here both from scratch, and found images online. This is where my heart aches... I've noticed that some very cool designs/drawings/photos that appear on labels here can be found with a simple Google or Yahoo image search. In fact, I've searched and found some of the exact graphics.
This is where ethics is an issue for us designers. Someone created that cool digital drawing you found, someone traveled to the wilderness to take that photo, and someone paid for the paint and paint brushes to make that painting you are using as a background on your label. A majority of those images I am sure are made by the designers as a way of paying their bills - it's our livelihood and career. If I didn't say anything, I'd be like the armed off duty cop who sees a purse snatcher and turns a blind eye.
In any event, on behalf of all artists out there who spend hours and hours in front of our computer, behind our camera, or holding a paint brush, we would love to let you use our creations - most times for free - but please please please be ethical and check with us, ask us, or let us see what you've made with our creations. Sometimes we charge $, sometimes we won't, sometimes it is impossible for us to ever know you take it. Nonetheless, we love flattery, we hate thievery. A simple polite email inquiry to us is all it usually takes.
A few of the resources I've gathered over the years are below. They are all free to use. In a few instances you may be required to supply an email or log in. A few require knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp or other similar design programs.
Free Photography
freedigitalphotos.net - lower quality photos are free.
Flickr Creative Commons - photographers who understand that sometimes there needs to be an alternative to full copyrights.
Stock.Xchng - must be a user. Most photographers just want to see your finished design, the rest don't care.
123rf.com - Not free, but great photos at a very cheap price. (thanks HawksGirl)
Free Vector Drawings and Graphics
vector4free.com
vecteezy.com
qvectors.com
all-silhouettes.com - Thousands of silhouettes of everything you can think of.
vectorstock.com (Thanks HawksGirl)
Free Fonts
1001freefonts.com
dafont.com
urbanfonts.com
Other Free Resources:
DeviantArt - Lots of GREAT stuff here, but not everything is meant to be free. Please email the artist, they'll love you. Most of the time, they'll let you use their artwork for free.
Microsoft Office Clip Art - requires Office. Just insert graphic into Word (for example). Then copy and paste into your design program of choice.
Textures - free textures like wood grain, cracked cement, dry mud/dirt, etc.
I could look at labels designed and posted on HBT for hours, so any questions you have about the software, file formats, or anything, I'd be more than willing to answer. If you would like to find an image but can't, I'll help you search... anything to help lower the probability of you using another artist's image without permission. Thanks for reading.
Free Software Programs:
Adobe Software Trials (30 days Only): Photoshop, Illustrator,
Corel Software Trials (30 days Only): PaintShop Photo Pro, Painter,
Gimp
Paint.Net (PC Only)
Inkscape
From user SilentAutumn
...I'd also like to mention the Wiki Commons image site as a great, great resource for some amazing images. Sometimes the posters want some kind of credit, but usually don't.
The National Archives have some great photos too. But it's hard to navigate and they're still in the process of digitizing a lot of media. You have to go to "Digital Copies" tab, then under the Advanced Search, only check "Photographs and other Graphic Materials". Otherwise you'll get some confusing results.
Photobucket has recently released some nice editing options for images with their free accounts.
And even Photoshop will let you make a some decent edits with their free accounts.