What would the world be without freebies?
Thanks to the generosity of photographers, designers, and illustrators across the globe, you can now incorporate gorgeous stocks into your own designs for personal and commercial use. By waiving their rights under the CC0 license, artists have made it easier to share high-quality design resources with one another.
Listed below are 30 websites dedicated to providing stock and design assets all for free!
A Word on Copyrights & Attribution
Whenever you're looking for resources for your next design project, it's important to know the restrictions associated with those assets to avoid any misuse that may lead to future legal troubles.
Most of the sites listed here contain high-quality stocks and design assets ready for your use in personal and even commercial projects. However, some sites may require attribution, or a link to the content's originator to show proper credit to its creator. Always check the original website for its terms of use as well as any requirements specified by individual users. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry!
With that being said, let's get to the freebies!
Free Stock Photography
A mixture of old and new, these sites feature a multitude of beautiful, high-quality stock photography.
Public Domain Archive
Public Domain Archive is a public domain image repository dedicated to bringing you high-xquality stock from photographers around the world.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://publicdomainarchive.com/
Pond5
A great collection of vintage images, Pond5 keeps nearly 65,000 free images available on its website under the Public Domain Project. Be aware, however, that the site does charge fees for resources not under this project.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.pond5.com/free
Pixabay
With over 400,000 images, vectors, and art illustrations available, Pixabay is a gold mine for great stock photography.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: https://pixabay.com/
Pexels
Pexels is updated daily with 10 new images, and you'll be happy you stumbled across its beautiful images.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.pexels.com/
Picjumbo
Free for personal and commercial use, Picjumbo is an easy-to-use site with beautiful stock photography.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, attribution greatly appreciated.
Website: https://picjumbo.com/
Gratisography
On Gratisography, the talented Ryan McGuire offers his own high-resolution images for either personal or commercial use!
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, attribution greatly appreciated.
Website: http://www.gratisography.com/
Picography
An easy-to-use website, Picography offers high-resolution imagery from a handful of professional photographers.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://picography.co/
Stocksnap.io
With hundreds of images added each week, Stocksnap is a great place to find an array of beautiful, high-quality photography.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: https://stocksnap.io/
Unsplash
You'll be in awe of the amazing selection of free-to-use photos from Unsplash. New photos uploaded every 10 days.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: https://unsplash.com/
PLiXS
With thousands of photos at your fingertips, PLiXS provides beautiful stock photography for a wide range of different categories.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: https://plixs.com/
Free Stock Textures & Patterns
From grunge textures to metal, and even the abstract, pick up new textures and patterns for your next project at these sites below.
CG Textures
A favorite amongst digital artists and designers, CG Textures offers over 100,000 stock textures free for personal and even commercial use.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.cgtextures.com/
Lost & Taken
Created by Caleb Kimbrough, Lost & Taken is a designer's dream for high-quality textures.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://lostandtaken.com/
Mayang's Free Textures
A great resource for unique textures, Mayang's Free Textures are free for personal and commercial use. The only catch: you're limited to just 20 downloads per day.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions (see bottom of the page for info), no attribution required.
Website: http://www.mayang.com/textures/
Free Stock Textures
Professional photographers Paul Wozniak and Eva Sajdak bring you Free Stock Textures, a site dedicated to bringing high-quality textures to the inspired artists of the world.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://freestocktextures.com/
Texture Zoom
Shooting most of the images "in house," Texture Zoom offers its own high-quality stocks for free use.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.texturezoom.com/
Photoshop CC
Photoshop CC covers freebies for all your pattern desires. From brushes to beautiful fonts and patterns, get inspired by these user-submitted designs. Pattern by Etoile-du-nord.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, some attribution required (check individual post).
Website: http://photoshop.cc/patterns
WebTreats ETC
Looking for gorgeous patterns for Photoshop? Have no fear, WebTreats has got you covered! With elegant patterns free for personal and commercial use, you'll want to jump right into your next design project!
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://webtreats.mysitemyway.com/
Webdesigner Lab
Amongst the incredible resources available from Webdesigner Lab is a section celebrating beautiful patterns. All patterns are created by the talented Gratiela Dascalu.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://webdesignerlab.com/
Free Brushes for Photoshop & Illustrator
Get painterly with these free brushes, available for either Photoshop or Illustrator formats.
BrushKing
BrushKing is home to nearly 10,000 brushes specific to Photoshop. From ink splatters to beautifully intricate designs, get your fill of brushes here.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://www.brushking.eu/
Brusheezy
A favorite amongst artists, Brusheezy is the place to go for diverse, high-quality Photoshop brushes.
Copyrights & Attribution: Some restrictions may apply, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://www.brusheezy.com/
My Photoshop Brushes
Users upload their own brushes to the My Photoshop Brushes official library, adjusting the copyright information to their individual requests. So just make sure to check the information for your brushes before using them for commercial use.
Copyrights & Attribution: Some restrictions may apply, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://myphotoshopbrushes.com/
BrushLovers
Feeling inspired? Embrace your creativity with a set of brushes from BrushLovers. And stay worry free, knowing you are able to apply these brushes for both personal and commercial use.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.brushlovers.com/
Vector Portal
Who says you need Photoshop to use painterly brushes? Explore Vector Portal's diverse selection of brushes dedicated for use in Adobe Illustrator.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.vectorportal.com/
BittBox
If Illustrator is your program of choice, you can still enjoy free brushes through BittBox's wide selection of elegant freebies. It's dedicated to providing strictly free content, so tackle your projects with a wide selection of brushes to choose from.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, no attribution required.
Website: http://www.bittbox.com/gallery
Free Vector Graphics
Looking for a vector graphic instead? Download free, high-quality assets from these vector-based websites.
Vecteezy
A sister site to Brusheezy, Vecteezy offers a wide range of user-submitted vector graphics. And just like before, make sure to check the individual post for copyright information and requirements. Art by anainrdesigns.
Copyrights & Attribution: Some restrictions may apply, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://www.vecteezy.com/
Freepik
Make an impact with these high-quality vector graphics from Freepik. They're updated regularly, so incorporate these amazing graphics into personal or commercial works. Infographic design by Freepik.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, attribution required.
Website: http://www.freepik.com/free-vectors/graphics
Free Vector Archive
Search through thousands of graphics available through Free Vector Archive. Copyrights and attribution requirements may change from graphic to graphic, so check each post before committing to commercial use.
Copyrights & Attribution: Some restrictions may apply, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://www.freevectorarchive.com/
Round Pixel
A small collection of free vector goodies from graphic designer and illustrator Mihai Ionascu. Show him some love by linking back to his work.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, attribution greatly appreciated.
Website: http://roundpixel.org/?page_id=11
DeviantArt
You can never go wrong searching through DeviantArt for graphics created by talented artists and designers. And since these graphics are uploaded by the site's users, it's important to keep a lookout on the individual guidelines set forth by the uploader. For instance, this vector stock was created by user YSR1.
Copyrights & Attribution: Some restrictions may apply, check individual posts for attribution requirements.
Website: http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/resources/?q=free+vector
Public Domain Vectors
You know you'll never go wrong whenever you have the words "public domain" in the website name. On Public Vector Domain, search through dozens of pages of vector graphics suitable for all your design needs.
Copyrights & Attribution: Free from restrictions, attribution greatly appreciated.
Website: http://publicdomainvectors.org/
Conclusion
Staying inspired just got a whole lot easier. With thousands of freebies available online, I hope you can now push through any creative block by incorporating these assets into your own beautiful pieces.
Know of any sites dedicated to free resources that aren't listed here? Tell me some more, and let me know your favorites in the comments!