Free Image Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

Did you know that some of the world’s most iconic advertisements use stock images for commercial use? For example, AlamapBBDO, a Brazilian ad agency, used stock photos from Getty Images to create their Endless Possibilities campaign in 2016. The advertising campaign combined photos of random people’s faces to recreate portraits of famous people such as the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis.

Most creative agencies prefer altering stock images in most of their work. This is because it allows them to create campaigns for different companies much faster at affordable costs. Keep reading to find out how to get free images for commercial use in your next project.

Part 1: Download images in loyalty-free sites

Several sites offer free images for commercial use as part of their services. In addition, you do not need to register an account to download the images. The sites typically rely on user contributions and content teams to ensure their databases are fresh and maintain consistent quality. Furthermore, all creative assets they offer fall under the creative commons zero license or a variation of it. Here are some of the sites that offer you images for commercial use for free.

1. Pexels

Pexels.com is a free-to-use provider of high-resolution photos and videos for aspiring creators. The German-based website was started in 2014 by two brothers and has been under the Canva umbrella since 2018.

Currently, the website hosts over 3.2 million images and videos from over 250,000 active contributors. In addition, all the material you find in its library is under the Pexels license, which slightly varies from the creative commons zero license model. Some of the restrictions it enforces include:

You can only use pexels images for commercial use after making alterations to the original image. For example, you can use part of an image to create a collage for your commercial branding.
Furthermore, you cannot use any of the website’s content to promote political ideologies and explicit content, especially if the images contain identifiable subjects.

Pexels is available through the following channels:

Your web browser by typing the URL pexels.com.
The Android and iOS app.
A plugin for other content creation software such as Google Slides and MS Office.
An extension on your Chrome browser.
You can also access the database using the official Canva app.

2. Unsplash

Another website that offers free images for commercial use is Unsplash, a subsidiary of Getty Images since 2021. The website is a favorite among creators boasting over 16 billion photo impressions monthly. In addition, the database consists of over 3.48 million photos from more than 265,000 unique contributors, all under the Unsplash license.

The Unsplash license restricts the sale of its creative assets without incorporating new creative elements, including using them in print media and physical goods such as mugs and caps.

You can access Unsplash from your web browser or request API integration for your application from the site’s owners. In addition, the site also hosts photo walks across different cities, where Unsplash guides show you the best photo locations around the city and the best camera techniques for your work. Some cities to host the event include Boston, Montreal, Tokyo, and Toronto.

3. Freerange

Freerange Stock is an online resource for photos, illustrations, and textures you can download and use for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Since 2007, the site has continued to provide high-quality images to its community of over 800,000 registered users.

Unlike the previous examples, all content on Freerange falls under the website’s Equalicense. It grants you broad commercial rights of its stock images while allowing the contributors to retain control of their copyright, image resale, and distribution. As such, you cannot use the images for bulk distribution or print-on-demand works.

Freerange Stock maintains its steady supply of images for commercial use via the following methods:

It has an in-house team of professional photographers who upload images across the different categories on the website.
Freerange Stock also purchases image rights or directly commissions photos from independent creators.
You can also contribute to the website’s library by voluntarily submitting your work to the platform. Kindly note that you will need a verified account to enable this function.
The website also works directly with photographers through a licensing and distribution model, providing them extra exposure on the site.
Finally, Freerange stock aggregates public domain images from other sources, including similar sites and government institutions. It does so by acknowledging the image owner and sometimes lists the image source when the owner is unknown.

Freerange Stock is accessible through your web browser or as an API integration on your app.

4. Vecteezy

Vecteezy is an extensive online library of free stock images for commercial use. Some of the site’s highlight features include the following:

A best-in-class search engine that incorporates multiple filters to ensure your results are extremely accurate. For example, you can sort images by color, style, number of people, and age of the subjects, something other free stock websites do not provide.
All images, videos, and vector illustrations are free for personal and commercial uses. It does so through a property sign and release model with its extensive network of contributors, which protects users from any legal liabilities.
Finally, it employs a content team that manually reviews each photo submission to ensure consistent quality standards for its offerings.

In addition, you can also purchase design resource bundles by subscribing to its Vecteezy pro for as little as $9 monthly. Some of the resources available include the Ultimate Text Effects Layer Styles Bundle for Photoshop, which costs $39 stand-alone or $4.50 when you subscribe to pro.

Part 2: Buy from stock providers

Another way to get images for commercial use is by buying them from stock providers. Some of the benefits of buying images from stock providers include:

You get a wide selection of unique photos from top-tier photographers. Stock providers always seek collaborations with the industry’s finest to edge out the competition.
You receive exemplary customer service with your purchase. Selecting the right image can be confusing for amateur creators. As such, stock image providers have customer support channels to help you throughout your creative process.
Stock images reduce your delivery times significantly. Buying images from a stock provider eliminates the need to invest in photography equipment and the time you need for post-production. As such, you can deliver projects in a fast and cost-effective way.

Despite the above positive, here are some challenges that buying stock images may present:

Not all stock image providers will have the creative assets you need.
Image overuse is likely since every creator will rush for the most popular contributor.

Below are some of the stock image providers you should consider.

1. iStock

iStockphoto.com is an online database of creative resources, including royalty-free photos, videos, audio, illustrations, and clip art you can use in your creations. The website is a Getty Images subsidiary based in Calgary, Canada. In addition, contributors earn royalties depending on how often users download their content.

2. Alamy.com

Alamy.com is a British-owned stock image provider with contributions from photographers and agencies in 173 countries. It compensates its contributors by offering higher than average payouts every time users download their creations. Some popular brands to use Alamy’s services include M&C Saatchi, Microsoft, and The Economist.

Part 3: Shot a Photo by yourself or create one with editing tools

Alternatively, you can get images for commercial use by shooting them yourself or creating them with editing tools such as Figma and Wondershare’s Filmstock. Here are some benefits of using this method:

You get exactly what you want, provided you have the required skills and equipment. Sometimes, getting the right image for your commercial purpose can be challenging. As such, shooting an original photo may be the only option.
You have full ownership of the image.

Unlike obtaining images from stock photography websites, you are free to use the image in whatever capacity you please without any restrictions. For example, sites such as Unsplash do not allow you to use their images in political statements, a restriction you can bypass when using your own creations.

However, you should also consider the following factors when using this method.

It requires a substantial investment

Getting high-quality images for commercial purposes requires specialist equipment. For example, the Panasonic LUMIX GH6 camera, which has 4K resolution capability, costs $2,197 on Amazon. This makes it extremely expensive for amateur creators.

There is a steep learning curve

Becoming a professional photographer takes time and effort. Unless you are creating as a hobby, it will be a while before you can start generating income from your creations.

Part 4: FAQs

1. Do you need a contributor account to get images for commercial use?

Not necessarily. Stock image sites like pexels.com allow you to download images from their website without creating an account. You will only need one if you want to showcase your work on the platform.

2. Can you use your smartphone to get images for commercial use?

Yes. Most stock image providers have device-specific apps that allow you to access their databases from your mobile device. For example, UnsplashPhotoPicker allows you access to the Unsplash library from your Android device.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Highlight Video Creation Made Easy: Top Desktop and Mobile Software

Best Highlight Video Makers

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

No one wants to see all the video clips and pictures of your vacation at an exotic destination, wedding ceremony, or birthday party. Making a quick video and snapping pictures of the important moments is a great way to preserve the memories for yourself. However, these videos and photos add up quickly, and showing them all off is cumbersome. Rest assured, everyone wants to see a highlight reel. Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video sharing platforms like Tik Tok and IGTV, people want to extract highlights from videos to share on their profiles.

Part 1: What is Highlight Reel Video?

A highlight reel is the collection of the best parts of a video where you can combine video clips and pictures to make it. But how do you make a highlight reel? Well, there are many highlight video makers available that one can use to create a highlight reel easily.

So, here are some of the best highlight video makers that you can use on Windows and Mac and on iOS or Android devices.

Part 2: Best Highlight Video Makers on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor is a simple yet powerful video highlight reel maker available for Mac and Windows. It offers the standard trimming, transitions, overlays, and effects that are great for editing your videos to make highlight videos to share on social media and show your friends. It has an intuitive interface and has a huge range of features. The interface has a drag and drop option enabling you to quickly arrange, trim, and edit various media elements making it a breeze to create highlight videos.

Filmora supports all the modern video formats as well as HD and 4K video editing and output as well as includes several different free video effect presets. The version 10.4 and higher of this highlight video maker (for Windows) have some new features like auto highlight helping you automatically create a highlight video. Audio normalization that automatically normalizes the audio volume in your videos, and the scene detection features that allow you to separate video into clips. Try Filmora for free by downloading the latest version and experience these new features.

Pros

Simple and intuitive interface

Auto highlight feature to create highlighted video automatically

Layer multiple video clips

Scene detection for cutting large video quickly

Cons

Add-on feature pack is expensive

Slightly slow AMD processor

2. Windows 10 Photos App

The Photos App is in-built into Windows 10 which makes it fun and easy to enhance your videos and images. This free photo viewer and editor works with OneDrive that allows you to access all the photos and videos from any device.

The Photo App has competent editing and photo enhancements tools along with tools for organizing and editing videos to create highlight videos easily.

It has a story remix which makes it super easy to combine pictures and videos to create enticing highlight video with text, motion, duration, 3D effects, filters, and background music.

Story Remix works on Microsoft’s deep learning technology and AI to find relevant content and automatically create videos to edit and share. The choose a star feature allows you to create a movie focused on a person. You can also easily edit your video to highlight the best content with the trim feature. Once you are done with editing, your video is saved automatically, but you will need to export it to share on social media.

Pros

Simple interface

Integrates with OneDrive

Video highlight with soundtrack, text, and transitions

Cons

Lacks geometry correction

3. Hudl Premium Highlights

If you are a high school athlete looking to get a scholarship for higher education, the best way to pitch to application boards and professional coaches is to send them a video that highlights your skills. You can easily create highlight videos with Hudle Premium Highlights. It is one of the best paid highlight video makers for sports and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Just log in to Hudle.com and click your highlights and choose create highlights. Give the name to your highlight video and add the video, photos, music, and title slides. You can easily filter the highlights by team and season and select the highlights adding them to your reel.

The Hudle Premium Highlight has a trim feature that allows you to easily edit the highlight reel. You can add spot shadow, text, or music and preview the reel. It also helps you flag sections of the videos by inserting notes or audio. Once you are done with creating a highlight reel, publish to save your work and post on social media or get a URL to share with the coaches.

Pros

Easy to use

Various features to make highlight videos.

Cons

Not enough customization available

4. Vibby

Vibby is a free lightweight web-based highlight video maker that allows you to easily highlight and show only parts of the video you want audiences to see. With this tool you can also add notes and comments on the selection portions, making the video more engaging.

Vibby has a simple user-friendly interface that helps you to highlight the most relevant parts of the video in just three steps. Just choose the YouTube, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Twitch, and Vimeo videos you like, highlight the sections relevant to your topic and add notes, or questions for students to read. You can set specific timeframes for each highlight and tag people as well.

Pros

Simple and easy user interface

Create highlight videos in three steps

Free to use

Cons

No cons found

5. Magisto

Magisto is one of the best video highlight reel makers allowing marketers, business professionals, and individuals to create enticing videos. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, it includes a licensed music library from independent artists. Magisto offers a free seven-day trial, but it requires you to enter the credit card details. In the trial, you get access to all the features. One of the best features is the video highlight where you can convert your memorable videos and pictures into an unforgettable video highlighting the special moments.

What makes Magisto unique is its AI-powered solution that analyzes and edits your videos. You can also control the video speed so that your highlight reel can consist of various photos or video clips. You can add graphics, effects, and background music as well to add a layer of emotion to your videos.

Pros

Automatically build video highlight with AI technology

Compatible with mobile and web devices

7 days free trial

Cons

No phone support offered

No feature to edit photos

Best Highlight Video Maker App for iPhone and Android

If you are looking for the best video highlight reel maker for iPhone and Android devices, then Quik from GoPro is the one. The previous editions of Quik were free, but the new version requires payment to unlock all the features. However, you get a free trial as well to know about the features. This highlight video maker can pull out any media stored on your phone or tablet as well as from your GoPro cloud storage and automatically highlight the video in seconds, complete with royalty-free music and filters.

If you want to take control, you can do that easily. Select a theme, add the video and pictures you want to create the highlight with, trim your videos, pick a music track, add filters, and set a target length for the highlighted video. With Quik, you can filter by media type as well, so if you just need photos or just videos, you can select them easily that are grouped by date. Once you have created your highlighted video, transfer it wirelessly to your phone for easy sharing.

Part 3: Tips for Creating Highlight Video

There are many times you want to create an epic highlight reel. Here are few tips to help you create exciting and entertaining highlight reels.

Learn the event timeline

When you want to create a highlight video for any event, whether official or personal, study the event schedule beforehand. For instance, when filming a wedding, know when the bride will arrive when the couple exchanges rings and vows. If your highlight video is about a conference, it is essential to know when speakers will deliver the speech, etc.

Make a list of shots

Next, have a list of parts that you wish to capture so that you are more organized at the event. You can’t predict each moment but being ready will help you capture memorable moments.

Use the right equipment

You need to use proper equipment for the events to ensure the footage looks great in low light. Gather all your equipment before the event and make sure it is fully charged and functional. Carry the extra batteries and other tools as well.

You may also like: Download Instagram Highlights

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango