Sourcing Images

To avoid licensing fees, we recommend selecting images that are in the public domain, carry a Creative Commons license, or are royalty-free. For more details on these three designations, we invite you to view the Cognella webinar titled “Creating a Figure Program.” Ask your project editor about how to access this session.

A Note on Images Found Online

Images found through Google image searches or on public websites typically can’t be used due to copyright restrictions. This is true of images found on blogs, websites with or without paywalls, and even educational sites. If selected for your project, these types of images will often need to be replaced, which slows down the pre-production and production of your Active Learning content. To minimize rework and delays, do your best to select images from sources provided by Cognella or create your own images.

Suggested low- or no-cost image sources that we recommend for Active Learning content include:

Wikimedia Commons*
Library of Congress*
National Institute of Health
New York Public Library*
British Library*
Deposit Photos**
Pixabay
Unsplash
Historical Maps: University of Texas Libraries
Smithsonian Open Access
MapChart
The World Factbook—CIA Maps
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (C-band data for North American and South America are available to the public)
U.S. Geological Survey Maps
Nappy
Scale by Flexiple
Reshot
Pexels
Burst
FreeImages
Kaboompics
StockSnap.io
Flickr Creative Commons*
SMART Servier Medical Art

*This site contains copyrighted images, though most are available to use for free. Be sure to check the licensing information listed for the specific photos you’d like to use before adding to your image log.

**Deposit Photos requires an account to download images, but not to search. You do not need to create an account or pay for the images you are selecting. When using this site, add the source information for each item you want to select to your image log, and your publishing team at Cognella will download them for you.