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How to download high quality images for free

"A picture is worth a thousand words", says the old English proverb. And I'd dare to say that a great website image is worth even more! Fortunately, there are several sites that host high quality images that can be downloaded for free. Here are some of the best ones.

1. Pixabay

When it comes to image quality, most people agree that https://pixabay.com/ is similar with its paid counterparts. It's got over 1,000,000 pictures, so most people should find something that fits their needs. Actually, Pixabay also hosts illustrations, vectors and videos, which are free for commercial use, without requiring any attribution or payment.

There is a downside, though; since the site is this good, lots of people use its content. So, the picture you're interested in using for your website has already been used for thousands of other projects. Nevertheless, if this doesn't bother you, Pixabay is a very solid proposal.

2. Stocksnap

Beautiful free stock photos – that's how the webmaster at https://stocksnap.io/ describes his site. Stocksnap isn't that old, so it doesn't have lots of photos yet; nevertheless, its owners add hundreds of new pictures each week.

If you like the site, you can also get involved by uploading your own images. Categories include business, nature, people, food, computers, office, flowers, cities, coffee, design, cars, dogs, fitness, friends, music, houses, and much more.

3. Pexels

The owner of https://www.pexels.com/ wants his site to host "the best free stock photos & videos shared by talented creators", and I'd dare to say that he's managed to do it so far. Sure, Pexels' library isn't huge at the moment; the "Social Media" section has under 100 photos at the moment, to give you an idea. Nevertheless, most of the images are of the highest quality.

People who visit the site can enroll in various challenges, such as "In Motion" or "Epic Video Challenge", win prizes, and then share the results of their work with the community.

4. Unsplash

Visit https://unsplash.com/ and you will discover "beautiful, free photos which are gifted by the world's most generous community of photographers". Categories include wallpapers, textures, patterns, nature, current events, architecture, business, work, animals, travel, fashion, food, spirituality, experimental, people, health, art and culture.

The site also hosts various collections, such as "denim for days", "in motion", "floral beauty", "summer tones", "international woman's day", "double exposure", "signs of the times", "slices of sky", "tiny humans", and more.

5. Burst

Shopify has recently launched https://burst.shopify.com/ with the goal of helping people get free stock photos for websites and commercial use. Collections include animals, around the world, arts, backgrounds, beauty, business, celebrate, cinemagraphs, city, education, family, fashion, fitness, flowers, food, holidays, home, landscape, love, nature, outdoor, people, recreation, seasons, technology, transportation, travel and work.

6. Reshot

If you are looking for unique photos, https://www.reshot.com/ has got you covered. The images are organized in packs; you will discover the "diversity matters" pack, "active lifestyle", "everyday technology", and more. All the photos are free to use for both non-commercial and commercial purposes, without requiring any attribution.