Choosing images for your website

Choosing images for your website is an important aspect of creating a visually appealing and engaging website. Here are some steps you can follow to choose the right images for your website:

  • Choose high-quality images: The images you choose should be high-resolution and clear. Blurry or pixelated images can make your website look unprofessional and unappealing.

  • Consider the colour scheme: The images you choose should complement the overall colour scheme of your website.

  • Think about how the image will fit into the design: Consistent aspect ratios (size x width) will keep pages with multiple images neatly laid out. Landscape images work well for headers and portrait for products.

  • Don’t forget about copyright: Don’t use images you’ve ‘right-clicked’ take your own photos or use stock image websites to ensure you have the proper permissions.

Free stock photo services

Here are some suggestions of websites that offer free copyright-free images and graphics that can be used for personal or commercial use.

Pixabay – offers a vast collection of photos, illustrations, and vectors.

Unsplash – high-quality, professional images in a wide range of categories, with many available for free.

Pexels – a collection of high-quality images.

StockSnap – offers a large selection of high-quality, free stock photos.

Freepik – a platform that provides a wide range of vectors, PSDs, and photos, with many available for free.

Flaticon – is a great source for icons, with many designs available for free with attribution

It’s always a good practice to read the terms and conditions of each website to ensure that you are using the images in accordance with their policies. Though all these sites offer free to use images, some may require attribution.

Premium stock photo services

While there are many sources of free images available online, premium stock photo services will offer a wider range of high-quality images and illustrations.

Premium services may be a better source for industry-specific photographs, icons and infographics, and as many offer a free trial or pay as you go options, are definitely worth a look.

Shutterstock – Offers over 300 million images, videos, and graphics for a wide range of uses.

Adobe Stock – High-quality images, videos, and templates that are fully integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Getty Images – A leading source of high-quality, editorial and commercial images

iStock – Royalty-free images, illustrations, and videos at affordable prices.

Preparing your photos

Preparing photos for your website involves steps to ensure they look their best and load efficiently. Here are some best practices for preparing photos for your website:

  • Choose the Right Format: Use common web-friendly image formats like JPEG, PNG, or GIF. JPEG is ideal for photographs, PNG is great for images with transparency, and GIF is suitable for simple graphics and animations.
  • Optimise Image Size: Before uploading use photo editing software to crop the image to the correct pixel dimensions required for display.
  • Compression: Use compression tools or software to reduce file size without compromising quality. Photoshop has a ‘save for web’ option or online tools like TinyPNG can help with this.