Welcome to the sixth step in our free self-paced course to help you set up your own personal or professional educator blog!

The aim of this step is to:

  1. Discuss copyright, fair use, and using images on blogs.
  2. Introduce you to Creative Commons.
  3. Explain how to find and add Creative Commons images to posts.
  4. Define free and public domain images, and explain how to source them.


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Introduction To Copyright, Fair Use, And Images In Posts

You can’t just use any image you like in a blog post.

Why?  Because unless stated otherwise, the law automatically grants full “copyright” over any creative work a person makes.

Using images
Dexter the cat hates those that steal his photos…

You may be thinking it’s okay because as educators, we have a few more flexible rules, called “Fair Use”, to play by.

Fair use, in some cases, means you may have more flexible copyright rules if an image, text, video, etc. is being used for educational purposes.

The trouble is, most of the laws and rules that cover fair use and education were written well before the invention of the web. They don’t apply to the use of copyright material on the internet. Using copyright material leaves you open to copyright infringement.

So what does this mean?

You need to:

  1. Learn what images you are and aren’t allowed to use, and why.
  2. Learn how to correctly attribute images you are allowed to use.
  3. Educate your students that you can’t just use any images online on your blogs (or other digital work).
  4. Show students how to source and attribute images they are allowed to use, and be a role model with the use of images on your own blog.

Refer to The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons for comprehensive information on the use of images, curriculum docs, text and quotes, music, and videos.

The safest way to source images for your blog is to either:

  • Use Creative Commons images.
  • Use free (Creative Commons Zero) or public domain images.
  • Use your own photos or use images you’ve created.


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Including The Source Is Not Enough

A situation we commonly see on blogs is where someone uses an image they found online and then include a link to the site they got it from.

For example,

Image from Kathleen Morris kathleenamorris.com

Just because you link to the source of an image, does not mean you can use it. You would need to ask the image creator for permission.

Read on to find out about Creative Commons and ways you can find images to use — legally and ethically.

Introduction To Creative Commons

Creative Commons, founded in 2001, is an organization that provides free content licenses that people can apply to their work. These are known as Creative Commons licenses.

When you license your work with Creative Commons, you are allowing people to use it without having to ask permission, provided they use it in the manner stated in your Creative Commons license.

The reason people use Creative Commons licenses is to make it easier for everyone to share and adapt creative work without the concern of copyright infringement.

Watch this video on Creative Commons.

Creative Commons licenses are used for books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs, and other audio and visual recordings.

If an image, or website, doesn’t include a Creative Commons license, or isn’t public domain work, or doesn’t indicate that the content is free to use, then it is automatically implied that all content is copyright and you shouldn’t use it! Put simply — unless stated otherwise, it is copyright.

There are websites that provide public domain images that are free to use, or have their own free to use licensing, but you need to make sure you follow their terms and conditions of use.

For those wondering, unless a blogger includes a Creative Commons license, all content on that blog is automatically the copyright of the blogger.

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Creative Commons Licenses

There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses people use depending on what restriction(s) they want to apply to their work.

Here is a quick summary of the different types of Creative Commons licenses:

Attribution CC BY

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work), remix (to adapt the work) and use it for commercial purposes provided you attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor.

Attribution-NoDerivs

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and use it for commercial purposes provided you do not alter, transform or build upon the work and you attribute it in the manner specified by the author or licensor.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike               

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and remix (to adapt the work) provided it isn’t used for commercial purposes, you attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor and you distribute it under the same license.

Attribution-ShareAlike               

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and remix (to adapt the work) and use it for commercial purposes provided if you alter, transform or build upon the work provided you distribute it under the similar license. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor.

Attribution-NonCommercial               

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and remix (to adapt the work) provided it isn’t used for commercial purposes.  You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs               

Allowed to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) provided you do not alter, transform or build upon the work or use it for commercial purposes and you attribute it in the manner specified by the author or licensor.

Confused About Licenses?

If you want to add a Creative Commons license to your own work and you’re not sure what one you should add, try this license chooser tool. It also gives you the right license graphic to use.

Watch this video for a summary of the different Creative Commons licenses.

http://vimeo.com/ccanz/cckiwi


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Flickr Creative Commons images

One of the most common sources of Creative Commons images used by bloggers is Flickr (an online photo sharing website).

Unfortunately, many assume all Flickr images are licensed under Creative Commons and are allowed to be used. This isn’t the case.

Images marked as “All Rights Reserved” are copyrighted and require permission from the person who uploaded it to Flickr. Images with “Some rights reserved” means the Flickr user has applied a Creative Commons license to their photo and you can use the image in the manner specified by the license.

If you look at images directly on Flickr always check to see which license applies to ensure you only use the image in the manner specified by the license.

The license is listed below the image.

For those you might be allowed to use, click on “Some rights reserved”.

Flickr Licence

This takes you to the Creative Commons license where you can read how you are allowed to use the image.

Creative Commons


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Finding Creative Commons Images From Flickr

The best option for finding Flickr Creative Commons images is to use one of the great Flickr Search Engines.

Multicolr Search Lab

multicolor search

Multicolr Search Lab allows you to search Flickr images by color. This is a handy tool when you’re trying to match specific colors. All you need to do is select up to 5 colors.

Compfight

Compfight

Compfight is one of the most popular Flickr Search engines. It provides a range of search options including:

  • search by tags only
  • search by all the text
  • search by licenses

There’s also the option to show or hide originals and turn on/off the safe content filter.

All images above the line returned by your Compfight search are professional stock photos — they aren’t free to use.  Those below the line are Flickr Photos.

Which images can be used

Tip: How To Add An Image From The Compfight Website

Compfight is an image search engine that uses Creative Commons images from Flickr.

Here is how to add a photo using the Compfight website:

1. Go to Compfight.

2.  Add your search term and then click Enter.

Search on Compfight website

3.  Click on Creative Commons on the search results page.

Creative commons

4.  Click on the Creative Commons image you want to use (from below the line).

You can only use an image from below the line.  All images above the line are professional stock photos and can only be used if you purchase them.

Comfight results

5. This launches a pop up image window.

Comfight photo

6.  Click on ‘Download‘ next to the size you want to use to download it onto your computer.

Image size

7.  Copy the HTML.

Copy paste the HTML code

8.  Go to Posts > Add New

Add new post

9. Place your cursor where you want the image to appear and then click on the Add Media icon.

Add Media

10.  In the Add Media window click on the Upload files and then Select Files.

Select File

11.  Find the photo you downloaded on your computer and then click Open to start uploading the image.

12. While your image is uploading you will see a progress bar.

13.  Once the image has uploaded paste the HTML code into the caption field.

Insert media

14.  Select the size you want to insert from the dropdown menu next to ‘Size‘ in the attachment display settings.

Select image size

13.  Click Insert into Post.

14. Your image will insert into your post and should look like the example below with the photo credit below it!

Creative Commons And Image Attribution

It’s a requirement of all Creative Commons Licenses that you attribute the original author. This means you can’t just use a Creative Commons image without correctly acknowledging the person who originally created it, unless the license is Creative Commons Zero.

Within or at the end of your blog post you must:

  • attribute the image,
  • include their copyright information,
  • and you should link the photo back to its original photo page.

Here’s an example of image attribution:

Pink Cake

Photo by Chotda licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.


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Free And Public Domain Images

There are websites that provide public domain images that are free to use, or have their own free to use licensing.

Some of these are licensed with a Creative Commons Zero license. This is the least restrictive Creative Commons license and means there are no restrictions on use and no attribution required (although it can be polite to still attribute a Creative Commons Zero image).

Public domain works are those works that:

  1. Automatically enter the public domain when created because they are not copyrightable.
  2. Their copyright has expired.
  3. Their creator has assigned their work to the public domain.

Public domain images are free and available for unrestricted use.

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Attributing Free And Public Domain Images

Public domain images and free to use images may not have a strict legal requirement of attribution, depending on the jurisdiction of content reuse, and depending on the terms and conditions of use of content from the website, but attribution is recommended to give correct provenance for most of these sites.

This means within or at the end your blog post it is recommended to attribute the image, include their copyright information and link the photo back to its original photo page.

Here’s a list of free and public domain websites:

All the images on Pixabay and Unsplash are Creative Commons Zero. They do not require any attribution and can be modified.

You need to refer to the terms and conditions on the other websites to see if attribution is needed and how it is meant to be added.

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Add Image From Pixabay

Here is how to add an image from Pixabay if you don’t want to use the plugin as described above:

1. Go to Pixabay

2.  Enter your search term and press Enter.

Add search term

3.  Click on the image you want to use (you can’t use any image in the sponsored images row).

4.  This takes you to the image page.

5.  Click on Free Download, select the size you want to download and then click Download. Save the image to your computer.

Click on Download

6.  Go to Posts > Add New

Add New

7. Place your cursor where you want the image to appear and then click on the Add Media icon.

Click an Add Media

8.  In the Add Media window click on the Upload files and then Select Files.

Add media

9.  Find the photo you downloaded on your computer and then click Open to start uploading the image.

10.  Select the size you want to insert from the drop-down menu next to ‘Size‘ in the attachment display settings.

Select Size

11.  Click Insert into Post.

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Use The Pixabay Plugin To Add Creative Commons Images To Post

The Pixabay plugin is a quick and easy tool to find quality public domain images from Pixabay and upload them to your site with just one click.

Below is an example of an image inserted using Pixabay plugin.

elljay / Pixabay

Using The Pixabay Plugin

Once you have activated the Pixabay plugin in Plugins > All you use it as follows:

1. Go to Posts > Add New (or Pages > Add New)

Add New Post

2. Write your post.

3. Place your cursor where you want the image to appear and then click on the Pixabay icon.

Pixabay icon

4.  Add your search term and press enter.

Add search term

5.  Click on the image you want to insert into your post.

Click on Image

6.  This uploads the image from Pixabay into your media library.

Upload Pixaby image to media library

7.  Select the Alignment, Size and then click Insert into post.

Size and alignment

7.  The image is added to the post with a link to the user who uploaded it to Pixabay.

ulleo / Pixabay

Pixabay Settings

You can change the Pixabay options in Settings > Pixabay.   In most situations, you would not change these settings.

Pixabay Settings

More Sources Of Free And Public Domain Images

Here are some good free and public domain image websites to use yourself or with students:

Openclipart

openclipart

Openclipart is a gallery of clip art images that have been released into the public domain that can be used freely, for personal and commercial use, without attribution.

Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository for public domain and freely-licensed educational media content, including images, sound and video clips.

Images and other media on Wikimedia Commons are almost all under some kind of free license (usually public domain, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, or GFDL (GNU Free Documentation license).

Clicking on an image or media file on Wikimedia Commons takes you to the information page for that file. This is where you’ll find the information supplied by the uploader, including the copyright status, the copyright owner, and the license conditions.

The following image from Wikimedia Commons is license under GNU Free Documentation and Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0.

License information

The Commons

Flickr Commons

The Commons was set up to help share photos and images from the World’s public photography archives.  There are over 56 institutions contributing images to The Commons.

A special rights statement — ‘No known copyright restrictions’ — was created to provide a copyright framework allowing institutions to add their photos to Flickr Commons and define how the public could use their work through their own rights statement.

Once you’ve located an image on The Commons you should click on the ‘No known copyright restrictions’ beneath the image.

This takes you to the Rights Statement for the Institution who supplied the image.  This is where you’ll find information on how the institution would like the image to be attributed.

Attribution

Below is an example of attributing an image from The Commons.

River Cave, Margaret River [Western Australia, 2] [Frank Hurley] Courtesy of the National Library of Australia
River Cave, Margaret River [Western Australia, 2] [Frank Hurley] Courtesy of the National Library of Australia

Getty Open Content Images

Getty Open Content

Getty Open Content images are all available digital images to which the Getty holds the rights or that are in the public domain to be used for any purpose. No permission is required.

The Getty requests that you use the following source credit when reproducing an image:

Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

Here’s an example of attributing an image from Getty’s open content program.

Vincent van Gogh [Dutch, 1853 - 1890], Irises, Dutch, 1889, Oil on canvas, Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.
Vincent van Gogh [Dutch, 1853 – 1890], Irises, Dutch, 1889, Oil on canvas, Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images is an American Stock photo agency which allows their images to be used for free for non-commercial use. Getty Images have no relationship with the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Getty Open Content images.

Once you have found an image on Getty Images you can embed it into a post or page using their embed code

Using Your Own Images

The alternative options for sourcing images from other websites are to upload your own photos or create images using online tools.

Image editing tool

Here are some ideas for creating your own images:

  1. Comic Generators like ToonDoo
  2. Photo Editors like Befunkyfd’s Flickr Tools
  3. Tag Cloud Creators such as Wordle or WordArt.com
  4. Fun photo tools CutMyPic, Glitterfly, PhotoFunia
  5. Drawing tools like Google Drawings or Auto Draw
  6. Graphic Design sites like Canva or Adobe Spark

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Your Task

Now we’ve talked about images, it’s time for you to show us your skills by writing a blog post that includes images.

Here are some ideas of what you might like to write about:

  1. Share what you have learned about Creative Commons and finding Creative Commons images. Tell us about your favorite sources of Creative Commons images.
  2. Share your tips for creating your own images.
  3. Write a review on ways of creating your own images using a range of different types of tools.

Leave a link to your post in a comment on this post so we can have a look at your post.


How to leave a comment: Scroll down to find the comment box. Write your comment, then enter your name and email address (email addresses are not published). Enter the anti-spam word. Press submit and we will moderate your comment ASAP.

136 thoughts on “Step 6: Images, Copyright, And Creative Commons

  1. When doing this step I did not know what creative commons, so I had to watch the video to get more information on it and learned you must be careful on what you post on your cites and make sure to cite your sources.

    http://cmusa.edublogs.org

  2. Wow I had no idea copyright was so complex and realize (now) that I havn’t been following the proper guidelines. As a teacher who regularly uses images in my classwork I will not know to be more careful. I’ve always enjoyed doodling and creating my own pictures and as such have decided to create my own images to give my blog a unique angle. As silly as it sounds I enjoy creating stickman masterpieces (usually when bored during staff meetings…) and think I will experiment with stickman-style images to help illustrate what I am writing about.

    1. Can’t wait to see the stickman illustrations! That could be a really fun and unique angle for your blog. And it’s great to show your students that making your own artwork doesn’t have to be complicated.

      Have fun!

  3. Hello,

    For step 6, I wrote a second post on my assignment of creating a WebQuest for one of my courses. Within the post, I included an image from Pixaby that was related to the topic of my WebQuest and my post. It isn’t the most eye catching or interesting photo, but it goes along with what my WebQuest was about. I definitely learned a lot about using images on my blog. I am thankful I learned about the different public domain websites. I will certainly be using them from now on. Below is a link to my second post which shows the image I used from Pixaby.

    http://gmercado07.edublogs.org/2019/02/15/my-webquest-on-the-digestive-system/

    1. Hi Tracy,

      The photo at the top of your post is very eye catching!

      A small tip: it can look neater to link words rather than just pasting in a full link. Here are the instructions on how to do that (Note how I linked the words ‘Here are’).

      Hope that helps a bit! I just love the career slideshow you embedded on your other post too. Well done!

      Kathleen Morris
      Edublogs Community Manager
      @kathleen_morris

      1. Thank you for that tip and the instructions, Kathleen! I will use that in future posts. Also, thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback!

  4. Question about creative common licenses. I found a picture that I used for a header. It is attribution-non derivative. To use it for the header, I needed to crop it. Does that cropping count as a modification and therefore not allowed?

    1. That’s a good question! Technically, you can’t crop the image. Where is the image from? If you try a site like Pixabay, Unsplash, or Pexels you don’t have to worry about attribution etc. as they are all Creative Commons Zero. This means you can “copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission”
      Hope that helps 🙂

      1. The photo I used as my header is from Pexels and can be modified, I checked. I really like that Pexels spells it out for you very clearly. Below from their license explanation page.

        “We tried to keep the Pexels License as simple as possible. Keep reading to find out more.
        All photos on Pexels can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use.
        Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
        You can modify the photos. Be creative and edit the photos as you like.”

        However, there were images I found as I was looking that had a non-derivative license. I don’t know if cropping the image counts as modifying it.

  5. A couple of years ago, I prepared a presentation for teachers at my school to show them where to find images to use. This was for an in-house tech conference where teachers signed up. Registration for my presentation filled up in minutes! Unfortunately, my dad got very sick before the conference and I wasn’t able to present, but the oversubscription did tell me that it was a topic of interest. I wrote this post in my then blog listing the options I had found. I guess this course is a good reminder for the need to update that post and include the content in my new blog.

    http://caceslib.blogspot.com/2017/02/where-to-find-images-for-school.html?m=0

  6. It’s also worth noticing that numerous hosting platforms and other e-services offer extra incentives to buy products from them. And very often these are free vouchers for 5-10 images to use on paid platforms.

    1. Hi Joshua,
      Thanks for sharing your insightful post. This definitely seems like an issue that’s universal, perhaps because a) people don’t realise online images are protected by copyright and b) it seems too hard or time-consuming to do things the right way. Good on you for trying to change this!

  7. I’ve had to do a lot of copyright-related research (using quotations, which although short, did not always fall under Fair Use) prior to publishing. It actually took almost 2 years of tracking down copyright holders and hiring a research assistant.

    Regarding images, my favourite source so far is Creative Market, which provides weekly free resources, as well as licences for personal/commercial use on their other products.

    https://creativemarket.com/

  8. My favorite source of images has always been unsplash.com. All the images on the website are copyright free and can be used without citing the source (of course you are welcomed to). Moreover, all the images on there are astoundingly beautiful!
    My site icon is a picture taken by myself. Sometimes, I see beautiful skies or objects, I just take a picture of them with phone and add filters later. It’s easy to do and very original.

    1. It’s great if you don’t have to look too far for images. I’m sure your audience loves seeing your photos of your classroom and activities. It really adds a lot of value to your posts. Thanks for sharing!

  9. http://alansblake.edublogs.org/2018/10/10/another-reading-resource/
    Above is a link to a post where I used one image from Pixaby!!! Which is an awesome resource and then used another image from something I made with Microsoft publisher.

    I really enjoyed reading this step and remembering that sometimes giving credit to the person that took the picture is not enough. I really have never used any of the different resources that were listed for free images but did enjoy looking through some of them and seeing what they have to offer. I have bookmarked all the different resources that were shared with this post. Thanks!

    1. Great work adding your Pixabay image! My favourite sites to find CC0 images are Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels. Hope you’ll find the resources useful in the future!

  10. Images form a very important part of blog posts for me.
    Images for my new blog, Personas Profiles and Portraits, will probably mostly be my own photographs or images I have created to ensure that I am the owner of the images.
    Photos for Personas , Profiles and Portraits are taken either with the camera or iPad and are modified using MS Paint, PhotoFiltre or AShampoo Photo Commander.The images which I create for my Sprite’s Site blog are usually made in MS Paint sometimes incorporating clip art images or my own photos.
    Many years ago I did purchase three CD collections of public domain clip art and the original image for the character of Sprite came from one of these clip art CDs.
    I used to include images from the PowerPoint collection but I have found that in some cases images which used to be included in that collection are no longer available.
    In 2014 I participated in INKtober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month. I drew almost all the characters from Sprite’s Site in ink during that month and it has provided an extra set of images for Sprite’s Site.
    I mostly use MS Paint to create my images but sometimes I also use PowerPoint or Scratch for rotating or modifying the images and sometimes I use other drawing programs such as ArtRage or Autodesk Sketchbook. If I am using the iPad I create images in Drawing Desk, Sketches Pro, Art Set or Paper 53
    To create animated GIFs I use Coffee Cup Animation Studio or Giftedmotion 1-2-3 Jar
    I enjoy using cartoon creation programs such as MakeBeliefsComix and ToonDoo and I also enjoy using Avatar makers and Flash Face.
    On Sprite’s Site blog I sometimes use Tag cloud generators such as Wordle or Mindmapping tools such as Tony Buzan’s iMindMap, Mindjet, Spicy Nodes and bubbl.us and I can imagine using those on Personas Profiles and Portraits as well
    My blog post for Step 6 can be read at https://jofreitag.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/2015-edublogs-teacher-challenge-step-6/

    1. Hi Jo, you do indeed use images effectively in your blog posts. This not only draws attention to the page, but also effectively breaks up the information in to manageable chunks.
      Eugene Brown, Edublogs Support

  11. For my task, I actually wrote about Compfight in another journalism site I write for. It’s scheduled to appear Wednesday, June 10, at JEADigitalMedia.org. I personally think this is a great tool for student journalists to see how the copyright looks. I tested Compfight on my blog, and fiddled with the settings (although I returned to the default settings). I feel like I took forever on Step 6, but I always find Copyright and public domain daunting (and I’ve practiced journalism since 8th grade –> I won’t tell you how old I am!). Thanks for such a good primer and refresher, especially for Step 6’s elaboration of copyright for the Wild Wild Web.

    1. Hi Michelle, your article on JEADigitalMedia.org was very informative. The related articles were also very useful to read. I think most people find Copyright and public domain daunting. Well done on wading through Step 6!
      Eugene Brown, Edublogs Support

  12. I just got introduced to
    “#JJAProject – A Photo A Day in June, July, August”
    from a great inspiration and friend, Denise Krebs, and so I got on board and set up a Flickr account and begin this little adventure tomorrow! I am excited, even if my photos won’t always be…but inspiring to me…

    I still feel a bit uncertain how it will all work out–the “tagging and sharing” pieces…but I’ll catch on (I sure hope:)!

    Michelle

    1. Hi chelleswan, Denise Krebs site also provides useful information on embedding Flickr images in posts http://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/
      Congratulations on setting up your Flickr account. Perhaps you can share your Flickr url so we can benefit from your images.
      Eugene Brown, Edublogs Support

  13. I personally use Flickr and find the service useful. I store photos and make them available to the public. I like to take pictures of nature and will start talking pictures for my blog. This way I can ensure that I am legally allowed to use the photos. I took a picture of my road and will post it to my blog. The road to success…
    http://blogforstudentsuccess.edublogs.org/?p=28&preview=true

    Thank you,
    Sheriann

    1. Hi Sheriann, that is an amazing photograph! I hope you don’t mind, I added a caption to your image to show you how is is done.
      Eugene Brown, Edublogs Support

    2. That photo is fantastic! It really breathes beauty! I just opened with Flickr today…and am anxious to begin using it tomorrow in my blog along with #JJAProject group’s A Photo A Day in June, July, August!

      Thanks so much for sharing!
      Michelle

  14. This is a great resource. As I’ve taught computers and technology for many years, I need to update my lesson on appropriate use of images they find.
    I did use a CompFight image in a post http://mstcookclass.edublogs.org. I feel I’m going to more dedicated on the side of using my own photos. I have so many and am an avid photographer. I’m just going to step up my game in editing and changing them for posting.

      1. Teresa,

        I like your cats and raccoon! I use a lot of my own photos, too, especially from my iPhone, but I also like the option of Compfight for a quick image to spruce up a post. I kind of liked your old theme, but your new theme is very inviting and easy to navigate. Michelle 🙂

    1. Hi Terresa, great story about “Rockette the Racoon”. Effective use of images too. Well done!
      I love the new theme you’ve chosen. Don’t forget to add widgets to your homepage.
      Eugene Brown, Edublogs Support

  15. I try to use my own images whenever possible. I find copyright, like many previously said, complex to understand.

  16. This is a challenging area – almost overwhelming with all the information available on the topic. Can we cover our bases by simply sharing the link where an image came from along with the date and time acquired? Can we put that on a works cited page?

    I love being able to put the link in the caption area of the photo as well – will this suffice? This is what I did for my first image. The next two are photos I took myself.

    For creating your own, it’s easy to do in PowerPoint – use Word Art and insert graphics which automatically use CC in the search.

  17. For my class blog I often purchase images from Shutterstock. I have taught my students to search through Google images and select images for reuse for their own blogs.

    I am a fan of the MasterFX app. Here is a quick post on my class blog for my students.
    http://yr5sk.edublogs.org/2014/09/18/masterfx-app/

    I definitely have learning to do in this area. I will be using the sites above in future.

  18. It is obvious a strategy is needed when you first set out to uses images in your blogging. I appreciate your suggestions. I have some different views, http://www.hotlunchtray.com/edublogs-challenge-steps-5-6/, but mostly I coudl sum them up to be create your own images with images you find at a royalty-free site and can enhance/customize in a service such as PicMonkey and/or Canva. I also talk about how It do that http://www.hotlunchtray.com/color-me-happy-technology-thursday for anyone who wants to give it a go, but needs an approach. As also, this is a good conversation to have. Thank You!

  19. Citing images seems to be one of the things that students have the most trouble with. We have some projects that require them to use images, and to cite them, and even though it is frustrating to work through I think it is a good exercise. I’m bookmarking this page as well to help explain this year!

    1. Hi Donna

      Citing images is hard for students and it is something that you need to keep reinforcing as they can forget. Let me know if you need a guide for younger students as there are a few different ones available.

      Sue Waters
      Support Manager
      Edublogs | CampusPress

  20. This is a great overview of copyright and Creative Commons. I thought I had a pretty good selection of tools that I used but I learned about so many more here! I’ve usually limited myself to pictures that I had taken myself or videos from YouTube. These resources open up a lot more possibilities!

    1. Hi Sarah

      Sometimes it can be removed when you insert it into the post. If this happens try clicking on the image, then click on the Image icon in the left hand corner, paste the code again into the Caption file, click Update on the Add Media window to close it and then Update on the post.

      If that doesn’t work let me know so I can add it for you.

      Sue Waters
      Support Manager
      Edublogs | CampusPress

  21. This lesson made me rethink the images I was using in my blogging. I deleted all the clipart I had since I was not sure where it came from. I used all new clipart from Pixabay. I created an account with that site because it did have a lot of pictures to chose. I am more aware of what images I put online and how I use them now. Check out my new clipart.

    http://rkorte78.edublogs.org/

    1. Hi Roxanne

      Thanks for sharing a link to your blog! Great example of how much you can customize the theme Chalkboard using your own custom background with your own image header. The theme looks totally different.

      Very impressive!

      I also log into Pixaby to download images as it is easier.

      Sue Waters
      Support Manager
      Edublogs | CampusPress

      1. Sue,

        Thank you for saying my site was unique because that is was I was going for with this project. I am learning a lot by taking this teacher challenge.
        Roxanne

        1. Hi Roxanne

          Was very impressive. I shared the link with Elliott, one of my work colleagues, who customized the original version of the theme so he could see how nicely you had changed it.

          Sue Waters
          Support Manager
          Edublogs | CampusPress

  22. Excellent resource! Honestly I came to learn about Creative Commons recently through a MOOC on Learning to Teach Online. I am trying to be really careful in using images. If I find searching for new images tedious, I create my own! I wonder how good that is, but it’s working for me. I am going to use Getty Images or Compfight for future posts. This is my latest blog post where I have inserted my own images. http://bit.ly/1qDVHY1

  23. Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve become very careful about where I take my images from. I use https://www.canva.com/ to create collages or images. You can use their free images unless you want to $1 per premium image. You can download it as an image or pdf. I’ve used Pixabay, Flickr and freedigitalphotos.net for photos along with my own photos. All my posts have images because of the theme I use. Here’s one I did for my post on SAMR http://msrodrigues.global2.vic.edu.au/2014/07/12/samr-model/

  24. Wow! I think out of all of the steps in this challenge, this was the most eye opening! Boy have I been using images wrong. Missing out on great resources and using ones that weren’t so legit.

    I learned so much, my entire blog post this week has to do with images.
    A Quick Byte: Picture This
    http://billpratt23.blogspot.com/2014/09/picture-this.html

    One question I have is this:
    In Blogger, I can’t put a link on a picture (that I have found anyway) and when putting the link to the original image in the caption, some of them are so long it really distorts my post. Is it permissible to use something like “Image source” as the caption and then embed the link to the source in that text? Look at my Password Frenzy post to see what I am talking about distorting my blog: http://billpratt23.blogspot.com/2014/07/password-frenzy.html.

    Thanks again for such a great lesson in digital citizenship!

    1. Hi Bill

      Glad our post on images has been eye opening!

      After you’ve added the photo try clicking on the photo and then click on the Insert/Edit link icon. If the Insert/Edit link icon launches try adding the link and this should have now hyperlinked the image to the original source.

      I can see what you mean about it causing issues in your post.

      You can add the attribution to an image any where on the page. It doesn’t need to be directly underneath the post or in the caption. Some bloggers prefer to add the attribution at the end of the post. They say something like “Image by X licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0”

      Sue Waters
      Support Manager
      Edublogs | CampusPress

  25. I’m bookmarking this page! This is a great reference for future use. I typically don’t use photos on my blog, but when I do, I use schools.clipart.com. I assumed they were acceptable since our school system obtained the site licenses. Looks like I need to check on that. I’ll occasionally attach short YouTube clips in a post, but since it goes directly to the website, the citation is automatic. I hope.

    1. Hi Cyndi

      You definitely need to check with your school as it may not cover use online.

      If you want to use clipart I recommend you use Pixabay They have lots of clipart and it is all free to use http://pixabay.com/

      YouTube is fine to embed and we discuss Youtube in our step on using video.

      Sue Waters
      Support Manager
      Edublogs | CampusPress

  26. I never really thought about citing my images mainly because I felt it fell under ‘Fair Use’. I went back through my posts and found one which had a photo added which I then went through and changed w/ citation. Here is a link to that post: http://gallaghertech.edublogs.org/?p=49

    In the future, I will have to be more aware of this and stay vigilant of my giving credit where credit is due.

    1. I empathize, Mr. G. I thought images for educational use, even found with Google, where exempt from citations.

  27. Great list of resources. I was at a symposium about MOOCs yesterday and one of the faculty members who was creating a MOOC course indicated that she needed help with finding images that she could use in her course. This list will be a great help.

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