Free Graphics
The subject of free graphics is too broad for me to do justice in this article. Instead, I am going to introduce to you to some other About sites that do a fantastic job of this. In a future article I will tell you about a free tool that I used to create the annoying animated graphic to your right. Incidentally, in most browsers, you can click on the stop button at the top of your browser and the stars will stop falling.
Bobbie Peachey is the About Guide for Web Clipart. Her site has an incredible wealth of links to sites with free graphics. In fact there is so much there that I have picked some highlights to get you started.
Take a look first at Bobbie's Best of the Net Award sites. This will give you a selection of some of the best graphics out there. If you don't find everything you need here, you can move on to Bobbie's resource list. She has an incredible categorized list of graphics resources from alphabets to Valentine Clipart. You can plan on spending quite some time perusing these links.
When you have found all the graphics you need, visit Jacci Bear's Desktop Publishing site to get some ideas on what to do with them. Jacci also has a great article on free fonts that you can use with those graphics. Also, don't miss Jacci's feature on modifying clipart for some good ideas for those of us who have little artistic talent, but want to make new creations.
One last note about "free graphics" on the Web. There is a lot of art out there that is free, but be careful to check before you just grab something and start using it. Look for a statement about the "conditions of use" on sites that offer graphics collections. Some are just collections of public domain materials that you can use as you wish. Some are original work by the site owner and they may ask that you acknowledge them when you use them. Some sites with original graphics only offer them as free for personal use and not in a business context. Above all, don't assume that if it is on the Web, you can feel free to take it. A lot of work goes into creating original graphics, please respect that.
For a fresh set of free offers every week, sign up for my Freebies Features Newsletter. It's free!
