What You Should Know About Pexels

A picture is worth a thousand pictures. The images you use for marketing and creative pursuits can tell a lot about you, your company, and even your personal life. Many people turn to stock photography or video for custom images because they don’t have the resources of a professional photographer.

You want the best stock photography possible, but fees charged by top sites can be prohibitive for small businesses or solo professionals. Although great visual content is worth compensation, it’s not possible to afford the fees. However, you will still require high-quality visuals for your project. You should pursue free stock photography with enthusiasm.

There are many options for free stock photography, with Pexels among the top results. Pexels is a trusted platform for free stock photography with a well-curated collection that rivals few in the industry.

  

What Is Stock Photography?

Let’s begin with some background. Stock photos are original images that talented photographers have taken and allow others to use them for their own purposes. Stock photos are free from royalty, so you can use them for any purpose, such as website images or social media posts.

It is important to understand the difference between paid stock images and free stock images. Paid sites allow you to purchase the rights to the photo. If you use photos from these companies without purchasing these rights, it is considered copyright infringement.

These are the most popular stock photo websites:

• Shutterstock
• iStock
• Getty Images
• BigStock
• SuperStock

What Should You Look For When Using Stock Photographs?

Getty Images is well-known for its aggressive targeting of anyone who uses its images without permission or payment. Even if you don’t intend to use them, taking images from these websites without permission and payment will get you in serious trouble. This could be costly.

Images from paid sites are constantly circulating online. This is why you should not grab any image found in a Google image search. Google may claim that images have been tagged for reuse, but it is not a guarantee.

This brings us back to Pexels, a free stock image site.

A Summary Of Pexels’ Strengths

• Pexels has a collection of over 500k stock images
• Every month, artists upload over 50k images to the Pexels platform
• Pexels uses a powerful search algorithm to quickly and easily filter through thousands of images
• Search functions include unique options such as color
• Pexels showcases top images and unique categories
• Pexel API allows seamless integration of images and videos from their site into websites and other visual products
• Pexel uses free stock image sites such as Pixabay and Gratisography.
• All images in Pexels are licensed under a Creative Commons Zero license, which means they can be used for personal or commercial purposes without attribution
• Images on Pexels have high quality and go beyond the impersonal, cold images found on or other free stock photo websites.
• You can reach a specific contributor directly through the platform
• Pexels has a program called “Heroes” for top content contributors

Pexels: A Large Curated Collection Meets Artistic Talent  

Pexels, a stock photo site, offers hundreds of thousands of free stock photos and videos to users around the globe. Pexels is relatively new in comparison to other stock image sites like Pixabay. Pexels was founded in 2014 by Bruno Joseph and Ingo Joseph. Daniel Frese joined the site in 2015. Since then, Pexels has worked to become a top resource for high-quality, free-to-use stock images.

Pexels is a platform that empowers creators (designers, marketers, artists, and programmers) by offering a rich resource with images, videos, and designs that are current, artistic, and ready for use.

Pexels License covers all images. This is a creative commons zero license that allows Pexels users access to and use every image without charge. Pexels offers exceptional imagery for creatives on a limited budget without imposing a subscription fee or per-image use fees.

Pexels is a great place for digital artists and photographers looking to build their portfolios and reputation. Pexels artists upload images to the site. The best images are selected for public access. Star contributors can join the Heroes program. This program is designed to support top Pexels contributors.

How Do Pexels Compare To The Competition?

Free stock image sites have a different competition than paid ones. Free stock photo sites often share images with each other and draw from one another. Pexels pulls images from Pixabay and other sites and builds a curated collection of contributors.

Pixabay was one of Pexels’ “competitors” and was recently purchased by Canva, a popular website that offers graphic design tools. Canva also purchased Pexels, which has further solidified Canva’s position as a leading provider of stock photography.

Although they are both parts of the same parent company, Pexels, as well as Pixabay, have collections that appeal to a different audience. While there are some images shared on both sites, the Pexels collection has a smaller, more artistically-themed collection. Many images have an authentic feel, which is not as common on giants like Pixabay.

The Pexels collection is closer to the middle of a library that is considered medium-sized by current standards. The Pexels collection, which is smaller than other paid and free sites with millions of images to choose from, is more intimate and personal than those on larger sites. Their selection is far greater than what you will find on smaller, free stock image sites such as Gratisography.

Pexels also offers a better way to reward contributors than other free stock image sites. Anyone can create an account on the Pexels platform and upload images. However, contributors who have a history of sharing outstanding work and participating in the Pexels platform in other ways, such as by engaging with and contributing to an exclusive forum for top contributor artists, are eligible to join their Heroes program.

Is Pexels Legal?

Yes. Yes. Photographers upload images to Pexels with the knowledge that others will reuse them. You can avoid copyright conflicts by using images from Pexels instead of downloading them from Google.

Two types of licenses are used for photos on Pexels: the Creative Commons License (CC0) and the Pexels License (License). Both licenses allow you to edit, adapt, and use the photos for commercial purposes. Although you are not required to credit the photographer publicly, it is a nice thing.

Every photo page will clearly state the license.

What Kinds Of Images Does Pexels Provide?

Stock Photography

You’ll see that the Pexels website is filled with great stock photography. This platform offers a free service. Pexels is a stock photography company that specializes in it.

The many ways that Pexels makes it easy for users to search for and find new images is one of the reasons why they stand out among the free stock photo websites. You’ll find the standard search bar on every site, but you can also explore images by themes like fashion, travel, technology, and color.

Illustrations & Vectors

Pexels has vectors and illustrations, but you will need to dig a bit to find them. Pixabay and other sites make it easy to find these stock images through simple navigation. You can search for vectors and illustrations on Pexels by simply entering the keywords in the search bar.

Video for Businesses

Pexels has a large collection of stock videos for free that have been uploaded and pulled from other stock sites. The videos, like all images on Pexels, are free to use without attribution. You can navigate to their video collection using a simple drop-down menu. Pexels provides a variety of similar video content that you can peruse once you have clicked on the one you like.

Who Uses Pexels?

Pexels is a huge collection that attracts many creatives looking for professional-quality stock photography and videos. Pexels is a great platform for creative professionals in certain industries. Pexels is a great platform for professional creatives like:

• Graphic Designers
• Digital Marketers
• Web Designers
• Promotions Specialists
• Blog writers/content creators
• Authors

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How To Use Pexels 

Downloading images is possible without creating an account. To access other Pexels features, you will need to create an account. For actions like “liking” photos and following photographers as well as collecting pictures, you will need an account.

It works in a similar way to Google and other search engines. To sort through all images, type keywords in the search bar, scroll down through the images, and click on any that you find interesting.

The green button “Free Download” appears at the top-right corner of any image after you click it. The button allows you to instantly download the image in its original size. Click the arrow beside the “Free download” button to select different sizes.

When using photos from Pexels, you don’t have to credit the photographers. The photos can be edited and modified.

Pexels Is A Free Stock Photo Site With All The Perks Of A Premium.

You wouldn’t know at first glance that Pexels was a stock photo website. Pexels is premium in every way, from the high-quality images to the user-friendly interface positions on their website. Pexels’ entire platform offers free stock videos and images. Pexels also shines in the way they highlight the work of their contributors, which is something that’s often lacking on free sites.

What’s the bottom line? Pexels is the free stock site for high-quality stock photography that has an authentic feel.