Section 7.4. Finding Free Art | Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual

7.4. Finding Free Art

The Web is awash in graphics. In fact, finding a Web page that isn't chock full of images is about as unusual as spotting Bill Gates in a dollar store. But how does an ambitious developer generate all these pictures? Do you really need to spend hours in a drawing program fine-tuning every picture you need?

The answer depends on exactly what type of pictures you need. However, you'll be happy to hear that there are a variety of great resources on the Web where you can find ready-to-use pictures.

7.4.1. Finding Photos

It's not hard to find pictures on the Web. In fact, you can even use a handy Google tool to search for graphics on a specific subject (type http://images.google.com into your browser and search away). Unfortunately, finding an image usually isn't good enough. In order to use the image without worrying about a nefarious lawyer tracking you down, you also need the rights to use the picture. If you get lucky, you might be granted the permission you want after you send a quick email to the Web site owner. But on many sites, that means opening your wallet and shelling out real money.

Fortunately, there are free community sites made up of photo enthusiasts who post their pictures for the world to see. On some of these sites, you're able to search for and reuse anything you want, completely for free. One of the most remarkable is Stock.XCHNG (pronounced "stock exchange," after stock photography , the name for the vast catalogues of reusable pictures that graphic designers collect). To get to Stock.XCHNG, surf to http://sxc.hu. Figure 7-19 shows a Stock.XCHNG search in progress.

Figure 7-19. Stock.XCHNG offers a searchable catalogue of well over 100,000 photos on every subject. Every day, eager photo enthusiasts upload their sometimes-striking work, including some of the images that have been used in this book. In this figure, a search for " paris food" has found some interesting culinary treats.

If you can't find the picture you want on Stock.XCHNG, you may never find it (at least not without going to a more specialized commercial service). But if you'd like to look at some other alternatives, check out the article on finding free photographs at www.masternewmedia.org/news/2005/04/01/where_to_find_great_free.htm.

7.4.2. Finding Clip Art

Stock.XCHNG is great when you need rich photographs, but it doesn't help when you want standard clip art. Clip art includes cartoon-like business graphics, common symbols like arrows, buttons , and starbursts, and more.

A lot of so-called free clip art sites are choked with ads and subscription demands. However, there are a few bright spots, including www.grsites.com/webgraphics, www.clipartconnection.com, and www.myfreeclipart.com. Some clip art sites restrict your ability to use their pictures on commercial Web sites, so be sure to read the fine print.

Tip: If you have a copy of Microsoft Office, you can also download clip art straight from the Office Online Web site. You'll need to open this clip art with a graphics program and save it as a Web image format (like JPEG or GIF), but it's a small price to pay for gaining access to a large, free clip art connection. Head to http://office.microsoft.com/clipart to start searching.