If you want to know how to find and use public domain photos for your projects, this is the most important article you'll read today. In the next few minutes, we're going to walk you through the process of tracking down high quality, copyright-free public domain images. We're also going to discuss how you can use these photos for various profitable online ventures. Let's dive right in!

First off, you're probably fed up with having to spend ages trying to find that perfect photo for your information product. Let's face it - the copyright rules and regulations of most popular web-based image purchase companies are frustrating at best, and only serve to drive you away from their sites altogether. What's more, many of them publish clauses that prevent you from using their photographs for commercial purposes. Some of these websites even charge you extra fees for the number of view, downloads, etc.

Enter the little-known world of public domain images...

We're talking graphics, paintings, clip-art, cartoons, diagrams - simply put, the public domain is a dream come true for any online info publisher! You will be amazed at the massive collection of pics in the public domain that can be utilized for all of your projects - on your blogs and websites, in your reports and ebooks - free of charge - even if you're using them for commercial purposes.

One of the best resources on the web is...

Stock.Xchng (http://sxc.hu/)

An impressive gallery containing well over 350,000 high quality stock photos by more than 30,000 photographers (both professional and amateur) from all over the globe. It's up to each photographer to set their own conditions and terms of use; however, most of the images are free for public use. Some folks do request that you email them if you're planning on using their pictures and some state that you must give them credit for each image. That said, the majority of the photos are yours for the taking.

In addition to the above-mentioned source, it's also worth checking out...

The official websites of the US Government

The government publishes thousands of public domain images on all of their sites...and get this...they actually encourage you to go ahead and use their pics! The best part? Most of these photographs have been taken by expert photographers and can lend your product a professional touch. Now, not every graphic you see on a .mil or .gov site belongs to the public domain, but often times, government-owned websites will post a clear notice about the stuff that's copyrighted and the stuff that's free for visitors to use. In case you aren't sure about the availability of a certain photo, simply send an email to the admins via the contact form or email.

Furthermore, if you come across a book/magazine written and published in the US in 1922 or earlier, the graphics found inside will most likely be public domain images; hence, you can make use of them for your projects as well. If you're doubtful of the legality of a particular image, it's a good idea to first verify its copyright status before using it. Remember, there are plenty of copyright lawyers out there and they won't hesitate to press charges against you (on behalf of their clients), if you're found infringing on someone else's copyright.

Now let's take a quick look at...

How you can use public domain photos to your advantage

You could set up an image purchase website and offer paid access to a hard-to-find collection of public domain photos. If you have a wide selection of images on many different themes and topics, most folks will be more than willing to pay a small fee to download a picture of their choice. Another option would be to create a niche photography blog and publish all of your public domain photos together with some useful content. You can then monetize your blog using Google's Adsense program. You could also sell your images offline to magazines and other interested parties.

And with that, we conclude this article on how to find and use public domain photos!

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