Is the image formatted correctly for the web?

If you are taking your own photographs, we ask that you send us your files in a JPEG or PNG format. Images should be a minimum of 600 pixels wide.

If you are sourcing images from stock image sites simply include a link to the image for us to download and format.

Can you legally use the image?

It’s important to ensure that you have permission to use an image.

Images published on Pexels and Pixabay are licenced under CC0. This means there is no copyright on these images and you can copy, modify and distribute them, even for commercial use, without seeking permission.

Similarly, all Unsplash images are free under their own licence, meaning you can copy, modify, distribute and use their images without seeking permission.

If you source images from any other site, you’ll need to check that you can use them legally. There are many licenses out there, but the big three to look out for are:

Royalty free

Where you pay a one-off fee to use an image. There may still be restrictions on it, so if you’re wanting to use an image like this, it’s best to send us a link to the image online so we can check this for you.

Creative Commons

Photographers choose from a selection of licenses with varying restrictions. For the Common Room, it’s best to look for images licenced under CC0 - like the images on Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash. For more information on the different types of Creative Commons licenses take a look at Flickr’s summary.

Public domain

This applies to images where copyright has expired or never existed. These images can be used by anyone, although attribution is still required in some cases.

Got a question on choosing an image for your article? Email it to Alex.

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