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Finding Copyright-Free Images: Image Citation

This guide will help you to identify and use images that are not subject to copyright.

Citing Images

Images must be cited like all other resources. If you use an image you did not create, you must provide a citation. Images should be cited in all cases, even if the image is very small, or in the public domain. The citation should be accessible in the context of the image's use (within a Powerpoint presentation, on a web page, in a paper, etc.).

Image citations should include the following information at a minimum:

  • Title
  • Creator name
  • Repository information (museum, library, or other owning institution)
  • Image source (database, website, book, postcard, vendor, etc.)
  • Date accessed

It is also useful to include date, culture, and rights information, if known.

Citations can be formatted according to the citation style you are using.

Nadar [Gaspard Félix Tournachon], Felix Nadar in the Gondola of a Balloon, ca. 1863, J. Paul Getty Museum

Save time with a Citation generator

The joy of finding footnotes and bibliographic entries that lead to the perfect original source can only happen when scholars carefully track their sources and generate citations in an appropriate style. Neglecting to track your sources as you move through the research process will cost you HOURS of precious time. 

Try this excellent tool: (click the image below)

Noodletools will not only help you create your footnotes and bibliography, it also will help you stay organized.  When you create a project, you have the ability to record, link, and track your sources, attach notecards, make an outline, export a bibliography, and copy/paste footnotes into your paper.  You also may share your project with your teacher and/or classmates. 

For history assignments, you should use Chicago Style bibliography and footnotes, and choose the "advanced" option to get the most types of citation forms.