How to Find Flickr Photos with a Creative Commons License

Downloading Creative Commons Photos on Flickr Tutorial by Karen Cox Graphic credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steren/2732488224/

A photo with a Creative Commons license can be used for personal use without asking the permission of the photographer. You can use these photos in your classroom, but be sure to read the license so you know exactly how it can or cannot be used.

If you find a copyrighted photo on Flickr that you really want to use, don’t hesitate to send the photographer a Flickr mail and ask permission, explaining exactly how you plan to use the photo. They just might say yes.

Step 1 Click the Search button.

Step 2 Click “Advanced Search. ”

Step 3 Type your text (whatever you are searching for) into the text bar to the right of “Search for”. For example, I typed “lion”.

Step 4 Scroll down until you see the Creative Commons logo. Check the box beside “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.”

Step 5 Next you will see the search results. There are over 87,000 photos of lions with the Creative Commons license.

Step 6 When you’ve found the photo you want to use, just click it.

Step 7 Next, you will come to the photo’s webpage. Above the photo, click “All sizes”.

Step 8 Then you will see which sizes are available for the photo. I recommend downloading either the “large” or “original” size.

Step 9 Before you download, check to make sure the photo has a Creative Commons license. (The license is just below the photo.)

Step 10 To download the photo, you can either click the download link, or right click on the photo and choose “Save Image As”.

Step 11 Choose a location on your computer to save the photo (“Save in”), rename the file (“File name”), and click the Save button. Then you will be able to find your photo on your computer (in whatever location you saved it).