Find Images for Your Website

Image Portal Photography Database

Institute Communications maintains a searchable database that houses thousands of high-resolution digital Georgia Tech photographs.

These photos may be downloaded free of charge, but may not be sent or sold to any third party for commercial purposes. Georgia Tech owns the copyright to all images.

Access to the database is available to faculty and staff with a valid Georgia Tech account username and password.

Log in to the Image Portal
Note: The first time you visit Image Portal, you must click the "forgot password" link and follow the prompts. Your username is your GT account/CAS name.

Georgia Tech Social Media Collections

Georgia Tech Digital Swag

This site houses high-resolution versions of iconic Georgia Tech images. Because they are designed for different digital devices, the images are available in several different formats.

The images are free to download and use but remain the property of Georgia Tech. The images may not be reproduced for resale or retail promotion without written permission from the Georgia Tech Licensing Department.

Go to the Digital Swag Site

Public Domain Images

Public domain images have no copyright restrictions and may be used freely. Many government agency websites, such as the National Park Service website, offer an extensive collection of images, many of which will be in the public domain (in general, photographs taken by government employees while working for a government agency are considered to be in the public domain). Check each picture carefully, though, to make sure of its public domain status.

Creative Commons Images

Images that use Creative Commons licensing have less restrictive copyrights. Creators often clear their images for use by others, provided that the image is correctly attributed.

There is a variety of Creative Commons licenses, some with more restrictions than others. Be sure to adhere to the guidelines for the particular image you choose.

A good search tool for finding these images is search.creativecommons.

Burst.shopify is a free stock photo site offered under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, which means you may to use the photos for any purpose.

Paid Stock Photo Websites

Institute Communications subscribes to iStockphoto, which is owned by Getty Images, but there are several other affordable websites to choose from.

Here are some of the most popular:

Free Stock Photo Websites

Many of these photographs are free from copyright restrictions or use Creative Commons licensing. Be aware that on these websites, every photo may not be free. In addition, you may still be asked to register before downloading images.

Your Own Photos

If you consider yourself to be a good photographer but lack the right equipment, you can rent digital and DSLR cameras from the Georgia Tech Library.

Select and Optimize Images for the Web

Selecting

Used properly, images are powerful tools
Choose images that visually clarify the words on the page
Web users pay close attention to photos and other images that contain relevant information. They completely ignore non-information-carrying photos and graphics

Sizing

Compress the file size of your photos as much as you can to make them download as quickly as possible. Remember, web users are impatient

Naming

Before you upload a picture to your website, name it clearly and accurately
Use keywords in your filename to help search engine rankings
If you upload an image, always type a description of the picture in the "Alternative Text" field. Alt text is simply a description of the picture that can be read by web visitors using screen readers. Having descriptions of your image will also help with search engine rankings, and is required by Georgia Tech's accessibility policy.