How to Find and Properly Attribute Flickr Creative Commons Photos

Adding images is one of the best ways to enhance and attract attention to your work. Content writers usually look for images that are either free or are under a Creative Commons license.

Flickr’s Page on creative commons is one of the best places to be, when searching for images available under a creative commons license. You can use these images on your work, provided that your intended use is in accordance with the license type.

Some Creative Commons images are licensed as “Attribution-Non Commercial” and can be used only if you are not making profit from the context of the image. Example: A website or blog displaying ads.

How to search Creative Commons Images on Flickr?

Flickr has the images categorized according to the Creative Commons license type. You can search Flickr Creative Commons directly or use sites like CompFight, LiteFlickr, FlickrCC and FlickrStorm, which are in good alternatives to Flickr’s search interface.

How to Attribute the Images Properly?

There is no particular style for attribution. You can use the style or phrase that suits your needs.

A good attribution under the Creative Commons guidelines requires that you:

Cite the author's name, screen name, user identification and link that name to the person's profile page, if such a page exists.
Cite the work's title or name and link the name or title directly to the original work.
Cite the specific CC license the work is under and that links to the license on the CC website.

A example attribution style: