Find Free Images For Students On Photos For Class (With How-To Posters)

Please note, this post was last updated in 2020 and I no longer update this website.

Do your students create digital work? Maybe slideshows, blog posts, documents? I’m guessing they do.

Do your students add images to their digital work? I’m sure they do. Images can really jazz things up!

Where do they find those images?

Is this a dilemma for you and your students? You’re not alone!

This post goes through how to use a really helpful tool for finding free images called Photos For Class. I like it because under 13s can use it and they don’t need to know about attribution.

Note: I am not affiliated with Photos For Class in any way!

Before we look at Photos For Class, let’s recap the options for finding images for digital work…

Step Away From Google Images…

Students often seem to figure out at a young age how easy it is to go to Google Images, copy or save the image they like, add it to their work, and voila! Job done.

Unfortunately, some teachers even teach and encourage this process. Oh dear.

This approach is not only illegal a lot of the time but it’s unethical and sets students up with bad habits.

Teaching students to understand Creative Commons licenses and then to source, use, and attribute those Creative Commons images is definitely a worthwhile task. However, it requires a certain investment in time to develop the students’ understandings.

So if you’re looking for a shortcut, let’s avoid Google Images and look at other options.

What Are The Options For Free Images?

As I explained in my Simple Guide To Free Images, Copyright, And Creative Commons For Students And Teachers, there are places online where you can find free images!

There are images you and your students can use that are:

• Good quality
• Relevant
• Easy to find
• Easy to use (some don’t even require attribution)
• Suitable for different age groups

To read about all the options on my comparison table of different sites, check out the post.

Or, if you want to learn more about free images, copyright, and Creative Commons (in plain English!), I have a free eBook for you. Grab it here. 

This post zooms in on one website to find free images that’s particularly useful — Photos For Class

Why Photos For Class?

The main reasons Photos For Class is so useful is:

1. It can be used by students under 13
2. Students don’t need to know how to attribute if you haven’t gotten around to teaching that

Yes, there are lots of amazing sites out there to find free images including Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels BUT they have age restrictions. If you work with primary school students, you have very limited options.

I believe Photos For Class is one of the best options for young students to find free images to use in their work.

I still think there’s a gap in the market here, but let’s work with what we have!

Overview Of Photos For Class

Where are the images on Photos For Class from?

The images that you find on Photos For Class come from Pixabay and Pexels. These are great sites for finding images but are not appropriate for young children to use unfiltered.

Filtering on Photos For Class

The images you find on Photos For Class are filtered and age-appropriate.

You can read more about the filtering system here.

Important notes:

• Pixabay and Pexels pre-filter content used on Photos For Class
• Photos For Class ban certain search terms and keywords
• Their main focus is on filtering “unacceptable sexual and racial imagery”
• The community is encouraged to report inappropriate content to improve the system further.
• There’s a “Report Photo” button under each image on Photos For Class.
• It’s not foolproof but what is? Supervision and education remain important.

Under 13s and Photos For Class

The Terms of Use state that children under 13 can use Photos For Class under the supervision of a parent, guardian, or teacher.

Remember, it’s not foolproof and is not a “set and forget” tool.

Attribution on Photos For Class

The images that come from Pixabay and Pexels don’t require attribution because they’re Creative Commons Zero (this means you can do whatever you like with them). However, attribution is always appreciated by creators and this is a topic that can spark an interesting classroom discussion.

The attribution information is automatically included when you download any image from Photos For Class. The attribution appears as a caption below the image.

See the example below — the attribution information does appear blurry in a smaller sized image.

Search Photos For Class straight from your blog or website

Another handy feature of Photos For Class is that you can embed a search bar on your class blog or school website like the one below.

You could add it to your sidebar or a page on your site that students are familiar with.

This is particularly useful for young students who don’t need to be reminded how to get to the Photos For Class website. The fewer steps the better sometimes!

Photos For Work: Free Commercial Images

Photos For Class has a sister site called Photos For Work. It’s almost exactly the same (it still pulls images from Pixabay and has safety filters), but it only sources images that allow for commercial use.

Photos For Class includes both non-commercial and commercial use images since they’re intended for the classroom.

Teachers and other professionals might find Photos For Work useful when looking for free images for commercial purposes.

Printable Photos For Class Posters

Printable instructions can make things easier in the classroom. I’ve made two posters you’re welcome to use.

Poster 1: How to find and save an image from Photos For Class

This poster walks students through the 5 steps to finding and saving a free image from Photos For Class.

Feel free to save the poster below and add it to your class blog or website.

>>Click here to download a PDF copy of the poster

Poster 2: How to add an image from Photos For Class to a blog post

These instructions show how to add a Photos For Class image to a blog post using the classic editor in WordPress/Edublogs.

No more having to worry about students adding a copyright protected image to their posts!

Feel free to save the image below and add it to your class blog or website.

>> Click here to download a PDF copy of the poster

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A Simple Guide To Free Images, Copyright, And Creative Commons For Students And Teachers