royalty free

New INSERT Image Options!

There is something new* in your PowerPoint, but it may not have been discovered yet. The Insert Picture button has expanded to offer more options, and NEW images.

Here is before the update. Insert PICTURES was just a button with no options.

It opened this standard, go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

But now (*as of today this applies to Windows Monthly Targeted and Office Insider builds, I have not tested on standard release, Mac or online versions) the PICTURES button is a split button with more options!

Let me show what each option offers. Click the THIS DEVICE option and we get the same go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

I am going to jump to the third option, ONLINE PICTURES, and save the new stuff for last. Online Pictures is an image search via Bing Images. Nothing new here.

Click the STOCK IMAGES option and we are treated to a new library of high quality photo images. These are all Royalty Free for use in Microsoft app products (eg. my understanding is they can be used in a PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, Excel document and there is no legal issues. But if they are extracted and added to an Illustrator or InDesign document or provided as a stand alone image, the royalty free status may not be enforce). I found the images very nice, great quality and good to use and look unique right now (after 18 months I feel everyone will have seen these images so many times, they will feel “old”).

 

The CUTOUT PEOPLE tab are all .png images of people with transparent background. These are going to get a lot of use and it is a great first release package.

The ICONS tab is also what the INSERT > ICONS button opens. It has a new layout to the icons and expanded set of icons (yay!). PRO TIP: 1 click access vs. 2 clicks. It is 2 clicks to open this dialog if we go to PICTURES and click for the drop down menu and a second click to open the dialog to STOCK IMAGES. But it is 1 click to click the ICONS button to bring up this dialog (opened to the icons tab).

The STICKERS option is new. I know some people are going to love these, and others (like me) cannot see a need for them… These are not animated .gifs, just static fun, full color “cartoons”.

Behind the scenes, Microsoft has done a lot of work on the search. This includes metatags for all images in the library, AI assisted recognition of entries, and a more streamlined process.

Something new for everyone to check out, experiment with and possibly use in your next presentation!

Troy @ TLC

By |2020-04-15T11:40:43-07:00April 15th, 2020|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Free Picture Finder

Free Picture Finder is a PowerPoint, and Word, add-in that searches for royalty free pictures on Flickr. To install, open PowerPoint, go to INSERT > STORE > search for “Free Picture Finder” > click ADD.

It’s simple to use. After installed, go to INSERT > MY ADD-INS > click the drop down menu and click on FREE PICTURE FINDER. The app action pane will open on the right. Just type a keyword in the search bar and images will populate. Click any thumbnail image and it is automatically placed on the current slide.

Free Picture Finder 3

The images are all royalty free and can be used however you’d like, but the only caveat is that the image size is capped at 250px in height or width. Here is a sample layout of images added and then PowerPoint styling applied:

Free Picture Finder 4

By |2018-07-02T17:54:48-07:00July 9th, 2018|Resource/Misc|

What is “Free”?

Using “free” images in presentations has become a dilemma over the past several years – at least from my perspective as a professional designer working with end clients in dozens of industries. To help protect our clients and TLC Creative Services from potential implications from using unlicensed images, we have in recent years added specific clauses in our client agreements. These statements detail that we are not responsible for the licensing of any images supplied by our clients, and that images we provide are only for use in the specific presentation or project they are being supplied for. There is a lot of confusing legal language coming from the various image companies, each with their own twists as to what is, and is not, permitted.

So a “free” image may be a gamble for everyone. The biggest issue over the past decade has been the ease of searching for a photo online and then pasting virtually any online image into a presentation without regard to image ownership. I have read in several places that up to 85% of images downloaded from the internet are unlicensed and used illegally! This isn’t easy to control, and when an employee uses an online sourced image in their presentation, tweet, blog post, print project, or other publicly viewed creation, it is the company that is at risk of legal action.

Recently, Pickit introduced a new and very clearly defined image licensing model called “Legally Cleared(TM)”. I believe Pickit has done a superb job of not only providing a great image resource but also explaining the big picture (pun intended) of what the legal issues surrounding image use are. I encourage everyone to take 3 minutes to read this informative page on the Pickit site.

Burst, by Shopify, is a good example of how licensing agreements should be worded for end users. They make everything very clear, in non-legalese language, what royalty free means for their images (just scroll to bottom of the home page here).

At TLC Creative Services we annually select an image resource subscription (Adobe Stock, Getty Images, iStock, etc.) and include access to it with all our projects. We purchase images of course, but when possible, we have our client purchase the image licenses and supply those images to us for use in their projects. We also recommend image resource sites that provide licensed images at low or no cost to our clients (The PowerPoint Blog is highlighting several of these images sites throughout the month of July).

The bottom line is, there are legal responsibilities every time an image is added to a presentation, or any project. In this new era of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the potential for legal action for using “borrowed” images is increasing. So, “what is free”? From my perspective, it’s not about the price paid to license an image, it’s about understanding the proper licensed uses of your images, which in turn should keep you free of legal issues.

 

Troy @ TLC 

By |2018-07-06T14:00:47-07:00July 6th, 2018|Resource/Misc|

Introduction to AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks.com is a great resource that TLC Creative Services uses often we’re looking for sound to put in a presentation. Audioblocks is a sister company/service to Videoblocks which we reviewed in the previous post.

audioblocks-1

 

AudioBlocks is a subscription service (i.e. Annual fee) and you get unlimited downloads. The entire audio library is royalty-free so you can legally download and use sounds in both commercial and personal projects, without having to pay any additional fees. The library has over 100,000 sound effects, loops and music and adds new clips continuously.

Clips are available in MP3 and WAV file formats.

audioblocks-3

A really good option is that the Search feature can be filtered by keyword or style. Searches can be filtered by music, SFX or loops. My favorite search option is by duration to further focus the results.  Additional search filters are by Music category, genre, mood, and even instruments. Daetona did a sample search for polka music and found 21 results (that’s a lot of Polka!). The duration of clips ranged from 00:11 seconds to 03:23, and if I needed just a short clip, the duration filter would even further focus the results.

audioblocks-2

TLC Creative has been using AudioBlocks’ online subscription since it launched a few years ago. We were even a customer of their CD-ROM collections before that. The lowest price I have found for an annual subscription is currently $99/year. A less valuable monthly subscription is also available for $79.

 

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:34:44-07:00March 9th, 2016|Resource/Misc|

JewelBeat Review

We integrate multimedia (music, video, etc.) into a lot of projects. TLC Creative Services has also invested in a lot of royalty free music for our resource library. JewelBeat makes a lot financial sense with royalty free tracks at $.99 each.

What does “Royalty Free” mean for music? No performing rights fees, mechanical licenses, cue sheets, ASCAP or BMI expenses to worry about. For a presentation, it means when the music is purchased, you have the license to use it – anywhere.

I like that all tracks can be previewed for the full length. And there is a free demo (sound marked and low quality) to test and confirm it fits with your project. The site says 35,000+ music tracks and it is a wide range of styles. On the technical side, tracks are generally .mp3 format, 44Hz with a 128k bit rate (ie. good).

One of the best online deals is their hundreds of FREE downloads. Even better, make just a single $.99 purchase and you jump to 1,000+ FREE music tracks, SFX and loops.

Jewelbeat.com

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T09:05:52-07:00September 28th, 2012|Resource/Misc|

Seach – Purchase – Insert Fotolia Images All Within PPT 2007

Fotolia is another resource for royalty free images. But this is the first one to have a PowerPoint add-in (also a Word version). Get details and download here.

The install requires being online and easily goes through verifying computer has needed components and installing if needed. I did discover if you run multiple versions of PowerPoint, PPT 2007 needs to be the default setting for installer to run. This is also a PPT 2007 specific add-in and will not install in earlier versions.

Once installed there is a ‘Fotolia’ tab.

If you click the SEARCH button an action pane opens that is basically a gateway to the Fotolia website content.

The search results show a thumbnail and one click options for purchase and download.

To purchase and use an image you need to use the LOG IN button and have a Fotolia account (with credits purchased).

This may be the first in a new wave of conveinence add-ins as the internet merges with applications.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T09:29:23-07:00October 21st, 2009|PowerPoint|

Getty Images – Real People, Royalty Free

Getty Images is an industry force, owning many of the other services, used by major media (newspaper, magazine, TV) and the place to get images of real (famous) people, real-life video and audio. This is the benchmark for professional quality images and breadth of search options. It does come at a price, but you definitely get what is paid for. Everyone should click the “Search Tips” button and read how to maximize search results (same tips apply to virtually all sites).

Raster/Photo images: Yes
Vector images: Yes
Video: Yes
Audio: Yes
Pay Per Image: Yes – approx. $35-150 ($35 = “web & Multimedia” 413px)
Subscription Download: Yes (this goes to photos.com – one of the many they own)

Test Search Results:
1. “Fast Car” = 5,301 results
2. “Medical Consultation” = 11,616 results

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T09:37:23-07:00September 28th, 2009|Resource/Misc|

Dreamstime Images

Dreamstime has been around for a while, but I do not hear a lot of people talking about it. One reason may be their Royalty Free license has more options than most and the image price can vary quite a bit based on the options (which seem confusing and easier to find images elsewhere without the confusion). But the images are great, with lots of unique photography for topics not found on other sites.

Raster/Photo images: Yes
Vector images: Yes
Video: No
Audio: No
Pay Per Image: Yes – approx. $3 for standard PPT use (small, 800px, level 2 RF)
Subscription Download: Yes (eg. 25 images per day for 6 months = $1,250)

Test Search Results:
1. “Fast Car” = 12,918 results
2. “Medical Consultation” = 1,150 results

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T09:37:50-07:00September 27th, 2009|Resource/Misc|

iStockPhoto – Independent Artists for Variety

iStockPhoto can take credit for revolutionizing royalty free images. They permit anyone to upload images (vs. contracted artists/photographers) and the artist receives a royalty whenever the image is purchased (vs. paying upfront fees to the contracted artists). The good is unbelievable variety, often outside the expected and norm (independent artists). The bad is anyone can add images, so not everything is professional and polished…

Raster/Photo images: Yes
Vector images: Yes
Video: Yes
Audio: Yes
Pay Per Image: Yes (average for “Medium” image $9 each)
Subscription Download: Sort Of

Test Search Results:
1. “Fast Car” = 11,605 results
2. “Medical Consultation” = 18,889 reults

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T09:39:24-07:00September 24th, 2009|Resource/Misc|

Vector Images From ShutterStock.com

Just a quick note. For a specific project I have been searching many of the popular royalty free image sites for some needed vector (eg. Illustrator) art that will be used to develop a custom background. I have been really impressed with the image variety, selection and quality from ShutterStock.com.

Guess in the past I have searched for photo images (eg. raster) and this was first time specifically looking at vector art. Here I searched ‘Background’ with ‘Vector Only’ and came up with 3,185 pages of 25 images each – good stuff!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T10:00:23-07:00August 8th, 2009|Resource/Misc|
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