Overview: Open Images

Introduction to Open Images

Comic-style drawing of four people standing outdoors smiling. One is holding a laptop and another a clipboard.

Using open images involves utilizing images that are freely available for use, typically under licenses that allow for reuse, modification, and distribution without the need for explicit permission from the copyright holder. These images are often part of Open Educational Resources (OER) and can be used in various educational and professional contexts.

In the next page, you'll find a listing of repositories to find open images to use in your courses. As you look through the sources on the next page, consider choosing images that are high quality (i.e. not clip art that isn't relevant to the topic or low resolution images) as well as images that highlight the diversity of our students when appropriate for the subject matter.

To find open images, you can check out our list of Open Image Repositories by clicking the button below.

Open Image Repositories

Licensing and Attribution 

Open images are usually licensed under Creative Commons or similar licenses, which specify how the images can be used. The most common licenses include CC BY (attribution required), CC BY-SA (attribution and share alike), and CC0 (no rights reserved). Using the repositories on the next page is a great way to ensure you're using high quality, open images. Using the filter in Google's image search may result in images that are not tagged correctly based on their license.

Even though some images might not require attribution (e.g., CC0), it’s good practice to give credit to the creator. This not only respects the creator’s work but also encourages the sharing of more open content. Below, you'll find some ways that you can provide attributions within a Canvas page.

Attribution Options

Close up of a photographer holding a camera. The lens is in focus and everything else is out of focus.
Photographer Photo by Justin Main Links to an external site. on Unsplash Links to an external site.

You have several ways you can add the attribution for your image. Check out the list below, and what we did on this page, for ideas.

    1. End of Page: If there are multiple images (or other types of resources) on the page, you can list all attributions at the bottom. This keeps the page tidy and consolidates all credits in one location.
    2. Within Text Below Image: A simple text link to the image source and license below the image is clear and accessible.
    3. Caption Below the Image: This requires a bit of html, but is great if you want students to potentially interact with the source.

Note: Do not put your attributions in the alt text of the image! The point of alt text is for students using screen readers to understand the content of your image, not as a place to hide attributions. 

Want the HTML for the caption on an image? 

Captioned Image HTML (click to reveal)

HTML for Image Caption

<p style="text-align: center; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; float: right; display: block;"><img src="ADD IMAGE LOCATION" alt="ADD ALT TEXT" /><br /><strong><i>Source: ADD ATTRIBUTION</a></p>

For longer attributions, you may want to opt for the end of page attribution. Or you can use </br> to choose appropriate breaks for the caption to not extend beyond the image.

By leveraging open images, educators and professionals can create more dynamic and inclusive content while adhering to principles of accessibility and affordability.

Click 'Next' to explore Open Image Repositories.

Photographer Photo by Justin Main Links to an external site. on Unsplash Links to an external site.

"Participatory Development of Quality Guidelines for Social Media Research Links to an external site." by STREAMLINE Research Aster de Vries Lentsch  Links to an external site.is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)  Links to an external site.