Finding & Using Images Online

You are working on an assignment for a class. You find a picture that's perfect for your presentation and copy and paste it into your slideshow. You're all set because you found it on the web, right? Wrong! You need to create a citation for that image just as you would for a journal article. Determining whether or not (and how) you can use an image can be difficult, and this guide can help. Take a look at this guide's explanations of four key terms: copyright, fair use, creative commons, and public domain. A basic understanding of these terms will help you figure out if and how you can use an image.

Basic Tips

• Be sure to follow licensing guidelines. Simply attributing an image to an artist may not be enough.
• Never list the search engine as the creator of the image. Google Images is not the creator of images found using its search engine.
• Pay attention to image sizes. It is much easier to make a large image small than it is to make a small image large.
• Provide both a citation and an attribution for your images. Here are some sample citations and attributions for the image found on this page. Attributions should be placed under your image.
  • APA style citation: 
    • Cooper, F. G. (1917). Food--don't waste it [Lithograph]. Library of Congress, Washington, DC, United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002708936/
  • APA style attribution:
    • Note. From Food--don't waste it [Lithograph], F. G. Cooper, 1917, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2002708936/).
  • MLA style citation:
    • Cooper, Frederic G. Food--Don't Waste It. 1917. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2002708936/.
  • MLA style attribution:
    • Fig. 1. Frederic G. Cooper, Food--Don't Waste It, 1917.