Academic Media Studio
Working with Images
Finding and using images on the web
February 2008
Do I need permission to use an
image?
Unless you created the image
yourself, you should consider the
question of copyright. Ask your
professor or a librarian about
copyright and the “fair use” concept.
If a work was created after 1923
and thus is not in the “public
domain,” you might be safest to seek
permission from the owner (publisher
or website owner).
locating images:
• From your own work (a photograph, a drawing, etc.)
• Free online images (or purchased images)
a. http://www.picfindr.com
b. http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images
c. Free Clipart http://www.wpclipart.com
d. Historic archives such as NYPL Picture Collection Online
http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/
• Scan an image from a book or magazine
PPI (pixels per inch) refers to screen resolution
DPI (dots per inch) refers to print resolution.
Tutorials: Try—http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/scanning/
Scanning_ Software_Tips_and_Help.htm
choosing the image format:
Resources on copyright:
• “Copyright Basics” http://
www.copyright.com/ccc/viewPage.
do?pageCode=cr10-n
• An interactive brief on
Copyright: http://www.cyberbee.
com/cb_copyright.swf
• For good advice on citation style
see http://www.umich.edu/~ece/
resources/citations.html

n.b. There are images in some typefaces.
jpeg (.jpg) The Joint Photographic Experts Group format is
good for smooth color transitions: use for photographs. Because
the compression is “lossy”, select no less than 50% compression (or
“medium” quality).
gif (.gif ) Graphics Interchange Format has “lossless”
compression, but only 256 colors (maximum). Thus it isn’t the best
choice for photos (choose the “perceptual palette” if you do use it).
Choose GIF if you want transparency.
png (.png) The Portable Network Graphics format is more
flexible (e.g. it has alpha transparency); but older browsers do not
support it.
vetting the image:
• Resize Images: Use Photoshop Elements or Fireworks; resize
proportionately, save your new image as a jpg or gif.
• Optimize images: High resolution is not necessary or desirable for
web images. Fireworks or Photoshop Elements will do a good job of
reducing the number of pixels for the web.
• Crop images: select the important part of your image.
• Adjust the color, contrast, etc.