Ultimate Guide to Finding & Getting Images for Your Blog : A Tutorial

Images. They're the heart of presenting information, and are vital in a blog. But how do you find these great images? Especially if you aren't a great photographer or graphic designer yourself, or if you don't know how to take a screenshot? But hey! It looks like you're in luck, fellow blogger! ^.^ In this guide, you will learn screenshot tips and even some neat free clipart to add that "extra pizazz" to your photos!

Screenshots

Screenshots are little snaps of the screen, which are extremely helpful when posting new items on Animal Jam, or even a blogging tutorial where the viewer would need to look at an area on your screen.

If you don't know how to take a screenshot, then here's how!

iPhone/Apple Mobile Device

Press the Home button (the button that is shaped like a circle at the very bottom of your phone or mobile device) and the power button (button at the top that you use to turn your phone on and off) at the same time. The snapshot will appear in your Photos, and you can crop, add effects and share your picture.

PC

Press the PrtScn button on your keyboard. Note that some computers don't use this command, so check the manual that came with your computer.

Mac

Use the command: Command - Shift - 4 to take a selected area from your screen and capture it. The screenshot will appear on your desktop. You can crop and edit it later on if you like.


Clipart/Free Images

As you may know, there is that annoying little thing called copyright that stops us from taking whatever we please and claiming it as our own. Of course, it's annoying when it isn't your work. Imagine that you spent days, maybe even months or years on a project. It could be an article, book, website page or even a simple piece of clipart or drawing. And then imagine that you were browsing other websites or something, and saw your work there, under someone else's name. How would you feel?

Now, back to free images. Many "free images" aren't simply free, they have laws of copyright over them as well, most likely. Often, you will see freebies on websites and such, that can be used for personal use but not commercial use. Now, remember those two terms--they are very important when browsing the web. Personal use is when you use the font, image, clipart or any other type of "free item" for your own personal uses, like in an image on a non-profit website or something. But if you use it to earn money, redistribute it for profit or claim it as your own that is considered commercial use.

You can find some free backgrounds, sidebar gizmos, social media icons and other freebies on my other website's (The Dancing Panda) freebie page, or look for some awesome freebies on your own! Check out dafont.com for some free fonts (they really rock!) or Pexels, where they post 5 new high quality photos each day!


I hope that this guide was helpful to you!

-Panda