Free, Copyright-Safe Images and Clip Art for School Projects
22 free places to find pictures for reports, slideshows and posters, with each license explained in plain English, whether you need an account, and who the site is safe for. Every link was checked on October 2, 2026. There’s also a printable “Can I use this image?” flowchart for students and a guide to giving credit.
- No ads, no sign-up. Nothing to buy on this page.
- Every link checked October 2, 2026
- Replaces WPClipart and the Discovery Education Clip Art Gallery
Why this page exists. For years, school library guides sent students to WPClipart and the Discovery Education Clip Art Gallery. Both are gone. On October 2, 2026, wpclipart.com returned a Cloudflare 522 error (the server behind it doesn’t answer) and the Discovery Education gallery redirected to the company’s homepage. Many “copyright-free images” guides still link to them.
This is a maintained replacement. We read each site’s own license page, wrote down what it lets a student do, and re-run a link check every quarter. If a source dies or changes its terms, we update the entry and the date. Need pictures right now? We also drew a free classroom clip-art set you can use with credit.
What “copyright-safe” means for a school project
Almost every picture online belongs to someone. “Free to download” doesn’t mean free to use. An image is safe for a project when its owner has said, in a license, that you can use it. Four kinds come up again and again:
| Label you’ll see | What it means | Credit? |
|---|---|---|
| Public domain, CC0, “no known copyright” | No copyright, or the owner gave it up. Use it any way you like. Includes most work by U.S. federal employees (NASA, for example). | Not required |
| CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND | Creative Commons licenses. You can use the image if you follow the letters: BY means credit, SA share alike, NC no selling, ND no changes. | Required |
| A site’s own license (Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels) | Free use on that site’s terms. School projects are fine on all three; selling unchanged copies isn’t. | Not required, appreciated |
| “Free for education” or “classroom license” | Allowed in school work, usually with limits (ClipArt ETC allows up to 50 images per project). | Usually requested |
What about fair use? U.S. copyright law allows some uses without permission, and a class report may qualify. Fair use is decided case by case, though, and it gets shakier once a project goes online or into a contest. A licensed image avoids the question. The U.S. Copyright Office fair use index explains how courts weigh it.
This page is general information for U.S. schools, not legal advice. Sources: Creative Commons, About CC licenses; CC0; 17 U.S.C. § 105 on U.S. government works; USA.gov on federal materials.
The 22 sources, checked October 2, 2026
Each entry says what the site has, its license in its own terms, what that means for a student, whether you need an account, and anything a teacher should know about safety. Filter by type, or show only sites with no sign-up or no credit requirement.
Clip art and drawings
Drawings and cartoons, the closest match to what WPClipart and the Discovery Education gallery offered.
71,526 black-and-white educational drawings: animals, maps, science, history, holidays. Run by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida.
In plain English: Students and teachers can use up to 50 images in one school project (report, slideshow, poster, class website). Not for anything sold. "Clipart courtesy FCIT" is enough. On a website, link back to etc.usf.edu/clipart.
Kid safety: Curated for classrooms, with no ads or pop-ups. Some historic captions keep the wording of the old books they came from.
About 186,000 cartoon and line-art drawings as SVG and PNG, uploaded by volunteers.
In plain English: Use, change and print any image for any purpose. No permission and no credit needed. Not required. Writing "Openclipart" as the source is good practice.
Kid safety: Open uploads. Each drawing's page shows a "Safe for Work?" flag, and a few say No. The site was up and downloads worked on our check, but it was slow and timed out several times.
70,000+ vector drawings (SVG, EPS, AI).
In plain English: Every free image is CC0: use and change it without credit. Not required.
Kid safety: User uploads with no stated moderation policy. The homepage also shows paid Adobe Stock images; those are not free. Its site blocks automated checkers, so we read its About page from an archive copy dated September 24, 2026.
Bright cartoon clip art by one illustrator: school subjects, U.S. states, holidays, people.
In plain English: Free for school projects, worksheets and school websites. Give credit, don't change the pictures, and don't use them in anything sold. Credit Phillip Martin.
Kid safety: Drawn for children and their teachers. The secure https address gives a certificate warning, so use the http link. The terms page was last updated in 2017.
30,000+ photos and illustrations donated for education, run by Tech4Learning with Orange County Public Schools.
In plain English: Use the images in school projects, contests, web pages and videos. Not for commercial products. Each image page has a citation to copy.
Kid safety: Curated for schools: donated photos are approved before they appear.
Free photo sites
Big, modern photo libraries. Read the age line: all three set rules for users under 13.
Photos, illustrations, vectors and video.
In plain English: Use and edit images for free with no credit. Don't sell unchanged copies, use them as a logo, or use pictures of real people in a misleading way. Not required; credit is "always appreciated." Account needed for full-resolution downloads only.
Kid safety: Has a SafeSearch filter. Its terms say children under 13 need a parent's or another authorized adult's permission to use the site.
High-quality photos. Results mix in paid "Unsplash+" photos, which are marked.
In plain English: Free photos can go in school projects with no permission or credit. Skip anything marked Unsplash+. Not required; attribution "is appreciated."
Kid safety: General photo site. Its terms say it's designed for people 13 and older.
Free stock photos and videos.
In plain English: Use and edit photos free with no credit. Don't show identifiable people in a bad light or sell unchanged copies. Not required.
Kid safety: General photo site. Its terms say children under 13 need a parent's or guardian's permission.
Search tools for openly licensed images
One search across many collections. Licenses differ from image to image.
One search box across 800+ million openly licensed images from museums, Flickr, Wikimedia and more. Successor to CC Search.
In plain English: Most results are fine for school if you follow the license shown on each image. It writes the credit line for you. Use the credit Openverse generates, then check it on the original page; Openverse says it doesn't verify licenses.
Kid safety: Hides sensitive results unless the user opts in, and blurs them when shown.
148 million free photos, diagrams, maps, flags and historic images. Wikipedia's image library.
In plain English: Almost every file is reusable if you follow its license, which usually means naming the author and the license. Click "Use this file" on the file page to copy a ready-made credit.
Kid safety: Not filtered. Its policy says "Commons is not censored," so searches can show nudity or medical images. Better for older students or with an adult.
History, art and museum collections
Public domain artwork, maps and historic photos, straight from libraries and museums.
100+ themed sets of copyright-free historic photos, posters, maps and drawings.
In plain English: Anything in the Free to Use sets can go in a school project. Other loc.gov items need their own rights check. For example: "Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division."
Kid safety: Curated sets. The Library notes that historic items can contain offensive language or stereotypes of their time.
180,000+ public domain prints, photos, maps and manuscripts from the New York Public Library.
In plain English: Items marked public domain need no permission and have no restrictions. Tick "Search only public domain." Not required for public domain items.
Kid safety: The library warns that some collection items "may be harmful or difficult to view."
Millions of images and 3D models from Smithsonian museums: animals, inventions, art, space.
In plain English: Open Access items can be used for any purpose without asking. Other Smithsonian images are not covered. Not required; basic credit to the museum is helpful.
Kid safety: Museum collections.
492,000+ images of public-domain artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In plain English: Any image with the "OA" icon is free for any use, with no permission or credit needed. Not required.
Kid safety: Fine art, which includes some classical nudes.
50,000+ public domain artwork images.
In plain English: If an artwork page has a download button, the image is CC0 and free to use. No button means it isn't. The museum asks for: Artist. Title, Date. The Art Institute of Chicago.
Kid safety: Fine art, which includes some classical nudes.
60,000+ free artwork images, downloaded from each object page.
In plain English: The Gallery says these images are free "for any use, whether commercial or non-commercial." Name the artist, title and National Gallery of Art.
Kid safety: Fine art, which includes some classical nudes.
Engravings and line drawings scanned from old books.
In plain English: Download and use as many as you like. The site says its public domain labels are its best judgment, not a guarantee. Not required for the pictures.
Kid safety: The site warns some old illustrations may be offensive or disturbing.
Science and government
Work made by U.S. federal employees is not protected by copyright.
Space, Earth, rocket and aviation photos and video.
In plain English: Use NASA images in school projects and websites without asking. Don't use the NASA logo or suggest NASA endorses your work. NASA asks to be acknowledged as the source: "Image: NASA."
Kid safety: Agency-curated. A few images on NASA sites belong to other people and are marked; those need permission.
Public health photos and illustrations: microbes, lab work, health habits.
In plain English: Images marked Public Domain need no permission. Check each one; some are marked Copyright Protected. Use the photo credit shown with each image.
Kid safety: Its homepage warns the library "includes subject matter that might be unsuitable for children."
For teachers (age limits in the terms)
Useful collections whose terms set a minimum age of 16 or 18, so a teacher or librarian should do the downloading.
Historic photos from libraries, archives and museums around the world.
In plain English: Generally reusable, but each institution makes its own call and gives no guarantee. Credit the institution that posted it.
Kid safety: Flickr's terms say the site is for people 18 and older.
Animal, plant and insect illustrations from old natural history books.
In plain English: Illustrations from public domain books are free to reuse. Check the item record for anything newer. "Image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library."
Kid safety: Scientific drawings, but hosted on Flickr, whose terms are 18+.
Millions of simple black icons.
In plain English: Free icons need a credit to the icon's creator. A paid plan removes that. For example: "Book by Jane Doe from Noun Project, CC BY 3.0."
Kid safety: Its terms say users under 16 may not use the site, and 16-17 year olds need a parent's approval.
Age rules on photo and icon sites
Several popular image sites set age limits in their terms of service. That doesn’t change what you may do with an image, but it does decide who should be on the site. If your students are younger than the limit, a teacher can download the images, or students can use a site with no age rule.
| Site | What its terms say |
|---|---|
| Pixabay | Children under 13 need a parent, guardian or another authorized adult to approve their use. |
| Pexels | Children under 13 need a parent’s or guardian’s authorization. |
| Unsplash | Designed for people at least 13 years old. |
| The Noun Project | Users under 16 may not use the service. Users 16-17 need a parent’s or guardian’s approval. |
| Flickr (Flickr Commons, Biodiversity Heritage Library) | Not intended for anyone under 18. |
No age rule found for ClipArt ETC, Openclipart, Pics4Learning, Openverse, Wikimedia Commons or the library and museum collections. Wikimedia Commons isn’t filtered for kids, though. For a kid-safe image search, Kiddle uses Google Safe Search, but it doesn’t license anything: every result still needs a license check.
Can I use this image? A flowchart for students
Five questions, top to bottom. A student who stops at the first “yes” knows what to do with the image. Print it for the library wall or the computer lab, or hand it out before a research project. It fits one letter page.
Can I use this image?
Creative Commons letters
How to give credit: TASL
Title · Author · Source (where you found it, with a link if it’s digital) · License
Example: “Red Fox” by Jane Smith, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
This chart covers U.S. school projects and is general information, not legal advice. When in doubt, ask your teacher or school librarian. Free to print and share. Checked October 2, 2026.
How to give credit for an image
Creative Commons recommends four parts for a credit line, easy to remember as TASL. Put the credit under the image, on the slide, or in a “Image credits” list at the end of a report.
Here’s what that looks like for different kinds of images. The names below are made up; copy the pattern, not the details.
Creative Commons image (Wikimedia Commons, Openverse): "Red Fox in Snow" by Jane Smith, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Public domain or CC0 (Openclipart, The Met): credit is optional. "Sailboat" from Openclipart (public domain)
U.S. government: Image: NASA is what NASA asks for.
Free photo site (Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels): Photo by Alex Rivera on Unsplash
ClipArt ETC: Clipart courtesy FCIT
Art Institute of Chicago: the museum’s own format is Artist. Title, Date. The Art Institute of Chicago.
Wikimedia Commons has a “Use this file” button on every file page that writes the credit for you, and Openverse does the same. If your teacher wants MLA or APA style, add the image to the works cited list as well; the credit line under the picture still helps. Source: Creative Commons, Recommended practices for attribution.
Replacements for dead clip-art links
If your guide links any of these, here is what happens to a student who clicks today and where to send them instead. Checked October 2, 2026.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
| Old link | What happens now | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
WPCliparthttps://www.wpclipart.com/ | Offline: every address returns a Cloudflare 522 error (the server doesn't answer). | ClipArt ETC, Openclipart, Public Domain Vectors |
Discovery Education Clip Art Galleryhttps://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/ | Redirects to the Discovery Education homepage. The gallery is gone. | ClipArt ETC, Phillip Martin Clip Art, Pics4Learning |
USA.gov graphicshttps://www.usa.gov/graphics | Page not found (404). USA.gov's copyright page now points to the Library of Congress. | Library of Congress: Free to Use and Reuse, NASA Image and Video Library |
DK Clip Arthttp://clipart.dk.co.uk/ | The address no longer exists. | ClipArt ETC, Openclipart |
Graphic Maps clip arthttp://www.graphicmaps.com/clipart.htm | Redirects to a WorldAtlas page that returns 404. | ClipArt ETC, Wikimedia Commons |
Openclipart "most popular" pagehttps://openclipart.org/most-popular | Redirects to the Openclipart homepage. The site itself still works. | Openclipart |
USFWS National Digital Libraryhttps://digitalmedia.fws.gov/ | Redirects to a general fws.gov image search with no license statement. | Smithsonian Open Access, Openverse |
NOAA Photo Libraryhttps://photolib.noaa.gov/ | Redirects into noaa.gov's digital library. We couldn't confirm its reuse terms. | NASA Image and Video Library, Smithsonian Open Access |
One-page handout: where to find images
The whole list on one page, with license, credit, sign-up and audience at a glance. Good next to the library computers.
Free image sources for school projects
| Source | License | Credit | Sign-up | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clip art and drawings | ||||
| ClipArt ETC etc.usf.edu | Free Classroom License | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| Openclipart openclipart.org | CC0 (public domain) | No credit needed | No sign-up | Students |
| Public Domain Vectors publicdomainvectors.org | CC0 (public domain) | No credit needed | Sign-up: not confirmed | Older students |
| Phillip Martin Clip Art phillipmartin.info | CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 | Credit required | No sign-up | Students |
| Pics4Learning pics4learning.com | Pics4Learning image use policy | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| Free photo sites | ||||
| Pixabay pixabay.com | Pixabay Content License | No credit needed | Sign-up for full size | Older students |
| Unsplash unsplash.com | Unsplash License | No credit needed | No sign-up | Older students |
| Pexels pexels.com | Pexels License | No credit needed | No sign-up | Older students |
| Search tools for openly licensed images | ||||
| Openverse openverse.org | Varies per image (CC licenses and public domain) | Credit varies by image | No sign-up | Students |
| Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org | Varies per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA) | Credit varies by image | No sign-up | Older students |
| History, art and museum collections | ||||
| Library of Congress: Free to Use and Reuse loc.gov | Public domain or no known restrictions | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| NYPL Digital Collections digitalcollections.nypl.org | Public domain (for items marked so) | No credit needed | No sign-up | Students |
| Smithsonian Open Access si.edu | CC0 (for items marked Open Access) | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| The Met Open Access metmuseum.org | CC0 (images with the OA icon) | No credit needed | No sign-up | Students |
| Art Institute of Chicago artic.edu | CC0 (images with a download button) | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| National Gallery of Art nga.gov | Open access (free for any use) | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| Old Book Illustrations oldbookillustrations.com | Believed public domain | No credit needed | No sign-up | Students |
| Science and government | ||||
| NASA Image and Video Library images.nasa.gov | U.S. government work (generally not copyrighted) | Credit requested | No sign-up | Students |
| CDC Public Health Image Library wwwn.cdc.gov | Mostly public domain (marked per image) | Credit requested | No sign-up | Teachers |
| For teachers (age limits in the terms) | ||||
| Flickr Commons flickr.com | No known copyright restrictions | Credit requested | No sign-up | Teachers |
| Biodiversity Heritage Library on Flickr flickr.com | Public domain (most); some CC BY-NC-SA | Credit requested | No sign-up | Teachers |
| The Noun Project thenounproject.com | CC BY 3.0 (free icons) | Credit required | Sign-up: not confirmed | Teachers |
Always check the license on the image’s own page, and give credit with Title, Author, Source, License. “Older students” and “Teachers” mean the site’s own terms set an age limit or its search isn’t filtered. Free to print and share.
What we left out
- SVG Repo. Licenses differ from one icon to the next, it includes brand logos, and its site blocked our checker, so we couldn't confirm its current terms.
- Classroom Clipart. Runs ads, and the free images are watermarked and size-limited unless you pay $24.95 to $99 a year. We found no public license page.
- Kiddle. A kid-safe search engine powered by Google Safe Search. It's good for finding images safely, but it doesn't license anything: every result still needs its own license check.
- Google Images, Pinterest, Canva. Search results and pins are not licenses, and Canva needs an account.
We don’t make or sell clip art on this page, and none of these sites paid to be listed. Clean Cut SVG makes free cut files for craft machines; this list grew out of the library makerspace guides we work with.
Cite or link this page
No ads, no sign-up, nothing to buy. Link to this page from your copyright guide or LibGuide, and print the flowchart and handout for your school. We re-check every link each quarter and change the date when we do.
APA: Clean Cut SVG. (2026, October 2). Free, copyright-safe images and clip art for school projects. https://cleancutsvg.com/free-clip-art-for-school-projects/
MLA: “Free, Copyright-Safe Images and Clip Art for School Projects.” Clean Cut SVG, 2 Oct. 2026, cleancutsvg.com/free-clip-art-for-school-projects/.
Know a source that should be here, or found a link that broke? Email hello@cleancutsvg.com. Licenses are summarized from each site’s own pages on October 2, 2026; the site’s own license always wins.
Want clip art you can use right away?
We drew a free classroom clip-art set: 120 images for science, math, social studies, seasons, sports, food, transportation, community helpers and page borders, each as an SVG and a PNG, licensed CC BY 4.0.
Making things with a cutting machine?
Our free library makerspace pack has beginner cut files that libraries and schools may copy and share, and the Cricut makerspace guide covers settings for every machine.