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It's simple: they're images that are freely available for use, for commercial and private purposes. You don't have to worry about infringing on copyrights, attributing the source, asking for permission, or being charged for using the photos.

Some photos don't follow those rules exactly, but most do, and any caveats are explained below or on the website offering the pictures.

Pexels offers hundreds of thousands of royalty-free images licensed under the Creative Common Zero license, which means the images are free for use on personal and commercial projects, blogs, websites, apps, and elsewhere.

Search by keyword or browse by collection, color, and more, including popular searches to see what people are downloading.

Unsplash is another great place to get some of the best public domain images. You can search for images, browse categories like nature or travel, and easily find trending searches to see what other people are downloading.

We also like how you can view photos by topic. Current Events is an interesting image set, but there's also one for textures, 3D renders, health & wellness, interiors, and a lot more.

Tens of thousands of additional public domain images are available through Kaboompics. You can browse through them by color, keyword, orientation, or category.

Some of the categories that separate these photos include interior, lifestyle, technology, people, urban, things, and home decor.

As you look through these pictures, you can use the download button to quickly grab them, or you can visit the photo's download page to get the original sized photo, a medium sized one, or a version with the width you choose.

There are also photoshoots listed here, which provide a series of similar images that would work great in a project that needs a consistent theme.

Pixabay is home to more than two million royalty-free photos, illustrations, vector graphics, and even videos, music, and sound effects. The photos are stunning, high-resolution images that are free to use on any personal or commercial project. No attribution is necessary.

Explore helps you find the most popular images on the site, and can also point you in the direction of the Editor's Choice page to kick-start your creativity, and curated collections (e.g., lifestyle, wild animals, people from around the world, celebrating women).

Public Domain Pictures has thousands of gorgeous photos and drawings. All images can be downloaded free but there's also a Premium Download option if you want a larger version (they're very reasonably priced).

Although all the photos are in the public domain, you'll occasionally see a note about a special use condition. For example, if a person or paid model appears in the photo, the condition may be that you can't use it in any way that depicts that person in a bad light or in a manner that the person might find offensive.

Wikimedia Commons is a gigantic repository of more than 80 million free media files, including public domain images and other content available in a wide variety of languages.

If the site has a downside, it has to be its vast size. If you're not sure where to start, take their recommendation and visit Featured Pictures, Quality Images, or Valued Images. 

Morguefile is a high-quality source for public domain images you can use for commercial or personal purposes. The site tends to attract high-res photo submissions and has hundreds of thousands of free stock photos on file.

Remember these things while using Morguefile (according to their license):

•Any of the free photos can be used for commercial purposes

•You can make alterations to the images

The New York Public Library has organized a huge collection of amazing public domain images and made them all available to the public. This collection of nearly 1 million items includes illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs, and more.

To get started, type something into the search box and then select the box next to Search only public domain materials. Or, browse the items featured on the home page, which include recently digitized items, updated collections, and various other categories such as fashion, nature, and maps.