I am a firm believer that the right image can take your post to a whole new level. It can add a little flare, humor, or the eye-catching stickiness that is crucial in this medium where someone will decide whether to read your post in 2 seconds or less. I have been asked a number of times where I find images for my articles. In this post, I will not only give you a few good tips on where to find them, I will also show you were to go to learn how to make your own. Who wants to learn how to fish?

Finding Relevant Images

Writing a post for me is an incremental process. I figure out the topic first, I come up with the main headings as an outline next, and then I start writing each section. It is not until I am half way through the article that I start thinking about what graphic might be a good match for what I am writing. Once I am done with the article, I have a pretty good picture in my mind of the image I want to attach to the post. I visit the following resources in this order to begin my search.

• iStockPhoto or any other affordable stock photo site. There are a ton out there, but I think iStockPhoto is the best. Most of the time, I can find exactly the image I am looking for and pay $1 for the rights to use it legally.
• Flickr.com. There are millions of images on Flickr.com, many of which have been given a Creative Commons license. This allows you the legal right to use the image as long as you give proper credit to the original source. If you see a link under an image on a blog, it is usually because it is being used under the Creative Commons license. The only reason I don't go to Flickr first is because there are SO many images that it takes longer to find the one that might be best for you.
• Google Image Search. If my first two searches fail (which is rare), I then hit old faithful - Google Image search. Most often, the image I am looking for already exists on some other blog. I don't just rip it off and post it as my own. I usually reach out to the blog owner first and ask if I can repost the image. You'll be surprised how often someone says "sure".

Time To Learn PhotoShop?

Lately, I have been taking a different tactic whenever possible. Instead of paying for images, if I can, I will create my own. All it takes is some practice with PhotoShop (or...(keep reading)), an occasional digital camera, and a few minutes to go through a couple tutorials. My good friend Bryan over at GrandMasterB has made a name for himself by providing some amazing PhotoShop tutorials. Take one look at his site and you'll know he is a very talented graphic artist. He has a whole section of his blog that is dedicated to PhotoShop tutorials that teach you how to create awesome RSS logos, eye catching banners, and killer text images. Spend some time reading Bryan's tutorials and I guarantee...you will quickly realize that when you have a vision for an image in your head, you don't have to search hours to find it. You can probably just create it yourself.

Bryan is also one of the nicest guys I have met in my blogging lifetime. If you aren't sure about how to use that Pen tool, or need any other help with PhotoShop, just shoot him a quick note. I'm sure he'd be happy to help however he can.

But I Don't Want to Pay for PhotoShop

Guess what...neither do I! In fact, I don't use PhotoShop at all. I can honestly say that GIMP has become my favorite program of all time. It is a FREE Open Source alternative to PhotoShop. Anything you can do with PhotoShop, you can do with GIMP. You can even follow tutorials that were written specifically for PhotoShop and accomplish the exact same results very easily with GIMP. Check it out. It takes a little practice, but it will be worth it. Pretty soon you'll be PhotoShopping (or Gimping) anything you can get your hands on. :)

Jeff