Once you understand the importance of pictures in a presentation we often get asked for information about the best source for sourcing pictures. This all depands upon the look and the impact that you want to create (as well of course of your budget)

We have compiled some of the best sources of pictures for your presentation.

Corporate Presentations: Money no object

Image price – up to £70 ($130) per image

If you want to create the best possible look and feel for your presentation then you can’t go too far wrong with Getty Images (www.gettyimages.com) They provide a comprehensive set of very high quality pictures. Most of the main suppliers are listed on thier site. We recommend for presentation use that you only use the royalty free pictures – this is what we use in our commercial work. The rights free images have silly price tags and are only suitable for high end advertising. We use this library for most of our high end corporate work.

Budget Images Image Price 50p -£1 ($1 -$2) per image.

It is hard to fault the pricing of iStockPhoto (www.istockphoto.com) It is the lowest priced source of royalty free pictures. Many of them are high quality and are taken by enthusiasts. The high resolution versions are particularly good value for money. I liken it to an amateur picture exchange. The only main drawback is that their business photos are poor and the pictures with reasonable human emotions are very limited. If you are looking for a photo of an inanimate object, though, it is hard to beat.

Free Images Image price – Free (but watch the copyright)

If you are looking for a free picture then the obvious source is Google Images. It is on the image tab of the main Google page. Just type in the keyword and there is a fair chance that you can find what you are looking for. Please note that all images are subject to copyright and you must obtain the permission of the copyright holder. If you feel like skipping this then please be careful as many of the images have hidden digital watermarks and you could easily be caught out.

We find that if you ask the webmaster of the sight for permission to use the image then you get permission about 50% of the time (the other 50% you just get ignored).