# How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print
> Name the image, its author, where it came from and its licence with a link, and say if you changed it, for example: “Lake Louise at sunrise” by Jane Doe (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY 4.0, cropped. Put it next to the image (a caption or overlay), or on a credits page or slide that readers can find. Image Asset Server writes this line for every image that needs one.
Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. The credit line a CC BY image needs (title, author, source, licence, changes) and where to put it on a web page, a slide, a social post or in print.
## What CC BY asks for
CC BY lets you copy, edit and use an image for anything, commercial use included, on one condition: credit. The licence asks for the creator's name, a copyright notice if there is one, a link to the licence, a link to the source, and an indication if you changed the image.
## A good credit line
> “Lake Louise at sunrise” by Jane Doe (Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:…), CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), cropped.
Shorter forms work where space is tight, as long as the links are reachable: *Photo: Jane Doe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0*, linked to the file page.
## On a web page
The most natural place is a caption:
```html
Lake Louise at sunrise by Jane Doe, CC BY 4.0
```
The [image set builder](https://image.shep.bot/build) writes exactly this in `credits.html` for every pick.
## Icons
Most open-source icon sets use MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC or the SIL Open Font License. They don't ask for a visible credit next to each icon: keep the set's licence notice with your app's or site's third-party notices. A few icon sets are CC BY and do need a visible credit.
## Step by step
1. **Collect the facts when you download.** Note the image's title, the author's name, the URL of its page and the exact licence with its version. The attribution field, credits.json and ATTRIBUTION.md contain all four.
2. **Write one line per image.** Use the TASL pattern: Title, Author, Source, Licence. Link the source page and the licence, and add a word about changes such as 'cropped', 'colour-adjusted' or 'background removed'.
3. **Put the credit where readers look.** On a web page, in a or a small line under the image. In slides, on the slide or a final credits slide. On social posts, in the caption. In print, next to the image or in a picture-credits section.
4. **Keep the record.** Store the credit lines with the project. If a client or a rights holder asks where a picture came from, you can answer in a minute.
## Questions
**Do I have to credit CC0 or public-domain images?**
No. A short credit such as 'Image: The Met (CC0)' is a courtesy many publishers include anyway, and it helps readers find the original.
**Can I put all the credits on one page?**
Yes. CC BY allows any reasonable manner based on the medium. A credits page linked from every page that uses the images is common on websites.
**What if the author's real name isn't given?**
Use the name or username they publish under. CC BY asks you to credit the creator in the way they requested, if they did.
**Is a credit enough for CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC images?**
No. A credit satisfies CC BY. Share-alike adds the obligation to license an edited version the same way, and non-commercial forbids commercial use whatever you credit.
## Try it
- [CC BY photos with ready credit lines](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=lighthouse&providers=wikimediacommons&commercial=true)
- [NASA images (credit NASA)](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=saturn&providers=nasa)
## Collections
- [Free 4K nature photos: mountains, lakes, coasts](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-4k-nature-photos.md): Free high-resolution nature photos, at least 4K on the short side: mountains, lakes, coasts and forests, with the licence and credit line on every image.
- [Vintage maps: free antique maps and atlases](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-maps.md): Free antique and vintage maps from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons: city plans, world maps and charts, with the rights statement for each.
- [Hubble and Webb space images: galaxies, nebulae](https://image.shep.bot/collections/hubble-space-images.md): Free Hubble and Webb telescope images of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters from NASA, at full resolution, with NASA's credit and usage rules shown.
## Related guides
- [Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use.md): Which free image licences allow commercial use (CC0, public domain, CC BY, free stock licences), which don't, and what still needs a release.
- [Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules.md): NASA images are free to use with credit, but the NASA logo, endorsements and astronauts in ads have rules. What's allowed, what isn't, and partner images.
- [Let an AI agent find and license images for your project](https://image.shep.bot/guides/ai-agent-find-and-license-images.md): Connect Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP client to Image Asset Server so your agent finds free images, checks the licence and writes the credits.
- [Museum open access: free public-domain art you can reuse](https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art.md): How museums release public-domain art as CC0, which collections Image Asset Server searches (the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland), and how to use them.
## Sources
- [CC BY 4.0 legal code, section 3(a): attribution](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.en#s3a)
- [Creative Commons: recommended practices for attribution](https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Recommended_practices_for_attribution)
- [Wikimedia Commons: reusing content outside Wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reusing_content_outside_Wikimedia)
This guide is practical information, not legal advice.
---
Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images
