# Image Asset Server: guide for AI agents > You are reading the agent guide for https://image.shep.bot. This service searches free image sites at once (NASA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Iconify and Openverse directly, plus deep links into Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Flickr, the Smithsonian, Europeana and paid libraries such as Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and Getty Images) and returns photos, public-domain art, maps and posters, illustrations, SVG vectors and icons with a thumbnail, a display-size preview, pixel size, orientation and transparency where known, and a licence verdict on commercial use. It is a free, non-commercial service and needs no account or API key. It never proxies or re-hosts images: thumbnails, previews, display URLs and downloads point at the sources. ## When to use this Reach for Image Asset Server when the job is one of these: - **Find an image for a site, app, deck or document**: "misty forest at sunrise", "baker kneading dough", "saturn rings", "van gogh sunflowers", "vintage map of paris", "paper texture". One call searches every source. - **Find icons and vectors**: "rocket icon", "upload icon svg", "diagram of the heart svg". Icons come from about 200 open-source sets through Iconify. - **Match a format**: a wide hero (landscape, at least 1920 px wide), a phone screen (vertical), an avatar (square), a print (high resolution), a cut-out (transparent PNG or SVG). Put it in the query ("4k vertical mountain lake", "coffee cup transparent png") or the filters. - **Fill every image slot of a page at once**: one image per slot in the right shape, kind and width, with alternatives, `images.json`, `credits.html` and a download script (`build_image_set` or `POST /v1/sets`). - **Put files into a project**: the size the project needs (not always the 60 MB original) into `./images`, with `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json`. - **Check a licence before publishing**: every result says whether it can be used commercially, whether it is editorial-only, and gives the credit line when one is needed. ## When not to use it - Generating new images from a prompt: this service finds existing images; it does not create them. - Photos of a specific living person, a brand's logo or a product for an ad: that needs releases from the people and owners involved. - Buying stock: paid libraries are linked, and the purchase happens on their site. - 3D models, HDRIs and PBR textures: use the sister service https://3d.shep.bot. ## Licence rules (follow these) Every result carries `license.verdict`: | verdict | Tell the user | | --- | --- | | `yes` | Commercial use OK, no credit required (CC0, public domain, museum open access). | | `yes-with-credit` | Commercial use OK **with the credit line** in `attribution` (CC BY, NASA media, MIT/Apache icon sets). | | `restricted` | Conditions (share-alike) usually rule out a normal project: read them. | | `clearance-required` | Paid stock, or images that need releases per use. | | `check-terms` | Unclear or unverified (no rights statement, not evaluated, possibly a partner's image): read the terms first. | | `no` | Non-commercial (or no-derivatives) only. | And `license.editorial`: when `true`, identifiable people, insignia or brands appear without releases. Fine for articles, books, education and commentary; **not for ads, packaging or anything implying endorsement**. All NASA images carry it. 1. **Search commercial-safe by default** (`commercial_only=true` on MCP, `commercial=true` on REST). Turn it off only when the user says the project is personal, educational or otherwise non-commercial. 2. **Report the verdict** of every image you suggest or download, in plain words, and say when it is editorial. 3. **Never present a `no`, `check-terms` or editorial image as cleared for advertising**, and never drop the warning when the user only asked for "free" images: free to download is not the same as free to use in an ad. 4. **Pass on credit lines.** When `attribution` is present, give it to the user verbatim and add it to the project (a `
`, `CREDITS.md`, a credits page). Local downloads and image sets collect them in `ATTRIBUTION.md`. 5. CC BY-SA means an edited version must be share-alike; CC BY-ND forbids cropping, retouching or adding text. Say so before you crop. 6. Icon sets: MIT, Apache 2.0 and ISC ask you to keep the set's licence notice with copies you distribute (add it to the project's third-party notices); a few sets are CC BY and need a visible credit. 7. NASA: credit NASA, never use the NASA insignia or logo, never imply NASA endorses the user. Partner-credited NASA images are `check-terms`. 8. Don't re-upload or redistribute images as stock (in a public repo, a pack, a dataset) unless the licence is CC0 or public domain. Verdicts summarise the licence; they are not legal advice. Details: https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md ## Option 1: MCP (best when you can add tools) MCP endpoint (Streamable HTTP, no auth): `https://image.shep.bot/mcp`. Register it as **`images`**. - Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp` - Cursor / Windsurf / VS Code / Codex / Gemini CLI: add an HTTP MCP server named `images` with that URL. Per-client snippets: https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp - Local (stdio, with downloads to disk): `npx -y image-asset-server mcp` Tools: - `search_images(query, categories?, styles?, orientation?, min_resolution?, transparent?, formats?, commercial_only?=true, free_only?, downloadable_only?, strict?, providers?, limit?, offset?)`: results with `id`, `title`, size, orientation, kind, thumbnail, preview, verdict; plus `also_search_on` deep links. - `get_image(id, width?, format?)`: licence, verdict, editorial flag, credit line, every file, a `display` URL that loads in a browser, and `selection.downloadUrl` for the smallest file at least `width` wide. - `build_image_set(slots, width?, orientation?, styles?, commercial_only?=true, alternatives?, name?)`: one pick per slot with alternatives and notes, plus `images.json`, `credits.html`, `download.sh` and `ATTRIBUTION.md`. Locally, `download=true` saves the images and writes the files. - `list_sources()` - `download_image(id, dest_dir?, width?, format?)`: local (stdio) servers only; files go to `./images//` with `ATTRIBUTION.md`. ## Option 2: REST API (works with plain HTTP, curl or a fetch tool) Base URL: `https://image.shep.bot`. Responses are JSON. 1. Search: `GET /v1/search?q=&category=&style=&orientation=&min_resolution=<720|1080|1440|2160>&transparent=true&format=&commercial=true&limit=10` → `query`, `filters` (what was parsed from the words), `results[]` (each has `id`, `title`, `provider`, `url`, `category`, `styles`, `orientation`, `width`, `height`, `vector`, `transparent`, `year`, `thumbnailUrl`, `previewUrl`, `license{id,name,url,verdict,editorial,note,assertedBy,attributionRequired}`, `attribution`, `downloadable`) and `providers[]` (per-source status; `status:"link"` entries carry a `searchUrl` for sites that can't be searched automatically). Query words work too: `q=4k vertical mountain lake`, `q=rocket icon svg`, `q=coffee cup transparent png`. 2. Inspect one result: `GET /v1/images/{id}` (id like `met:436524`, `nasa:PIA03606`, `iconify:mdi:rocket`; URL-encode it) → image + `files[]` (role original/rendition/thumbnail, width, height, format, size) + `display{url,type,width,height}` (loads in a browser, from the source) + `shareUrl`. 3. Download into the project: `curl -L -o images/.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}/download?width=1920"` (302 to the file on the source; `width` picks the smallest file at least that wide, `format=png` prefers a format). `409` means no direct download: send the user to the image's `url`. 4. Credits: `GET /v1/images/{id}/credits` (ATTRIBUTION.md), `?format=json`, `?format=zip` (credits only, no image). 5. Image set: `POST /v1/sets` with `{"slots":["hero: misty forest at sunrise (1920px)","3 icons: upload, share, settings","paper texture background"],"width":1600}` → `{plan, exports}` (`exports` holds `images.json`, `credits.html`, `download.sh`, `ATTRIBUTION.md`, `credits.json` as text). Full OpenAPI 3.1 spec: https://image.shep.bot/openapi.json ## How to do the job well - Describe the picture: "aerial photo of a winding river", "close-up of coffee beans", "line icon of a shopping cart", "hand-coloured botanical plate of a rose". Add `category` to cut noise; a parent like `art` matches all art. - Put the format in: `orientation=landscape` for heroes and slides, `min_resolution=1080` (or 2160 for print and heavy crops), `transparent=true` for cut-outs, `format=svg` or `style=icon` for icons. - Results whose size is unknown are kept but ranked lower; `get_image` / `GET /v1/images/{id}` reads the real facts. Use `strict=true` to drop unknowns. - Download the smallest file that covers the use: `?width=1600` for a web hero, the original for print. Museum originals and TIFFs can be tens of megabytes. - Write alt text that says what the image shows; put the credit in a `
` when one is needed. - To let the user see an image (or share it), link `https://image.shep.bot/search?image=`: it opens the full image with the licence, file sizes and credit line, and unfurls in chat apps with a card. - If a search comes back thin, try simpler words, drop the size or format filters, or pass along the `searchUrl` links of `link` sources (Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay have large modern photo libraries). ## Example User: "Add a hero image of a mountain lake to the landing page; it's for a client." ```bash curl -s "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=mountain+lake&orientation=landscape&min_resolution=1080&commercial=true&downloadable=true&limit=5" # pick a result that is not editorial, check it with: curl -s "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/" mkdir -p public/images curl -L -o public/images/hero.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images//download?width=1920" ``` Then tell the user: " by <author> from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0: commercial use is OK with this credit line: …", put the line in the hero's caption or the site's credits page, and add it to `CREDITS.md`. If every candidate is editorial or non-commercial, say so and offer the Unsplash or Pexels links from `providers[]` instead. ## More - Human docs: https://image.shep.bot/docs - Agent setup: https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp - REST guide: https://image.shep.bot/docs/api - Licences explained: https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences - Sources and licences: https://image.shep.bot/docs/sources - Image set builder: https://image.shep.bot/build.md - FAQ: https://image.shep.bot/docs/faq.md ## Guides to quote when users ask Answer-first guides (each `.md` starts with a short answer you can relay, then sources): - Free images for commercial use: what the licences mean: https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use.md - How to credit CC BY images: https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md - Museum open access: free public-domain art: https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art.md - Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts: https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules.md - Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons.md - Let an AI agent find and license images: https://image.shep.bot/guides/ai-agent-find-and-license-images.md - All guides: https://image.shep.bot/guides.md · Glossary of terms: https://image.shep.bot/glossary.md - How many images each source holds (counted daily): https://image.shep.bot/stats.md, JSON at https://image.shep.bot/v1/catalog - Everything as one text file: https://image.shep.bot/llms-full.txt --- # Image Asset Server quick start **Image Asset Server** searches many free image sites at once and tells you, for every image, whether you can use it commercially. NASA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Iconify and Openverse are searched directly; Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Flickr, the Smithsonian, Europeana and the paid libraries (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Getty Images…) get a deep link with the same search. Results cover photos, public-domain art, maps and posters, illustrations, SVG vectors and icons, with pixel size, orientation and transparency where known, a thumbnail, a display-size preview and a licence verdict. The public server at **https://image.shep.bot** is a free, non-commercial service and needs no account or API key. ## Pick how you want to use it | You want to… | Use | Start here | | --- | --- | --- | | Browse and download images yourself | The web search | [/search](https://image.shep.bot/search) | | Pick every image a page, deck or post needs in one go | The image set builder | [/build](https://image.shep.bot/build) | | Let Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot or another agent find images | The MCP server at `https://image.shep.bot/mcp` | [Coding agents & MCP](https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp) | | Call it from a script, a static-site build or a backend | The REST API | [REST API guide](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api) | | Search and download from a terminal | The CLI (`npx image-asset-server`) | [CLI](https://image.shep.bot/docs/cli) | | Explore every endpoint and try requests | The interactive reference | [API reference](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api/reference) | ## Connect your agent (30 seconds) For **Claude Code**, run this once: ```bash claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp ``` Then ask for what you need: ```text Find a wide photo of a misty forest for our landing page hero that I can use commercially, plus three SVG icons for upload, share and settings. Tell me their licences and the credit lines I need. ``` Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI and the Claude apps take the same URL. See [Coding agents & MCP](https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp) for each one. ## Or call the API ```bash # Landscape mountain photos, at least 1080 px on the short side, cleared for commercial use curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=mountain+lake&orientation=landscape&min_resolution=1080&commercial=true&limit=5" # Details, every file size, the credit line and a display URL for one result curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/nasa%3APIA03606" # Download a 1920 px copy (a redirect to the file on NASA's servers) curl -L -o crab-nebula.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/nasa%3APIA03606/download?width=1920" ``` ## What a search returns Every search returns three things: - **`results`**: images merged from all sources and ranked by how well they match. Each has an `id` like `met:436524`, a `category` (`nature.ocean`, `art.painting`, `archive.map`, `icons`…), `styles` (`photo`, `painting`, `vector`, `icon`, `transparent`…), `orientation`, `width`, `height`, `vector`, `transparent` and `year` when known, a `thumbnailUrl` and a `previewUrl` that load in a browser straight from the source, a `license` with a `verdict` and an `editorial` flag, an `attribution` line when credit is required, and `downloadable`. - **`filters`**: what the server understood. Words like "4k", "high resolution", "vertical", "png", "svg" or "transparent" in the query become filters. - **`providers`**: one status line per source (`ok`, `error`, `timeout`, `skipped` or `link`). Sites that can't be searched automatically come back as `link` with a `searchUrl` that runs the same search on their site. A slow or broken source never fails the search. ## No image passes through the server Image Asset Server never proxies or re-hosts images. It searches the sources, reads their metadata, decides a licence verdict and writes credit files. Every pixel comes straight from the source's servers: - **Thumbnails and previews** in the search grid load from the source (`images-assets.nasa.gov`, `images.metmuseum.org`, `www.artic.edu/iiif`, `upload.wikimedia.org`, `api.iconify.design`…). - **The detail view** shows the source's file (the `display` URL from `GET /v1/images/{id}`). - **Downloads** (`/v1/images/{id}/download`) answer `302` with the file's URL on the source. - **Image sets** (`POST /v1/sets`) return JSON, HTML and a download script whose file URLs point at the sources. So the server stays small and cheap, the sources see real visitors, and nothing is redistributed. ## Licences, in one line each - **Commercial use OK** (`yes`): use it, no credit needed. - **Commercial use OK with credit** (`yes-with-credit`): use it and credit the source with the `attribution` line. - **Restricted**, **Needs a paid licence or releases**, **Unclear** (`restricted`, `clearance-required`, `check-terms`): read the terms first. - **Non-commercial only** (`no`): study and personal projects, not ads or client work. - **Editorial** (`license.editorial: true`): people, insignia or brands without releases. Articles and education yes, advertising no. `commercial=true` keeps only the first two verdicts. The full explanation is in [Image licences explained](https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences). ## For AI agents reading this Machine-readable entry points: - [/AGENTS.md](https://image.shep.bot/AGENTS.md): how to use this service as an agent, including the licence rules - [/llms.txt](https://image.shep.bot/llms.txt) and [/llms-full.txt](https://image.shep.bot/llms-full.txt): site index and full docs as plain text - [/openapi.json](https://image.shep.bot/openapi.json): OpenAPI 3.1 description of the REST API --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs --- # Image Asset Server MCP server for AI agents Image Asset Server is a [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server. Connect it once and your agent can search every image source, check licences, pick the right size and fill every image slot of a page while it works on your site, app, slides or document. **MCP endpoint:** `https://image.shep.bot/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, no authentication). Register it under the name **`images`**. ## Claude Code ```bash claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp ``` Add `--scope user` to make it available in every project, or `--scope project` to share it with your team through `.mcp.json`. Check it with `claude mcp list`, or `/mcp` inside a session. ## Cursor Add this to `.cursor/mcp.json` in your project, or to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for every project (the [home page](https://image.shep.bot/#agents) has a one-click "Add to Cursor" button): ```json { "mcpServers": { "images": { "url": "https://image.shep.bot/mcp" } } } ``` ## VS Code (GitHub Copilot) Add to `.vscode/mcp.json`, then use Copilot Chat in **Agent** mode: ```json { "servers": { "images": { "type": "http", "url": "https://image.shep.bot/mcp" } } } ``` Or from a terminal: `code --add-mcp '{"name":"images","type":"http","url":"https://image.shep.bot/mcp"}'` ## Claude desktop app and claude.ai Open **Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector**, name it *Image Asset Server* and paste `https://image.shep.bot/mcp`. ## Windsurf Add to `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "images": { "serverUrl": "https://image.shep.bot/mcp" } } } ``` ## OpenAI Codex CLI Add to `~/.codex/config.toml`: ```toml [mcp_servers.images] url = "https://image.shep.bot/mcp" ``` ## Gemini CLI ```bash gemini mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp ``` ## Any other client Clients that only support stdio servers can bridge to the HTTP endpoint with [`mcp-remote`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/mcp-remote): ```json { "mcpServers": { "images": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://image.shep.bot/mcp"] } } } ``` ## Tools your agent gets | Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | `search_images` | Search every source. Arguments: `query` (designer words work: "mountain lake at sunrise", "van gogh sunflowers", "rocket icon svg", "coffee cup transparent png", "4k vertical forest"), `categories` (e.g. `nature.ocean`, `animals`, `art.painting`, `art.drawing`, `space.planets`, `archive.map`, `background`, `icons`), `styles` (`photo`, `illustration`, `painting`, `drawing`, `vector`, `icon`, `transparent`, `black-white`), `orientation`, `min_resolution` (720, 1080, 1440, 2160), `transparent`, `formats`, `commercial_only` (default **true**), `free_only`, `downloadable_only`, `strict`, `providers`, `limit`, `offset`. Also returns `also_search_on`: deep links into the image sites that can't be searched automatically. | | `get_image` | Details for one `id`: licence, verdict, editorial flag and credit line, every file (size, format), a `display` URL that loads in a browser straight from the source, and `selection.downloadUrl` for the smallest file at least `width` pixels wide (and `format`). | | `build_image_set` | Turns a list of slots (a list, or text with one slot per line; "(1200px)" sets a width; "3 icons: rocket, shield, chart" makes three slots) into one image per slot matching its orientation, kind and width, commercial-safe by default, with alternatives, plus `images.json`, `credits.html` (`<figure>` snippets with credit captions), `download.sh` and `ATTRIBUTION.md`. | | `list_sources` | Every source with what it is best for, categories, pricing, licence and whether it is searched or linked. | | `download_image` | **Local servers only**: writes the chosen file into `./images/<category>/` and keeps `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json` up to date. | The hosted server never writes to its own disk, so agents with a shell download through the links it returns (the download URL redirects to the file on the source): ```bash mkdir -p images curl -L -o images/hero.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/download?width=1920" ``` ## Licence rules the agent follows Image licences have traps, so the server tells every agent the same rules, and you can expect them to be followed: - Searches are **commercial-safe by default** (`commercial_only=true`). The agent turns that off only when you say the project is personal, educational or non-commercial. - It **reports the verdict** of every image it suggests, and never presents a `no` (non-commercial), `check-terms` (unclear) or **editorial** image as cleared for advertising. - `license.editorial: true` means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: fine for articles, books and education, not for ads or anything that implies endorsement. All NASA images carry it. - When an image needs credit (`yes-with-credit`), it gives you the exact `attribution` line; local downloads and image sets collect them in `ATTRIBUTION.md`. - CC BY-SA images are `restricted` (an edited version must be share-alike), and CC BY-ND forbids cropping or editing. Details: [Image licences explained](https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences). ## Prompts that work well ```text Find a wide, high-resolution photo of a misty forest for our landing page hero. Commercial-safe only, no editorial images. Show me its licence and credit line first. ``` ```text Pick the images for this slide deck: a title slide background of the night sky, Saturn for slide 3, a vintage map of Europe for slide 5, and icons for growth, team and security. Give me credits.html. ``` ```text I'm writing an article about Japanese art. Find public-domain Hokusai and Hiroshige prints, and tell me which museum each one is from. ``` Tips for agents and the people prompting them: - Describe the picture, not the file: "close-up of coffee beans", "aerial photo of a winding river", "line icon of a shopping cart". - Put the format in the words or the filters: "vertical", "4k", "svg", "transparent png". - Results with `downloadable: false` must be fetched from their `url` on the source site. ## Local mode: downloads straight to disk For `download_image` and image-set downloads into your project, run the server locally over stdio: ```bash claude mcp add images-local -- npx -y image-asset-server mcp ``` Or with Docker, mounting your images folder: ```bash claude mcp add images-local -- docker run -i --rm \ --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" -v "$PWD/images:/app/images" \ ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server node dist/cli.js mcp ``` Files land in `./images/<category>/` (set `IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_DIR` to change it), with `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json` next to them. `build_image_set` with `download=true` saves the picks into `./images/sets/<name>/images/` and writes the exports next to them, pointing at the local files. No source needs an API key. ## Agents without MCP Any agent that can fetch URLs can use the REST API directly. Point it at [/AGENTS.md](https://image.shep.bot/AGENTS.md); it has the whole workflow and the licence rules in a few lines. In Claude Code you can also install the ready-made skill: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/images curl -fsSL https://image.shep.bot/skill/SKILL.md -o ~/.claude/skills/images/SKILL.md ``` --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp --- # Image Asset Server REST API guide A small JSON API over HTTPS. No key is needed on `https://image.shep.bot`. Every endpoint is described in the [OpenAPI 3.1 spec](https://image.shep.bot/openapi.json), which you can explore and try in the [interactive reference](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api/reference). **Base URL:** `https://image.shep.bot` ## The flow 1. `GET /v1/search`: find candidates across every source. 2. `GET /v1/images/{id}`: read the licence verdict, credit line, pixel size, every file and the `display` URL of one result. 3. `GET /v1/images/{id}/download?width=1920`: a `302` to the file on the source. Plus `GET /v1/images/{id}/credits` for ATTRIBUTION.md, and `POST /v1/sets` to pick every image a page, deck or post needs in one call. No image passes through this server: thumbnails, previews, `display` URLs and downloads all point at the source's own servers. ## Search ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=mountain+lake&orientation=landscape&min_resolution=1080&commercial=true&limit=10" ``` | Parameter | Description | | --- | --- | | `q` | Free text, written like a designer would: `mountain lake at sunrise`, `van gogh sunflowers`, `rocket icon`. Size (`4k`, `high resolution`, `1080p`), orientation (`vertical`, `16:9`, `square`), format (`svg`, `png`, `jpg`), transparency (`transparent`, `no background`) and kind (`photo`, `watercolor`, `icon`, `black and white`) words become filters. May be empty when `category` is set (browse). | | `category` | Comma-separated dot-path categories. A parent matches its children: `art` matches `art.painting` and `art.drawing`. See the `Category` schema for the full list (nature.ocean, nature.plants, animals, city.skyline, architecture, people.work, food, objects, space.planets, science, art.painting, archive.map, background, icons…). | | `style` | Comma-separated kind and look: `photo`, `illustration`, `painting`, `drawing`, `vector`, `icon`, `transparent`, `black-white`. `vector` and `icon` filter strictly; the others are ranked first and filtered only with `strict=true`, because sources rarely tag them. | | `orientation` | `landscape`, `portrait` or `square` (comma-separated for several). | | `min_resolution` | Minimum short side in pixels: `720`, `1080`, `1440`, `2160` (or `hd`, `fhd`, `large`, `4k`). A 2160×3840 phone wallpaper counts as 2160. Vectors always pass. | | `transparent` | `true`: only images with a transparent background (icons, SVGs, PNG cut-outs). | | `format` | Comma-separated: `jpg`, `png`, `svg`, `webp`, `tif`. | | `commercial` | `true`: only images whose licence allows commercial use (verdict `yes` or `yes-with-credit`). Editorial-only images can still appear: check `license.editorial`. | | `free` | `true`: exclude paid images. | | `downloadable` | `true`: only images with direct file links. | | `strict` | `true`: drop images whose orientation, size or transparency is unknown when you filter on it (by default they are kept, ranked lower). | | `providers` | Comma-separated source ids from `/v1/providers`, e.g. `nasa,met,wikimediacommons`. | | `limit` | Max results, 1–100 (default 24). | | `offset` | Per-source offset for the next page (e.g. `24`). | The response (shortened): ```json { "query": "crab nebula", "filters": { "minResolution": 1080, "commercialOnly": true }, "results": [ { "id": "nasa:PIA03606", "provider": "nasa", "title": "Crab Nebula Mosaic", "url": "https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA03606", "category": "space", "styles": ["photo"], "orientation": "square", "width": 3864, "height": 3864, "year": 2005, "thumbnailUrl": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/PIA03606/PIA03606~small.jpg", "previewUrl": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/PIA03606/PIA03606~medium.jpg", "license": { "id": "LicenseRef-NASA-Media", "name": "NASA media (public domain in the US)", "attributionRequired": true, "editorial": true, "assertedBy": "source", "verdict": "yes-with-credit", "note": "Generally not copyrighted in the US; credit NASA. Do not imply NASA endorses you…" }, "attribution": "“Crab Nebula Mosaic” by NASA/JPL (NASA Image and Video Library), https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA03606, …", "downloadable": true } ], "providers": [ { "provider": "nasa", "name": "NASA Image and Video Library", "status": "ok", "count": 6, "tookMs": 412 }, { "provider": "unsplash", "name": "Unsplash", "status": "link", "count": 0, "searchUrl": "https://unsplash.com/s/photos/crab-nebula" } ] } ``` `thumbnailUrl` and `previewUrl` are meant for `<img>` tags in a browser: they load straight from the source. Icons are SVGs (`vector: true`, `transparent: true`). ## Licence verdicts Every `license` has a `verdict` that answers one question: can this go into something you publish commercially (an ad, a product page, a client website, a printed book)? | `verdict` | Meaning | | --- | --- | | `yes` | Commercial use OK, no credit required (CC0, public domain, museum open access). | | `yes-with-credit` | Commercial use OK with a credit line: use `attribution` (CC BY, NASA media, MIT/Apache icon sets). | | `restricted` | Conditions that usually rule out a normal project (share-alike). | | `clearance-required` | Paid stock, or images that need releases per use. | | `check-terms` | Unclear: no rights statement, not evaluated, or possibly a third party's image. | | `no` | Non-commercial or no-derivatives only. | `license.editorial: true` means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: fine for articles, books and education, not for advertising. `license.assertedBy` says who stated the licence: `source` (the site records it per item), `site` (one licence for the whole site) or `uploader` (an unverified claim; such licences are never better than `check-terms`). More in [Image licences explained](https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences). ## Image details ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/nasa%3APIA03606" ``` Ids contain `:` and sometimes spaces or slashes (Iconify ids look like `iconify:mdi:rocket`): URL-encode them. Returns the image plus: - `files[]`: every file the source offers, each with `url`, `filename`, `format` (`jpg`, `png`, `svg`, `tif`…), `role` (`original`, `rendition`, `thumbnail`), `width`, `height` and `sizeBytes` when known. - `display`: `{ url, type, width, height }`, the file a browser should show in a detail view (a displayable format close to 1280 px wide). It loads from the source. - `shareUrl`: a link that opens the image on the website (`/search?image=<id>`), which unfurls with its own preview card. ## Choose files ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/files?width=1920&format=jpg" ``` The file a download would pick: with `width`, the smallest file at least that wide (a 1920 px copy rather than a 60 MB TIFF), else the biggest below it; an SVG original always fits. `format` prefers a format, `role` a kind of file. Returns `totalBytes`, the licence and the credit line. `all=true` returns every file. ## Download ```bash curl -L -o hero.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/download?width=1920" ``` Always a `302` redirect to the chosen file on the source (so use `-L`), with `X-License` and `X-Attribution` headers. The same `width`, `format` and `role` parameters as `/files` choose the file. Images without direct files answer `409` with the image's `url`. ## Credits ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/credits" # ATTRIBUTION.md curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/credits?format=json" # credits.json curl -o credits.zip "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/credits?format=zip" ``` The zip holds `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json` only, never the image. ## Plan an image set ```bash curl -X POST "https://image.shep.bot/v1/sets" -H "content-type: application/json" \ -d '{"slots":["hero: mountain lake at sunrise (1920px)","3 icons: rocket, shield, chart","botanical illustration of a rose"],"width":1600,"name":"landing"}' ``` `slots` is a list, or text with one slot per line ("(1200px)" at the end sets a slot's width; "3 icons: rocket, shield, chart" makes one slot per item). Optional: `width` (default 1600), `orientation`, `styles` (e.g. `["photo"]`), `commercialOnly` (default `true`), `providers`, `alternatives` (0–5, default 3), `name`. Up to 24 slots. The response is `{ plan, exports }`. `plan.slots[]` has, per slot, `index`, `description`, `width`, `image`, `file` (the file the exports use: the smallest at least as wide as the slot), `alt` (suggested alt text), `alternatives` and a `note` when the pick is smaller, a different shape or editorial. `plan.commercialSafe` is true when every pick is `yes` or `yes-with-credit`. `exports` holds the text of `images.json`, `credits.html`, `download.sh`, `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json`. The [image set builder](https://image.shep.bot/build) is a page on top of this endpoint. ## List sources ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/providers" ``` ## Usage statistics and source health ```bash curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/stats" ``` Aggregate usage (searches by surface, image views, downloads, MCP tool calls, top clients and categories) for the last 24 hours and 7 days, plus each source's success rate and p50/p95 latency. The same data is on the [statistics](https://image.shep.bot/stats) page. `GET /v1/catalog` returns the daily count of what each source holds. ## Examples ### JavaScript / TypeScript ```ts const base = "https://image.shep.bot"; const res = await fetch(`${base}/v1/search?` + new URLSearchParams({ q: "misty forest", orientation: "landscape", min_resolution: "1080", commercial: "true" })); const { results } = await res.json(); const pick = results.find((c) => c.downloadable && !c.license?.editorial); console.log(pick.title, pick.license.verdict, pick.attribution ?? "no credit needed"); // Show it in the page, straight from the source, with its credit as the caption const details = await (await fetch(`${base}/v1/images/${encodeURIComponent(pick.id)}`)).json(); const figure = document.createElement("figure"); figure.append(Object.assign(document.createElement("img"), { src: details.display.url, alt: pick.title })); figure.append(Object.assign(document.createElement("figcaption"), { textContent: pick.attribution ?? pick.title })); document.body.append(figure); ``` ### Python ```python import requests base = "https://image.shep.bot" r = requests.get(f"{base}/v1/search", params={"q": "saturn", "min_resolution": "1080", "commercial": "true"}) image = next(c for c in r.json()["results"] if c["downloadable"]) # The download endpoint redirects to the file on the source; requests follows it. with requests.get(f"{base}/v1/images/{requests.utils.quote(image['id'], safe='')}/download", params={"width": 1920}, stream=True) as dl: dl.raise_for_status() with open("saturn.jpg", "wb") as f: for chunk in dl.iter_content(1 << 20): f.write(chunk) print(image.get("attribution", "no credit needed")) ``` ### A static-site build ```bash # Fetch a 1600 px hero at build time; keep the credit next to it curl -L -o public/hero.jpg "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/download?width=1600" curl -o public/CREDITS.md "https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/<id>/credits" ``` ## Errors Errors are JSON: `{ "error": "message" }`. | Status | Meaning | | --- | --- | | `400` | Bad parameter (e.g. an unknown category or an unreadable `min_resolution`) or unknown source id. | | `401` | API key required (self-hosted servers with `IMAGE_SERVER_API_KEY` only). | | `404` | Unknown image, or no file matches the width/format/role. | | `409` | The source has no direct downloads for this image; use the returned `url`. | | `429` | Rate limit exceeded; wait `Retry-After` seconds. | | `502` | The source site failed. | ## Authentication (self-hosted) The public server is open. If you run your own with `IMAGE_SERVER_API_KEY`, send the key as `Authorization: Bearer <key>` or `x-api-key: <key>`. Keys are accepted in headers only, never as a URL parameter, so they stay out of logs, browser history and `Referer` headers. ## Rate limits and versioning The public server allows 120 requests per minute per client. Every response carries `RateLimit-Policy` and `RateLimit` headers (plus `RateLimit-Limit`, `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset`); going over returns `429` with `Retry-After`. The API is versioned in the path (`/v1`), only grows additively within a version, and announces deprecations with `Deprecation` and `Sunset` headers at least 90 days ahead. Details: [Versioning, deprecation & rate limits](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api/versioning). ## Fair use Cache results on your side for repeated queries, keep requests to a human pace, and respect each image's licence and each source's terms. Don't use the API to mirror a source's catalogue. The server already caches source responses for a few minutes and deduplicates identical in-flight requests. Image Asset Server is a free, non-commercial service and does not re-host or resell images. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/api --- # Image licences explained Every image Image Asset Server returns carries a **licence**, a **verdict** that answers "can this go into something I publish commercially?", and an **editorial** flag when people, insignia or brands appear without releases. This page explains the licences you will meet, how the verdict is decided, and what to do with each. It is practical guidance, not legal advice. "Commercial use" here means anything that earns money or promotes something: an ad, a product page or packaging, a client website, a book or magazine you sell, merchandise, a paid course. ## The verdicts | Verdict | API value | What you can do | | --- | --- | --- | | Commercial use OK | `yes` | Use it anywhere, including ads, products and client work. No credit needed. | | Commercial use OK with credit | `yes-with-credit` | Same, as long as you credit the source with the `attribution` line. | | Restricted: read the conditions | `restricted` | Allowed only under conditions that rule out most projects (share-alike). | | Needs a paid licence or releases | `clearance-required` | Paid stock: license it per use or by subscription before publishing. | | Unclear: check the terms | `check-terms` | Nobody verified the rights, or a third party may own the image. | | Non-commercial only | `no` | Study, teaching and personal projects only. | The **Commercial-safe** switch (`commercial=true` in the API, `commercial_only` in MCP, on by default for agents) keeps only the first two. ## The editorial flag A licence covers the copyright in the picture. It does not cover the **people** in it, the **brands and logos** in it, or an organisation's **insignia**. When those appear without model or property releases, an image is fine for editorial use (articles, books, education, commentary) but not for advertising, packaging or anything that implies endorsement. NASA images always carry the flag: NASA forbids using its insignia and logotype, implying endorsement, or showing identifiable astronauts and staff in ads without permission. ## Licences you will meet ### CC0 and public domain → `yes` No conditions: copy, crop, recolour, print and sell. **Museum open access** belongs here: the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art release photographs of their public-domain works as CC0, and US government works (most NASA images) are not copyrighted in the US. A credit is still good manners. ### CC BY → `yes-with-credit` Use it for anything, with a credit: title, author, source and licence, linked where you can, and a note if you changed it. Put it in a caption, next to the image, or on a credits page readers can find. See [How to credit CC BY images](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images). ### CC BY-SA → `restricted` Share-alike: an adapted version of the image (cropped, recoloured, composited) must be released under the same licence. Showing it unchanged in a larger work is fine with credit, but most commercial designs edit their images, so this is marked restricted. ### CC BY-ND → `no` No derivatives: you may show the image only as it is. Cropping, retouching, adding text on top or compositing it all make a derivative, which is not allowed. Since that rules out most real use, ND is marked non-commercial-only here. ### CC BY-NC (and NC-SA, NC-ND) → `no` Non-commercial use only, whatever you credit. ### Icon-set licences: MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC → `yes-with-credit`; SIL OFL → `yes` Open-source icon sets (through Iconify) use software licences. All allow commercial use and modification. MIT, Apache 2.0 and ISC ask you to keep the copyright and licence notice with copies you distribute: for a website or app, list the set in your third-party notices; no visible credit next to each icon is needed. The SIL Open Font License allows any use but forbids selling the icons on their own. ### NASA media → `yes-with-credit`, editorial Generally not copyrighted in the US; credit NASA as the image does (for example *NASA/JPL-Caltech*). Images credited to partners (ESA, the Canadian Space Agency, universities, companies) may be copyrighted by them and are marked `check-terms`. See [Using NASA images](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules). ### Library rights statements → `yes` or `check-terms` The Library of Congress gives each item a rights statement. *No known restrictions on publication* is shown as `yes` (credit the collection as a courtesy). *Rights status not evaluated* and *Publication may be restricted* are `check-terms`. ### Free stock licences (Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay) → `yes` Free for commercial use, no credit required, but you may not sell the photos unaltered or build a competing service from them. These sites are linked, not searched. ### Paid stock → `clearance-required` Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Getty Images, iStock and Alamy: buy a licence before publishing. ## How the verdict is decided 1. The source's own licence data is read per image (Wikimedia's file metadata, Openverse's licence fields, Iconify's set licences, the museums' public-domain flags, the Library of Congress rights statement, NASA's credit line). 2. It is mapped to an SPDX id where one exists (`CC0-1.0`, `CC-BY-4.0`, `MIT`…) and the verdict follows the rules above. 3. A licence stated only by an anonymous uploader is capped at `check-terms`. 4. The editorial flag is added for NASA images and wherever the source signals unreleased people or insignia. ## What this page is not Verdicts summarise licences so you can filter quickly. They are not legal advice. For anything important (a national ad campaign, packaging, a book cover), read the licence linked on the image and, when in doubt, ask the rights holder. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences --- # Frequently asked questions > Short answers about Image Asset Server: what it searches, licence verdicts, credits, downloads, rate limits, AI agents and self-hosting. ## About Image Asset Server ### What is Image Asset Server? Image Asset Server is a free search engine and API for openly licensed images. One query searches 33 sites: NASA Image and Video Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Iconify, Openverse directly, plus deep links into Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Flickr (Creative Commons), Rawpixel, StockSnap.io, Burst (Shopify), Vecteezy and other image sites. Results show a thumbnail, the pixel size, the kind of image (photo, painting, vector, icon…) and a licence verdict. It works in the browser, over a REST API, from a CLI, and as an MCP server for AI agents. ### Can I use these images commercially? It depends on each image's licence, which is why every result carries a verdict. Green means commercial use is fine (CC0, public domain, museum open access), or fine with a credit line (CC BY, NASA media, open-source icon sets). Amber means read the conditions first: share-alike, unevaluated archive rights, partner-credited images or paid stock. Red means non-commercial only. A separate editorial flag marks images with people, insignia or brands that have no releases: fine for articles and education, not for ads. Turn on Commercial-safe to see only green results. ### Do the images pass through this server? No. Thumbnails, previews and the full view load straight from the source (NASA, the museums, Wikimedia, Iconify, Openverse). Downloads are a redirect to the file on the source. The server only searches, reads metadata and writes credit files, so no image bytes pass through it and nothing is re-hosted. ### Why do some results open on Unsplash, Pexels or Shutterstock instead? Those sites either need an API key, forbid aggregators in their terms, or sell their images. Rather than scrape them, every search returns a link that runs the same query on their site (Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Flickr (Creative Commons), Rawpixel, StockSnap.io, Burst (Shopify), Vecteezy…), so you still see where else to look. ### Is it free? Yes: no account, no API key, no ads and no paid tier. It is open source (Apache-2.0), so you can also run your own copy with Docker or npx. Paid stock libraries show up only as links to their own search; any purchase happens on their site. ### How do I connect Claude Code, Cursor or another AI agent? Add the MCP server URL https://image.shep.bot/mcp. In Claude Code run: claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp. Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Codex CLI and Gemini CLI take the same URL. The agent gets search_images, get_image, build_image_set and list_sources, searches commercial-safe by default, and is told never to present a non-commercial, unclear or editorial-only image as cleared for ads. ## Searching ### What can I type in the search box? Describe the picture: 'mountain lake at sunrise', 'van gogh sunflowers', 'saturn rings', 'vintage map of paris', 'rocket icon'. Size ('4k', 'high resolution'), orientation ('vertical', '16:9', 'square'), format ('svg', 'png') and transparency ('transparent', 'no background') are read out of the query and become filters, shown as chips under the search box. ### How do I find icons or vectors? Add 'icon' or 'svg' to the query, or pick Icon or Vector in the Kind filter. Icons come from open-source sets through Iconify; SVG drawings, maps and diagrams come from Wikimedia Commons. Both filter strictly: only vectors or icons come back. ### Why do some images have no size? Some sources only report pixel size on the image's own record. Such images stay in the results, ranked below images known to match. Opening one reads its full details; the API's strict=true drops unknowns when you filter on them. ### Can I find images with a transparent background? Yes. Turn on Transparent, or type 'transparent' or 'png'. Icons and SVGs are always transparent; transparent results are shown on a checkerboard so you can see their edges. ## Licences ### What does 'editorial' mean on an image? Identifiable people, logos, insignia or brands appear without model or property releases. The image can be fine in articles, books and education, but not in advertising or anything that suggests endorsement. All NASA images are flagged this way because NASA forbids implying endorsement and using its insignia. ### Are museum images really free? Yes, for works the museum releases as open access. The Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art put their photographs of public-domain works under CC0: print, crop, sell, no credit required. Only those works are searched; works still in copyright are left out. ### Is NASA imagery public domain? NASA media is generally not copyrighted in the US. NASA asks for credit, forbids using its insignia or implying endorsement, and requires permission for identifiable astronauts or staff in ads. Some items are copyrighted by a partner such as ESA or a university; those carry an 'Unclear: check the terms' verdict. ### What is the difference between CC BY, BY-SA and BY-ND for images? CC BY lets you use and edit the image commercially with a credit line. CC BY-SA adds share-alike: an edited version must be released under the same licence, so it is marked Restricted. CC BY-ND forbids edits, including cropping and adding text, so it is marked Non-commercial only here. ### Do I need to credit open-source icons? Not next to each icon. MIT, Apache 2.0 and ISC icon sets ask you to keep their licence notice with copies you distribute, for example in your app's third-party notices. The SIL OFL needs nothing visible. A few icon sets are CC BY and do need a visible credit. ### Is the verdict legal advice? No. It is a consistent reading of the licence the source states, decided the same way for every image. Check the source page for anything unusual, and remember that trademark, privacy and publicity rights can apply even to public-domain images. ## Downloads and credits ### Which file should I download? The detail view lists every file the source offers (original, resized copies) with pixel size, format and file size. For a website, a 1600–1920 px copy is plenty; take the original or TIFF for print. The API's download endpoint does this with ?width=1920. ### Where do I get the credit line? Every image that needs one shows a ready-to-paste credit line with a Copy button, and the API returns it as `attribution`. /v1/images/{id}/credits gives ATTRIBUTION.md, credits.json, or both in a zip, and the image set builder writes credits.html with <figure> captions for a whole page. ## API, agents and self-hosting ### Is there a rate limit? The public server allows 120 requests per minute per client on /v1 and /mcp, with RateLimit headers on every response and 429 plus Retry-After beyond that. A search fans out to every source, so cache results you reuse. ### Can the MCP server download images to my disk? Not the hosted one: it never writes to its own disk, so it returns download links instead (agents with a shell fetch them with curl -L). Run it locally with npx -y image-asset-server mcp to get download_image and build_image_set with download=true, which save images into ./images with ATTRIBUTION.md. ### Can I run my own copy? Yes. docker run -p 8787:8787 ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server starts the website, API and MCP server on port 8787. No source needs an API key. See the self-hosting docs for every setting. More: https://image.shep.bot/guides.md · https://image.shep.bot/glossary.md · https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/faq --- # Versioning, deprecation & rate limits The rules below let agents and integrations build on the Image Asset Server API without surprises. ## Versioning - The major version is part of the path: every REST endpoint lives under **`/v1`**. - Within `/v1`, changes are **additive only**: new endpoints, new optional parameters, new fields in responses. Clients must ignore fields they don't know. - **Breaking changes** (removing or renaming a field or endpoint, changing a type or a default) only ship under a new major version (`/v2`). The previous version keeps working during its deprecation period. - The MCP tools follow the same rule: tool names and existing arguments stay stable; new optional arguments may appear. - The OpenAPI document at [/openapi.json](https://image.shep.bot/openapi.json) always describes the current version. Its `info.version` follows semantic versioning. ## Deprecation and sunset When an endpoint, parameter or whole API version is going away: 1. It is marked `deprecated: true` in the OpenAPI document and listed in the changelog on GitHub. 2. Its responses carry a **`Deprecation`** header ([RFC 9745](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9745)) with the date it was deprecated, a **`Sunset`** header ([RFC 8594](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8594)) with the date it stops working, and a `Link: <…>; rel="deprecation"` header pointing at migration notes. 3. The sunset date is **at least 90 days** after the deprecation is announced. 4. After the sunset date the endpoint answers `410 Gone` with a JSON body naming its replacement. Example of a deprecated response: ```http HTTP/1.1 200 OK Deprecation: @1767225600 Sunset: Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Link: <https://image.shep.bot/docs/api/versioning>; rel="deprecation" ``` Nothing in `/v1` is deprecated today. ## Rate limits The public server allows **120 requests per minute per client** across `/v1/*` and `/mcp`. Every response tells you where you stand, using the IETF RateLimit header fields plus their widely used single-value forms: | Header | Example | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | `RateLimit-Policy` | `"default";q=120;w=60` | Quota: 120 requests (`q`) per 60-second window (`w`). | | `RateLimit` | `"default";r=117;t=42` | 117 requests remaining (`r`), window resets in 42 seconds (`t`). | | `RateLimit-Limit` | `120` | Requests per window. | | `RateLimit-Remaining` | `117` | Requests left in this window. | | `RateLimit-Reset` | `42` | Seconds until the window resets. | Going over the limit returns **`429 Too Many Requests`** with a **`Retry-After`** header (seconds) and a JSON body: ```json { "error": "Rate limit exceeded: 120 requests per 60s. Retry after 12s.", "retryAfter": 12 } ``` How to behave: - Read `RateLimit-Remaining` (or `r=` in `RateLimit`) and slow down before it reaches zero. - On `429`, wait `Retry-After` seconds, then retry once. Don't retry in a tight loop. - Cache search results you reuse; a search fans out to every source, so repeating it costs everyone. All rate-limit headers are exposed to browsers through CORS. Self-hosted servers set their own limit with `IMAGE_SERVER_RATE_LIMIT` and `IMAGE_SERVER_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW` (see [Self-hosting](https://image.shep.bot/docs/self-hosting)). --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/api/versioning --- # Sources & licences Image Asset Server searches or links 33 image sites. Use the `id` with `providers=` to restrict a search. "deep link" sources are not searched automatically (they need a key, sell their images, or their terms forbid aggregation): the response carries a `searchUrl` that runs the same search on the site. No image passes through the server: thumbnails, previews and downloads come from the sources. | Source | id | Best for | Categories | Search | Pricing | Licence | Direct download | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [NASA Image and Video Library](https://images.nasa.gov) | `nasa` | About 140k NASA photos: planets, galaxies and nebulae, Earth from orbit, launches, astronauts and aircraft. Public domain in the US with credit to NASA (no endorsement, no insignia); originals up to full camera resolution plus 640–1920 px copies. | Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Nature & landscapes, Technology, Transport, People & portraits, History & archives | API | free | per image | yes | | [The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org) | `met` | Over 370k public-domain artworks from 5,000 years of art: paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, armour and decorative arts. Every image CC0 (Open Access), originals at full scan size. | Art, History & archives, People & portraits, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Objects & still life | API | free | per image | yes | | [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu) | `artic` | About 59k public-domain artworks with images: Impressionist and modern paintings, prints, drawings, photographs and textiles. CC0, served over IIIF at any size up to the full scan. | Art, History & archives, People & portraits, Nature & landscapes, Architecture & interiors | API | free | per image | yes | | [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://www.clevelandart.org) | `cleveland` | About 42k CC0 artworks with images: paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, ceramics, textiles and arms from around the world. Print-size JPEGs and master TIFFs. | Art, History & archives, People & portraits, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Objects & still life | API | free | per image | yes | | [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/photos/) | `loc` | About 1.1M historic photos, prints, drawings, posters and maps from the Prints & Photographs Division, many public domain. Rights advisory per item; master TIFFs for most. | History & archives, People & portraits, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, Transport, Nature & landscapes, Art | API | free | per image | yes | | [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org) | `wikimediacommons` | Over 100 million freely licensed photos, drawings, maps, diagrams and SVGs: nature, places, people, history, science and art. Licence recorded per file (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA); resized copies up to 4K and the original file. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | API | free | per image | yes | | [Iconify](https://iconify.design) | `iconify` | About 470k open-source icons in 280 sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Lucide, Phosphor, Font Awesome Free…). Every icon an SVG with a transparent background; licence per set (mostly MIT, Apache 2.0 and CC BY). | Icons & symbols | API | free | per image | yes | | [Openverse](https://openverse.org) | `openverse` | About 800M openly licensed images in one index: Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, museums and free stock sites. CC0, public domain and every CC licence, stated per image. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures | API | free | per image | yes | | [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com) | `unsplash` | Over 5 million high-resolution photos from a community of photographers; Unsplash licence (no credit needed). Link-only for now: its API needs a key and its terms forbid replicating Unsplash. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures | deep link | freemium | Unsplash License (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com) | `pexels` | Millions of free stock photos, many of people and lifestyle; Pexels licence (no credit needed). Link-only for now: its API needs a key and its terms forbid competing services. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures | deep link | free | Pexels License (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com) | `pixabay` | Over 5 million free photos, illustrations and vectors; Pixabay Content License (no credit needed). Link-only for now: its API needs a key and its terms limit automated use. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | free | Pixabay Content License (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Flickr (Creative Commons)](https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/) | `flickr` | Hundreds of millions of photos, over 500 million under Creative Commons or public domain. Link-only: the API needs a key, and Openverse already indexes Flickr's CC photos. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | free | Per-photo licence (Flickr) (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Rawpixel](https://www.rawpixel.com) | `rawpixel` | Free and premium photos, vectors and mockups, plus a large set of public-domain art remastered from museum scans. Link-only: downloads need an account. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures, Art, History & archives | deep link | freemium | Rawpixel licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [StockSnap.io](https://stocksnap.io) | `stocksnap` | Tens of thousands of free CC0 photos added weekly. Link-only: no public API. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures | deep link | free | CC0 1.0 (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Burst (Shopify)](https://burst.shopify.com) | `burst` | Free stock photos from Shopify, aimed at online shops: products, small business, lifestyle. Link-only: no public API. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures | deep link | free | Burst licence (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Vecteezy](https://www.vecteezy.com) | `vecteezy` | Millions of free and Pro vectors, photos and PNG cut-outs. Link-only: its API is paid and its terms forbid scraping. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | freemium | Vecteezy licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Freepik](https://www.freepik.com) | `freepik` | Millions of photos, vectors, icons and PSD mock-ups; free with credit or premium. Link-only: paid API, terms against scraping. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | freemium | Freepik licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Smithsonian Open Access](https://www.si.edu/openaccess) | `smithsonian` | About 5 million CC0 images from the Smithsonian's 21 museums, libraries and zoo: art, natural history, aviation and space, American history. Link-only for now: its API needs an api.data.gov key. | Art, History & archives, Science & medicine, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, People & portraits, Architecture & interiors | deep link | free | CC0 1.0 (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Europeana](https://www.europeana.eu) | `europeana` | Tens of millions of images from European museums, libraries and archives; the link shows openly licensed ones. Link-only for now: its API needs a key. | Art, History & archives, Science & medicine, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, People & portraits, Architecture & interiors | deep link | free | Per-item rights statement (Europeana) (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection) | `rijksmuseum` | Over 700,000 public-domain images of Dutch art and history (Rembrandt, Vermeer), downloadable at full resolution. Link-only for now: its data services need a key. | Art, History & archives | deep link | free | CC0 1.0 (Commercial use OK) | no | | [National Gallery of Art](https://www.nga.gov/open-access-images.html) | `nga` | About 60,000 open-access (CC0) images of paintings, prints and drawings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Link-only: no search API (the open data is a CSV dump). | Art | deep link | free | CC0 1.0 (Commercial use OK) | no | | [NYPL Digital Collections](https://digitalcollections.nypl.org) | `nypl` | About a million digitised prints, photos, maps and manuscripts from the New York Public Library, over 180,000 of them public domain. Link-only: its API needs a token. | History & archives, Art, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors | deep link | free | Per-item rights (NYPL) (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Internet Archive (images)](https://archive.org/details/image) | `internetarchive` | Millions of scanned photos, book illustrations, posters and ephemera. Link-only: licences are uploader-asserted and image search through its API is poor. | History & archives, Art, Science & medicine | deep link | free | Uploader-asserted licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Openclipart](https://openclipart.org) | `openclipart` | About 180,000 public-domain clip-art drawings, all SVG. Link-only: no public API. | Icons & symbols, Backgrounds & textures, Objects & still life, People & portraits, Technology, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife | deep link | free | CC0 1.0 (Commercial use OK) | no | | [SVG Repo](https://www.svgrepo.com) | `svgrepo` | About 500,000 free SVG icons and vectors from open-source sets, licence shown per collection. Link-only: no public API and it rate-limits bots. | Icons & symbols, Backgrounds & textures, Objects & still life, People & portraits, Technology, Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife | deep link | free | Per-collection licence (SVG Repo) (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [Flaticon](https://www.flaticon.com) | `flaticon` | Millions of icons and stickers (Freepik); free with credit or premium. Link-only: paid API. | Icons & symbols | deep link | freemium | Flaticon licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [The Noun Project](https://thenounproject.com) | `nounproject` | Over 8 million icons and photos from designers worldwide; free with credit (CC BY) or royalty-free with a subscription. Link-only: its API needs a key. | Icons & symbols | deep link | freemium | Noun Project licence (Unclear: check the terms) | no | | [unDraw](https://undraw.co) | `undraw` | About 1,500 open-licence flat illustrations in a colour you pick, for websites and apps. Link-only: no public API. | People & portraits, Technology, Objects & still life | deep link | free | unDraw licence (Commercial use OK) | no | | [Shutterstock](https://www.shutterstock.com) | `shutterstock` | One of the largest paid image libraries: over 400 million photos, vectors and illustrations, per image or by subscription. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | paid | Shutterstock licence (paid) (Needs a paid licence or releases) | no | | [Adobe Stock](https://stock.adobe.com) | `adobestock` | Paid photos, vectors, illustrations and templates, built into Creative Cloud apps. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | paid | Adobe Stock licence (paid) (Needs a paid licence or releases) | no | | [Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com) | `gettyimages` | Premium creative and editorial photography: news, sport, entertainment and archive pictures. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | paid | Getty Images licence (paid) (Needs a paid licence or releases) | no | | [iStock](https://www.istockphoto.com) | `istock` | Getty Images' lower-priced library of photos, illustrations and vectors. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | paid | iStock licence (paid) (Needs a paid licence or releases) | no | | [Alamy](https://www.alamy.com) | `alamy` | Over 400 million paid stock photos, strong on travel, news and historical pictures. | Nature & landscapes, Animals & wildlife, Cities & streets, Architecture & interiors, People & portraits, Food & drink, Objects & still life, Technology, Transport, Space & astronomy, Science & medicine, Art, History & archives, Backgrounds & textures, Icons & symbols | deep link | paid | Alamy licence (paid) (Needs a paid licence or releases) | no | Sources marked "per image" set licences per item; check each result's `license.verdict`. Royalty-free licences allow use in your music but not redistribution of the images. Licences explained: /docs/licences.md --- # Image Asset Server CLI The `image-asset-server` command searches every source from a terminal, downloads images with their credits, picks a whole set of images from a list of slots, runs the MCP server over stdio for desktop agents, and starts the HTTP server. It is the same code that runs https://image.shep.bot, and needs no API keys. ```bash npx image-asset-server search "4k vertical mountain lake" ``` ## Commands ```text image-asset-server search <query> [--category art.painting] [--style photo] [--orientation portrait] [--min-resolution 1080] [--transparent] [--format svg,png] [--commercial] [--free] [--providers nasa,met,wikimediacommons] [--limit N] image-asset-server download <id> [--width 1920] [--format jpg] [--dir ./images] image-asset-server set <slots.txt | "slot 1; slot 2; ..."> [--width 1600] [--orientation landscape] [--style photo] [--download] [--dir ./images/sets/<name>] [--name landing] image-asset-server mcp # MCP server over stdio, with download_image writing to ./images image-asset-server serve # HTTP API + website + MCP at /mcp on port 8787 ``` ## Search Queries understand size, orientation, format and transparency, so `"4k vertical mountain lake"` filters like `--min-resolution 2160 --orientation portrait`, and `"rocket icon svg"` keeps only vector icons. `--commercial` keeps only images whose licence allows commercial use (verdict `yes` or `yes-with-credit`). `search` prints the filters it read from your query, then ranked results (score, licence verdict and image id; then the title with its category, pixel size, orientation and year; then its page on the source), followed by one status line per source. A `*` after the verdict marks editorial images (people, insignia or brands without releases): ```text $ npx image-asset-server search "crab nebula" --limit 2 0.92 yes-with-credit* nasa:PIA03606 Crab Nebula Mosaic (space · 3864×3864 · 4K+ 2160+ · square · 2005) https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA03606 … * editorial: people, insignia or brands without releases; not for ads. Sources: nasa ok 2 met ok 0 unsplash link 0 https://unsplash.com/s/photos/crab-nebula ``` ## Download ```bash npx image-asset-server download "nasa:PIA03606" --width 1920 ``` Saves the smallest file at least `--width` pixels wide (a 1920 px copy rather than a huge original) into `./images/<category>/`, and adds the image to `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json` in that folder. It prints the licence and the credit line. ## Image set ```bash cat > slots.txt <<'TXT' Hero: misty forest at sunrise (1920px) 3 icons: upload, share, settings Background: paper texture Botanical illustration of a fern TXT npx image-asset-server set slots.txt --width 1600 --name landing --download ``` Picks one image per slot (commercial-safe unless you pass `--non-commercial`), prints the plan with a note for each slot that will be cropped, upscaled or is editorial, and writes `images.json`, `credits.html`, `download.sh`, `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json` into `./images/sets/<name>/`. With `--download` the picks are saved into its `images/` folder and the exports use those local files; without it they point at the sources (run `sh download.sh` later). ## Run it with Docker (no install) ```bash docker run --rm ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server node dist/cli.js search "van gogh" --commercial ``` As a local MCP server that writes downloads into your project: ```bash docker run -i --rm --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" -v "$PWD/images:/app/images" \ ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server node dist/cli.js mcp ``` ## Run it from source ```bash git clone https://github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server cd image-asset-server && npm ci && npm run build:server node dist/cli.js search "vintage map of paris" --commercial ``` ## Environment | Variable | Purpose | | --- | --- | | `IMAGE_SERVER_PROVIDERS` | Comma list to search only some sources (e.g. `nasa,met,artic`). | | `IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_DIR` | Where `download`, `set` and `mcp` downloads go (default `./images`). | | `IMAGE_SERVER_USER_AGENT` | User-Agent sent to sources. Wikimedia requires contact details in it. | | `NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY` | Set to `1` so Node honours `HTTPS_PROXY`. | See [Self-hosting](https://image.shep.bot/docs/self-hosting) for every server setting. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/cli --- # Self-hosting Image Asset Server Image Asset Server is open source (Apache-2.0). Run your own copy to put it behind an API key, let the MCP server write images to a shared disk, pick which sources it searches, or keep searches on your own network. No source needs an API key. ## Docker ```bash docker run -p 8787:8787 ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server ``` Open http://localhost:8787 for the website, `/v1/*` for the API and `/mcp` for MCP. Behind a TLS proxy, set `IMAGE_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL=https://images.example.com` so the links handed to MCP clients and share links use your public address. ## Node.js ```bash git clone https://github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server cd image-asset-server npm ci && npm --prefix web ci && npm run build npm start ``` Node 20 or newer (the Docker image uses Node 22). ## No image bytes through the server The server is light because it never handles image files: it searches the sources, reads their metadata, decides licence verdicts and writes credit files. The website's thumbnails, previews and detail view load straight from the sources, and `/v1/images/{id}/download` answers with a `302` to the file on the source. Bandwidth and CPU stay low whatever people look at; only the MCP `download_image` tool and the CLI's `download` and `set --download` fetch files, and they write to the disk of whoever runs them. ## Configuration | Variable | Default | Purpose | | --- | --- | --- | | `PORT` / `HOST` | `8787` / `0.0.0.0` | HTTP bind address. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_API_KEY` | none | Require `Authorization: Bearer <key>` or `x-api-key` on `/v1/*` and `/mcp`. Keys are accepted in headers only, never in the URL. The website asks for it and sends it as a header. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL` | request origin | Base URL used in links handed to MCP clients and in share links. Set it behind a TLS proxy. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_PROVIDERS` | all | Comma list to enable only some sources (e.g. `nasa,met,wikimediacommons`). | | `IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_DIR` | `./images` | Where MCP and CLI downloads go (`<dir>/<category>/…`, with `ATTRIBUTION.md` and `credits.json`). | | `IMAGE_SERVER_HTTP_DOWNLOADS` | `false` | Expose `download_image` on the HTTP MCP endpoint (writes to the server's disk). | | `IMAGE_SERVER_HTTP_MCP` | `true` | Set to `false` to turn off MCP over HTTP at `/mcp`. The website and `/v1` API keep working, and the stdio MCP server is unaffected. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_PROVIDER_TIMEOUT_MS` | `12000` | Per-source search timeout. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS` | `15000` | Timeout for each request to a source. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_CACHE_TTL_MS` | `600000` | How long source responses are cached in memory (10 minutes). | | `IMAGE_SERVER_MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES` | 8 GiB | Cap for one local download. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_DOWNLOAD_IDLE_MS` | `30000` | Abort a local download when no bytes arrive for this long. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_USER_AGENT` | built in | The User-Agent sent to sources. Keep it descriptive with contact details: Wikimedia limits clients without one to about 10 requests a minute. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_RATE_LIMIT` | `120` | Requests per client per window on `/v1/*` and `/mcp`, with RateLimit headers and `429` + `Retry-After` beyond it. `0` turns it off. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW` | `60` | Rate-limit window in seconds. | | `METRICS_PORT` | off | Serve Prometheus metrics on this separate port at `/metrics`, and log one JSON line per search, download and tool call. | | `PROMETHEUS_URL` | off | Prometheus that scrapes `METRICS_PORT`. `/v1/stats` and the `/stats` page then show the last 24 hours and 7 days; without it they count since the server started. | | `MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID`, `MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY` | off | With `METRICS_PORT`: download MaxMind's free GeoLite2-ASN database (refreshed weekly) to label MCP callers by network (ISP, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, other hosting). | | `IMAGE_SERVER_ASN_DB` | none | Path to a GeoLite2-ASN `.mmdb` file to use instead of downloading one. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_SESSION_SECRET` | random | Signs the MCP session IDs that carry each client's declared name. Set it so sessions keep their label across restarts. | | `IMAGE_SERVER_TELEMETRY` | off | `1` to send anonymous usage counts to the maintainers (also needs `IMAGE_SERVER_TELEMETRY_WEBSITE_ID`; see [Privacy](https://image.shep.bot/privacy)). `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` always turns it off. | | `UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID`, `UMAMI_HOST` | off | Add your own self-hosted Umami tracker to the website pages (cookieless page views). | ## Analytics With `METRICS_PORT` set, the server exports Prometheus metrics with bounded labels only (surface, client family, source, status, tool): - `image_server_searches_total`, `image_server_search_duration_seconds`, `image_server_search_results` - `image_server_provider_requests_total` and `image_server_provider_duration_seconds` for each source's health and latency - `image_server_image_views_total`, `image_server_downloads_total` - `image_server_mcp_tool_calls_total` and `image_server_mcp_tool_duration_seconds` by tool, client family (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, …), network and consistency (whether the declared client, User-Agent and network agree) - `image_server_mcp_connects_total` and `image_server_mcp_new_callers_total` (first tool call of the day per caller, counted from a hash with a daily salt) - `image_server_http_requests_total`, `image_server_http_request_duration_seconds`, `image_server_page_views_total` The [/stats](https://image.shep.bot/stats) page and `GET /v1/stats` read these counters back: from Prometheus when `PROMETHEUS_URL` is set, otherwise from this process since it started. Each search also logs a JSON line (`{"event":"search","query":…,"results":…}`) for top-query and zero-result analysis. Nothing personal is recorded with it: no IP addresses, keys or cookies. ## Stdio MCP ```bash node dist/cli.js mcp # or: npx -y image-asset-server mcp ``` Runs the MCP server over stdio with `download_image` and `build_image_set` downloads (`download=true`) enabled, for desktop clients that launch a local process. Downloads go to `IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_DIR`. ## Content Security Policy The website ships with a strict Content-Security-Policy (no inline scripts or styles except by hash or per-request nonce). Thumbnails and previews load from the sources, so `img-src` allows `https:`; keep that in mind if you put a proxy in front that rewrites headers. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/docs/self-hosting --- # Guides: free images, licences and formats > Short, answer-first guides for designers, writers and AI assistants: whether an image may be used commercially, how to credit it, what museum open access, NASA and Creative Commons allow, icons and transparent files, and how to let an agent pick images for you. ## Licensing - [Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use.md): You can use an image commercially when its licence says so: CC0 and public-domain images with no conditions, CC BY images with a credit line, and free stock licences such as Unsplash's or Pexels' within their terms. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. - [Museum open access: free public-domain art you can reuse](https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art.md): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art release photographs of their public-domain works under CC0: you may print, crop, recolour and sell them without asking or crediting anyone. - [Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules.md): NASA photos are generally not copyrighted in the US, so you may use them commercially with a credit such as 'Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech'. ## Production - [Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: finding and using them](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons.md): Search for the subject plus 'icon', 'svg' or 'transparent' (for example 'rocket icon' or 'coffee cup transparent png'): those words become filters. ## AI agents - [Let an AI agent find and license images for your project](https://image.shep.bot/guides/ai-agent-find-and-license-images.md): Add the MCP server (claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp) and ask for what you need: 'a hero image of a mountain lake and three feature icons for the landing page'. Glossary of image and licence terms: https://image.shep.bot/glossary.md --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides --- # Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use > You can use an image commercially when its licence says so: CC0 and public-domain images with no conditions, CC BY images with a credit line, and free stock licences such as Unsplash's or Pexels' within their terms. CC BY-NC is non-commercial only, CC BY-ND forbids editing, and CC BY-SA makes an edited version share-alike. The licence covers the copyright only: recognisable people, logos and private property can still need releases in an ad. Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. Which free image licences allow commercial use (CC0, public domain, CC BY, free stock licences), which don't, and what still needs a release. ## The short version Every result on Image Asset Server carries a **verdict** that answers one question: can this go into something you publish commercially, such as an ad, a product page, a client website or a printed book? | Verdict | Means | Typical licences | |---|---|---| | Commercial use OK | No conditions | CC0, public domain, museum open access, US government works | | OK with credit | Use it and credit the source | CC BY, NASA media, MIT/Apache icon sets | | Restricted | Conditions that usually rule out normal use | CC BY-SA | | Needs a paid licence | Buy a licence or releases first | Shutterstock, Getty, Adobe Stock | | Check the terms | Nobody has verified the rights | Archive items with no rights statement | | Non-commercial only | Personal and educational use | CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, personal-use licences | Searches from AI agents are commercial-safe by default: only the first two rows come back unless the agent says the project is non-commercial. ## Where the licences come from Wikimedia Commons, Openverse and Iconify record a licence per file or per icon set. Museums (the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art) release their open-access images as CC0. NASA's media guidelines apply to everything from NASA. The Library of Congress gives a rights statement per item, and "no known restrictions" is read as free to use. ## What a licence doesn't cover A licence covers the copyright in the picture. It does not give you the rights of the people in it, the trademarks on a shop sign or the design of a private building. For news, articles and education that is normal. For advertising, packaging or anything that suggests a person or brand endorses you, pick images without identifiable people and logos, or get releases. NASA images carry an editorial flag for this reason: NASA does not allow its insignia or its astronauts to be used in ads without permission. ## Free stock sites Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay give photos away under their own licences: commercial use is allowed, credit is optional, but you may not resell the photos unaltered or build a competing service from them. They can't be searched automatically here, so every search links to the same query on their sites. Verdicts are a summary, not legal advice. Read the licence linked on each image before you publish something important. ## Questions **Is 'royalty-free' the same as free?** No. Royalty-free means you pay once (or nothing) instead of per use, but the licence still has terms. Paid libraries such as Shutterstock sell royalty-free licences; free stock sites give them away with conditions such as no reselling. **Can I use a CC BY image in an ad?** Yes, with a credit line that names the title, author, source and licence. Put it where the audience can find it: a caption, the page footer or a credits page. **What does the 'editorial' flag mean?** The image shows identifiable people, insignia or brands without releases. It is fine for articles, books and education, but not for advertising or anything that implies endorsement. **Do I need permission to use a public-domain painting?** No, when the museum releases its photograph as CC0 or public domain, as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art do for their open-access works. ## Try it - [Commercial-safe mountain photos](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=mountain+lake&commercial=true) - [Public-domain paintings](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=landscape&category=art.painting&commercial=true) ## 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. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. ## Related guides - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. - [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. - [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. ## Sources - [Creative Commons: about the licences](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/) - [Creative Commons: CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) - [Unsplash License](https://unsplash.com/license) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use --- # 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 <figure> <img src="lake-louise.jpg" alt="Lake Louise at sunrise" width="1920" height="1280"> <figcaption><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:…">Lake Louise at sunrise</a> by Jane Doe, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a></figcaption> </figure> ``` 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 <figcaption> 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 --- # Museum open access: free public-domain art you can reuse > The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art release photographs of their public-domain works under CC0: you may print, crop, recolour and sell them without asking or crediting anyone. Image Asset Server searches all three directly (public-domain works only) and shows the museum, the date and the file sizes, up to full-resolution TIFF for Cleveland. Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. 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. ## Three museums, one search | Museum | Open-access images | Best for | Largest files | |---|---|---|---| | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | 400,000+ | Paintings, Japanese prints, armour, antiquities, early photography | Originals of several thousand pixels | | Art Institute of Chicago | 60,000+ | Impressionism, American art, prints and drawings | Any width through IIIF | | Cleveland Museum of Art | 30,000+ | High-resolution art for print | Full-resolution TIFF | All three are searched at once, alongside Wikimedia Commons, which holds many more museum scans uploaded by volunteers and institutions. ## Using the files - **Web:** a 1600–1920 px copy is plenty. The detail view's download buttons pick it for you. - **Print:** use the original. At 300 dpi, an A3 poster needs about 3500 × 4960 pixels; Cleveland's TIFFs and the Met's originals often reach that. - **Credit:** not required for CC0, but a caption such as *Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906. Art Institute of Chicago* is good practice. ## What to watch Photographs of three-dimensional objects (sculpture, armour, ceramics) are also released, but their photographer's copyright is what the museum waives: it's the same CC0. Works by living or recently deceased artists stay in copyright and are not searched. When the museum's record names a lender or a copyright holder, the work is left out. ## Questions **Why can a museum give away a Van Gogh?** The painting's copyright expired long ago. The museum owns its photograph of the painting, and releases that photograph under CC0, so nothing restricts the image. **Are all works in these museums free?** No. Works still in copyright (most 20th-century and contemporary art) are not released and are not searched here. Only works the museum marks public domain or CC0 appear. **Can I put museum art on products I sell?** Yes, for CC0 images: posters, cards, apparel and packaging are all allowed. Avoid suggesting the museum endorses your product, and don't use the museum's name or logo as branding. ## Try it - [Van Gogh at the Met](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=van+gogh&providers=met) - [Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=impressionism&category=art.painting) - [Japanese woodblock prints](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing) ## Collections - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. - [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. ## Sources - [The Met: Open Access](https://www.metmuseum.org/hubs/open-access) - [Art Institute of Chicago: open access images](https://www.artic.edu/open-access/open-access-images) - [Cleveland Museum of Art: Open Access](https://www.clevelandart.org/open-access) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art --- # Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts > NASA photos are generally not copyrighted in the US, so you may use them commercially with a credit such as 'Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech'. Don't use the NASA insignia or logotype in your branding, don't imply NASA endorses you, and ask NASA before identifiable astronauts or staff appear in an ad. Images credited to partners (ESA, universities, companies) may be copyrighted by them. Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. 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. ## What NASA allows Works made by US government employees as part of their job are not protected by copyright in the US. NASA's media guidelines build on that: NASA images may be used for educational, informational and commercial purposes, and NASA asks to be credited. ## What NASA doesn't allow - **The insignia and logotype.** The "meatball" and the "worm" are trademarks. Don't put them on products or use them as part of your branding. - **Endorsement.** Don't suggest NASA approves your product, service or organisation. - **People in ads.** Identifiable astronauts and NASA staff need NASA's permission before they appear in advertising. ## Partner images Many space pictures are joint work. A credit line naming ESA, the Canadian Space Agency, a university or a company means the image may be copyrighted by them. Image Asset Server marks those **check the terms** instead of **OK with credit**. ESA images are often CC BY-SA or CC BY, with their own conditions. ## Picking a size NASA keeps the original plus 1920, 1280 and 640 px copies of most images. For the web, download the 1920 px copy; for print, the original, which for Hubble and Webb releases can be many thousands of pixels across. ## Questions **Can I use a Hubble or Webb image on a T-shirt?** Generally yes, with credit, if it is a NASA image and not credited to ESA or another partner, and as long as no NASA logo or endorsement is implied. Webb images are often credited NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI: check ESA's terms for those. **Why are NASA images marked editorial here?** Because of NASA's rules on its insignia, endorsements and identifiable people. Space photos without people or logos are usually fine for commercial use; the flag reminds you to check. **How do I credit NASA?** Use the credit the image gives, such as 'NASA', 'NASA/JPL-Caltech' or 'NASA/Bill Ingalls'. Image Asset Server writes it into the credit line. ## Try it - [Hubble nebulae](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=hubble+nebula&providers=nasa) - [Earth from the ISS](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=earth&category=space.earth&providers=nasa) ## Collections - [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. - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters](https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos.md): Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. - [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 - [NASA images and media usage guidelines](https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/) - [ESA/Webb image use policy](https://esawebb.org/copyright/) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules --- # Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: finding and using them > Search for the subject plus 'icon', 'svg' or 'transparent' (for example 'rocket icon' or 'coffee cup transparent png'): those words become filters. Icons come from open-source sets through Iconify, as SVGs that scale to any size and recolour with CSS. Their licences (MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC, OFL) allow commercial use; keep the set's licence notice. Transparent results sit on a checkerboard so you can see the edges. Production guide, updated 2026-11-03. Find free SVG icons and transparent cut-outs, check their licences (MIT, Apache, OFL, CC BY), and use them on any background, in any colour and size. ## SVG or PNG? **SVG** is a vector format: shapes described as maths, sharp at every size, a few kilobytes, recolourable with CSS. Use it for icons, simple illustrations, diagrams and maps. **PNG** is a bitmap with optional transparency. Use it for photographic cut-outs (a coffee cup, a person) at the size you will show them. ## Icons in a web page ```html <img src="https://api.iconify.design/mdi/rocket.svg?color=%237c5cff" width="24" height="24" alt=""> ``` Or inline the SVG so it takes the text colour. Decorative icons get an empty `alt`; icons that act as buttons need a label. ## Where the icons come from Iconify gathers about 200 open-source sets, including Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide, Remix and Font Awesome Free. Sites such as Flaticon, The Noun Project and SVG Repo can't be searched automatically, so each search also links to the same query there. ## Step by step 1. **Search with the right words.** Add 'icon', 'svg', 'vector' or 'transparent' to the query, or pick Icon, Vector or Transparent in the filters. 'svg' keeps only vector files; 'transparent' keeps images with a transparent background. 2. **Check the set's licence.** Each icon shows its set's licence. MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC and OFL allow commercial use without a visible credit; CC BY sets need one. 3. **Download the SVG.** SVG files scale to any size. Download from the detail view, or copy the file URL into your build: Iconify serves every icon as a plain SVG. 4. **Recolour and size it.** Iconify icons use currentColor: set color in CSS and they follow your text colour. Set width and height, or use 1em to match the font size. ## Questions **Do I need to credit MIT-licensed icons?** Not next to the icon. MIT asks you to include the copyright and licence notice with copies you distribute: list the icon set in your app's or site's open-source notices. **Can I use an icon as my logo?** Open-source licences usually allow it, but you can't register someone else's icon as your trademark, and other companies may use the same icon. Design your own logo for a brand. **Why does a transparent PNG show a checkerboard?** The checkerboard is drawn behind the image on this site so you can see its transparent areas. It is not part of the file. ## Try it - [Rocket icons](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=rocket+icon) - [SVG drawings on Wikimedia Commons](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=diagram&format=svg) ## Collections - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. - [Free paper textures and backgrounds](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds.md): Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. ## 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. - [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. ## Sources - [Iconify: icon sets and licences](https://icon-sets.iconify.design/) - [MIT License](https://opensource.org/license/mit) - [SIL Open Font License](https://openfontlicense.org/) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons --- # Let an AI agent find and license images for your project > Add the MCP server (claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp) and ask for what you need: 'a hero image of a mountain lake and three feature icons for the landing page'. The agent calls search_images or build_image_set, which only return commercial-safe images by default, downloads the files and writes the credit lines into ATTRIBUTION.md. AI agents guide, updated 2026-11-03. 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. ## What the agent sees Every result carries its pixel size, orientation, kind (photo, painting, vector, icon…), a thumbnail URL, the licence with its verdict, an editorial flag and a ready-to-paste credit line. The server's instructions tell the agent never to present a non-commercial, unverified or editorial image as cleared for advertising. ## A whole page in one call `build_image_set` takes a list of slots: ```text hero: misty forest at sunrise, landscape (1920px) 3 icons: upload, share, settings background: paper texture portrait of a potter at the wheel ``` It returns one pick per slot with alternatives, the file to use (the smallest at least as wide as the slot), suggested alt text, and exports: `images.json`, `credits.html` with `<figure>` captions, `download.sh` and `ATTRIBUTION.md`. Try it in the browser on the [image set builder](https://image.shep.bot/build). ## Without MCP The same features are a REST API: `GET /v1/search?q=…`, `GET /v1/images/{id}/download?width=1920` (a redirect to the file) and `POST /v1/sets`. See the [API guide](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api). ## Step by step 1. **Connect the server.** Run claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp, or add the same URL in Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client. For local file writes, run npx -y image-asset-server mcp instead. 2. **Describe the images.** Say what each image shows, its shape and its use: 'a wide hero image of a misty forest', 'a vertical poster of a Hokusai wave', 'SVG icons for upload, share and settings'. 3. **Let it pick and check.** The agent searches every source, keeps commercial-safe licences, and for a whole page calls build_image_set, which picks one image per slot with alternatives. 4. **Review the credits.** Check ATTRIBUTION.md or credits.html, and any image flagged editorial, before you publish. ## Questions **Will the agent use images I can't use commercially?** Not by default: search_images and build_image_set return only 'yes' and 'yes-with-credit' verdicts unless the agent sets commercial_only=false because you said the project is non-commercial. **Does the hosted server download files for the agent?** No. It returns direct links to the files on the sources; the agent downloads them with curl. The local MCP server (npx) can save files itself with download_image. **Which tools does the server offer?** search_images, get_image, build_image_set and list_sources, plus download_image when it runs locally. ## Try it - [Commercial-safe hero images](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=forest+mist&orientation=landscape&commercial=true) - [Icons](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=settings+icon) ## Collections - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. - [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. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. - [Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: finding and using them](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons.md): Find free SVG icons and transparent cut-outs, check their licences (MIT, Apache, OFL, CC BY), and use them on any background, in any colour and size. ## Sources - [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) - [Claude Code: MCP](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/mcp) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/ai-agent-find-and-license-images --- # Glossary of image and licence terms > Plain definitions of the terms you meet with free images: resolution, DPI, SVG, transparency, IIIF, CC0, CC BY, share-alike, editorial use, model release. ## Images ### Stock photo A photo made once and licensed many times, so designers and writers don't have to shoot everything themselves. It ranges from free public-domain archives to paid libraries that license each image per use. Also: stock image, stock photography. [Search free images](https://image.shep.bot/search) · [Free images for commercial use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use) ### Public-domain art Paintings, prints and drawings whose copyright has expired. Museums such as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art release their photographs of these works under CC0, so anyone may reuse them. Also: open access art, museum open access. [Museum open access](https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art) · [Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings) ### Botanical illustration A scientifically accurate drawing or print of a plant, often hand-coloured, made for herbals and botany books before photography. Most are now public domain. Also: botanical plate. [Botanical illustrations](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations) ### Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints of the 17th to 19th centuries (Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro): landscapes, actors and city life in flat colour and bold line. Museum impressions are widely available as CC0. Also: woodblock print, Japanese print. [Japanese woodblock prints](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints) ### Archive photograph A photograph kept by a library or archive, such as the Library of Congress. Many are public domain, but each comes with a rights statement worth reading, and the people in them can still need clearance for advertising. Also: historical photo, vintage photo. [Vintage city photos](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-city-photographs) ### Icon A small symbol for an action or idea (upload, share, settings). Icons come in sets with a shared style and licence; open-source sets such as Material Symbols, Tabler and Phosphor are searched through Iconify. Also: icon set, pictogram. [Free SVG icons](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons) · [SVG icons and transparent PNGs](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons) ### Illustration A drawn or digitally made picture rather than a photo. Illustrations are often vectors and come with their own licences; museum drawings and prints are listed separately as art. Also: clip art, vector illustration. ### Texture A close-up of a surface (paper, wood, stone, fabric) used as a background or overlay in a design. A seamless texture tiles without visible edges. Also: background texture, pattern. [Paper textures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds) ### Composite image An image made from several exposures or wavelengths, common in astronomy: Hubble and Webb pictures map infrared, ultraviolet or X-ray light to visible colours. Say so in the caption when it matters. Also: false colour, representative colour. [Hubble and Webb images](https://image.shep.bot/collections/hubble-space-images) ## Image files ### Resolution An image's width and height in pixels. Image Asset Server groups images by the short side, so a 2160×3840 phone wallpaper counts as 4K, the same as a 3840×2160 desktop one. Also: pixel size, dimensions. ### Megapixels Width times height in millions of pixels. A 6000×4000 photo is 24 MP. More megapixels allow larger prints and tighter crops. Also: MP. ### DPI / PPI Dots or pixels per inch when an image is printed. 300 dpi is the usual target for print: an A4 page (8.3 × 11.7 in) needs about 2480 × 3508 pixels. On screens only the pixel size matters. Also: print resolution, 300 dpi. ### Aspect ratio Width divided by height. 16:9 suits banners and slides, 3:2 is the classic camera frame, 4:5 and 9:16 suit phone screens, 1:1 avatars and social posts. Changing it means cropping. Also: 16:9, 3:2, 4:5, 1:1. ### Orientation Whether an image is landscape (wider than tall), portrait (taller than wide, also called vertical) or square. Within 5% of square counts as square here. ### Vector (SVG) An image described as shapes rather than pixels. It scales to any size without blurring, stays small, and can be recoloured with CSS. Icons, logos, diagrams and maps are often vectors. Also: SVG, scalable vector graphics. [SVG icons](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons) ### Raster image An image made of pixels: photos and scans. JPG compresses photos well; PNG is lossless and supports transparency; WebP and AVIF do both more efficiently. Also: bitmap, JPG, PNG. ### Transparent background Areas of an image with no colour, so whatever is behind shows through. PNG, WebP and SVG support it; JPG does not. Transparent images are shown on a checkerboard on this site. Also: alpha channel, cut-out, PNG transparency. ### TIFF A lossless format used for archival scans and print masters. Files are large (tens of megabytes); museums such as the Cleveland Museum of Art offer TIFFs for print. Also: TIF. ### IIIF A standard image API used by museums and libraries to serve an image at any size or crop from one URL. The Art Institute of Chicago and the Library of Congress use it. Also: International Image Interoperability Framework. [reference](https://iiif.io) ### Resized copy A smaller copy of an image made by the source, such as NASA's 1920 px 'large' JPG or a Wikimedia thumbnail. Quicker to download than the original and usually enough for the web. Also: rendition, derivative. ### Original The file as published by the source, at full size. Download it for print or heavy cropping; for a website a resized copy is lighter. Also: master, full resolution. ### Alt text A short description of an image for people using screen readers and when the image fails to load. Image sets suggest one per pick; write your own when the image carries meaning. Also: alternative text. ## Licences and rights ### Public domain Works no one owns a copyright in, because it expired, was never claimed, or (in the US) the work was made by the federal government. Anyone may use them for anything, though trademarks and the rights of people shown can still apply. Also: PD, Public Domain Mark. [Free images for commercial use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use) · [reference](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/) ### CC0 A Creative Commons tool with which a creator gives up their copyright as far as the law allows, putting the work in the public domain: use it commercially, no credit needed. Museum open-access images use it. Also: CC0 1.0, public domain dedication. [reference](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ### CC BY Creative Commons Attribution: use it for anything, including commercial work, as long as you credit the author, name the licence, link it and say if you changed the image. Also: Attribution. [How to credit CC BY images](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images) · [reference](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ### CC BY-SA Attribution-ShareAlike: like CC BY, but an adapted version of the image must be released under the same licence. Marked Restricted, because most commercial designs edit their images and can't be relicensed that way. Also: share-alike, SA. [reference](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ### NC (NonCommercial) A Creative Commons condition that rules out use 'primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation': ads, client work, products you sell. Also: CC BY-NC. [reference](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) ### ND (NoDerivatives) A Creative Commons condition that forbids sharing adapted versions. Cropping, retouching, putting text on top or compositing an ND image counts as adapting it, so ND images get a 'no' verdict here. Also: CC BY-ND. [reference](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) ### MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC Software licences used by most open-source icon sets. They allow commercial use and modification; keep the set's copyright and licence notice with copies you distribute, for example in your app's third-party notices. Also: open-source icon licence. [reference](https://opensource.org/license/mit) ### SIL Open Font License A licence used by icon fonts and some icon sets: free to use, embed and modify in any project, but the font or icon files may not be sold on their own. Also: OFL. [reference](https://openfontlicense.org/) ### Royalty free Pay once (or nothing) and use the image without per-use fees. It does not mean copyright free: the licence still sets rules, typically no reselling or re-uploading the image as stock. ### Editorial use Use in articles, books, education and commentary, as opposed to advertising or promotion. Images showing people, logos or insignia without releases are often editorial-only, whatever their copyright licence says. Also: editorial only. [Free images for commercial use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use) ### Model release A signed permission from a recognisable person to use their likeness commercially. Without one, a photo of them is usually fine for editorial use but not for ads or endorsements. ### Property release Permission from the owner of recognisable private property, artwork or a trademark to show it commercially. Logos and branded products in the picture are the most common reason an image is editorial-only. ### Attribution The credit a licence asks for: title, author, source and licence (TASL), with links. Every result that needs one carries a ready-made credit line. Also: credit line, TASL. [How to credit CC BY images](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images) ### Rights statement An archive's note on an item's copyright status, such as the Library of Congress's 'No known restrictions on publication' or 'Rights status not evaluated'. It is the archive's best knowledge, not a licence. Also: no known restrictions. ### NASA media guidelines NASA's rules for its images: generally not copyrighted in the US, credit NASA, don't imply endorsement, don't use the NASA insignia or logotype, and ask before using identifiable astronauts or staff in ads. [Using NASA images](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules) · [reference](https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/) ### Licence verdict Image Asset Server's one-word answer to 'can this be used commercially?': yes, yes with credit, restricted, needs a paid licence or releases, unclear (check the terms) or no. Decided the same way for every source. [Image licences explained](https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences) ### Uploader-asserted licence A licence chosen by whoever uploaded the file, which the site does not verify. Such licences are capped at 'check the terms' here. ## Tools ### Image set The images one page, deck or post needs, one per slot (a hero, three icons, a background). The image set builder picks one image per slot with alternatives and writes the credits. Also: slot list. [Image set builder](https://image.shep.bot/build) ### Figure and caption HTML's <figure> and <figcaption> elements: the natural place for an image's credit line on a web page. credits.html from the image set builder writes them for you. Also: figcaption. ### MCP (Model Context Protocol) An open protocol that lets AI assistants call tools on a server. Image Asset Server's MCP endpoint gives agents search_images, get_image, build_image_set and list_sources. [Coding agents & MCP](https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp) · [reference](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/glossary --- # Free image collections > Curated collections of free images (nature photos, public-domain art, space, old maps and photographs, icons and textures) from many image sites, with a licence verdict on every image, refreshed daily (last change 2026-11-04). Each collection is a saved search; agents can run the same search with `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/search`. ## Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife [All nature images](https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature.md) - [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. - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. ## Free public-domain art: paintings and prints [All art](https://image.shep.bot/collections/art.md) - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. ## Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth [All space & science](https://image.shep.bot/collections/space.md) - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters](https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos.md): Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. - [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. ## Free historical images: old photos and maps [All history & archives](https://image.shep.bot/collections/history.md) - [Vintage city photos: streets of the past](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-city-photographs.md): Free vintage photographs of city streets, buildings and daily life from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons, with each archive's rights shown. - [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. ## Free icons, vectors and textures for design [All icons & design assets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/design.md) - [Free paper textures and backgrounds](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds.md): Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections --- # Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife > Free nature photos and illustrations: mountains, lakes, oceans, forests, flowers and wildlife, from public-domain and Creative Commons collections. Nature pictures carry websites, slides and book covers: a misty lake behind a headline, a close-up of leaves on a wellness page, a fox on a children's worksheet. These collections group free nature images by what they show, from Wikimedia Commons, Openverse's Creative Commons index, NASA's Earth photos and the museums' natural-history prints, with links to Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay for anything they don't have. Every card shows the image's size and shape and says whether you can use it commercially. Updated 2026-11-04. ## Collections - [Free 4K nature photos: mountains, lakes, coasts](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-4k-nature-photos.md): 23 images from 4 sources. 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. - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): 35 images from 3 sources. Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. ## Choosing a nature image Pick the shape first: a wide landscape for a hero or a slide, a tall one for a poster or a phone screen. Leave room for text: skies, water and out-of-focus backgrounds take a headline well, busy foliage does not. For print, check the pixel size: a full A4 page at 300 dpi needs about 2480 × 3508 pixels. ## Where free nature images come from Wikimedia Commons holds millions of nature photos with a licence recorded per file. Openverse indexes Creative Commons photos from Flickr and other sites. Museums such as the Met and the Cleveland Museum of Art publish public-domain natural-history prints and paintings. Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay have large modern libraries; they can't be searched automatically here, so each search links straight to the same query there. ## Licences for nature images Landscapes rarely need releases, which makes nature one of the safest kinds of image to use commercially. Check the licence itself: CC0 and public-domain images need nothing, CC BY needs a credit line, and CC BY-SA means an edited version must carry the same licence. Recognisable people or private buildings can still need releases for ads. ## Questions **Are free nature photos safe to use in ads?** Usually, if the licence allows commercial use: landscapes, skies and plants don't need model releases. Watch for people, logos or private buildings in the picture, which can need a release for advertising. **How big should a nature photo be for a website hero?** About 1920 pixels wide covers most screens; 2560 or more looks sharp on large high-density displays. Download the smallest copy that is at least that wide rather than a huge original. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. ## Other kinds - [Free public-domain art: paintings and prints](https://image.shep.bot/collections/art.md) - [Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth](https://image.shep.bot/collections/space.md) - [Free historical images: old photos and maps](https://image.shep.bot/collections/history.md) - [Free icons, vectors and textures for design](https://image.shep.bot/collections/design.md) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature --- # Free public-domain art: paintings and prints > Free public-domain art from museum open-access collections: paintings, Japanese prints, botanical drawings and engravings, released as CC0 by the museums. Museums have released millions of photographs of public-domain works under CC0: you can print a Van Gogh on a tote bag, put a Hokusai wave on a book cover or use a 19th-century botanical plate on a packaging design without asking anyone. These collections gather that art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art, searched directly, with Wikimedia Commons and Openverse filling the gaps. Every card shows the museum, the year and the licence. Updated 2026-11-03. ## Collections - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): 36 images from 6 sources. Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): 36 images from 4 sources. Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): 36 images from 4 sources. Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. ## What open access means When a work's copyright has expired (in most countries 70 years after the artist died), museums that photograph it can release the photograph under CC0. The Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art do this for hundreds of thousands of works and offer the files at print resolution. Works still in copyright stay out of these collections. ## Using museum images well Crop and recolour freely: CC0 has no conditions. A credit line ('Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1887. The Metropolitan Museum of Art') is good manners and helps your readers. Use the largest file for print: museum originals often run to 4000 pixels or more, and the Cleveland Museum of Art also offers full-resolution TIFFs. ## Questions **Can I sell prints of public-domain paintings?** Yes, when the museum releases the image as CC0 or public domain, as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art do for their open-access works. Check the verdict on each image: works still in copyright are not included. **Do I have to credit the museum?** Not for CC0 images, but museums ask for it and it helps readers find the original. A line with the artist, title, date and museum is enough. ## 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. - [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. ## Other kinds - [Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife](https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature.md) - [Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth](https://image.shep.bot/collections/space.md) - [Free historical images: old photos and maps](https://image.shep.bot/collections/history.md) - [Free icons, vectors and textures for design](https://image.shep.bot/collections/design.md) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/art --- # Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth > Free space and science images from NASA and open archives: planets, nebulae, galaxies, Earth from orbit, rockets and astronauts, with NASA's credit rules shown. NASA is the largest free source of space pictures: Hubble and Webb views of galaxies and nebulae, the planets from passing probes, Earth from the International Space Station, rockets on the pad and astronauts at work. These collections group them by subject, with Wikimedia Commons adding images from other agencies and observatories. Every card shows the image's size and the credit NASA asks for. Updated 2026-11-03. ## Collections - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): 15 images from 2 sources. Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters](https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos.md): 28 images from 2 sources. Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. - [Hubble and Webb space images: galaxies, nebulae](https://image.shep.bot/collections/hubble-space-images.md): 36 images from 3 sources. 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. ## NASA's rules, briefly NASA images are generally not copyrighted in the US and may be used commercially with credit. Don't use the NASA insignia or logotype as part of your branding, don't suggest NASA endorses you, and ask before identifiable astronauts or staff appear in an ad. That is why NASA images carry an editorial flag here. Images credited to partners such as ESA or a university may belong to them: those say 'check the terms'. ## Photos, composites and illustrations Many space pictures are composites of several exposures, colourised from invisible wavelengths, or artist's concepts of things no camera has seen. They are labelled as illustrations where the source says so. For a science article, say which it is in the caption. ## Questions **Can I use NASA images on a product?** Usually yes, with credit, as long as the NASA logo isn't on it and nothing suggests NASA endorses the product. Check images credited to other organisations, which may be copyrighted by them. **Why do some galaxy images look different from others?** Telescopes see different wavelengths: Hubble mostly visible light, Webb infrared, Chandra X-rays. The colours are mapped to what the eye can see, so the same object can look very different. ## 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. ## Other kinds - [Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife](https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature.md) - [Free public-domain art: paintings and prints](https://image.shep.bot/collections/art.md) - [Free historical images: old photos and maps](https://image.shep.bot/collections/history.md) - [Free icons, vectors and textures for design](https://image.shep.bot/collections/design.md) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/space --- # Free historical images: old photos and maps > Free historical images from the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons and museums: vintage photographs, antique maps, posters and prints, with rights shown. Archives hold the pictures that make a history article, a documentary slide or a vintage-styled design: street scenes from a century ago, hand-coloured maps, travel posters and magazine covers. These collections gather them from the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons and the museums. Old does not always mean free, so every card shows the rights statement the archive gives. Updated 2026-11-03. ## Collections - [Vintage city photos: streets of the past](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-city-photographs.md): 1 image from 1 sources. Free vintage photographs of city streets, buildings and daily life from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons, with each archive's rights shown. - [Vintage maps: free antique maps and atlases](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-maps.md): 6 images from 2 sources. 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. ## Reading archive rights statements The Library of Congress marks many photographs 'No known restrictions on publication': you can use them freely, and crediting the collection is a courtesy. Others say 'Rights status not evaluated' or 'Publication may be restricted': those are shown as 'check the terms', because a photographer's estate or a publisher may still hold rights. ## Maps and posters Maps published before about 1930 are public domain in the US and make striking backgrounds and illustrations. Posters and advertisements of the same age often are too, but trademarks in them (a brand name or logo) can still matter if you use them commercially. ## Questions **Is every old photograph in the public domain?** No. In the US, works published before 1930 are public domain, but unpublished photographs and later ones may still be in copyright. Use the archive's rights statement, shown on each image. **How do I credit the Library of Congress?** A line such as 'Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division' with the item's link is what the library suggests. It is a courtesy for items with no known restrictions. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): 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. ## Other kinds - [Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife](https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature.md) - [Free public-domain art: paintings and prints](https://image.shep.bot/collections/art.md) - [Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth](https://image.shep.bot/collections/space.md) - [Free icons, vectors and textures for design](https://image.shep.bot/collections/design.md) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/history --- # Free icons, vectors and textures for design > Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets, plus vectors, textures and backgrounds, with the licence of every set and file shown and transparent files marked. Interface and slide design runs on small assets: icons for features and buttons, textures and gradients for backgrounds, cut-outs that sit on any colour. These collections gather open-source icon sets through Iconify (over 200,000 icons from Material Design, Tabler, Phosphor and more), SVG drawings from Wikimedia Commons, and textures from open collections. Every card says whether the file is a vector and whether its background is transparent. Updated 2026-11-03. ## Collections - [Free paper textures and backgrounds](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds.md): 14 images from 1 sources. Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): 14 images from 1 sources. Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. ## Icon licences Open-source icon sets use software licences: MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC or the SIL Open Font License. All allow commercial use in apps and websites. MIT, Apache and ISC ask you to keep the licence notice with copies you distribute, which for a website or app usually means listing the set in your open-source notices. A few sets are CC BY and need a visible credit. ## SVG or PNG SVG is a vector format: it scales to any size, stays sharp on every screen and can be recoloured with CSS. Use it for icons and logos-style graphics. PNG is a bitmap: pick it for cut-out photos with a transparent background, at the size you'll show them. ## Questions **Can I use open-source icons in a commercial app?** Yes. MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC and OFL icon sets allow commercial use; keep the set's licence notice with your app's third-party notices. Check the licence shown on each icon, since a few sets need a visible credit. **How do I change an SVG icon's colour?** Iconify icons use currentColor, so they take the text colour of the element they sit in. Set color in CSS, or replace the fill in the file. ## 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. - [Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: finding and using them](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons.md): Find free SVG icons and transparent cut-outs, check their licences (MIT, Apache, OFL, CC BY), and use them on any background, in any colour and size. ## Other kinds - [Free nature photos: landscapes and wildlife](https://image.shep.bot/collections/nature.md) - [Free public-domain art: paintings and prints](https://image.shep.bot/collections/art.md) - [Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth](https://image.shep.bot/collections/space.md) - [Free historical images: old photos and maps](https://image.shep.bot/collections/history.md) --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/design --- # Free 4K nature photos: mountains, lakes, coasts > 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. 23 images from 4 sources (Wikimedia Commons 14, NASA Image and Video Library 7, Cleveland Museum of Art 1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1), updated 2026-11-04. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=landscape&category=nature&min_resolution=2160 - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=landscape&category=nature&min_resolution=2160"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Landscapes at full size These are nature photos with at least 2160 pixels on the short side: wide enough for a desktop wallpaper, a full-bleed hero image or an A4 print. Most come from Wikimedia Commons, where photographers upload originals straight from their cameras, and from Creative Commons photos that Openverse indexes from Flickr. ## Using them Download the size you need rather than the original: a 1920 px copy is plenty for a website and loads far faster. Leave space for text where the picture has it (a calm sky, still water), and check the shape: a wide panorama crops badly to a phone screen. Licences vary per photo. CC0 and public-domain images need nothing; CC BY needs the credit line shown in the detail view; CC BY-SA means an edited version must carry the same licence. Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay have more modern nature photography and are linked from every search. ## Questions **Are these photos free for commercial use?** Each card shows its verdict. Search with Commercial-safe on to keep only CC0, public-domain and CC BY images; CC BY ones need the credit line shown on the image. **Why 4K?** A short side of 2160 pixels or more covers a large screen, leaves room to crop for a hero or a slide, and prints sharply at A4. Download a smaller copy for the web. ## Related collections - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [Free paper textures and backgrounds](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds.md): Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-4k-nature-photos --- # Free flower photos and plant pictures > Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. 35 images from 3 sources (NASA Image and Video Library 14, Wikimedia Commons 14, Openverse 7), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=flower&category=nature.plants - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=flower&category=nature.plants"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Flowers and plants, photographed Botanists, gardeners and photographers have uploaded hundreds of thousands of plant photos to Wikimedia Commons, many identified down to the species, and Flickr's Creative Commons photos add more through Openverse. These pages collect flowers in bloom, close-ups of petals and leaves, and potted and garden plants. ## Tips Close-ups with soft backgrounds work as section images and social posts; whole plants against plain backgrounds can be cut out for packaging and catalogues. Search for the plant's name, common or Latin, for better matches than a general word: "Tulipa", "monstera" or "lavender field". Every image shows its licence. Most are CC BY or CC BY-SA, so keep the credit line with the image. ## Questions **Can I use flower photos on product packaging?** Yes, when the verdict is green: flowers need no releases. Credit CC BY photos where the licence asks, for example on the packaging's side panel or the product page. **Where do I find flower illustrations rather than photos?** See the botanical illustrations collection: public-domain plates from museum and library collections, many of them hand-coloured. ## Related collections - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. - [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. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos --- # Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings > Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. 36 images from 6 sources (Library of Congress 9, Wikimedia Commons 9, Art Institute of Chicago 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 6, Cleveland Museum of Art 5, NASA Image and Video Library 1), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=botanical+illustration&style=drawing - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=botanical+illustration&style=drawing"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Plants, drawn for science Before photography, botanists relied on artists: Redouté's roses and lilies, the Curtis's Botanical Magazine plates, Japanese and Chinese flower paintings, and countless herbals with hand-coloured engravings. They are accurate, decorative and almost all in the public domain. These pages collect botanical drawings and prints from the museums' open-access collections and from Wikimedia Commons, where libraries such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library have uploaded whole volumes. ## Using them Botanical plates work for packaging, wedding stationery, wallpaper and textile patterns, wellness and food brands. Download the largest file for print and keep a note of the book or museum it came from: a credit such as *Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Les Roses, 1817* is appreciated even when it isn't required. ## Questions **Are vintage botanical prints free to use?** Plates published more than a century ago are public domain, and the scans from museums and Wikimedia Commons are mostly CC0 or public domain. Check the verdict on each image. **Can I remove the background from a botanical plate?** Yes, for public-domain and CC0 images. Many plates have plain paper backgrounds that are easy to remove for packaging and patterns. ## Related collections - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations --- # Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free > Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. 36 images from 4 sources (Wikimedia Commons 13, Art Institute of Chicago 10, Cleveland Museum of Art 8, Library of Congress 5), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Pictures of the floating world Ukiyo-e, the woodblock prints of Edo-period Japan, show landscapes, actors, courtesans, travellers and waves in flat colour and bold line. Their designers (Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Kuniyoshi) shaped Western art and design, and their prints have long been in the public domain. These pages collect prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art, all released under CC0, with more on Wikimedia Commons. ## Using them Flat colour and strong outlines make these prints work as posters, book covers, backgrounds and patterns, and they survive heavy cropping. Download the original for print: many museum scans show the paper's texture, which looks good at large sizes. ## Questions **Is Hokusai's Great Wave free to use?** Impressions held by museums with open access, such as the Met and the Art Institute of Chicago, are released as CC0 and free to use commercially. The verdict on each image confirms it. **Why are there several versions of the same print?** Woodblock prints were made in editions. Museums hold different impressions, with different colours and wear, and each is photographed separately. ## Related collections - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. - [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. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints --- # Public-domain Impressionist paintings > Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. 36 images from 4 sources (Wikimedia Commons 13, Art Institute of Chicago 11, Openverse 11, Library of Congress 1), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=impressionism&category=art.painting - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=impressionism&category=art.painting"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Light, colour and everyday life The Impressionists painted outdoors and quickly, in broken colour: water lilies, haystacks, boulevards, dancers and riverside picnics. Their copyrights expired long ago, and the museums that hold the paintings now release their photographs under CC0. These pages gather works by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Morisot, Degas and the Post-Impressionists who followed (Van Gogh, Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin) from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art, with Wikimedia Commons scans from other collections. ## Using them CC0 has no conditions: crop details, print them, use them on packaging or in an ad. A caption with the artist, title, year and museum is good practice and helps readers. For print, download the original; for the web, a 1600 px copy. ## Questions **Can I print Monet or Van Gogh on products?** Yes, for images the museum releases as CC0, as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art do. Their verdict here is 'Commercial use OK'. **How large are the files?** Museum originals are usually 3000 to 6000 pixels across, enough for a poster. The Cleveland Museum of Art also offers full-resolution TIFFs. ## Related collections - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings --- # Earth from space: free photos from orbit > Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. 15 images from 2 sources (Wikimedia Commons 14, NASA Image and Video Library 1), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=earth+from+space&category=space.earth - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=earth+from+space&category=space.earth"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## The planet from above Astronauts on the International Space Station photograph Earth every day: coastlines, deserts, hurricanes, auroras and the lights of cities at night. NASA's satellites add whole-planet composites such as the Blue Marble, and the Apollo missions took the first photos of Earth from deep space. These pages collect them from the NASA Image and Video Library and Wikimedia Commons. ## Using them Earth-from-orbit photos are among the most useful space images for design: no people or logos, dramatic colour, and space around the subject for text. Credit NASA (or the crew photographer, such as *NASA/ISS Expedition 70*), and avoid using them in a way that implies NASA endorses your product. ## Questions **Is the Blue Marble photo free to use?** Yes. NASA's Blue Marble images are US government works; credit NASA and don't imply endorsement. **Which images show Earth at night?** Search 'earth at night' or 'city lights': astronauts on the ISS photograph cities, and NASA's Black Marble composites show the whole planet. ## Related collections - [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. - [Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters](https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos.md): Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. - [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. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos --- # Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters > Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. 28 images from 2 sources (NASA Image and Video Library 14, Wikimedia Commons 14), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=mars+surface&category=space.planets - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=mars+surface&category=space.planets"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Another planet's landscapes NASA's rovers (Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance) and orbiters such as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have sent back hundreds of thousands of pictures: dunes, layered rock, craters, dust devils and the rovers' own tracks. These pages collect Mars photos from the NASA Image and Video Library and Wikimedia Commons, including panoramas stitched from many frames. ## Using them Credit the image as given, usually *NASA/JPL-Caltech* plus the camera team. Panoramas can be very wide: crop a section for a hero image or a slide. Some images are artist's concepts of the rovers at work rather than photos; they are labelled as illustrations. ## Questions **Can I use Mars rover photos commercially?** NASA images are generally free to use with credit, for example 'NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS', as long as you don't imply NASA endorsement. **Are Mars photos in true colour?** Some are approximate true colour; many are white-balanced to look like Earth daylight so geologists can compare rocks. The caption on the source page says which. ## Related collections - [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. - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [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. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos --- # Hubble and Webb space images: galaxies, nebulae > 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. 36 images from 3 sources (NASA Image and Video Library 12, Openverse 12, Wikimedia Commons 12), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=hubble+nebula&category=space - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=hubble+nebula&category=space"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## The universe in detail Since 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope has photographed nebulae, galaxies and star clusters in detail no ground telescope could reach, and since 2022 the James Webb Space Telescope has added infrared views. NASA publishes the images on its library, many at several thousand pixels across. These pages collect telescope images from the NASA Image and Video Library and Wikimedia Commons: the Pillars of Creation, the Crab Nebula, the Carina Nebula, spiral galaxies and deep fields. ## Using them Credit the image as NASA gives it, for example *NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team*. Don't use the NASA logo or suggest endorsement. Deep-space images contain no people or brands, so they make safe backgrounds for slides, posters and book covers, but check partner credits before commercial use. ## Questions **Are Hubble images free to use commercially?** NASA Hubble images may be used with credit, without implying NASA endorsement. Images credited to ESA or STScI partners can have their own terms, shown here as 'check the terms'. **Are the colours real?** They are mapped from what the telescope recorded, often including infrared or ultraviolet light the eye can't see. They show real structure, in representative colour. ## Related collections - [Earth from space: free photos from orbit](https://image.shep.bot/collections/earth-from-space-photos.md): Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA. - [Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters](https://image.shep.bot/collections/mars-photos.md): Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits. - [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. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/hubble-space-images --- # Vintage city photos: streets of the past > Free vintage photographs of city streets, buildings and daily life from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons, with each archive's rights shown. 1 image from 1 sources (Cleveland Museum of Art 1), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=city+street&category=archive - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=city+street&category=archive"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Cities as they were Street scenes from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s: horse-drawn carts and the first cars, market stalls, construction of skyscrapers, flooded streets and parades. The Library of Congress holds the largest public collection, from the Detroit Publishing Company's postcards to the Farm Security Administration's photographers, and Wikimedia Commons adds city archives from around the world. ## Using them Black-and-white archive photos work for history articles, timelines, packaging with a heritage feel and documentary slides. Read the rights statement: items marked *No known restrictions on publication* are free to use; *Rights status not evaluated* and *Publication may be restricted* need checking first. ## Questions **Can I use old photographs of people in an ad?** Even when the photo's copyright has expired, using a recognisable person to promote something can raise publicity-rights questions. For ads, prefer street scenes where nobody is identifiable. **What does 'Rights status not evaluated' mean?** The Library of Congress hasn't checked the copyright. The image may well be free, but it is shown as 'check the terms' until you have verified it. ## Related collections - [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. - [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. - [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-city-photographs --- # Vintage maps: free antique maps and atlases > 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. 6 images from 2 sources (Wikimedia Commons 5, Library of Congress 1), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=old+map&category=archive.map - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=old+map&category=archive.map"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Maps as pictures Old maps are history, design and decoration at once: hand-coloured world maps with sea monsters, bird's-eye city views, nautical charts and railway maps. The Library of Congress has digitised hundreds of thousands, and Wikimedia Commons holds many more from libraries around the world. ## Using them Crop details for backgrounds, book covers, game art and wall prints. Map scans are often enormous: download the original for print, a 1920 px copy for the web. Check the rights statement on Library of Congress items: most old maps say *No known restrictions on publication*, shown here as free to use. A credit to the collection is a courtesy, and helps readers find the full map. ## Questions **Are old maps in the public domain?** Maps published in the US before 1930 are public domain, as are most older maps worldwide. The Library of Congress shows a rights statement on each; Wikimedia Commons records a licence per file. **How large are map scans?** Library and museum scans are often very large, sometimes over 10,000 pixels across, so you can crop a single district for a background or a print. ## Related collections - [Vintage city photos: streets of the past](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-city-photographs.md): Free vintage photographs of city streets, buildings and daily life from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons, with each archive's rights shown. - [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown. - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-maps --- # Free paper textures and backgrounds > Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. 14 images from 1 sources (Wikimedia Commons 14), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=paper+texture&category=background - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=paper+texture&category=background"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## Surfaces for design Texture adds warmth to flat design: aged paper behind a recipe, a wood grain under a product shot, linen behind a wedding invitation, concrete behind a tech headline. These pages collect photographed textures and backgrounds from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse. ## Using them Lower the contrast or blend the texture with a colour so text stays readable. For repeating patterns, check whether the image tiles seamlessly, or mirror it at the edges. Download a size that matches the area: a small texture stretched across a 4K screen looks soft. For 3D work, physically based material sets with normal and roughness maps are on the sister site 3d.shep.bot. ## Questions **What resolution should a background texture be?** At least as large as the area it fills: about 1920 pixels wide for a full-width web section, more for print. Seamless textures can be tiled at a smaller size. **Are 3D material textures here too?** PBR textures for 3D (with normal and roughness maps) are on 3d.shep.bot, the sister site for 3D assets. ## Related collections - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. - [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. - [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds --- # Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets > Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. 14 images from 1 sources (Iconify 14), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily. - Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=home&category=icons - Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=home&category=icons"` - Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below. - Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md - Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites. ## One search over 200 icon sets Iconify collects over 200,000 icons from about 200 open-source sets: Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide, Remix, Carbon, Font Awesome Free and many more. Each icon is a clean SVG that scales to any size and takes your text colour. This page shows icons for a common word; search for your own ("upload icon", "rocket", "weather") to find matching symbols across every set at once, and compare styles side by side: outline, filled, duotone, rounded. ## Using them Download the SVG from the detail view, or reference Iconify's file URL directly in your build. Stick to one set within an interface so stroke widths and corner radii match. Check the licence shown on each icon: most sets are MIT or Apache 2.0, a few are CC BY. ## Questions **Do I need to credit open-source icons?** MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC and OFL icon sets don't need a visible credit: keep the set's licence notice with your app's or site's third-party notices. CC BY sets need a visible credit. **Can I recolour the icons?** Yes. Iconify SVGs use currentColor, so they follow the text colour you set in CSS, and the licences allow modification. ## Related collections - [Free paper textures and backgrounds](https://image.shep.bot/collections/paper-textures-backgrounds.md): Free paper, wood, stone and fabric textures and backgrounds for designs, slides and web pages, from open collections, with sizes and licence verdicts. - [Free flower photos and plant pictures](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-flower-photos.md): Free photos of flowers and plants, from tulips and roses to cacti and ferns, from Wikimedia Commons and Openverse, with licence verdicts and credit lines. - [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. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons --- # About Image Asset Server **Image Asset Server** (https://image.shep.bot) is a free search engine and API for openly licensed images. One query searches NASA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Iconify and Openverse directly, and links into Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Flickr, the Smithsonian, the paid stock libraries and other sites that can't be searched automatically. It returns photos, public-domain art, maps and posters, illustrations, SVG vectors and icons as one grid: a thumbnail at the image's own shape, its pixel size, and a plain verdict on whether you can use it commercially. It exists because finding a usable image usually means opening a dozen tabs, searching one site at a time, and then reading licences that were written for something else. Image Asset Server does that comparison once and puts the answer next to the image. ## Who it is for - **Designers, writers and teachers** who need a hero photo, a public-domain painting, an old map or a set of icons now, in the right shape and size, with a licence they can publish under. - **AI agents** (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Codex and others) that build sites, apps, slides and documents and need to find, vet and fetch images on their own. The service is an [MCP server](https://image.shep.bot/docs/mcp) and has an [agent guide](https://image.shep.bot/AGENTS.md). - **Developers** who call the [REST API](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api) or the [CLI](https://image.shep.bot/docs/cli) from scripts, static-site builds and content pipelines. ## Who runs it Image Asset Server is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence and developed in the open at [github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server](https://github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server). The public instance runs on Shep's infrastructure ([shep.bot](https://shep.bot)) as a free, non-commercial service: no accounts, no ads, no paid tier. Anyone can [self-host](https://image.shep.bot/docs/self-hosting) their own copy. ## How it treats sources and licences - **No image passes through this server.** Images belong to their creators and stay where they are. Thumbnails, previews and the detail view load straight from the source's servers, downloads are redirects to the source's files, and the server only adds what it writes itself: search results, licence verdicts and credit files. - **Licences come first.** Every result shows its licence, who stated it, a verdict on commercial use and an editorial flag when people, insignia or brands appear without releases, decided by one set of rules for every source ([how verdicts work](https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences)). When a licence is unclear or only asserted by an uploader, the result says so instead of guessing. - **Polite access.** The server identifies itself with a descriptive User-Agent, caches responses, deduplicates identical requests and gives every source its own timeout. Sites whose terms don't allow automated search or aggregation (Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay and others) are never scraped; they only get a deep link to their own search. See [Sources & licences](https://image.shep.bot/docs/sources) for the full list, [Privacy](https://image.shep.bot/privacy) for what the service records, and [Contact](https://image.shep.bot/contact) to reach the maintainers. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/about --- # Free images in numbers Counted 2026-11-04 (daily). Machine-readable: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/catalog` (same as https://image.shep.bot/catalog.json; daily history at https://image.shep.bot/catalog-history.json). "+" marks lower bounds. ## Totals - Image listings: 140,352,833+ from 8 counted sources (a listing is one image record on its source) - Free: 140,352,833+ - CC0 / public domain: 11,288 - Free with direct download links from the source: 140,352,833+ - Released in the last 30 days (sources that date their listings): 0 ## By category - History & archives: 1,133,163 - Icons & symbols: 464,444 - Art: 100,866 ## By source | Source | Listings | Free | Mostly | New (30 days) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Openverse](https://openverse.org) | 915,519,784 | 915,519,784 | – | – | | [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org) | 138,114,435 | 138,114,435 | – | – | | [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/photos/) | 1,133,163 | 1,133,163 | History & archives 1,133,163 | – | | [Iconify](https://iconify.design) | 464,444 | 464,444 | Icons & symbols 464,444 | – | | [The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org) | 371,316 | 371,316 | – | – | | [NASA Image and Video Library](https://images.nasa.gov) | 168,609+ | 168,609 | – | – | | [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu) | 59,060 | 59,060 | Art 59,060 | – | | [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://www.clevelandart.org) | 41,806 | 41,806 | Art 41,806 | – | ## Live usage Searches, image views, downloads, MCP tool calls and per-source health change every minute: read them from `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/stats` (schema `Stats` in https://image.shep.bot/openapi.json). Counts are anonymous totals: no search terms, IP addresses or user agents. ## Recently added sources - [Adobe Stock](https://stock.adobe.com) (`adobestock`), added 2026-11-03 - [Alamy](https://www.alamy.com) (`alamy`), added 2026-11-03 - [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu) (`artic`), added 2026-11-03 - [Burst (Shopify)](https://burst.shopify.com) (`burst`), added 2026-11-03 - [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://www.clevelandart.org) (`cleveland`), added 2026-11-03 - [Europeana](https://www.europeana.eu) (`europeana`), added 2026-11-03 All sources: https://image.shep.bot/docs/sources.md --- # Contact Image Asset Server is maintained in the open on GitHub. There is no support email or phone line: GitHub is the fastest way to reach the people who run it. ## Support and bug reports Open an issue at [github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server/issues](https://github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server/issues). Helpful details: the search query or image id (for example `nasa:PIA03606`), the URL or MCP tool you called, what you expected and what happened. For API problems, include the response status and body. For an image that won't load, say which browser you used. ## Security Please do not open a public issue for a vulnerability. Report it privately through GitHub's security advisories at [github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server/security/advisories/new](https://github.com/arielshad/image-asset-server/security/advisories/new). You will get an acknowledgement, and fixes are released as soon as they are ready. ## Image sites and licences If you run one of the sites the service searches or links to and want your source changed, rate-limited further or removed, or if a licence or verdict is shown incorrectly, open an issue with the image id or source name. Requests from site owners are handled first. Images are never hosted here, so questions about using a specific image go to its creator on the source site. If you are a creator and believe a image of yours appears under the wrong licence on a source site, contact that site first: Image Asset Server shows what the source states, and will mark or hide the result once the source corrects it. ## Partnerships and integrations Building something on top of the API or the MCP server, or want your image library added as a source? Open an issue describing the integration. Sources are searched directly only when their terms allow automated search and the integration passes the test suite against the live site; the others get deep links. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/contact --- # Privacy Image Asset Server has no accounts, no sign-up, no advertising and no cookies. This page explains what the public service at https://image.shep.bot records and why. ## What the service records - **Search events.** For each search the server writes a log line with the search text, the filters, the number of results, which interface was used (website, API or MCP) and a coarse client family derived from the User-Agent (for example "browser", "curl" or "claude-code"). It does not put your IP address, API key or any cookie in these lines. They are used to improve ranking, to find searches that return nothing and to choose topics for the [collections](https://image.shep.bot/collections). Logs are deleted after a short retention period. A collection page never shows who searched or how often. - **Aggregate metrics.** Counters such as searches per minute, downloads per source, page views per page and per-source error rates. They contain no search text and no personal data. Their totals are public on the [statistics](https://image.shep.bot/stats) page. - **Which AI tools use the MCP server.** For MCP requests the server records the name and version the AI tool declares when it connects (for example "claude-code 2") and, where configured, a network category (an AI company's cloud, a cloud provider or an internet provider) looked up locally from your IP address. The address itself is not stored or logged. To count distinct callers per day, the server keeps a one-way hash of your IP address and User-Agent in memory, mixed with a random value that is replaced every day and never saved. - **Request logs.** Like any website, the hosting infrastructure keeps standard request logs (which include IP addresses and User-Agents) for security and operations, for a limited time. - **Rate limiting.** To keep the free service fair, the server counts requests per client IP address in memory for one minute at a time. These counters are never written to disk. ## Website visit counts If the operator configures it, the website loads a self-hosted [Umami](https://umami.is) script, which counts page views without cookies: the page address, the referring site, browser, operating system, device type, screen size, language and an approximate country. Before anything is sent, the page strips everything except `utm_*` tags from addresses, so what you search for is never part of it. If your browser sends Do Not Track, nothing is sent, and blocking the script does not break the site. No analytics company such as Google receives anything. ## If you run it yourself When you run Image Asset Server on your own machine or server (from source, with the `ghcr.io/arielshad/image-asset-server` Docker image, or as a local MCP server), **telemetry is off by default**. It is only sent if you opt in by setting `IMAGE_SERVER_TELEMETRY=1` (and a telemetry website id). Then it sends anonymous event counts only: one per search, image lookup, download and MCP tool call, with fixed labels (interface, client family, source, category filter, outcome, version and operating system). Never what you search for, image ids, file paths, URLs, API keys or your machine's name. `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` always turns it off. ## What stays in your browser The website stores two optional preferences in your browser's local storage: your light/dark theme choice and, only on self-hosted servers that require one, the API key you entered. The API key is sent only to the same server, in a request header. ## Third parties you contact - **Thumbnails, previews and the detail view** load directly from the image sites (NASA, the museums, Wikimedia Commons, Iconify, Openverse and others), so those sites see your IP address while you browse. No image passes through this server. - **Downloads** are redirects to the file on the source's servers. Credit files (ATTRIBUTION.md, credits.json, and the zip that holds them) are written by this server and contain no image. - **Links** to source pages and to linked searches (such as Pexels, Pixabay or Shutterstock) take you to those sites, which have their own privacy policies. ## Your choices and contact Because no account or profile exists, there is nothing to export or delete for an individual visitor beyond the time-limited logs above. Questions or requests: see [Contact](https://image.shep.bot/contact). This policy may change as the service evolves; the current version always lives at https://image.shep.bot/privacy. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/privacy