One way to add meaning to your poster is to use images.

You can find images on the web but you should be concerned with using images legally and ethically. Use the resources to the right to locate free and reusable images. 

You can legally use photos in four ways:

1. find photos that are licensed as Creative Commons (flickr),
2. ask permission from the photographer,
3. buy your photos from a stock photo site (e.g. iStock) or
4. take your own photos.

Generally speaking, photos as background images rarely look good. The image tends to overpower the text and make the poster hard to read. (If you must, you can fade out your image.) Instead, try using a background color or boxes to set off your text and images.

Citing Images

As with any sources for a research project, you must properly cite your images. Include as much of the information below when citing images in a paper and formal presentations. Apply the appropriate citation style (see below for APA, MLA examples).

Currently, citing images in PPT is a bit of the Wild West. If details aren't provided by an instructor, there are a number of ways to cite. What's most important is that if the image is not a free stock image, you give credit to the author for the work. Here are some options:

• Some sites, such as Creative Commons and Wikimedia, include the citation information with the image. Use that citation when available. Copy the citation and add under the image. For example, an image of a lake from Creative Commons has this citation next to it: "lake" by barnyz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
• Include a marker, such as Image 1. or Figure 1., and in the reference section, include full citation information with the corresponding number
• Include a complete citation (whatever the required format, such as APA) below the image
• Below the image, include the link to the online image location
• Hyperlink the title of the image with the online image location

Image Citation Resources:

Gather all content (images + text) before designing
 

Image Sources:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• https://www.google.com/advanced_image_search