Almost all bloggers depend on Flickr for their pictures. It’s only a few clicks to find the picture we want, but in reality it’s not that simple. There are some legal issues that all of us need to be aware of. Moreover, as Muslims, we need to remember that Allah is watching what we do. While this may seem like somewhat of a smaller issue – with the right intention, there’s no limit to the amount of Mercy Allah (swt) may have on you.

There are millions of pictures on Flickr that you can use legally in any blog post. Some you can just download, edit, and post without any problems. Other artists and photographers require that you leave the photo untouched and attribute the work to them. While others don’t want you to use their pictures for anything. With the exception of the last category, the first two fall under something called the Creative Commons License (a.k.a CC).

This post will be split into 3 parts:

1. Finding pictures

2. Understanding conditions

3. Using the pictures in your post

Finding Pictures

The very first thing you want to do is install a search engine that will allow you to search only the CC pictures on Flickr. The search engine goes right into your browser.

1) Go here and click the first link on the page that looks like this:

2) Once you do that, it will be installed in the upper right like this:

3) Click the Flickr CC and now you can search the Creative Commons pictures on Flickr:

Any picture that comes up when you search using this can be used in your blog. (Note: I know this works for Firefox. Let us know if it works for other browsers too.)

If for some reason you don’t want the convenience of a quick search or your using a browser that isn’t supported, then simply go to Flickr and do an advanced search. You will be looking towards the bottom for an area that looks like this:

Understanding Conditions

After finding the picture you want to use, look at the bar on the right and look for an area like this:

This area will give you a quick overview of the conditions set by the artist. You can hover your mouse over the icons to see what each individual icon means.

If you want more information (which I recommend if this is your first time) then click where it says “Some rights reserved”. Doing so will load a screen that looks like this or slightly different depending on each individual person:

In this case, you are allowed to use and change the photo in anyway you want under two conditions. The first is that you are not using it for commercial purposes. Second, you attribute the work to the author.

With time, you’ll never need to hover your mouse or click anything. With time, you’ll be able to quickly glance and know exactly what to do.

Using the Picture in Your Post

You’ve written your post and found the perfect pictures – now all you have to do is plug the photo into your post and, in the vast majority of cases, just place a link back to the photo. Look at the end of this post and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

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That’s it! It’s a much shorter and less complicated process than you imagine. I really encourage you to install the quick search plugin. I’ll link to it again here in case you didn’t do it earlier.

I also put together a short screencast to show how to find the photo you want and how quickly it can all be done.

(Pssst…look below)

(Photo: Franz Patzig)