Public Domain and Free Images

Using Public Domain Images

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Public domain images are great for making money. There are so many unique ways to use them, especially when you get into classic paintings and other various forms of artwork. Remember I have told you throughout this book that not only do you have the rights re-use public domain material you can also modify and recreate it, which is what really makes these images valuable, here are some ideas:

Creating posters of famous art works is an excellent way to capitalize on public domain images. To do this you can take a nice picture of perhaps a classic painting and have it blown up into a beautiful poster or piece of framed art that would be a nice addition to anyone's home. This type of wall art is very popular and can be sold through many venues. Some places to consider selling this type of work would be online auctions, your own website, online art gallery web sites and of course physical brick and mortar stores, either your own store or sell it on consignment in someone else's. If done professionally these recreated works can sometimes bring high dollar sales from potential customers and art enthusiasts.
A cheaper yet still effective method of refusing these works would be to create wallpapers and screensavers for peoples computers. You can quickly turn an image into a screensaver with various image programs, and sell them online through your own website. You may also consider saving several of them to a disk and selling it on eBay for even higher profits.
A more expensive method would be to build a large collection of public domain images and put them into a professionally created coffee table book. This is not an idea for a part timer, as there are many costs and marketing efforts required to make this work, however the end reward can be great. If you were able to get in with a publisher willing to work with you on this, your book could be sold through every major bookstore in the world.
Use public domain images in your own personal projects, such as newsletters and web sites to make them stand out from everyone else's. You are not directly making a profit from the works themselves, but by dressing up your own work you appear more professional and stand to increase your income.
You can work hand in hand with a screen printer to place these images on t-shirts, coffee cups, business cards and anything else you can think of, then market them through online and off line venues, for substantial profits.