The National Portrait Gallery in London now provides free downloads of a large range of images from its Collection for academic and non-commercial projects. Over 53,000 low-resolution images are now available free of charge to non-commercial users through a standard Creative Commons license. In addition, over 87,000 high-resolution images are also free for academic use through the Gallery’s own licenses (note: some may incur fees based on particular uses in print). Click here for more information about the Gallery’s Academic License.
To download an image, choose Use this image beneath the image thumbnail. The subsequent screen allows the user to choose one of three licensing agreements dependent on how the image will be used. Each spells out how large the image will be, how it can be used, and any potential cost. Don’t be surprised that images still under copyright cannot be used under one or more licenses.