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You can find icon libraries for just about any image you can think of. Sometimes, these icon libraries require a charge to use the icons; other times, they are free icon libraries where there is no cost associated. However, you always have to respect the rights of the creator of the icon, which is where the Royalty Free part comes in.
Are Royalty Free Icon Libraries Really Free?
There is a difference between free, meaning no cost, and royalty free, meaning that once an icon is licensed under a set of guidelines, the licensee is normally free to use the icon image without paying additional royalty charges. This is called a usage fee. As the person downloading the icon libraries for use, you will be the licensee and are bound by the terms of the contract. So, royalty free and free mean two different things. To make it easy for you to find free and paid icon libraries, the following list of icon libraries is separated into two groups. The first group is Royalty Free Icon Libraries For Free, where you will pay no actual charges to get a set of royalty free icons. The second group is called Royalty Free Icon Libraries For Paid Icons where you will be a licensee who pays a usage free for royalty free icons. It is always important to read the terms of use or license for each item you download, so you are clear on copyright and payment, if any, associated with icon libraries.
Royalty Free Icon Libraries For Free
Free Icons Download
If you are looking for free icon libraries, then you definitely need to check out http://www.freeiconsdownload.com/ where you can find a wide variety of free icons to suit your needs. You can choose from many different styles of icons in their free icon libraries for iPhones, Vista, social networking sites, and all your favorite social media. If you are looking for free icon libraries that offer royalty free icons, this is one of the most extensive websites out there for free downloads. These free icon libraries are composed of high quality, royalty free icons for Mac, Linux, and Windows in a wide variety of icon file formats including .gif, .bmp, and .png.
Ganato Design
Ganato Design is a freelance web and graphic design company that offers a large selection of free icons in their offerings of icon libraries. You can check out what this freelance web company has to offer and their free use license at http://www.ganato.com/free_icons/free_icons.php. Ganato Design offers several email, business, and web application icons free in their icon libraries. You may wonder why a professional designer would offer their icons for free. Often the free icon libraries are offered to familiarize you with an icon designer’s work, so you will consider having them create custom icons for you. Ganato Design goes one step further though; not only do they offer several different icon libraries, but you can also get free custom icon designs. Each month Ganato Design takes on a free design project. If you want custom icon designs for free, you can see if you meet the free project qualifications at the Ganato Design blog http://www.ganato.com/blog/terms-and-conditions/
MieNet’s Free Icon Libraries
MieNet Free Icon Libraries consist of thousands of free icons to download. Free icon library downloads from MieNet are available in two file formats. You can get your free icon libraries as .zip files or as .tpz files. The .tpz free icon libraries are compatible with TreePad™ database technology. If you are unfamiliar with icon libraries that use TreePad™, you can learn more about .tpz files at http://www.treepad.com
Royalty Free Icon Libraries For Paid Icons
Jupiter Images Unlimited
Jupiter Images is one of the icon libraries that requires payment to use their royalty free images libraries. In addition to icon libraries, Jupiter Images Unlimited is also one of the premier stock photo libraries on the web serving the graphic design community. You can find information on their services and icon libraries at http://www.jiunlimited.com/en/. To have access to the Jupiter Images Unlimited icon libraries, you are required to sign up for a subscription. Jupiter Images Unlimited offers a choice of four subscription plans that range from approximately $600.00 annually to $3500.00 annually. That means that typically the icon libraries at Jupiter Images Unlimited are used by professional designers who can use the subscription fee as a business expense. For the home user surfing for royalty free icon libraries, this service may be too pricey.
Seeanu Icon Collection 6
For the home user searching for royalty free icon libraries that are more affordable, or the designer just starting out who doesn’t have a huge budget for images, Seeanu Icon Collection 6 is an excellent download for just $99.00. With a base of 2,800 images in their icon libraries, Seeanu Icon Collection 6 comes with an icon toolkit tool that will allow you to create any combination you want with the icons, to create your own custom icons. Their icon libraries have the capability to be saved as .jpg, .png, and .bmp images. The icon toolkit also has the ability to allow you to apply popular icon styles such as the Vista Style, Mac style, or crystal style to your icon libraries. All icons in the Seeanu Icon Collection 6 icon libraries are professional, royalty-free icons.
How To Find More Icon Libraries Online
The Icon Factory
If you still need additional resources to help you find the perfect royalty free icon libraries, you may want to start with an icon libraries search at The Icon Factory at http://iconfactory.com/search/similar/1891. The Icon Factory loves icons, and their mission is to help people find the icon that suits their very specific needs. As such, The Icon Factory has developed their search engine tool to help you find what you’re looking for with targeted searches that bring back just what you need from icon libraries. It’s definitely worth a quick search using their search engine tips to find just the right royalty free icon for your project.
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