Wizzley

Kozzi - (Nearly) Free Images for Your Wizzlies and Websites

by Sam

Kozzi Review - Are Kozzi images free to use or are there restrictions? Read on to learn all that there is to know about this new image resource! They do videos and clip-art also...

As the saying goes, a picture says more than a thousand words! A new source of royalty free stock images like Kozzi, that are legal to use, is always welcome, so much the better if the collection also includes vectors, clip-art and videos. They offer three types of accounts:

Free (for personal use, only an email address required)
Business (starting at $4.16/ month for unlimited downloads for commercial use)
Extended (starting at $20/month for use in re-saleable products like templates)

All accounts include unlimited downloads. Compared to Shutterstock, whose cheapest subscription is $200+/month for 25 images/day with a limited license, this is a bargain!

Amazing, isn't it?
Amazing, isn't it?

Summary

... for those of you with little time - and/or small children milling around your feet ;-)

How many images and videos are available at Kozzi?

60,000 63,000+ at last count, that includes photos, vectors, illustrations and videos. They also add new images regularly to their collection.

What is the difference between free and paid accounts?

The difference is in the use, with a free account you can download and use images and videos only for non-commercial purposes. That means you can use them for everything that isn't geared towards making you money, nor directly, nor indirectly. So, using images and videos for your personal blog, that doesn't carry any ads nor does make money, nor intends to make any money in any way, is fine. Using the same image for a Wizzley article requires having a paid account.

How much is the paid account?

Hold your breath! A paid account starts at $4.61/ month for unlimited downloads of photos, clip-art and videos, which is deadly cheap compared to other stock image sites - believe me! And you can use all files, images and videos alike, on your own commercial website or on a client's project! As I stated above, that is the cheapest subscription for royalty free stock images and videos that I know of.

Why is 'exclusive to Kozzi' important?

Basically it means that you will not find these images and videos elsewhere. And it also means that the images are less likely to be used by 'everybody'. Helps your sites and projects to stand from the crowd! Oh, and no, Google can't read what is shown in images, but Google can determine if the same pixel combination has been used on a zillion of other websites or not ... just saying.

What is the image quality like?

Have a look around this article, all the images here come directly from the Kozzi website without me having manipulated / enhanced them in any way. The only thing I did to them was to reduce their size! The images come in different sizes, from small for web to really large for big prints, downloading only the size you need can save you hard drive space and time. Or you can download the largest size available just in case you need it later - or simply download all sizes. As there are no download restrictions, it is completely up to you!

Are Kozzi images model released / property released / generally safe to use?

Yes, apart of those images that are clearly marked for 'editorial use only' each image that shows a person has also a note attached saying 'model release filed with Kozzi'. This means that the person pictured in the image or video is ok with his / her image being used in a commercial context.

Are there restrictions to the use of Kozzi images?

Only those of common sense ;-) Don't use the image of a person for anything that would show this person in a bad light and use editorial images only for editorial content.

Mother
Mother
Wine Glasses
Wine Glasses
Apple Illustration
Apple Illustration
Husky
Husky
Breakfast
Breakfast
Concepts
Concepts

Recommended - Yes or No?

Absolutely YES!

I recommend Kozzi to everybody that needs images, online or off line. The free account is sufficient for private aka non-commercial uses and the price for commercial use is hard to beat. The image quality is great and these are images you will not find anywhere else - giving you another advantage over your competition.

Good SEO images are hard to find!
Good SEO images are hard to find!

Plus Points

- what I like about Kozzi
  • Exclusive content
  • Offers photos, vectors and videos
  • Great image quality
  • Easy to use website and search
  • Good selection of 'rare' topics like SEO and the like
  • Images are model released where applicable
  • Can't beat the price
  • Lightboxes to make selection, organization and downloading of files easier

Minus Points

What I don't like about Kozzi

Not much actually, I don't care a lot about their name, but that really doesn't affect their image quality ;-) Kozzi sounds too much like 'cozy' to me, and whilst they have 'cozy' images, they are also very professionally made!

Kozzi versus Public Domain images

What is wrong with Public Domain images? They are free and you can use them however you want, so why do I prefer to pay for images?

Everybody likes free images and public domain images are quite safe to use in general, but there are some drawbacks to them:

Are they really in the public domain?

Unfortunately not all images on public domain sites have been uploaded and released by their original owners. There are actually quite a few reports of artists on the web that found their images 'mysteriously' appearing on this kind of sites. Kozzi's images are royalty free stock images that have been created exclusively for their site, so no worries about legalities here.

Missing model releases

Model releases are essential for using images of people, unless it is an editorial use obviously. Knowing that an image of a person I use on one of my own websites or on a client's one carries a proper and checked model release makes me sleep better at night - period.

Missing concepts and styles

Public domain images are often limited in variety and styles, either because they are only about one topic . like NASA images - or because they are not especially created for a market but collected from different sources. For me, time is money, instead of searching through dozens of free or public domain sites for the image I need I prefer to pay a small amount to find the royalty free image I need on one site and in a short time.

More Gorgeous Images that are available from Kozzi ;-)

Autumn
Autumn
Fruit
Fruit
Colorful
Colorful
Christmas Cat
Christmas Cat
Restaurant
Restaurant
Kids (editorial image)
Kids (editorial image)

Convinced? Sign-Up below!

If you are still unsure, you can always sign-up for the free account and upgrade later ...

Kozzi LogoClick here to check out Kozzi's gorgeous royalty free image collection!

Any questions, suggestions or comments?

Please leave them below ;-)
And if you think this article is worth sharing, there are these social bookmark thingies available - Just saying ;-)
Updated: 09/27/2012, Sam
 
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Sam on 06/08/2012

Hi Vinaya-Ghimire,

Yes I do use those sources also, but when it comes to images of people I want to make sure they are properly model released - just safer that way ;-) SY

Sam on 06/07/2012

Yes, they changed from limited to unlimited downloads for those that have a free membership the day after I joined, looking forward to more changes ;-) SY

Tolovaj on 06/07/2012

I discovered Kozzi couple of weeks ago and it is great site with bright future. I think 'model released' option is probably most valuable of all, because I found hard to find photos with real people in public domain.
I also expect some changes in their policy because it is relatively new service and they already changed some rules (for better from the user's point of view) in last two weeks...
We'll see what will future bring but for now it can be only good to have more services with free or 'free' images!

Sam on 06/05/2012

You are welcome Samsons1, from one Sam to the other ;-) SY

samsons1 on 06/05/2012

Thanks for the valuable info. Have not heard of this before and your article gives ample praise and description...

Sam on 06/05/2012

You are welcome, it really saves a bunch of time to know where you can find just the right royalty free image or video! SY

katiem2 on 06/05/2012

Great images, thanks for bringing the news of this tool offering images to our work. Much appreciated. :) K

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