Finding sources of good vector art for use in design projects can be rather difficult. I can do illustration, but find it to be very time consuming, and while I don’t mind paying for good illustrations, I really appreciate all the sites out there that are offering freebies
Vecteezy
This is a growing index of vector art contributed by “some of the best designers around the world.” The collection is still relatively small, but the quality is wonderful. Included are a rating system, easy to browse gallery and preview options.
Vector Vault
Regularly updated vector freebies. The current available illustrations include useful things like a wheelchair, rollercoasters, a purse and a horse. Sign up for their newsletter to be updated when a new group of freebies comes out.
BittBox
This blog periodically offers free downloads of brushes for Illustrator, such as foliage and pattern brushes, as well as illustrations of things like butterflies and flowers. Freebies for Photoshop are also offered for download.
Vector Portal
Lots of good stuff here including maps, symbols and signs, and clip art. The quality is hit and miss in the clip art, but overall it’s a great site.
Spoon Graphics
Several freebies are offered on this blog, including some “web 2.0″ buttons, flowers, etc. It’s been a while since the latest freebie was offered, but there’s a particularly nice wallpaper pattern here you might find useful.
Also, check out Tutorial Blog’s post with a listing of freebies found around the internet.
Want to get started working with vector artwork but don’t want to pay through the nose for something like Adobe Illustrator? Try Inkscape- it’s a free open source vector editor. Wondering what a vector is and how it’s different from something you’d create in a program like Photoshop? Check out this article for a full explanation.
very cool and helpful Randa, thanks!
Excellent stuff, Randa.
Vector resources are always useful and I’ve not seen three of these before.
I have never heard of most of these – thank for sharing them with us!
Hi Randa! First time here, searching for Vector resources. Very helpful indeed. Thanks
Just when I was wondering where to get free or paid vector images online….
Thanks for the links Randa! Vecteezy has some good ones that will come in handy.
Some good links Randa, I like the look of Vecteezy.
I can’t seem to get the vector vault link to work – not sure if its just me?
Sorry Tara… I fixed it. Apparently his site needs the www in the URL to work right.
Thanks for the great links… These pictures will definitely come in handy
Also check out http://www.openclipart.org/ which offers a range of SVG vectors.
That’s a great one, and I’d never seen it before. Thanks for sharing!
Cool, I was thinking I needed some Vector artwork but couldn’t be arsed to try my hand at it, so your post was timely.
[...] has compiled various resources for free vector artwork. Always handy from a designers point of view. Finding sources of good vector art for use in design [...]
Also if you need a SVG editor check Inkscape which an open source product which works on all platforms.
Jamie
Excellent compliation Randa. Definately a list for future reference.
Great collection, Randa. I hadn’t seen Vector Portal or Spoon Graphics. Even if you don’t use these free vector graphics as they come, it’s nice to take them apart and see how they were made.
Thanks for this list Randa. You have no idea how much these sites help me along. I really like to dig into some of these vector graphics and see just how they are put together. Helps me improve my own design skills
Ditto, ditto, ditto — these are great resources to have, especially for those of us who are design-savvy, yet technically deficient!
Thanks for everyone’s comments. I hope these sites will be as helpful to you as they have been to me!
Thanks for the little feature, It’s very much appreciated!
Just to let you know I have just added another download to my collection on SpoonGraphics.
This time a set of glossy icon style images.
I hope they come in useful!
Chris
XLICONS.com offers original vector designs in CDR or AI format for book art, screen printing, glass etching, sign and stencil cutting, digitized embroidary and laser engraving. Best of all the designs are royalty free, with extremely fair pricing. I appreciate your feedback.
Thanks, nice list. You did miss http://www.freevectors.net though.
Ashamed to say I’d only ever heard of Bittbox prior to reading this article. Thanks very much
That “Spoon Graphics” link is a goldmine! I’ve been looking for high-quality graphics of that sort for ages. But, what is the copyright or usage restrictions on these sort of things? Am I allowed to “change” them slightly and use them?
@John – I’m not sure, but I would suspect that since it’s “free” that you can do whatever you want with them. I’m sure the site has info on that somewhere. Glad you found the resources to be helpful!
Great collection of free vector sites. helped me a lot. got some nice ones i like from a couple of them. thanx again.
This is amazing, especially since I have no artistic skills what so ever. My websites are about to get so much more attractive, can’t wait!
It actually is a pretty good artwork collection. I will sure find a use for these free vectors on one of my websites, thanks!
Thanks, I’m always on the hunt for new goodies – this is a good lest. There are some free mountain themed vectors here:
Awesome. I didn’t even know any free vector sites existed. I’ve already picked up a few things. I appreciate it.
thank you very much for the resource!
Thanks for the list. I have not heard of these. The question is if I have illustrator, do these offer anything different. I have been wanting to learn illustrator but found it hard to get started as its not that straight forward.
Sweeeeeet post. I added this one to my social bookmarks because it’s sooo hard to find good vector based art. I love to use Illustrator whenever possible to export vector format into Flash. I have a few CD’s of vector images from a Clip Art collection I own but I work from my laptop 90% of the time and I’m often not in my studio/office with access to them. I love to bookmark stuff like this into onlywire.com or recd.us because I can hit it anytime, anywhere !!!
Thank you very much for the resource.
Just thought I’d write to say that I’ve kept on coming back to this page when I’m looking for vectors and eventually used some great snowflakes I found on Vecteezy. I’m a big fan of vectors – putting them in my PDFs knowing that they’ll appear sharp at any magnification and don’t increase file size like a bitmap. Thank you!
Thanks for this compilation. I’ve just bookmarked all of them immediately. I especially liked Vecteezy.
Wow, this is a great resource, I’ll definitely be able to use it.
Also, I highly recommend VectorMagic (http:/vectormagic.stanford.edu I think) for anyone who wants to convert regular images into vector images…it’s easy for anyone who doesn’t want to fiddle with Adobe Illustrator, and I’ve heard it actually produces better results anyways.
It actually is a pretty good artwork collection. I will sure find a use for these free vectors on one of my websites, thanks!
I just wanted to add that there’s a sweet image to vector converter at vectormagic.stanford.edu. I’ve tried it and the results are truly amazing.
Oops just realized someone already posted about that. My bad.
Thanks for the list, I thumbs upped it on Stumbleupon. You guys should do the same and help spread this resource!
I have been thinking about getting into vector art, do you recommend Inkscape over a program like Illustrator?
Thanks,
Max
Really a good list of resources. I don’t know vecteezy. Really good site for vector resources. I use flash to design my vector, also Illustrator sometimes. Also I use 2 essential (for me) softs: Vectoreye and Algolab Photo Vector, I use this from years ago and tell you that this are the best to take your photos to vector. Thanks again for this useful resources.
Ashamed to say I’d only ever heard of Bittbox prior to reading this article. Thanks very much
Great list! I got a few from GraphicWorx.us. They have a few free, supposably adding more, so we will see.
@ Dano D
Thanks for that website, I found some vectors I need for an design I have to make. Thanks again.
Fantastic collection, thanks Randa. I saved this at my delicious.
Just bumped into your blog from tara’s graphic design blog..
Thanks for the list.. was very helpful..
Hi Randa! First time here, searching for Vector resources. Very helpful indeed. Thanks!
Thanks for the great resources… vectormagic.stanford.edu is also a great source for those who are interested.
Nice resources Randa (as usual). Thanks for the websites and for the article for a better explanation of vector files.