Clip art graphics have become some of the most popular images searched for and downloaded from the net. There is just so much good quality clip art available that can be printed on paper or used in software programs. Clip art is versatile, it can be used as one piece, as a combination or in conjunction with other types of clip art to make a clip art montage. To download clip art for all your business, commercial and home projects you will need to read the license or copyright information, some is free for personal use, but will often restrict business use without first paying for the download.
Clip art can be found using all the major search engines and if you want a specific piece of clip art just add an extra word to the phrase for example border clip art . The search results should bring up a list of clip art websites or clip art images that contain your clip art search. Choosing good quality clip art graphics will make all your home, commercial and business projects look professional and eye catching.
Good quality clip art will depend on the resolution of the image, the file type it has been exported to and the quality of the design. Clip art is generally divided into two file formats; bitmaps and vector art graphics. The most common bitmap formats are GIF, JPEG and PNG which have a fixed resolution, are pixel based, and also known as raster images.
Because this clip art has a fixed resolution it is perfect for small projects and can be used in conjunction with photos. Having fixed resolution means you can only adjust it s size, by making the clip art smaller. If you try to enlarge the graphic beyond the exported size it becomes blurry and looks disjointed just like a puzzle. However using bitmap clip art in your project is easy, simply import it into any raster based program like GIMP, Photoshop or MS Paint.
If you re wanting high quality clip art for professional, commercial or home based projects you can download clip art in a vector art format. Vector clip art can be resized up or down without losing any image quality.When clip art is used on colored backgrounds or you make beautiful clip art montages all the backgrounds on the images are transparent.
The most common vector files that are editable are Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files or Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). To open these EPS or SVG files you will need a vector based program like Inkscape, CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator. EPS and SVG clip art can be edited easily as the original artwork is made up of a series of editable layers. In these layers you re able to change the size, shape, color and add or subtract elements to suit your project.
While this sounds good you must be aware of individual copyright and usage rights on these graphics. Individual clip art designers and or clip art websites should have a terms of use guide or clearly state if the clip art is royalty free, creative commons or public domain. All clip art does come with a terms of use clause, so it s important you use the clip art legally and in the permitted way.
For business, commercial or home projects that earn you money you ll need to pay for a license or a subscription to use the clip art in a print or web application if it isn t issued under an open source license. Commercial clip art can also be sold with a limited royalty free license which allows you to use the image for most personal, educational and non profit projects. Free clip art may be used in profit making projects just as long as the clip art, website, web page, or blog clearly states it s Public Domain.
Public Domain clip art has no copyright or license issues which makes this type of clip art free to download and use as you see fit. Creative Commons clip art can be quite restrictive to quite accommodating depending on which version of the license is being used. There are six different licenses that can be used and if you re not sure you can visit the Creative Commons website.