Ever found yourself in need of eye-catching and scientifically correct illustrations for your projects but don't want to break the bank? 

Good news!

We've rounded up some fantastic 10 free websites where you can easily download scientific illustrations. Plus, we'll demonstrate how to navigate these websites. So, get ready to level up your presentations and reports with free scientific illustrations!

How to find or select free scientific illustrations

When downloading free illustrations, make sure to keep some points in mind. They'll help you pick the perfect visuals while staying on the right side of the law and ethics. Here's what to watch out for:

1. License Terms: Understand the specific license terms associated with each illustration, including how you can use it, whether attribution is required, and any restrictions on commercial use.

2. Quality: Ensure that the illustration meets your quality standards and will effectively convey your message without compromising clarity or professionalism.

3. Resolution: Check the resolution of the illustration to ensure it will be suitable for your intended use, whether it's for print or digital media.

4. Format Compatibility: Verify that the illustration is available in a format compatible with your software or design tools.

5. Source Reliability: Choose illustrations from reputable sources to avoid potential copyright issues or low-quality artwork.

Websites for free scientific illustrations

For this blog, we compared different websites using four search terms: (a) cell culture, (b) animals, (c) DNA, and (d) heart.

Check out the collage of results from each website. If you didn't find what you were looking for, don't worry! Try getting more specific with your search terms. Experiment with different keywords until you find the perfect match!

1. SciDraw

Bring your scientific concepts to life with precision and clarity using SciDraw. Empowering scientists and researchers, SciDraw provides a suite of tools and libraries to create professional-grade illustrations and diagrams tailored to your specific needs. All content on SciDraw is shared under creative commons lincense (CC-BY) unless stated otherwise. 

2. SMART Servier Medical Art

Servier Medical Art offers up-to-date medical images for medical students and researchers. Offering an extensive array of meticulously crafted visuals tailored to pharmaceuticals, molecular biology, and medical research, Smart Servier's comprehensive library covers a wide range of themes. With visuals curated for educational materials and research publications, all resources are freely available under CC BY 4.0. 

3. Freepik:

Whether you're exploring biology, chemistry, physics, or any other scientific field, Freepik has you covered with a user-friendly interface and a world of possibilities. Freepik offers a vast collection of free vector graphics, including scientific illustrations, icons, and patterns. You can easily search for the type of illustration you need and download it in various formats, including AI, EPS, and scalable vector graphics. Freepik also offers a premium plan with access to additional graphics and features.

4. Vecteezy

Vecteezy offers detailed diagrams, precise charts, and captivating graphics. With intuitive search filters and both free and premium options available, find the perfect scientific illustration to complement your projects effortlessly.

5. Bioicons

Bioicons offers a diverse collection of meticulously crafted icons and graphics spanning various biological themes. From cellular biology to genetics, find the perfect visual aid for your projects with intuitive search features and a user-friendly interface. Best of all, Bioicons contains free science illustrations for biologists, chemists, machine learning under permissive CC0, CC BY or MIT License.

6. Flaticon

Flaticon is packed with a huge variety of carefully designed icons, made with clean lines and bright colors, perfect for lots of different uses. With simple search tools and options for both free and premium icons, you'll easily find the right science figures for your projects. Icons and stickers are available in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD, and CSS formats.

7. Pixabay

Pixabay is a free stock photography and royalty-free stock media website. Whether you're searching for intricate diagrams or stunning illustrations, Pixabay has a plethora of scientific imagery to enhance your work. Simply type in your keywords and explore a world of possibilities, all available for free for personal and commercial use. Pixabay license generally allows the free use of the material with some restrictions.

8. BioRender

BioRender gives researchers, educators, and science fans the power to get creative with its big collection of top-notch biology graphics. It's super easy to use with drag and drop tools and options to customize, making it a breeze to create top-quality visuals.

9. Iconscout

Iconscout offers vast collection of curated assets, including SVGs, vector icons, illustrations, 3D graphics, and Lottie animations. With intuitive search features and both free and premium options available, elevate your designs, presentations, websites, and more with Iconscout's stunning visuals.

10. UnDraw

UnDraw is a unique website that offers a collection of customizable illustrations. You can browse through a wide selection of images, adjust colors, and seamlessly integrate them into your design workflow. These illustrations are designed for modern interfaces and technology, ensuring they scale without losing quality and load quickly. They're available under an open-source license, allowing for commercial and personal use. 

11. Other scientific illustration websites

• Pexels - Website for finding free stock photos and illustrations. They have a dedicated science section with a wide range of illustrations, including anatomy, astronomy, and chemistry. All of the illustrations on Pexels are also available under the CC0 license. 

• Free vintage illustrations- Explore high-resolution images spanning the 17th to 20th centuries, sourced from museums, libraries, and galleries worldwide. From fairytales to botanicals, and art nouveau to scientific illustrations, you can find the perfect vintage imagery for your projects, absolutely free.

• Iconduck- Iconduck is dedicated to making open source icons and illustrations more accessible. It includes icons, illustrations, emojis, and graphics, our platform facilitates easy search and usability for personal and commercial projects.

Understanding License Types for Downloaded Scientific Illustrations and Images

Before we wrap up, here are some common license types you might come across:

1. Public Domain (CC0): Content under this license is free to use for any purpose, including commercial use, without the need for attribution. It essentially waives all copyright and related rights.

2. Creative Commons Licenses: These licenses allow creators to specify the terms of use for their content. Common types include:

   -CC BY (Attribution): Allows you to use the content for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you provide appropriate credit to the creator.

   -CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike): Similar to CC BY but also requires any derivative works to be shared under the same license terms.

   -CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): Allows you to use the content for non-commercial purposes only, with proper attribution.

   -CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivatives): Allows you to use the content as long as you give credit but prohibits making any changes or creating derivative works.

   -CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike): Similar to CC BY-SA but limits use to non-commercial purposes.

   -CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives): The most restrictive license, allowing only non-commercial use with no modifications and proper attribution.

3. Royalty-Free: Royalty-free licenses typically require a one-time payment for unlimited use of the content within specified terms. They often allow both commercial and non-commercial use without requiring additional royalties for each use.

4. Rights-Managed: With rights-managed licenses, the terms of use are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Factors such as the intended use, distribution, duration, and exclusivity can impact the license fee.

Summary

Science illustrations and images, known for their high quality, are perfect for creating graphical abstracts, posters, PowerPoint presentations, schematics for journals, templates, etc. Plus, they serve as handy references for drawing new scientific illustrations for your research works, saving you time to learn or start from scratch. This allows you to create compelling visuals with ease. Many of them can be imported into design software such as Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva, Blender, Inkscape, etc.

Remember to verify the usage and check the license conditions before use. 

If there are any useful websites we missed for downloading free science illustrations, icons, and images, please let us know in the comments!