by David Hamilton

Created on: February 22, 2008

Clip art is a great way to add that extra bit of interest or emphasis to your documents and presentations. The number of free clip-art sites on the Internet makes it easy to find everything from a cute cartoon puppies, to realistic photos of buildings. While nearly all clip art sites offer something for everyone, several of the largest favor a particular style. Knowing which sites cater to what type of use can save you a lot of time in your clip art hunt.

Business Clip : Microsoft's clip art site (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/)

Neatly organized into categories for easy browsing, the Microsoft clip art site provides thousands of images great for business presentations. Simply use the drop down menu to choose the category, and start browsing. The site also features a good search engine if you are not sure what category to try.

While most of the clip art here is cartoon images, the style is somewhat subdued. You will find pastels dominate nearly every category. This is a perfect fit for documents and presentations where you want the clip art to add interest without being a distraction.

Road Warrior: Open Clip Art Download (http://www.openclipart.org/media/downloads)

If you are constantly on the move, you can't always count on finding free high speed Internet access. This can be a problem if you need that quick insert to add a final touch to a presentation. One great solution is to download and install the Open Clip Art Library. Containing nearly 7000 images, the Open Clip Art Library includes a program for browsing and organizing all your clips. Both the images and the software are free.

Home and Craft: Berry's Clip Art (http://www.barrysclipart.com/)

If you are making your own Christmas cards, custom mailing labels or just some personal letter head, Berry's can't be beat. The clip art at Berry's Clip Art Server is fun and festive. The images here tend to be a little brighter and wackier than on the other sites in the list. Perfect for times when the art is the star.

School Projects: Class Room Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com/ )

This site is dedicated to the unique needs of students. Where else can you find pre-made clip art demonstrating mitosis? Well organized by category and providing good quality images this site is must bookmark for the budding academic. This site can be a bit heavy on the ads though, so make sure to turn on the pop-up blocker before dropping in.

Real Photos

Sometimes you need something other than a cartoon cat. If you need smiling sales people or serene ocean scenes, check out some of these stock photo archives. You will find plenty of high quality pictures that are free for most (if not all) uses:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page The Wikipedia of Online Images
http://www.morguefile.com/ - Excellent high quality photos with a great search engine

Armed with these sites, you should never be more than a click away from a picture perfect presentation.

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