Deviant Art is an amazing place for art, everyone that has once been there knows that. There is art in all shapes, techniques and sizes. Some of them are real items the creator have in their homes others are made on and will always remain on the computer. But is deviant art images all stock? No. Is all photographs free to use? No.
So where can I find the stock on dA?
If you go to the front page of deviantart you have all categories on the left side of the screen. Write in a search word and you currently have all images on the entire dA that includes your word. They are not stock, well, some of them may be, but most of them probably wont be. Not even if your word was "stock" because the pictures uploaded and decribed as "THIS IS NOT STOCK" will show up in the results as well. Scroll down (if needed) to where it says "Resources & Stock Images" and click on it. Are these the stock? Most likely yes!
Ok so... Can I use these images?
No. Not just like that anyway. All pictures on dA is uploaded by someone. Someone like you and someone like me. The picture you're looking for might be of their pet, of them selves or where they live. They usually have their own personal rules for how they want their images to be used. Before you start using an image you must firstly read the uploader's personal rules. Those are commonly found in their journal which you find on their pages.
What should I look for?
If you make manips or looking for free line art you must see if the uploader allow off site use. Some people just want their images to be on dA. Some may have rules for if you can sell your manip/character/tag made with their images. These are rules you must follow. For manips offsite use you most of the time need to add credits on the image itself. For line arts there more likely are a signature on it already and these cannot be removed.
Well, its my picture I can do whatever I want with it now!
Excuse you, but no. Unless you held the camera that photographed the picture or made every single line from the first empty "paper" you have no rightful ownership of the image in question. You still loan it from someone else. If you remove the signature or exclude credits you are an art thief. And the rightful owner have the right to report you to the authorities.
I have found an image I want to use but it's not stock...
You can always ask the uploader if you can use it. Some people say yes others won't but you can't know for sure unless you ask. And if you get a no, I'm sure you can find some other image elsewhere.
So where can I find the stock on dA?
If you go to the front page of deviantart you have all categories on the left side of the screen. Write in a search word and you currently have all images on the entire dA that includes your word. They are not stock, well, some of them may be, but most of them probably wont be. Not even if your word was "stock" because the pictures uploaded and decribed as "THIS IS NOT STOCK" will show up in the results as well. Scroll down (if needed) to where it says "Resources & Stock Images" and click on it. Are these the stock? Most likely yes!
Ok so... Can I use these images?
No. Not just like that anyway. All pictures on dA is uploaded by someone. Someone like you and someone like me. The picture you're looking for might be of their pet, of them selves or where they live. They usually have their own personal rules for how they want their images to be used. Before you start using an image you must firstly read the uploader's personal rules. Those are commonly found in their journal which you find on their pages.
What should I look for?
If you make manips or looking for free line art you must see if the uploader allow off site use. Some people just want their images to be on dA. Some may have rules for if you can sell your manip/character/tag made with their images. These are rules you must follow. For manips offsite use you most of the time need to add credits on the image itself. For line arts there more likely are a signature on it already and these cannot be removed.
Well, its my picture I can do whatever I want with it now!
Excuse you, but no. Unless you held the camera that photographed the picture or made every single line from the first empty "paper" you have no rightful ownership of the image in question. You still loan it from someone else. If you remove the signature or exclude credits you are an art thief. And the rightful owner have the right to report you to the authorities.
I have found an image I want to use but it's not stock...
You can always ask the uploader if you can use it. Some people say yes others won't but you can't know for sure unless you ask. And if you get a no, I'm sure you can find some other image elsewhere.