Reproducing images from our Collection

You need permission to reproduce our images. Here's how to apply for a licence:

Find the image you want to use at https://www.npg.org.uk/collections.php . Click “use this image” and choose the appropriate licence option. Please note that not all images are available to license from us, and some images are restricted to certain types of licence.

For non-commercial online uses such as scholarly and non-profit websites, blogs, local society newsletters and family history projects you can obtain the free Creative Commons licence and obtain a low-resolution image (we do not permit the use of hi-resolution images online).

For private, non-commercial research, use in a classroom, use in a dissertation or for scholarly and non-commercial publications, if the combined print/electronic run is below 2,000 copies for books, or 4,000 copies for journals (and images are used inside (not on the cover) you can choose the “Academic Licence” option and obtain hi-resolution image/s free of charge (once you have registered your details and submitted your request via the website). If you want to order more than one image via the Academic Licence, once you have registered, and the first image is in your basket, you need to return to the main National Portrait Gallery website (www.npg.org.uk) to select the next image and request each one separately under the Academic Licence.

If the use you envisage does not meet the Creative Commons or Academic Licence criteria you will need to choose the Professional Licence option and fees will be payable (you need to pay online by credit card, but the website offers the best rates). You can also access the Professional Licence directly via our commercial image licensing website at www.npgimages.com.

If you want to use images in a way that isn’t covered by the licenses available online please contact us via e-mail at [email protected] providing detailed information about how you want to use the images, your full postal address and contact details, and your deadline.