Imperial's Asset Library contains over 280,000 high quality images covering all aspects of university life that can be downloaded for use in print and digital projects. All Imperial staff and students can access the Asset Library with their Imperial username and password.

Using images from the Asset Library

You can download images from the Asset Library for use in materials that further the university's mission. You must not use images from the Asset Library for commercial purposes. Where possible, please make sure that you credit the image in your materials using the following format: ‘Photographer Name, Imperial College London’.

Help using the Asset Library

If you need a hand getting started with the Asset Library, visit our help pages to learn more about:

• Searching for assets
• Downloading assets
• Creating and managing your lightboxes
• Uploading images
• Arranging guest access for external people

Why do we use an Asset Library?

In Communications, we provide expertise, guidance and storage services for photography at the university – that is to say, all professional photography that is commissioned by members of staff at Imperial and paid for from an Imperial budget.

We maintain a roster of freelance photographers, who all meet our high quality standards and have signed up to a bespoke contract that grants Imperial universal and exclusive rights to use their photography in promoting Imperial. We also provide guidelines on issues including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in photography and how to gather the correct consent from subjects for your photography. Finally, we provide and maintain the Asset Library, which is where all professional photography paid for by Imperial should be stored.

In our work in this area, we’re guided by a three principles – firstly, that in representing Imperial's work, we should use high quality and impactful images; secondly, that we should have full rights to use images we commission, so we can maximise our investment in professional photography; and thirdly, that professional photography paid for by the university should be properly stored in a dedicated, central and secure space, accessible to everyone in the Imperial community, rather than on shared, personal or external drives where they may be lost when members of staff leave or which could be liable to technical failures.

Learn more about how we use and store images.

Why it’s important to upload images to the Asset Library

When you commission a photoshoot with the Imperial photographer or an external photographer, the final images should be uploaded to the Asset Library. With images on the Asset Library, if a member of staff wins a prize, or makes a research breakthrough, then we have high quality photos ready to use in online news stories, social media and print publications.

We ask all of our external photographers to share with us, as well as the person commissioning the shoot, their final photographs. We then periodically remind colleagues who have commissioned photography on behalf of the university to ensure that those photographs are uploaded to Asset Library.

Who can upload images to the Asset Library?

Uploading images to the Asset Library is restricted. Once your photoshoot is complete and you have received the images from your photographer, ensure you send these files to your department’s Asset Library expert, cc’ing the Photography team for upload to the Asset Library. If your department does not have an expert, please contact the Photography team to enquire about support and training.

Asset Library training

If you need to request training to upload images to the Asset Library, contact the Photography team.