Use the National Portrait Gallery’s official Photographs Collection page to find a starting point, then search or browse the Gallery’s online Collections for a sitter, photographer, title or other known detail. Collection records and images are free to view. If you want to reproduce an image, viewing it is not permission to reuse it: open that work’s “Use this image” licensing information and check the options and conditions for that specific item.
Start with the Photographs Collection
The National Portrait Gallery’s Photographs Collection page introduces the Gallery’s photographic holdings and points to ways to explore them. Its curated routes include the National Photographic Record and Spotlight on the Collection. These are useful if you want to browse rather than search for one known portrait.
For a particular image or portrait record, continue to the Gallery’s online Collections. The Gallery’s collections policy says Search the Collections provides free access to records and images. The online record is the place to inspect the image and the information attached to it.
Search for a photograph or sitter
- Open the official National Portrait Gallery Photographs Collection page. Use its links to the online Collections or to a curated browsing route such as the National Photographic Record.
- In the online Collections, search using the most reliable detail you have: the sitter’s name, photographer, title or another known identifying detail. If you do not have a specific portrait in mind, browse the collection routes from the Photographs Collection page.
- Review the matching records and open the one that appears to correspond to the portrait you want. Check the displayed image and record information rather than relying on a name match alone.
- If the record is not the right one, try another identifying detail or a different curated route. The documented guidance does not establish a particular set of search filters or controls, so the available interface may determine which refinements you can make.
The online Collections is the Gallery’s official route for viewing its records and images. An image being visible there answers whether you can view it online; it does not, by itself, settle whether you may reproduce it elsewhere.
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Viewing an image is different from reusing it
If you only need to look at a photograph or consult its record, use the free online collection. If you want to publish, distribute, or otherwise reproduce the image, use the “Use this image” licensing link on the relevant collection record. Review the options offered for that particular work and choose a licence that covers your intended use.
Licences are item-specific: not every photograph is available under every licence. The Gallery says commercial costs depend on how and where an image will be used. The price and terms shown for the image and proposed use are therefore more useful than assuming a general rate or that another photograph’s licence will apply.
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Compare the licence details before choosing
Use the image-specific licensing information to check the following points before relying on a file:
- Intended use: Establish whether your use is personal research, non-commercial publication or commercial use. Do not assume that permission for one context covers another.
- Distribution and context: Check where the image will appear and how it will be shared. Commercial pricing depends on how and where the image is used.
- Available file: Confirm the resolution and file specifications listed for that image and licence. Published examples on one Gallery image page are not promises about every photograph.
- Credit and handling: Read the applicable terms for attribution, cropping, over-printing or other changes to the image.
- Cost and permission: Check the quoted cost, if any, and the licence’s permitted uses before downloading or publishing.
File specifications: examples, not guarantees
One National Portrait Gallery image page gives these examples of download specifications: commercial downloads at least 2400 pixels wide and 300 dpi; non-commercial files 1500 pixels wide at 300 dpi; and Creative Commons files 800 pixels on the longest dimension at 72 dpi. Those figures describe the options on that particular page, not a standard available for every photograph. Check the specifications shown for the work you need.
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A file’s dimensions do not determine whether a use is allowed. Select a licence based on the intended use and follow its conditions, even when the image can be viewed online or a download option is available.
Non-commercial use: follow the specific terms
The Gallery’s non-commercial terms require a credit in the form “© National Portrait Gallery, London” alongside the artist and portrait title. The terms also say that images must not be cropped, over-printed or manipulated without permission, and must not be used for text and data mining or AI purposes.
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These are conditions associated with the Gallery’s stated terms, not a substitute for reading the licence offered for your chosen image. Check that licence for your exact use, including the required credit and any restrictions. If your intended use is not clearly permitted, do not treat the image’s online availability as approval.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.If the portrait has no image online
A record without a website image does not necessarily mean there is no way to obtain a reproduction. The Gallery FAQ directs people seeking a print of a portrait without an online image to contact its Rights and Images team about purchasing one.
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The Gallery says many portraits are reproduced as postcards or prints through its shops, but availability is not guaranteed for every work. Ask Rights and Images about the specific portrait; do not assume a print is in stock simply because the portrait is in the collection.
Quick Recap
A practical route from search to use
- To identify or view a portrait: Start at the Photographs Collection page, follow a collection or browsing route, or search the online Collections by the details you know. Open and inspect the matching record.
- To reproduce an image: Follow “Use this image” from its record, compare the available licence with your intended use, and check its file specifications, credit, restrictions and cost.
- To obtain a print when no online image appears: Contact the Gallery’s Rights and Images team and ask about that work. Print or postcard availability varies.
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