A big part of the research I do for my stories is finding images. I use the images as inspiration for settings, hair styles, clothing, and anything else that's relevant for my stories.
Most of the time, those images are for my purposes only, and I don't necessarily want to share them with others.
At least not right away.
That's why I gather those images and put them in a safe place. A place, where I can easily get access to them again.
At First, I Used Scrivener
Even though I almost always write in series, I saved my research in the individual books in Scrivener.
That meant that when I later needed to look at a picture again, for example if I needed to describe another renaissance library room in a castle, or another drawing room, then I had to remember which book I added those images to.
Not very effective.
I Found a Better Place
Now I'm 'hiding' my images on Pinterest. You can create secret boards there, and I have one for each genre I'm writing in. That makes it a lot easier to find images again, and sometimes I just go there for the inspiration, to get enveloped in the atmosphere of the genre.
No Copyright Problems
Since I'm not sharing with anyone but myself, I'm not running into copyright problems. The board on Pinterest is secret and not visible to anyone but myself.
If Possible I Share Later
It's a good idea to post blog posts about your work-in-progress, and whenever possible, I post those images. It's imperative to check the rights first, though.
A lot of the images on Wikipedia are in Public Domain, and you can freely use them. But before you do, you should always check the rights.
If it's okay to share, then you can post a blog post, where you talk about your book and how that image inspired you. Now you also have a topic to use for an email to your list.
Do You Use Images When You Write Fiction?
My daughter once wrote most of a novel using images as her daily inspiration.
How about you? Do you use images for inspiration or research? If you do, where do you save them?
Image By James Holland, RWS (died 1870) - Berger Collection: id #17 (Denver, Colorado), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6436429