<p class="lead">
I love it when people use Sketchplanations. Please respect the licence when you share so more people can find sketches they like too.
</p>
<div style="max-width:600px; margin: 0 auto;">
  <p class="text-center">
    <span class="inline-block align-middle">
      <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">
        <img alt="Creative Commons Licence" style="border-width:0; margin:15px auto;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png">
      </a>
    </span>
  </p>

  <p class="text-center">All images and accompanying explanatory text on this website are licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a></p>
</div>

In short, you're free to share any sketches but not sell them. You must include the source. Adding a link to the site or tagging a relevant social profile is extra helpful.

Keeping attribution helps people find the work, which helps me as a creator make a living doing this—thank you.

It's great when people share Sketchplanations, so please use sketches to illustrate your points in:

...as long as you give credit. In fact, I'd love you to use them to make a point, help explain something for others, further your career, or teach something to your students. That's what they're for!

If you’re adapting a sketch using AI or other tools, please include visible attribution on the image itself (e.g., “Adapted from Sketchplanations”). This helps the credit stay attached, even when the image is reshared without any accompanying text. Images have a way of making their own way around.

I don't consider AI remixes that omit attribution as appropriate use under this licence.

If you're talented enough to translate sketches into your own language, I highly encourage it. If you translate a sketch, Just be sure to include the original source, as above.

Can I use them in my article, newsletter, presentation, LinkedIn post, Instagram business post, Medium post, or course? (or the like)

Yes. Please include the source. Because content is often reshared, I prefer that you don't remove the Sketchplanations logo from the sketches.

If you can add a link, i.e. it's online, this works well, I think:

...ideally with the word Sketchplanations linking to the sketch page as it appears on the site, e.g. to https://sketchplanations.com/the-overview-effect

If you can't add a link, for example, because it's in a book or flyer, then this works well:

Context matters when adding sources, so please make it work for you.

As for AI adaptations above, if you make a new or adapted version of the sketch, please include attribution on the image itself—otherwise they tend to get loose and attribution gets lost.

Probably, yes. But please contact me for this, as some sketches have restrictions for printed collections after Big Ideas Little Pictures was launched with my publisher. I expect your publisher may want an image permission request signed in any case.

To keep records of permissions, please complete and email to me this Image Consent Form

If you're thinking of publishing a collection with many sketchplanations, reselling them, or some giant marketing campaign, billboard, selling prints or the like, please contact me at hello@sketchplanations.com, and we can discuss it.

Do you have high-resolution versions I can use?

Yes. You can use the download link underneath the sketch content on this site to get higher-resolution images if you need them.

Some older sketches may only give slightly higher resolutions when you download them. Feel free to contact me (hello@sketchplanations.com)—I will likely have a higher-res version.

Do you have an Image Consent Form I can complete?

Why, yes! Find it here: Image Consent Form

I'm still not sure whether my use case is OK. What should I do?

Contact me at hello@sketchplanations with what you're planning, and I can let you know.

If the sketches have helped you, great! If you're in a position to support me on Patreon for a time or buy me a coffee, it really helps, but it's not required. You can also contribute when downloading a high-resolution version if you choose. (OK, perhaps this isn't as frequently asked)

Good question. See here: https://sketchplanations.com/advise-vs-advice

Licence

I learned this from On Writing Well by William Zinsser. It has two pages worth the price of the book alone. They show the same pages that made it into the book with editing marks all over them. At a glance, it made me understand the work and craft that goes into writing and that I can do it.

"The easy, conversational tone of good writing comes only on the eighth rewrite."

It also helps me realise that the way to good is by starting with something that isn't good.

The best writing is re-writing