Roundup of Great Back to School Clipart Sources

Finding Graphics to Suit Your Creation
When you think about back to school clipart, you probably envision images such as school buses, chalkboards and shiny red apples. On the other hand, you may imagine science fair exhibits, football games and silhouettes of our founding fathers. No matter what your idea of school time graphics may be, you are certain to find something suitable in this comprehensive roundup.
Each listing includes a screenshot example of what you will find on the corresponding site, but in order to download that or any other image, click on the website’s link in the References section at the end of this article.
The Peirce Clipart Collection
Comprised of more than two dozen options, each image in the free school and education clipart collection offered by Peirce Clipart is available in three formats: PDF, WMF and BMP. The Bitmap option has a transparent background, which is ideal for your DTP projects. To download an image, click on the file format option beneath it to enlarge the image. Right-click the larger image and save the file to your computer. Images include chalkboards, school supplies and children.
Microsoft Office Clip Art and Media
You need not use Microsoft Office products to benefit from their impressive collection of over 150,000 free clipart images and other media. The back to school clipart images in their collection are broken down into categories. These groups include academic, cafeteria, driver’s ed, extracurricular, field trip, geography, history, locker room, science fair, school grounds, school’s out, school supplies, teachers’ lounge and the three R’s, so you can find precisely what you need.
Discovery Education
Part of Discovery Communications, the providers of Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, Discovery Education is a site geared toward educators, students and their parents. Along with resources such as homework help, motivational tools, puzzles and games is a clipart gallery with hundreds of education-related images. Many of the images are available in full color or black and white, allowing you to choose the option that best suits your design. Click on any of the images to enlarge it and then right-click on a PC or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac to save it.
Phillip Martin
Designer Phillip Martin offers clipart that is free for schools or other non-profit use. His impressive and colorful collection of school days clipart features graphics such as busloads of children, kids doing homework and happy teachers. Click on the link name to view the image and then right-click the image and select Save As (or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac) and save the file to your computer to use in your publications.
Ace Clipart
This site is another treasure trove of free photos and clipart images that is available for use for personal or educational not-for-profit purposes. With seven pages of school-related images, you can choose from options such as students in a classroom, school bells and backpacks. Click on any of the images to enlarge it and then right-click on a PC or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac to save it.
Bry-Back Manor
Offering activities, templates and graphics for people who care for young children or kids with special needs, Bry-Back Manor provides three pages of vivid, charming back to school clipart images that are free for personal use. Pencils, globes, schools and even wise old owls grace these pages, and you are welcome to alter these images as you please. Click on any of the images to enlarge it and then right-click on a PC or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac to save it.
Free Craft Unlimited
Primarily a free craft project website, Free Craft Unlimited also offers many groups of themed clipart images. Within these is a five-page collection of free school clipart, with choices including school supplies, lunch boxes and school sports graphics. Click on any of the images to enlarge it and then right-click on a PC or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac to save it to your computer.
MotherGoose.com
Although this site has perhaps the most traditional sounding name, the images offered here might not be what you would expect. Artist Leslie Wilson calls her designs “vintage back to school clip art with a cyber twist.” Students at desks, teachers with rulers and nursery rhyme images are updated with vivid, surreal colors and designs. Right-click the image and select Save As (or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac) and save the file to your computer to use in your publications.
TeacherFiles.com
Dedicated to providing free resources for educators, TeacherFiles.com has loads of free educational clipart. These images are divvied up into categories. Graphics in each of these collections might be suitable for back to school designs, such as the “Welcome” images in the grouping of clipart with words or the colorful school subject titles, but there is also a specific back to school category with options such as welcome back chalkboards, pencils and apples.
Webweaver’s Free Clipart
Although this site’s primary goal is to offer free website design resources, their collection of free back to school clipart works just as nicely for desktop publishing programs. All of these images, which include studious children, little red schoolhouses and text-based graphics are free for non-commercial use only. Click on any of the images to enlarge it and then right-click on a PC or press CTRL and click the image on a Mac to save it.
References
- Discovery Education, http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/category/new0001.html
- TeacherFiles.com, http://www.teacherfiles.com/clip_art.htm
- Webweaver’s Free Clipart, http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/education.shtml
- MotherGoose.com, http://www.mothergoose.com/Clipart/back_to_school_clip_art.htm
- Free Craft Unlimited, http://www.freecraftunlimited.com/clipart-school.html
- Ace Clipart, http://www.ace-clipart.com/school-clipart-01.html
- Microsoft Office Clip Art and Media http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/back-to-school-with-office-clip-art-and-media-HA010237914.aspx
- The Pierce Clipart Collection; http://clipart.peirceinternet.com/educ.html
- Phillip Martin, http://school.phillipmartin.info/
- Screenshots from respective websites provided by the writer
- Bry-Back Manor, http://www.bry-backmanor.org/schoolclipart.html