CC0 Textures – Most useful Websites for Downloading Free Textures

CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) textures are particularly valuable as they can be used freely for both personal and commercial projects without attribution. This article explores some of the most useful websites for downloading free CC0 textures.

Understanding CC0 Textures

Before diving into the websites, it’s important to understand what CC0 means:

• CC0 is a public domain dedication tool, which allows creators to waive all their copyright and related rights in their works to the fullest extent allowed by law.
• CC0 textures can be copied, modified, distributed, and used, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

You can download these texture maps and use them without worrying about licensing issues:

1. ambientcg.com – A valuable resource for high quality free PBR CC0 textures and HDRIs, enhancing the realism of your 3D scenes and projects.
2. cc0textures.com – Offers a collection of free and high quality textures and materials. Paywalls or Account not required. Features: Wide range of PBR materials and Multiple resolution options.
3. texturehaven.com (now- polyhaven.com) –  Place where you can find high quality scanned textures for free. Paywalls or Account not required. Features: High-resolution textures,
4. 8K resolution available for many textures
   • HDRIs and 3d models are also available
5. sharetextures.com –  Another website for free textures. But all the textures are not free. You have to become their patron to download the some textures.
6. cgbookcase.com – Free PBR textures. Currently they have 350+ textures. They also provide Free tutorials to create better 3d Scene. Paywalls or Account not required.
7. cgelves.com – For good quality Fabric textures. They provide materials through Gumroad. So, you may have to provide email id to download textures.
8. 3dtextures.me – Huge collection of Free seamless PBR 1K resolution textures. 4K resolution textures + SBS & SBSAR files are available for 3 Tier Patrons.
9.  texture.ninja – Huge collection of high resolution textures. PBR maps are not available.
10. textures.one – It’s a search engine for finding textures, materials and HDRI. textures.one is a side project by CC0Textures.com
11. opengameart.org – This website offers a wide range of CC0 textures, as well as other game-related assets.
12. PublicDomainTextures.com – This website offers a collection of CC0 textures that are free to use for various creative projects, including 3D art.
13. transparenttextures.com – A website that offers a wide variety of free, downloadable, transparent texture images.

Using Free Textures: Guidelines for Artists

There are tons of other website providers textures like ‘royalty free textures’ and ‘CC0 textures (with terms and conditions)’ etc. Those sites are not included here because, using such textures in your art work may drive you into unnecessary trouble. 

• Check the license: Even on CC0-focused sites, always verify the license for each texture you download.
• Respect attribution requests: Some creators appreciate attribution even if it’s not required.
• Consider file formats: Download textures in formats compatible with your software.
• Pay attention to resolution: Higher resolution textures offer more detail but require more processing power.
• Look for seamless textures: These are particularly useful for large surfaces or tiling.

Do you know any other websites to download free textures? Let us know in the comment section below: