search tips

Interactive Search 2.0

Code named "SPFF", Search 2.0™ is a first in the stock photo industry. It doesn't get any easier than this. Simply type words and more words. Images appear and adjust as more words are entered. Search 2.0 uses our Bottomless Scroll™ technology to keep you on one page. Mouseover each thumbnail for added functionality, including the unique and powerful "find similars" function. Search 2.0 leads the industry in technology-driven benefits, resulting in the fastest and most intuitive ways to find images.

Traditional Search

At the top of the screen is a navigation bar to access key areas, such as login, registration, about us, contact, partners (add images), search tips, collections and terms.

On the logo level, there are important navigation tabs to return to search results and lightboxes when the main window is displaying something else.

Then comes the search bar where you can:

• initiate new searches
• search within existing results
• open advanced search functions (AND, NOT logic)
• limit searches to royalty-free (RF), rights-managed (RM) and the editorial section (NEWS/ARCHIVAL), and
• redo past searches

The main portion of the screen is divided into two window panes. The area on the left is the search results window. To the right of the vertical divider is the lightbox. Click on the "lightbox" button towards the top of the screen or an "add to lightbox" icon below a thumbnail image to activate the lightbox. Registration and login are required for lightbox use.

How Do I resize windows?

One of the powerful benefits of StockPhotoFinder web sites is the ability to make both the search results window and the lightbox larger or smaller to suit your needs. This is done by clicking on the vertical bar that divides the two halves and dragging that divider to the left or the right. Click and drag the vertical window divider to resize it. You'll notice that the images will tile (to shift from line to line as needed) to best fit the window size, enabling you to set up the most convenient workflow on your computer. You'll never again have to waste time scrolling horizontally.

How do I search?

It's simple. Enter words in the search box and click either the "new search" button (to begin a new search) or the "search in results" button to further refine an existing search that you have already made. Note, the "search in results" function will display the same images as entering a string of words to search that are not wrapped in quotation marks.) Or, use one of the easy tools to facilitate other types of searches as shown in this table below. Note the check boxes for "RF", "RM", "News/Archival" and perhaps others enable you to limit searches to Royalty-Free, Rights-Managed and/or Editorial images.

search methods	how to search
new search	To initiate a search for the first time, enter one word, a series of words or a phrase wrapped in double quotes ("phrase here") in the search box and click the "new search" button.
search in results	"search in results" enables you to refine your search until you have the image you want without thinking ahead. After each search, replace the word in the search box and click "search in results" to find a limited search from within the records that were previously found. You can repeat the process, to search within the previous search results, as often as you need. In this way, you can quickly reduce a great many images to the best few for your purposes.
recent searches	To the right of the search box is a pulldown menu that displays a continually updated list of the most recent searches that you have done. Select from this list to revisit a previous search result.
similars search	Under each thumbnail image is the similars search icon (a squiggly equals sign). Clicking this icon will initiate a search for images in the database that are similar to this one thumbnail. Clients use this feature to display a prioritized group of thumbnails, sorted by their similarity to the one selected. In this way, clients can quickly find comparable images as soon as they have found one image from millions that is "almost ideal".
advanced +	By clicking the "advanced +" link to the right of the search box, a new level of search is revealed which assists in constructing Boolean logic searches. Each search box is separated by "AND" or "NOT". Enter a word in one or more boxes, reserviing the last box that follows "NOT" for subjects you want to exclude rather than include. Then click the "new search" or "search in results" button to activate the search request.
idea search	Coming soon, the perfect image research tool for conceptual advertising.

Search Tip:

Use a space between words to mean AND. So, entering OCEAN DRIVE is the same as entering OCEAN AND DRIVE in the search box. If you want to search for a phrase, instead of using the space to mean AND, wrap the search phrase in double quotes. So, "OCEAN DRIVE" will find the famous street in Miami Beach, whereas entering OCEAN DRIVE with no quotes will find cars driving by beaches anywhere. Another alternative is to use the word NOT to exclude images of whatever follows the word NOT. So, OCEAN NOT DRIVE will likely find images of every ocean excluding images of driving.

How does the lightbox work?

You do need to login to use the lighbox function. StockPhotoFinder web sites save your lightboxes and user experience based on the computer you are using by using cookies. If you change computers, such as using one at home and one at the office, or if you delete your "cookies", you will loose your current lightboxes and settings unless you login.

Click the lightbox tab near the top of each page to display or remove the lightbox in the right window pane.

Click the square with the plus sign under each thumbnail in the left pane to add that image to the current lightbox which is displayed on the right side. Or, click the square with the minus sign under thumbnails on the right side pane to remove that image from the current lightbox. (Note that lightboxes at StockPhotoFinder web sites function as universal gathering points that can include images from all the stock photo web sites and collections that are searched by this engine. You will sometimes encounter in the preview page links to the separate, internal lightboxes of that particular image provider which are specific to the images of that one provider.)

How do I contact the image supplier?

There are several ways to contact the image supplier to license the image. It is important to note that clicking the thumbnail image or the "at" sign delivers you directly to the separate web site of that particular image provider. You can proceed deeper into their web site for search and licensing, or return to using the global tools of stockphotofinder web sites that are displayed at the top of the page.

• Click the thumbnail image to view the preview page from the website of the rights holder of that image. This preview page will contain the necessary guidance to login at that web site or make contact and license the use of that image. Preview pages might also contain local navigation for that particular web site.
• Alternatively, click the "at" sign ("@") which appears beneath each thumbnail image. By clicking the "at" sign, you will view a special "contact page" or" about us" page from the rights holder or authorized agent that describes the preferred method for you to contact them about licensing the image you seek.