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Google guide

This guide is meant to introduce you to features of Google and search tips that will help make your research more effective.

Google images search

Use Search Tools on the Image results page or use the Advanced Image Search feature to then limit your search to:

  • content type: news content, faces, photo content, clip art, line drawings
  • size
  • filetypes: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
  • black & white, grayscale, full color
  • by Usage rights i.e. copyright compliance!

Creative Commons licences

By Design: Markus Büsges, leomaria designbüro, Germany [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Reverse image search

It's one thing to search by keyword to locate images on your topic, but what if you're starting with an existing image and you want to track backwards? You might want to find out where an image originally came from or determine who created it. Attribution is an important consideration. Here are a few other reasons to consider doing a reverse image search:

  • Whether it is safe for you to use or does it have copyright restrictions (or permissions) you should be aware of?
  • To see if anyone posted an image you created
  • To determine the authenticity of an image 
  • You might want to find a higher-resolution version
  • You can track the chronological appearance of an image online