With all the information available on the Web, it can be difficult to find exactly what you're looking for. This task can become even more daunting when looking for pictures, since you're essentially asking a computer to find images that relate to the text you enter as search terms. Still, knowing how to search for images can improve your chances of success.
Simple Search
Most search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Ask provide an "image search" option, so start by heading to one of these search engines. Type in exactly what you are looking for. If you want a picture of a parrot, do not search for "bird." Search specifically for "parrot,", or better yet for "blue parrot" or "red parrot" depending on what color parrot you want to find a picture of.
Advanced Search
For an ultra specific search, try Google's Advanced Image Search tool. Here, you can specify what keywords to search for, as well as what keywords to avoid. Other handy extras include the ability to search for pictures with faces, clip art or images of a specific size or file type. For example, if you need an image for your website, a small file size would be ideal. If it's for print in a magazine or publication, you want a high-quality image that will necessarily be a larger file size.
Creative Commons Images
If you need an image for use on your website or publication, you will need to ensure that you have the rights to use it. The original artist or photographer may have stipulated that you must pay for the picture, or at the very least credit him for creating it. In Google's advanced search, select "labelled for commercial reuse" under "Usage Rights." Any images found by this search will be specifically available for commercial use. Using an image that isn't marked as such could result in a lawsuit.
Flickr
When Google searches the Internet, it searches everything on the Internet, and most images will not be tagged and almost certainly won't have any usage information. Flickr, on the other hand, asks these questions during the upload process. That means that the original creator is far more likely to have specified if an image can be used.
