The Easy Way To Find The Source For Virtually Any ImageWith the arrival of Pinterest, and before that blogs and other sites posting images that often don't list a credit, finding the original source for an image has become a big problem. Even when a credit is listed, it often simply links back to another blog or flickr page that posted the picture, that is linking back to another blog or site posting the picture...well, you get it! It's often very hard to trace back to the original owner of the image.
But not if you know how to use Google Image Search. Yes, it does take a few minutes, but I think it is important to make this effort when posting images. I was reminded of this when I took a short cut and posted an image I knew was from HGTV.com in a post this week, but didn't take the time to find the original owner of the image showing a pretty chair and pillow. But then a comment came in asking how to locate the pillow seen in the image. Oops.
So here's the steps to find this information:
Open your browser to Google and click on "Images" on the header at the top of the page.
The below will pop up.
If you've saved a copy of the image you want to search,
upload the image here and click "Search."
I uploaded the below photo I had previously credited to HGTV.com
And below are the results:
Yes, as credited in my post, I did first come across the image on HGTV.com, but the room design and image are by Samantha Pynn Design. From this search, clicking on a couple links, I found her website and could now link directly to her portfolio, in addition to learning this room was done for the show Pure Design, Tiffany's Bedroom Episode 2, with the photography done by Virginia Macdonald.
So next time you want to find the exact source of an image, it's just this simple. We certainly owe it to the designers, photographers, bloggers and others that work so hard on creating their original content to do our best to give credit where credit is due.
57 comments:
Thanks, Janell. We all need to know how to do this. What a pretty vignette it is !
Niiiice. Now... lets see how much I remember to do it.
WOW!!! Who knew? Best post I've read all morning! I'm about to do this to a few images I have saved on my computer and have no clue where they came from!
Thanks for the tip!
This is invaluable. Thanks for the tip. I was feeling guilty pinning things to someone else's pinterest credit.
Have a great day Janell!
Nancy
http://www.powellbrower.com/2012/03/coming-to-dulles-expo-center-this.html#comment-form
Thank you for sharing this important inforamtion. I will definitely be marking this post for reference.
Great information! Thank you!
Janell, this is such a useful tip. Thanks for sharing.
Have a good day!
Jessie
www.mixandchic.com
Thanks, Janell, I had no idea! I just posted the same image a couple days ago and credited an even different source.
Thanks Janell...for teaching us! It is important, and sometimes we all get lazy on occasion :)
Thanks, this is really helpful. Just recently I had pinned something and wanted to know about the curtains, but finding the source was impossible. Yay, going to find those curtains!
This is super helpful, I'm not sure I knew you could do that! I won't use a picture unless I have a good source for it. Thanks for the tip!
Excellent information! This will come in very handy! I never realized you could search from the photo itself! Hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend!
Thank you for taking the time to put the information out here for us. I do not borrow photos often but when I do it feels good to give the proper credit up front.
In the past I have gotten so frustrated in trying to find the original source for photos...no more! Thanks for sharing such a useful and simple step!
Cathy
Ditto to the above comments. Thanks, Janell!
Thanks for the info. I didn't know you could do a photo lookup.
I'm glad you taught us this! I often feel bad because I can't seem to find the original link. It's so important to credit the proper source, though.
Cool Info! I'm going to test this now. Thanks!
P.S. I had a fabulous day on my 50th (last October). My 4 parents (parents and new spouses) all took me and my family and a few friends to a great restaurant here. It's called the Wood Ranch and has the best BBQ ever but it's a bit classy too. I went into the restaurant and hummed "it's my party and ..well I didn't want to cry I was so happy".
We talked about our birthdays coming up over a year ago. lol
Thanks Janell. I always try to give proper credit, but it is hard with photos being pinned from everywhere. This tips is so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
I thought that I was really good with a computer but it amazes me the things that google comes up with. Thank you! Very helpful!
Sharna
perfectlycloudyclothingblog.blogspot.com
THANKS for this! That is the downfall of Pinterest, is not always giving credit to whom it is due! I had that issue and had I known this, it would of saved me time!
Love Samantha Pynn, I am interviewing her for my "so Canadian eh" series, her interview will up at the end of the month! She is one of my favourite Canadian designers!
Thank you!
Excellent and very helpful post Janell!
Janell this is great information. I have often times played detective and gone from link to link trying to find a source for an item I love, now I can do it this way, Thank you for your investigative reporting, Happy Friday,
Kathysue
Thank you! I've wanted to know how to do that.
Couldn't agree more. This is wonderful. I spend so much time trying to track back. I might have to pass this on via your post. Thanks, Janell.
Thanks! I have spent quite a bit of time tracking down sources on Pinterest so this is really good to know.
That is such a good tip. I know that most of my sources for pictures on my blog are not the original source. I certainly don't do it on purpose, but until now, I had no way of finding the original source. Thanks again!
This is very cool. I will have to try it sometime. Thanks for sharing!
What a great tip! Thank you so much for the info!
Thank you for showing me how to do this, Janell! I've been really struggling with finding the source of photos on Pinterest. You're the best!
Great to know!! I will definitely be using this tip--thanks for sharing!
Totally brilliant tip! Thank you so much for the information - I had NO idea. PERFECT!!! Hope you have a wonderfully enjoyable weekend - Jalon
Awesome tip, Janell -- I think we all get just a little careless about this and I'm so glad to know how to credit properly. It's worth it (and the fair thing to do) to take that extra step.
Happy weekend!
Thank you so much. I was going crazy trying to find the original source for so many images on Pinterest. What a waste of time. I love image sharing sights, but unfortunately in my experience the original source is usually lost. I will do this!!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I had no idea and had started deleting pics that I couldn't source properly, but now I have a great tool.
THANK YOU!!!!! I so needed this yesterday and was so frustrated I couldn't find the original source!
Absolutely; I agree.
Awesome! Thank you! Hate to post a photo without giving credit where credit is due !
Fantastic, thank you.
Awesome!!! This is so much easier than playing detective! :) Thanks for this!
Thank you so much. Before Pinterest I would save photos of things I liked - rooms, fabrics, pillows, crafts, etc - in iphoto. Now I want to clean up my iphoto inventory by pinning them but didn't know how to find the original source. This is great.
Great info! Yup, that pinterest is brutal for this!
Thank you so much for this info...I read about 3 posts today about the whole pinterest and copyright fiasco and I have to admit, started freaking out a bit. AND I too posted this exact image this week...now I will link to its appropriate owner. xx
Thank you for this post. I am not a blogger, but follow tons and pin from the blogs. For several weeks I have been admonished by the blogs to "pin from original source" - meaning their blog, and of course, "follow me on pinterest" - only to find they are not the original source. I have been image searching and have had the feeling I am actually doing the bloggers work for them! Also several have now started sourcing as "source unknown". I hope they read your post. I have over 6000 pins and cannot go back and source each one but am much more careful as to what is pinned and how it is sourced. I also hope the bloggers will take the time to add a watermark on their own photo. My apologies if my comments seem harsh, that is not my intention, nor are they directed at you or your blog.
good tip... i did not know how to do this!
There have been a hand full of times I've been scouring the web for an original source - why didn't I think of plugging it in to Google? Thank you! This is a big issue and I always try to use original sources on my blog at all times. If I can't find it then I either don't use it or I admit to not knowing the source and hopefully one of my lovely readers can help out.
You have a gift for relaying information that is most helpful and needed. This is great to know! Thank you!
Helpful tip - will save a lot of time and detective work!!Thank you.
http://missbbobochic.blogspot.com/
GREAT tip. I hadn't thought of trying the source via Google Images. I always cringe thinking that I haven't sourced any images correctly. This will be a big help!
oh my goodness. you revolutionized my Pinterest and blogging experience today, sweet friend!
Is this a "duh" moment???
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
So easy but...I didn't know it...
Danila
thank you so much for this- honestly, this is probably the most helpful post I've read all month(and I follow wayyy too many blogs, so that's sayin something!). I just started blogging about a month ago, and I want to be accurate in sourcing images. Thanks again!
Janell - this is really great! I use google images all the time but I never knew you could use it this way. I have so many images I haven't used or put on pinterest because I want to find an original source - you've given me a little project to work on!
Jut had to tell you again how useful this has been! Best tip we've received in a long time! Use it all the time and just this morning while researching an image, I thought I gotta thank her again!
Hi!
A lot of Pinterest mavens on here I love it --I am a total Pinterest-aholic. Anyways I built this little bookmarklet because so many people were having trouble finding sources of images on Pinterest and couldnt get past blocked links.
Hopefully it is easier than manually looking up images:
picnic.dreamuplabs.com
Thanks!
Hi Janell, I followed your link from Lisa's blog and wanted to say thank you for this valuable information. I did not know you could google search an image. Thank you so much for sharing - it will help us all be more diligent and correct in our posting of images.
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