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Library Information Guide - Fort Wayne

Finding Visual Aids with Google

Google offers you a way to search through billions of graphics for school or personal use.

Get Started

Go to www.google.com and click Images at the top right of the page.

Searching Google Images

Google Images Search

Type your search term(s) into the search box.

You can include the word “graph,” “chart,” “statistics,” etc. if that is the type of visual aid you are looking for. For example, the keywords “gasoline prices” and graph will retrieve graphs relating to gas prices.

Click the blue magnifying glass to search.

Browse Results

Google will present a collection of graphics that match your search terms. For example, the above search retrieves the images below (click for a larger image):

Google Images Search Results

Filtering Results

You can filter your results to get different images. Click on Search tools, above your results, and a new menu will show up underneath.

Google Images Search Filters

  • Size
    Lets you choose the dimensions of your image results. Remember that many images can be resized or cropped.
  • Color
    Perhaps you need a blue house to fit your color scheme, or a black and white image for a historical effect - you can get these and more under the Color tab.
  • Type
    Choose between clipart, photographs, line drawings, or even animated images.
  • Time
    Helps you find recently published images.
  • Usage Rights
    Important if you are creating something for publication, this lets you filter for images that are labeled for reuse.

Selecting an Image

Clicking on an image will bring up more information and a list of similar images. This screen includes a link which will take you to the original page where the image was found - including the information needed to correctly cite the image.

Search BY Image

While using Google Image Search, did you happen to notice the little grey camera in the search box? If not, go back and look. This is a different kind of image search - it lets you search BY image instead of typing in search terms. This can be really helpful if you have a picture and need more information about it or need to identify a logo or emblem.

Check out the video to see how Google Search by Image works.