Sunday, July 19, 2015

Reverse Image Search Technology


Google Search by Image Feature

This may be a new term for you but many of you are currently using this technology! Most people know this term as - Search by Image. What we call search by image is originally known as Reverse Image Search. There are several sites which provide this service. But in terms of speed, reliability and user friendliness I prefer Google Image Search. 


About Google Reverse Image Search

Normally we search something through texts. But reverse image search technology can take pictures/ images as input. And it displays related images as the result. 

The images you're using to search will be stored by Google. When you're using the search by image feature, the search result may include - 
  • Similar images
  • Web Pages that include that image
  • Other sizes of that image

When searching by the picture of a well known person, you will get many other information along with the similar images. Search by image works best when you search an image which is famous and available in different sites. 

That means your personal photo or latest party photos have hardly any chance to appear in the search result. 



Reverse Image Search Techniques (Laptop & Desktop)

You can use this feature from any desktop browser (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, Opera). But Google Chrome (And Firefox also) has some built in options to use search by image feature. 

So, I hope, all of you are using the updated version of Google Chrome. 

There are several techniques to use this technique. Follow any of the techniques below:

1. Upload an Image:

  1. Visit Google Images
  2. Hit on the Camera Icon that appears in the search box.
  3. You will have two options: 1. Paste an image URL from web and press Enter 2. Upload an image > Choose File > Select a File from your Storage.
  4. That's it! 

2. Drag n Drop the Image into the Search Box
  1. Visit Google Images > Keep your browser window restored down.
  2. Locate the photo from hard disk > Click on it and hold down the mouse.
  3. Drag the image into the search box and release it.
  4. Let Google find out the details . . . 

3. Open an Image from Browser Window
  1. Open a new tab on your chrome browser.
  2. Press Ctrl+O > Locate, select and open your desired image from hard disk.
  3. After the image appears, right click on it, choose > Search Google for this Image
  4. It will do the same job as it did when you upload an image!

Search by an Image from Browser Tab


4. Search for an Image that Appears on a Website

Suppose you would like to search by an image that appears on a website. You wanna find other versions or sizes or similar images of that photo. Just follow the steps below:
  1. Suppose you've visited Microsoft or Apple or any other website.
  2. There you've got the image of any device. If you wanna search it in Google, simply click right on it.
  3. Choose search Google for this image.
  4. A new tab will be opened with the search result. 

Search by Image from Website



As an illustration, I've searched the photo of MacGyver. The search result is as below:


Search by an Image Result


Look at the search result. What does it include?

  • The file name, extension and a small icon of the uploaded image.
  • The size of the uploaded image - 300 x 378
  • Best Guess for the Image - macgyver
  • A brief about MacGyver on the right sidebar
  • Some popular websites about MacGyver
  • Visually similar images of MacGyver


Limitations

This technology still needs to be enriched. The images which are not famous will hardly appear in the result. But at least you can trace out the fake IDs of Facebook which include the photos of celebrity of different countries! :) 


May I have your attention please? This tutorial is based on Google Chrome!



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