We asked our expert picture research team how they find the perfect image, and how they do it so quickly. They gave us 7 awesome insider tips that will help out anyone searching for stock images on 64ÌåÓýwhether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional. Got any tips of your own? Share them in the comments at the bottom of the page or .
Start filtering in the search bar
You can start sorting your search results the minute you reach the search box. There are 3 different ways to filter in the search box. You can decide what kind of image you’re looking for, photograph, illustration, mobile, video or live news by clicking on the drop down arrow, use the check boxes to select your license type and releases preference. If you’re not sure if you need a release, check out our handy guide.
Use the filters at the top of the page to narrow down results
If you’re looking for a specific image you can use the filter tools at the top of the page to narrow down your results. They save you having to trawl through thousands of images that aren’t relevant to your project. You can specify the number of people in an image, their age and ethnicity, when and where the photo was taken and its orientation. Trust me, if you’ve got a very specific brief our search filters will become your best friend.
Colour search
Does your company use a very specific colour palette? Or are you searching for an image in your brand colours? You can now filter your search results by colour. Select the colour you would like to use or type in the colour code. You’ll find the colour filter listed under the ‘image’ drop down at the top of the page.
Roll over the image for more details
If you’re searching for something particular, for example an ancient building, a Caribbean island or a specific sports person roll over the thumbnail image in the search results to see the caption. This will give you details about who or what is in the image and where it was taken.
See “more” by the same photographer
Found an image you like but it’s not quite right? Try using the ‘more’ feature which will show you similar images by the same photographer. Quite often you’ll find the same image in portrait and landscape, or the same models in different poses which could be exactly what you need. Find the “more” button on the image thumbnails in the search results or on the image page.
Build a lightbox to save some of your favourites
If you’ve bought stock photos before you might be familiar with the lightbox tool. For those of you who aren’t, it’s a great way to save all the images you love in one place so you can come back and review them later. To create a lightbox you need to create an account (or log-in if you already have one). Click the lightbox icon in the header of the page and create a new lightbox. To add an image just click the lighbox icon on the thumbnail image in the search results or the icon on the image page.
Be inspired by our image categories
Stuck for inspiration on where start with your image search? Try our categories. We have over 50 hand crafted image categories covering a range of different themes and featuring our best and latest content, so whatever you’re working on we will have something to inspire you. Some of our most popular image categories are Royalty Free, Travel, Wildlife, and Business. You can browse them all on our categories page.
More useful blogsÂ
- Find out what keywords to use and how to get the most from your search terms with our blog  Want your lunch hour back? Speed up your image searches with these top tips.
- Learn how to write the perfect picture research brief in our blog How to write the perfect picture research brief.
- Win your next design pitch with the 5 great ways to wow potential clients listed in our blog How to win your next design pitch.