Make picture be worth a 1,000 words
Overview
Free?
There are several sites which offer free images. I’ve wasted a lot of time trolling through them.
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http://www.bloggs74.com/free-stuff/10-best-websites-from-where-you-can-get-hd-wallpapers-for-your-desktop/ list sites that provide desktop wallpapers, which I can crop down.
Most of these sites have banner ads that entice you to paid image sites.
My strategy is to start with free sites. And when I get disgusted with how crappy they are, at a certain point, realize my time is worth more, and get satisfaction at paid sites.
Paid sites
Among the largest and most heavily marketed:
A big reason for images from paid sites is the crisper look from higher resolution images.
Prefer lossless png files over jpg files which loses resolution with each edit.
Search terms
I think one of the keys to finding stuff is using keywords like a boss.
maps.google.com is your friend.
Here are some tips:
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Begin with the size image you want, such as “1900x500”. This will save you from needing to crop.
Once you’ve exhausted those:
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Filter your search term by adding a word with a dash in front, such as “-1900x500” if that’s what you DON’T want anymore.
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Add -icon to filter out the type of image.
So that’s that basic pattern: build up your keywords in the search bar. Try a keyword, then filter.
Keywords
Here’s a list for your brainstorming pleasure:
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Color: white, green, etc.
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Type of image: panorama, HD, movie, etc.
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Type of file: jpg, png, svg, mp4, etc.
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Season of the year.
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Emotion: happy, sad, mad, angry, etc.
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Tone: speed
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Location: forest, desert
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Country: USA
Avoid words
Avoid an image with words in it, in case you have to localize your site.
Eureka - now save it
If you see an image that you like, save it for later so you can move on.
Here are some tips about saving the image.
- Alt-click on the image to save it.
If you don’t see Save Image as…, alt-click again and select Inspect element.
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You may need to save the expand the HTML coding by clicking the arrow in front of a line.
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If the img src= doesn’t beging with “http”, you’ll need to construct a url.
Copy the href contents between the quotes, such as:
/static/v1.5.0/core/img/header/doubleclick-search.jpg
Begin with just the host name in the URL on the browser.
Clear out characters after the last slash.
- The size of images is important. A 512x512 image
SVG images cannot be saved that way. Yet they are the preferred type of image file because they scale well, meaning they look crisp at different sizes.
But I save SVG files anyway with their png or jpg clones by naming such files with the same prefix as their clone formats in the same folder.
Save credit information with images
OK, the likelihood of you getting sued over a picture is small.
But you’ll sleep better at night knowing that you’re not being hunted.
So save your worry for other things by doing the right thing.
What I do is create a text file named the same as the image, but with a .txt extension. In the file
- URL where you got the information,
- The date when you retrived it
- From URL where you found it (such as google)
I personally have a website called assets that I use to save my images.
I tag each image so I can find them later.