I was working on a web project the other day and came across this interesting tool on Google, so thought I’d share for those who might not have come across this either.

Search … not just for text

Google has this interesting twist on the standard text search where you can search with images! Say you are on a website and find an interesting picture and would like to find variations. Well that is very possible! The search results can also contain the urls of websites and other sizes of your search image.

It’s also possible to use an image you have on your PC.  It’s simple … upload the image and begin your search.  Now a caveat before you do …any image you upload will be retained by Google … “so buyer beware”.

Searching for an Image

It’s easiest to search images using Chrome (no surprise there!) or Firefox. Simply right click on an image and select “Search Google for this image” (see below)

However it’s not too difficult to search in other browsers.

Start here : images.google.com.

You will need to first copy the url of the image in question (right click … copy image url).  Then paste the link into the search box. See below:

This was the method I found worked with Microsoft’s new Edge browser as well as with Internet Explorer

Next Steps

If you’re interested, below is a succinct article on this neat little feature on Google’s site:

• Reverse Image Search