Image Search Engines: Alta Vista Image Search and Ditto.com
In my experience, Alta Vista Image Search is the best, the most inclusive image search engine on the web today. Ditto.com, which is a much smaller image search engine, has a worthy subject directory of images and some valuable features.
ALTA VISTA IMAGE SEARCH - THE BIGGEST - THE BEST
Alta Vista Image Search is offered as a search option on Alta Vista. Choosing the Images tab on the Alta Vista homepage will take you to the Image Search menu.
There are menu choices for Photos, Graphics, Buttons/Banners, Color and Black and White. In addition you can choose to search the web and/or one or all of Alta Vista's partner sites which include Corbis Collection and Getty Images (large collections of images that you can use on a website or publication for a fee), and CD Now (mainly retrieves images of CD album covers).
Type of Image: These menu options give you a great deal of control over the type of image you retrieve. For example, if you choose Black and White and Graphics your search will retrieve only black and white clip art and other graphic material. Choosing Color and Photos, your search will retrieve only color photographs. If you're pressed for time and are willing to pay for an image, you can restrict your search to Corbis Collection and Getty Images, and omit the step of asking for permission to use an image.
To retrieve buttons and banners, select Graphics, Color or Black and White, and Buttons/Banners. Enter the type of button or banner you're looking for in the search box (e.g. square, arrow).
Search Tips: - All of the search operators in Alta Vista are available in Image Search. However, because images are indexed using so few words (e.g.title, keywords, possibly page title), it's best to keep your search simple - perhaps one or two search words or a phrase that embodies your search concept. For example, blackboard chalk or "tennis court".
Because Alta Vista has such a large index, it's worth trying a very specific query (e.g. +black +miniature +poodle). If there are just a few images matching your request, it can be useful to enter search words that are slightly less specific or to omit the plus signs (e.g. +miniature +poodle or black miniature poodle).
Results: Each result in Alta Vista Image Search includes a thumbnail image, the file name and size. For each item, there's a link to More Information. If the image comes from the Corbis Collection or Getty Images, there's a link to these sites.
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