The 7 Best Reverse Image Search Tools Available Today
Whether you are fact-checking for a source for an article or you are a photographer looking to see if your image has been used without authorization, knowing the original source of an image can be meaningful. There is no question that search engines have helped make our lives easier in so many different ways, but reverse image search continues to be one of their most underappreciated functions.
If used properly, you can also use these same search engines to find copyright-free images as well as look up the name of a bird you saw while on a walk.
Let’s take a look at the 7 best reverse search image tools available today and see which one is right for you.
What is a Reverse Image Search?
For many people, the idea of a reverse image search might be a search engine function they’ve never considered using. Alternatively, you may have performed a visual search many times for a myriad of reasons, including looking for your own work being used online.
One of the most important functions of the reverse image search tool is to discover where an image may have originated from. By doing so, you are ensuring that you are not using anyone’s copyrighted work without permission. If you do wish to use someone’s work, a reverse image search might also help you locate the contact info so you can reach out and ask for permission.
On the other hand, using one of the best reverse image search tools might help you simply find the source of an image. As you perform a search, you can verify an image is authentic and hopefully discover if it’s something royalty-free you might be able to use for your work.
Google Images
Google Images is unsurprisingly the largest and most notable of all reverse image search tools available online. Unsurprisingly, as Google is the world’s largest search engine, you are most likely to find an image using Google’s tools and verify its authenticity, copyright status, etc. To start with Google Images, you can go to Google Images directly, click on the camera icon, and either paste an image URL or upload an image from your photo gallery.
As soon as Google’s search ends, you’ll hopefully be shown a first result with the original image source as well as the answer to the identity of any image in question. What’s more is that you will also likely discover where else this image is being used, by what other websites, and in what size it’s been used. Google Images does a great job of not just identifying the image itself by also helping you understand how many different sizes are available in case your search is predicated on finding a larger or smaller image.
Ideally, with Google Images, the best results are right at the top, if not the very top, so that should be the first place you look as soon as the reverse image results return. However, if you need to get more specific, Google enables you to crop an image to try and refocus the search if the first search result does not come back with the appropriate results.
TinEye
Arguably one of the best-known options not named Google Images is TinEye. Available directly at TinEye.com, this site has a well-earned reputation for delivering some of the best search results in the reverse image search space.
Everything about TinEye is very simple as you go to the website and click on upload to grab an image from your hard drive, phone gallery, or through the existing image URL. As soon as your results are returned, TinEye will not only tell you how many results are available but how many searches it has completed.
In the hope your image was discovered somewhere online, you will see the results initially filtered by the best possible match. You can also manually type in or select through any of the sources, in this case, any of the results that returned the image of your search can be chosen directly.
From there, you can navigate to a website and either learn more about the image or potentially discover any limits around its use.
Bing Visual Search
Just as Google has built up its own reverse image search tool, so too has Bing, which has done a fantastic job of creating one of the best reverse search image tools available online. Like Google, the Bing Visual Search tool gives the image result on the left-hand side of the screen so you can match it against the results. The two-thirds of the screen that does include results show you different locations and pages as to where the image could be from.
Bing’s Related content link is used to differentiate between image results as well as the pages you could find the image on. Bing has since moved away from that direction and instead prefers to group all results under the related content header. It also provides you an option for related search terms that might be in line with how you view and interpret the image you are searching for.
If you hover your mouse over each image result, you can also see the website where the image lives as well as the size and file type (JPG, PNG, etc.).
Social Catfish
Social Catfish is a unique website that is less about seeing if an image is being used outside of its copyright or trying to identify what an image is and more about verifying its authenticity. More specifically, this app is a fantastic website for, as its name suggests, avoiding being catfished by someone online.
Whether it’s a dating site, an online forum, or someone you are concerned about entering into a quick business transaction with, you can use this website to feel safe. Social Catfish differentiates itself by making it more likely to use its tools to look up images of actual people than say a picture of a bird or dinosaur.
However, when you do perform an image search, Social Catfish incorporates its proprietary technology to scan what it claims are millions of social profiles. This includes scanning Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and online forums to try and verify the authenticity of any image you are searching for.
Outside of dating, you can also use Social Catfish to look up information about copyrighted images and photos. As a photographer, you may want to use Social Catfish to find other sites that are using your photos without permission, so you can contact them about royalties.
Yandex
The fourth largest search engine in the world, Yandex is another strong choice as one of the best reverse image search tools around. Similar to Google and Bing, you can go to the Yandex image search, click on the camera icon and then upload a photo, paste it from your clipboard, or use an existing image URL. As a Russian-based website, you are bound to see numerous international results as you look for results of your image.
What Yandex does well is that it immediately gives you the option of numerous sizes as well as others containing the image in question. Yandex has also done a good job of integrating social media results front and center so you can get results from Twitter as well as some local results if you have given Yandex permission to access your location.
Should none of the results bear fruit and give you the exact search result you are hoping for, there is also a dedicated section to locate similar images that might be close enough to your original search.
Pinterest might not be top of mind when it comes to the best reverse image search tools, but writing it off would also be a big mistake. The company first introduced its visual search tool all the way back in 2015 and since then it’s helped millions locate a full-size image or just one small area of an image.
Using the Pinterest visual search tool is really pretty simple and you can immediately get started as soon as you have a Pinterest account. From there, all you have to do is search for something, and when you locate an image result, the bottom right-hand corner of the image will have a small magnifying glass in a square.
Clicking on magnifying glass will not just help you locate and identify reverse images, but Pinterest also adds a cropping tool. Using the cropping tool, you can focus on one item or a smaller portion of the photo to refine your reverse image search results. As Pinterest is home to millions and millions of photos of all kinds of objects, large and small, there is a good chance you can find what you are looking for, at least as long as it isn’t too obscure.
Getty Images
Getty Images is home to some of the world’s best photography available for licensing, all of which are high quality and ready for use. As part of its strong library of work, Getty Images also includes a great reverse image search tool that can be used to help identify not just a photo, but videos as well. Unlike search engines, which are not limited to licensed photography, Getty Images is a tool best used by professionals, marketers, or blogs to find images that can be purchased for a license.
Using the Getty reverse image search can help make sure the image you are using does require a license so you do not inappropriately use an image. The search function itself is quite simple as you go to the Getty Images homepage and right next to its search bar is the option to Search by image or video. Upload the picture you are looking to locate or identify and Getty will push out both image and video results that hopefully line up with your query
Because it’s a website focused on licensing, the likelihood you find results for uncommon photos is strong. However, you may also find images that you can license similar to your search query, which may be the exact step you want to take.
Wrapping Up
Reverse image search tools have been around for a long time and they play a big role in helping us use the web. Whether it’s Google, Bing, or Pinterest, you should have countless opportunities through these tools to try and identify any image you are reverse searching. As these tools work instantly, you can quickly look up, identify, and take action on any reverse image search result within seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the number one reverse image search tool available today?
Unsurprisingly, Google is still the king of reverse image search as it turns up the most likely results.
How many different kinds of images can you look up?
As long as the format is supported on your computer, a reverse image search engine should be able to use it.
Is there any risk in uploading a photo to Google, Bing, etc. when performing a reverse image search?
While search engine privacy is definitely a consideration, there should be minimal risk in uploading any image for a reverse image search.
Will the different search engines turn out different search results?
In theory, you shouldn’t have different results between different search engines but there are always circumstances where different results are possible.
What if you find an image you don’t want online, is there any way to remove it?
Yes, you can use a site like Social Catfish to find an image of yourself and contact them to help start the process of removing any social profile that is using your image without approval.
