Search by picture, image or photo. Choosing the best services

There are several services on the Internet that allow you to find similar pictures based on your photo. This is not just a search by a description of an image or a synonym for its name. Developers are creating amazing technologies that scan the arrangement of colors, style, objects in the image and search for suitable instances on the Internet. Each service approaches search differently. In this article I will describe the most popular services and methods for searching by photo.

TinEye is a convenient search engine for finding similar images from photographs

TinEye is a Canadian similar image search service that provides additional search capabilities. The site is considered one of the first search engines to provide such an opportunity. The service was created in 2008. To search for pictures, he needs to provide any image, even a thumbnail of a low-quality image will do. The developers promise in the future to provide the ability to subscribe to pictures, copies of which will appear online.

The system allows you to find pictures from all resources on the Internet. For all popular browsers there is a special plugin that will allow you to search for images directly from the browser toolbar. The TinEye service made it possible to identify an unknown soldier from an image that was taken in Normandy. After this, a list of people depicted in the photo was found on one of the American websites.

The TinEye service is quite easy to use, despite the fact that it is in English.

To search for a similar picture from a photo you need:

Just below your image there is a “Best match” option. Here you can select which images will be shown in the results - the largest/smallest, the oldest by date added, etc.

Find a similar image from a picture in Yandex Pictures

The most popular search engine in Russia is Yandex, which also offers everyone the opportunity to find any image from a photograph. To search for any picture, visit the “Pictures” section at - https://yandex.ua/images/?rdrnd=753106&redircnt=1518009530.1 and then follow the instructions:

Google Image Search

The Google search engine also has a special service that will allow you to find the desired image on the Internet based on the photo you have. You can use any browser to search. The developers of the search engine itself advise us to look for popular objects and persons. This is the only way we have a good chance of success, even if we have very poor image quality to search for. To do this first:

Google Goggles is a powerful tool for mobile phones that can recognize pictures

The Google Goggles mobile application was created in 2009 for mobile devices running the Android operating system. This application has been specially designed for visual search of pictures, images and some other features. The application only works with Google servers, where it takes not text information, but images to display search results.

The working principle of this application is very simple. The search is carried out using the existing photo/video camera on the device. Previously, searching required taking a photo of the object you wanted to find on the Internet. Later versions of Goggles allow you to identify objects by simply pointing the camera. After this, your device will receive results that match your requests.

If you need to find similar images with famous objects, for example, with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then all you need to do is point the camera lens and you will get photos of different sizes and types of the tower. In order to use this program, go from your device to the Play Market and find it in the search.

Application Features:

Google Goggles can detect various objects even when moving. You can turn on not a photo camera, but a video. But there is a small limitation. Your device must support an electronic compass, autofocus, and satellite navigation system.
Some celebrities are included in a special database. Their faces are inviolable for the application, so you will not receive results for them.
In 2010, developers added a search function for images stored in the device’s memory.

FindFace – search for faces by photo

FindFace is a special service that specializes in finding people's faces on social networks. You can probably remember cases when you liked a girl/guy in a cafe, but you don’t know anything about them. With the FindFace app you can find a person using a photo, even if you took it yourself a few minutes ago. The search is based on a special development in which neural networks were used. Thus, the search can be performed even on a photo in which a person is captured with a 3/4 face, i.e. sitting in a half-turn.

Artificial intelligence develops independently over time thanks to neural networks. Every time the search results become more accurate. FindFace takes less than a second to search through various databases, searching through up to 310 million images in that time. This amount of work is done thanks to special algorithms that convert photos into a special code that greatly facilitates the search.

You can try to find any person on VKontakte as follows:

Open the page https://findface.ru/.
Click the "Find identical" button.
In the middle of the window, click the “Upload Photo” button.
After your image appears, indicate the person you want to search for on the social network.
In the next window, you will be presented with search results, which you can adjust to narrow the circle and more suitable people.

Yandex can search for images according to the pattern you specify. This can be a whole image or a fragment of it. In this case, the sample can be posted on the Internet or stored on your computer or other device.

Image search is based on computer vision algorithms. As a result of the search, both exact copies of the original image and pictures that differ slightly from the original can be found. For example, these may be different photographs of the same architectural monument.

Note. The search performance depends on the availability on the Internet of images similar to the sample and already indexed by Yandex. Thus, the probability of finding the same photo of an attraction is much higher than the same photo from your holiday.

How to start searching by image

From computer
From a mobile device

Click the button in the search bar of the service and in the dialog box that opens, upload the source image in one of the following ways:

Drag your original image into the dialog box.
Click the Select file link and specify the path to the image on your hard drive.
Enter the URL of the image in the search bar.

Then click the Find button.

Image search results are combined into groups. You can open a copy of the picture in a different size or find out on which sites the same pictures are found.

Click the icon in the search bar, then take a photo of the item you're interested in or download the original image from the gallery.

How to search for a picture from another site

If you use Yandex.Browser or extension Yandex elements for other browsers, you can search for a picture from almost any site. For this Right click on the image

"}}\">call the context menu for this image and select Search by this image in Yandex.

Note. The ability to search by image from a site page may be limited due to the layout of this site.

Finding a person via the Internet is quite simple - now almost everyone has their own page on social networks. You just need to somehow reach it.

There are several ways to do this (I talked about them), but they all rely on searching for information. You must indicate your first name, last name, age, city of residence and other information. But even if you know everything about a person, down to his blood type, this is not a guarantee that he will be found.

It’s a completely different matter if you have a photograph, even a general one. Now there are services that can recognize faces and search for the pages of their owners.

Preparing the photo

First you need to crop the photo. Thus, we will reduce its computer size (usually it is large) and remove all unnecessary things. This is especially true if the photo is a group one.

1 . Open Start - All Programs - Accessories - Paint

2. Open the photo in this program (you can simply drag it inside the window).

3. Select the “Select” tool at the top and circle the desired person.

4 . Click the “Crop” button.

Search on VKontakte (findface.ru)

FindFace (findface.ru) is a special service for searching for people on the VKontakte social network. But to use it, you need to have a VK page.

You can get it for free in just a minute - to do this, go to the website vk.com and register.

To search through FindFace, follow the link and click on the “find identical” button.

The service will ask you to allow access to your VK page, to which we agree.

Upload the desired photo (you can simply drag it inside the window).

And we wait for the end of the search procedure.

That's all - all that remains is to find your lost one in the list :)

Search the entire Internet

Search by image. There are two special services for this: one from Google (images.google.com), the other from Yandex (images.yandex.ru). They are very easy to use: you just need to drag the photo into the search bar.

Google Image Search

Search by image Yandex

The result will appear immediately. First, the same picture will be shown, but in other sizes (if available on the Internet), a little lower - similar photographs, and even lower - the Internet pages on which they are posted.

TinEye (tineye.com). Popular foreign image search service.

Everything is exactly the same here: drag a picture from your computer into the search bar, and immediately get the result.

Browser extensions

Extensions or add-ons are small gadgets that are added to an Internet program and perform certain tasks in it. For example, there are extensions for downloading videos from Youtube or music from Contact. There are also such programs for searching by photographs.

Almost every browser has its own collection of various add-ons. But most of them are in Google Chrome. In other programs, there are literally one or two extensions for our purposes, and even then they do not work quite as they should. Therefore, I will show how to work with add-ons only using the example of Chrome.

Where to find and how to install the extension

1 . Click on the button at the top right and select Additional tools - Extensions.

2. We go down to the very bottom of the page (scroll with the wheel on the mouse) and click on “More extensions”.

3. Type keywords in the top search bar and press Enter. The found extensions and applications appear. We install what we need (it can then be deleted at any time).

If you install an application, it is added to an empty tab, in the Services item. That is, to find it later, you need to open a new browser tab and go to “Services” (top left).

Extensions are installed a little differently - they are added immediately after the address bar.

Search for similar pictures on the Internet has become very accessible. Thanks to the leading developers of the most popular browsers and software for taking screenshots, anyone can find the material they are looking for in a matter of seconds. Overview of standard methods for searching images in Internet browsers, using and new product from Yandex browser.

Knowing what to look for can make it easy to learn how to do it. The classic search option in browsers requires the presence of the original image you are looking for, but you can do without a saved file. Details in this information web portal.

Via Google Chrome

In the search engine Google type keyword "Images" and go to the tab of the same name with an endless amount of varied graphic content.

On the right side Google search click on the camera icon.

In the open configuration window there are two options:

Use the "URL" link;
Upload a file (sample of the required material).

Document upload tab => Select the file whose analogues the user is going to find on the World Wide Web.

For example, you need to find a website logo.

The result will not be long in coming. The browser will display identical and similar images, as well as links to sites where similar images are found.

In the same way, you can search for people and characters from films using photographs.

If the result does not meet user expectations, then the image you are looking for is UNIQUE or browsers have not yet had time to index images uploaded to the Internet.

In Yandex browser

Just like in Chrome, the Yandex browser has a similar button for searching images on the Internet.

You can download or simply hold the sample and drag it into the appropriate field.
Search through the image link.

The result is striking in its accuracy and relevance.

New option in Yandex

For example: You need to find the Xiaomi Redmi icon.

Enter keywords in the search bar and go to the “Pictures” tab.

Among the abundant amount of drawings and photographs associated with the key, find a more or less suitable image. Click on it.

In the upper left corner of the picture there is an icon "Search by fragment". A good way to take advantage of the new option.

Select the desired fragment.
The “Search” button initiates the detection of similar pictures.

The result is obvious.

Just like that, without first downloading a sample to download and search for similar pictures on the Internet, you can find what you want.

TinEye

Using the services of Canadian developers TinEye, you can search by pattern or use reverse file search. This can be done as follows:

Upload file;
Drag & Drop option – grab and drag the desired graphic file into the search bar;
Search by URL.

TinEye constantly monitors, searches the web and adds images to its index. Today the TinEye index contains more than 28.2 billion images.

The TiniAy web resource supports only English. The interface is intuitive. Users who do not speak foreign languages can use online translator services.

TinEye extensions for search engines

The TinEye browser extension is the fastest way to find matches right from Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari or Opera. With the extension installed, you can select any web image to find it on network archive resources.

Using Lightshot

Users of the screenshot tool have a very convenient way to find a similar image on the Internet. Lightshot. To accomplish your plan, just select the desired area using the Lightshot screenshot and press the button with the Latin letter "g".

The default browser will open a Google search page with all found analogues.

Either method is very effective.

Yandex is on top with the new option. Lightshot will help you search through Google.

Hello.

The topic of doppelgangers has long haunted many people: some want to be like some star, others simply dream of finding a person similar to themselves, while others became interested in it just by chance. As a rule, these people (especially if they are not very good at computers) have one thing in common: they ended up on some site that promises to find their double, sent an SMS (most often the service did not even say that it would withdraw money, but simply under the guise of checking) - and as a result, instead of a found double, they saw a message that a search was carried out, the double was not found (and a certain amount of money was withdrawn from the phone...).

In this short article I want to tell you a few simple (in my opinion) ways to find your double using a photo, without any tricks or loss of money. So, let's get started...

What do you need to find a double?

1. A computer with an Internet connection (this is obvious 🙂).

2. A photograph of the person for whom you are going to look for doubles. It is best if it is an ordinary photo without processing by different editors (Photoshop, etc.). The most important thing is that the person captured in the photo looks straight at you, so that his face is not turned to the side or down (the accuracy of the search depends on this). Yes, one more detail, it is desirable that the background in the picture be some kind of neutral (white, gray, etc.). A full-length photograph is not needed - just the face is enough.

Option No. 1 - searching for doubles among celebrities

Website: http://www.pictriev.com/

The site PicTriev.com is the first one worth paying attention to. It's very easy to use:

go to the website (link above) and click the “Upload image” button (upload picture);
Next, select your prepared photo;
then the service pauses for 5-10 seconds. - and gives you the results: the age of the person in the photo, his gender, and famous people who the photo resembles (by the way, the percentage of similarity is calculated automatically). The service is especially useful for those people who want to be like someone - they changed their image a little, took a photo, uploaded the photo and looked in which direction the percentage of similarity has changed.

Rice. 1. pictriev - search for doubles using a male photo (photo similar to Phoenix Joaquin, similarity 8%)

By the way, the service (in my opinion) works better with women’s photos. The service almost accurately determined the gender and age of a person. The woman in the photo is most similar to Phoenix Edwige (26% similarity).

Option No. 2 - searching for a double through search engines

This method will live as long as search engines live (or until they block the option to search for pictures based on pictures (sorry for the tautology)).

In addition, the method will give results more and more accurately every year (as search engine algorithms develop). There are quite a lot of search engines, I will give a short instruction on how to search in Google by photo.

1. First, go to the website https://www.google.ru and open the image search (see Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Google Image Search

3. Then upload your photo and Google will search for similar photos.

As a result, we see that the woman in the photo looks like Sofia Vergara (the results found will contain a lot of photos similar to yours).

By the way, in a similar way you can find similar people in Yandex, and indeed any other search engines that can search by photo. Can you imagine the scope for testing? What if a new search engine comes out tomorrow or new, more advanced algorithms appear?! Therefore, this method is the most reliable and promising...

Where else can you look?

1. http://celebrity.myheritage.com- on this site you can find a double among celebrities. Before searching, you need to register. While it is free, it is possible to install an application for a mobile phone.

2. http://www.tineye.com/ - a site with a huge number of photographs. If you register on it and upload a photo, you can scan it for similar people.

3. play-analogia.com is a good site for finding doubles, but lately it has often been unavailable. Maybe the developers abandoned it?

This concludes the article. To be honest, I have never been specifically interested in or studied this topic in depth, so I would be very grateful for comments and constructive additions.

And lastly, do not be fooled by various promises about finding similar people via SMS - in 90% of cases this is a scam, unfortunately...