THEA 4321 History of Costume

Do you have a great image but you don't know where it came from? Or, do you need copyright information about an image? Upload your image to one of the applications below to do a Reverse Image Search.

• 

  TinEye

  Use image recognition to find out where an image came from, how it is being used or if modified versions of the image exist.

• Google Reverse Image Search

  Use Google to search the web for an image instead of keywords

It's important to critically evaluate images you use for inspiration, research, and study. Images should be evaluated like any other source, such as journal articles or books, to determine their quality, reliability, and appropriateness. You'll want to evaluate the image itself, but also the text that accompanies or surrounds the image. The questions below may help you evaluate the image under consideration.

Content analysis   

• What do you see?
• What is the image about?
• Are there people in the image? What are they doing? How are they presented?
• Can the image be interpreted different ways?
• How effective is the image as a visual message?

Visual analysis  

• How is the image composed? What is in the background, and what is in the foreground?
• What are the most important visual elements in the image? How can you tell?
• How is color used?
• What meanings are conveyed by design choices?

Contextual information

• What information accompanies the image?
• Does the text change how you see the image? How?
• Is the textual information intended to be factual and inform, or is it intended to influence what and how you see?
• What kind of context does the information provide? Does it answer the questions Where, How, Why, and For whom was the image made?

Image source (See above: Reverse Image Search to find source)

• Where did you find the image?
• What information does the source provide about the origins of the image?
• Has the image been changed, cropped, or edited?
• Is the source reliable and trustworthy?
• Was the image found in an image database, or was it being used in another context to convey meaning?

Technical quality

• Is the image large enough to suit your purposes?
• Are the color, light, and balance true?
• Is the image a quality digital image, without pixelation or distortion?
• Is the image in a file format you can use?
• Are there copyright or other use restrictions you need to consider? 

List adapted from University of Washington Libraries