TinEye - The Reverse Image Search

Image source: Startupmeme.com

Ever come across an unknown image that you absolutely need a source for?  You often find these with user-content such as less popular internet memes or graphics on a forum.  Regardless of the case, I recently discovered a very interesting research tool for images called TinEye by Idée Inc. This tool utilizes a reverse method of image searching that allows you to upload an image to find more hosts of near-exact copies of the same image.  If you don't find more info about an image within its various file-names, your bound to find more details from the different sites that host it.   You can also find higher quality versions of an image as well.  In addition to all this, TinEye lets you sort the results by quality or similarity.

Whether your an internet journalist/blogger, web-designer, or just a casual user - this tool is essential for investigating origins of unknown graphics.  It's a completely free service that also features various methods of searching.  You can upload images directly from your computer or paste the url of an image instead.  They also feature interesting plug-ins for most popular browsers including Firefox, Chrome, IE, Opera, and Safari to have their search functionality built directly into your browsing vehicle.

If you find this project extremely helpful or intriguing in general, you can also help with the site's image database and funding.  I'm certain that url based image searches help build their database, but they also allow people hosting massive collections of public unlicensed image databases to submit their website as well.

Check out TinEye at http://www.TinEye.com