30 in 30: Day 8 - Advanced Image Search Tools

Day 8 in the 30 in 30 series is going to be about an underutilized Google tool called the Advanced Google Image Search.  Teachers are always using images and pictures.  Agendas, newsletters, worksheets and classroom displays to name a few.  They go to Google, type in what they are looking for, click on the images tab and then scroll through page after page of the million search results until they find what they are looking for.....only to realize after that the image is too small, too big or wasn't really what they wanted after all.  Repeating this process until the kids come in from recess and then finishing it up after school.  If you know what you are looking for, be specific and ask for it.  Google's Advanced Image Search will let you really refine what you are looking for.  This is a great option, but at times is too involved and doesn't let me get what I want fast enough.  This is where the Tools button comes in handy.  You can filter your results, and usually everything that you are looking for, right from within Google's image search results.  If you are looking to get better results from your Google image search, click here to watch the video that will show you how to use it.

If you are trying to figure out the differences between file formats, here is a great blog post that explains it.  In a nutshell here is what you need to know:

• .jpg - the most common image file, probably what most pictures are saved as
• .gif - used for clipart and images with animations (animated GIF's) that are not movies
• .png - used for clipart and allow transparency (grey and white checkerboard background)

Here are a couple of school house examples of each of the image types:

Example of a .jpg with white background

Example of .png with transparent background

Example of an animated .gif