justinetaylor:

OK, peeps of the inter-webs.  I’m gonna drop some science.

(That’s right.  I just wrote the nerdiest sentence you will hear today.  And depending on your circle of friends, maybe all month.)

There is officially now NO excuse to post pictures without giving original sources and credits.  Because the good people of Google have offered up another crazy, how-is-the-Google-so-smart, completely FREE service.  It’s been around for a while.  And it’s pretty rad.  And it is fighting the good fight against people sourcing their pictures to “Pinterest” or “unknown”. *shudder*

It’s so freaking/unbelievably easy.  Let me show you.

For started, let’s dig into my old “home inspiration photo” files on my computer. (Whoa… do you remember life before Pinterest?  When we saved pictures ONTO OUR COMPUTERS?!)  Long ago his lovely bright picture was dragged (drug?) and dropped into my photo file because I loved it.  But afterwards (especially 6 years later) I had no way of ever remembering which website I got it from in the first place.  But I’d love to share it with you.  But I no longer post pictures on my Tumblr that don’t list at least one of the: publisher, designer, photographer or stylist.  Darnitall.  

Photograph by Luis Rivera for Real Simple

But wait!  I found the source!  How did I do it?!? Check. Check. Check it out:

Look at the Google home page. Look up up up to the black menu bar and click on “images”.  Now you’ll be on the Google Images search page.

 You notice that little camera icon that I subtly highlighted for you?  Click on it.  You know you want to.  And you are magically transported here:

Now, I prefer to upload an image.  But you can paste the URL.  Whatev’s.  I usually drag and drop the image onto my desktop, then click “choose file” and upload it.  When I do this the computer cooks up some possibilities of where this image came from.  After it does this, you need to sift through the search results with a bit of discretion:

Look for a reliable source first - a big time blog, or magazine site, or the portfolio of  a designer/photographer/stylist/etc.  If one of these pops up it should either be or list the original creator of the image.  SCORE.

If none of these pops up, look at the other blogs that come up, or Pinterest accounts, and see if they included links to the original source.  (And give ‘em mad props if they do.)

Now, it isn’t always that easy - and you’ll need to use a bit of savvy and discretion:

• Sometimes the image may be from a hip magazine in, say, Norway.  And I don’t know ‘bout you, but my Norwegian’s a little rusty.  So you’ll have to try and figure out the source with an online translator.  Good luck with that.
• Sometimes the image is not professional.  The small-time blogger decorated that room and photographed it herownself.  Give that person the original source credits if you’re sure of this. (i.e he/she writes “Check out what I did in my living room!”)
• Sometimes websites are dumb and look somewhat professional but do not actually own the image and do not list any sources.  Shake your fist and wrinkle your nose at them.
• Sometimes you will find a whole bunch of people linking the image back to a certain blog - but that blogger did not create the image.  It’s just that they posted it, and everyone else got it from them.  Boo.  You should keep looking for the actual source.
• Occasionally you will find a dead end.  Maybe somebody scanned the picture from a book or magazine.  Or maybe the original source is now gone.  Occasionally you’ll have to abandon posting a picture, because you just can’t find the original source.

But then again, most of the time it works, and you can post that picture in good conscience.  Like this beauty:

Photograph by Steven Brooke for Coastal Living

Mmhmm.  And this one…

from Martha Stewart Living

What a beaut.  And this one!

Photograph by Stacey Brandford for House & Home, October 2005, via Design Maze

Yesss.  I want a fence like that.

So, go Goog it up.