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Search Help Information - Alicea's Photo Gallery

To find the images you need, quickly and easily you can use either the Quick image search or the advanced image search. We also offer free research assistance. If you'd like personalized help finding the images you need, please contact the local office .

We also have information on the Alicea's Photo Gallery License Agreements, if that's what you're looking for.

Quick Search

To perform a Quick Image Search:

  • Go to any of our main page at the right- top corner and enter the keyword(s) for the kind of image you're searching for -- or enter the image number(s) for specific images.
  • Click 'Search' and any images that match your search will appear on the Search Results page.

If you receive too few or too many results, review the following topics:

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Advance Search

The Advanced Image Search contains more searching options than the Quick Image Search. To perform an Advanced Image Search click on the link labeled "Advance Search" on top of each page.

Then follow these steps:

  • From the first drop-down menu, select 'Any Category' or select a category to determine the type of images you'd like to see on your Search Results page.
  • From the second drop-down menu, select the type of search you wish to conduct -- either 'Match all words' or 'Match any words'.
  • From the third drop-down menu, select where you wish to conduct your search -- either 'Keywords', 'Description' or 'Image Number'.
  • Enter your search criteria -- keyword(s), image number or phrase.

Additional Options

You may further refine your Advanced Image Search, using the following options:

  • Select to search through rights-managed images, royalty-free images, or both.
  • Set additional preferences you want to apply to your search -- image orientation, color vs. black-and-white, location, photographer and the number of search results you would like to display per page, and the total number of search results.
  • Click 'Search' to view your Search Results.

If you receive too few or too many results, review the following topics:

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Search Tips

Below are a few tips and pointers to help ensure that your image searches at Alicea's Photo Gallery are successful.

Commas  -- Commas are not allowed. Commas should be substituted for "and" in keyword to simulate a "Match all words' type of search. If you substitute commas by space or 'OR', it will works as a "Match any words' type of search.

Problem areas which may lead to too many, too few or inaccurate results:

Using operators such as "and" "or"  -- When conducting your initial search, do not begin your entry with operators such as 'and," 'or" or 'not." You may, however, use 'and," and  'or" after first word. 

Misspellings or typos -- Always double-check your entries to make sure your keywords do not contain misspellings or typos.

Trademarked terms -- You won't be able to search on manufacturer's brand names like Toyota, Nikon, DEll, etc. But you can search quite specifically for some of the products they make, such as sports car, convertible, camera, computer, etc.

Additional tips to help you more closely match images to your ideas:

Search by subject -- Search by subjects such as nouns that identify the main subject of an image, e.g., car or telephone; adjectives that describe the nouns, e.g., rusty or antique; verbs that describe the main action in an image, e.g., throw or shave; age groups for person or people, e.g., baby, child, young adult; and locations, e.g., cities (ponce), countries (Puerto Rico).

Search by style -- Search by style to receive results that are targeted to specific photographic or artistic techniques, such as cross-processing, low angle, profile, studio shot, defocused or woodcut.

Search by concept -- Search by concepts, such as sensory perception, dreams, escape, romance or comfort.

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Search Preference

On the Advanced Image Search page choose your image display preferences based on the following settings:

  • Rights-managed images -- search across all or any combination of rights-managed image collections.
  • Royalty-free images -- search across all or any combination of royalty-free image collections.
  • Orientation -- horizontal or vertical.
  • Color vs. B&W -- check the 'Color' box to see only color images in your results. View only black-and-white images in your results by checking the 'B&W' box.
  • Display results -- sets the number of images you'd like to view per page: 10, 25, 50 or 100.
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Keywords

All images in the Alicea's Gallery are searchable by assigned keywords. These keywords describe the image in three ways: by subject, by style and by concept.

  • Subject keywords describe the subject matter of the image. They include: Nouns that identify the main subject(s) of the image, such as car, telephone and sky.
  • Adjectives that describe these nouns, such as rusty and antique.
  • Verbs that describe the main action(s) in the image, such as throw or shave.
  • Approximate age groups of the person or people in the image: baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, mature adult and elderly adult.
  • Locations, such as cities (Dorado), countries (Puerto Rico), regions (south, north) and specific locations (zoo, left bank).

Style keywords describe the image attributes as a graphic element. These include:

  • Image orientation: horizontal or vertical.
  • Color: color, black and white, sepia, infrared. Specific colors: blue, green, red, yellow, purple, orange, brown, black, white, gray, pink, beige, gold, silver.
  • Other style keywords: close-up, long shot, aerial, blur, soft focus, montage, cut out, digitally generated, three quarter length, long exposure.

Concepts are ideas or notions that describe the essence or underlying message of the image. Examples include communication, success, challenge and teamwork. Most images are assigned more than one concept. Images are also assigned broad range subjects, such as Beauty and Health, Lifestyles, Technology and Travel Destinations.

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Search by Image Number

To quickly locate a particular image, you may enter the image number into the search box. To enter more than one image number at a time, separate each number with a space or the word 'OR'. Letters appearing in an image number may be entered as caps or lowercase.

Exact Phrase Searching

Many keywords are phrases, such as "strawberry milkshake", "road sign" and "Christmas tree." If you'd like to view images that match a keyword phrase, you should enter the whole phrase in the search box and select 'As a phrase' type of search for the most accurate results.

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Using Multiple Keywords

Narrow or widen your search results by combining keywords with the words 'AND' and 'OR'. Example: 'single flower AND close-up' This search will find close-up images of single flowers.

Search Results

The Search Results page displays thumbnail images that match your search criteria. The default number of images displayed per page is 10, but depending on the number you choose in 'Display Results' on the Search page, your search results may show 10, 25, 75 or 100 ... images per page. If your search yields multiple pages of images, you'll find page numbers at the top and bottom of each page that indicate which page you're on and the total number of pages in the search results. Scroll through these pages by clicking the arrows to the right or left of this text, or select the number of the page you want to view in the drop down list provided.

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New Search / Search within Results

Within any area of Search Results, continue or refine your search by selecting 'Search' or 'Search within results' in the Search Options box to the top of your results: 'Search' initiates a completely new search on keyword(s) entered into the search field (use the 'AND' or 'OR' for multiple keywords). Click 'Search' to execute the new search. 'Search within results' acts like an 'AND' search with the initial keyword search term. Refine your initial search by entering a keyword and selecting 'Search within results'; then click 'Search'. For example, if you conduct a Quick Image Search for 'dog' on the homepage, you will see image search results for the keyword 'dog'. If you then enter 'ball' in the keyword field on the Search Results page and select 'Search within results', you will see images based on both keywords, 'dog AND ball'. When conducting your initial search, do not begin your entry with operators such as 'and,' or 'or'.

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Sort Results

Sort image results to change the way they appear on your screen using the options under the 'Sort By' label. Images can be rearranged using the following criteria:

  • Number of images per page -- choose to display 10, 25, 75, 100 or 250... images per page.
  • Default order -- the images appear in identification number order.
  • License Type-- rearranges results so that Royalty-free images appear first, then the rights-managed license images.

Click the 'Update Display' button to update your search results.

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Detail Views

The Detail View page shows detailed information about your selected image. From this page you can price an image, and add it to your Lightbox.

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