Tip: Using the Lightbox

The Lightbox at xcavator.net allows you to store images you are interested in. Those images will still be there when you come back to the site later, as long as you are using the same web browser. Additionally, the Email It function allows you to send the agency links to anyone you wish for collaboration on selecting images. You can also use Email It to send these links to your own email address!

Tip: Our DEMO link is a valuable resource

Check out our DEMO - a video introduction of how to use the search tools at xcavator.net. You will hear our CEO Bryan Calkins walking you through a few interesting examples that show how to use Image Search, Color Search, and interactive Image Search. It also gives a few examples of how keywords interact with these tools (as discussed in our last posting). Just click on the DEMO link at the top of the site and click the PLAY button.

Tip: Using keywords with a photo in the Image Search box

Keywords get you started on a search, but they can also be used to refine your search when you've added a photo to the Image Search box at the top left of the site. Here's how:

1. If you want to find more images that are pretty much EXACTLY like the photo in the Image Search box, clear all keywords and hit GO for a new search. Our search will combine the visual information and the tags from the photo and find very similar photos.

2. If you want to refine the image in a particular direction of subject matter, type a keyword in the text search box with the photo remaining in the Image Search box. For example, you could have a picture of a car in the Image Search box and could be looking at similar photos of other cars. Typing in 'sports car' in the text box will refine the search in that direction. 'Economy car' will refine it in a different direction. But in all cases the photos in the search results will have some visual similarity to the photo in the Image Search box.

3. You can also click on any of the tags associated with the photo in the Image Search box - they are presented below the text search box. This will pop them up to the text search box, and place more emphasis on this particular tag (or tags - you can use more than one).

Try it! It's fun.

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Who's using xcavator.net?

Thanks for all your emails. We thought everyone would like to know who’s using xcavator.net. We’ve heard praise and love for our service from website and graphic designers, creative directors, banner ad designers, poster designers, editors, publishers, marketers, book and CD cover designers, people inside companies that that just do a lot of communications work, and more. We’ve cut the amount of time they need to find the perfect stock photo, and they love it!

Are we meeting your needs? We want to hear from you.

We are celebrating the One Month Anniversary of the Xcavator Blog, and we'd like to ask how we are doing in meeting your needs. Is the blog on topic for you? What can we do to our site to improve its features or provide more spot-on content? Please use the Contact Us link in the upper navigation bar of the xcavator.net site or this blog anytime to let us know what's on your mind. We are committing to the Xcavator Community that we will answer each and every piece of mail we get within 24 hours.

A Quick Example How to Use the Powerful Xcavator.net Tool

On Xcavator.net, you can search by keyword, category or provider.

A typical search:

1. The typical search process begins with a new keyword search.
   
2. Use a keyword or two to start your search, and you will get many results.
3. Click on items you like and select the match button to begin visual image search. Or, drag and drop an image you like into the image search box in the upper left of the page. Either of these gives more specific options now in your search results.
4. Choose a new image you like and bring this again to the search box in the upper left. Or, drag the image into the upper left image search box.
5. Select the image you like.