Information
The is for finding images with broken links.
The reality in the commercial art industry is that sometimes even the best options change locations. Could be because the creator or rights holder decided to move their images to another site for more generous terms (and the URLs had to change). Could be because a source site went out of business, or one acquired another. Could be the in between time when an image(s) go off the market for a period. The reason a link isn’t working could also be a technical issue that will resolve itself or can be easily fixed.
While it’s impossible to fully monitor the “best of” archive for such situations in real time, the good news is you know the image exists. It’s also worth noting that you’ve so far likely saved an enormous amount of time and avoided a great deal of tedious hassle vs traditional search options. Because you’ve avoided having to search so long and hard within and across sites to find this “best of” option.
If you’re still interested, please let us know the link is broken and we will resolve whether it’s a technical issue, or the image has moved. If it went off the market, we will find a “best of” replacement. To find images that have changed locations / source sites, you can also do-it yourself now utilizing one or all of the four solutions below. (Please do let us know there’s an issue either way.)
Finding Images That Have Changed Locations
- Often the best and most immediate solution is to do a reverse image search whereby you simply save a copy of the thumbnail image to your desktop (right click, save as) and then upload it to Google or TinEyes' free reverse image search service(s). Both enable you to instantaneously see other locations where the image lives or has lived online, which often includes a source site(s) where you can still buy or license it.
- Another very good option is to utilize existing source site support staff. Share the “best of” link with them so they can determine if it’s a technical issue, if the image is still available, or if they can point you to the creator / rights holder.
- A third option, if the link has descriptive content detail within it, is to copy and paste the descriptive text into a new open Internet search (just the descriptive text, without the URL). Such searches often immediately turn up the image in question on the first page because they’ve previously been indexed by search engines.
- Another Internet search option exists when the artist, studio or source name is placed on the thumbnail image and / or in the url. Doing a search using (just) such text can often put you in contact with the originator, if not link you directly to the image itself on their personal site.
We tell you the above because having the best image leads to the best outcomes; finding it is almost always worth the effort. Worst case, if the image can’t be located presently, you can still use it for inspiration to help you find, or create, the best alternative.
Even with such occasional circumstances, we are far and away the most efficient and effective resource for you to be able to do your best work. Because being able to reallocate precious time and dedication to the task at hand / your craft - armed with the best the world has to offer - is invaluable.
Going forward we also believe source sites, in conjunction with artists, rights holders, and ourselves will figure out ways to help make these situations even less frequent. Especially because the best options are a very small percentage compared to the number of dated, derivative, irrelevant, gimmicky, hokey, cheesy and pedestrian options. And because original images are always in demand and can always come back on the market. Just takes the creator / rights holder to be aware of the interest, and say yes.
In short (pun intended), in a world of billions, where even the best options can understandably change locations, we are still very much, and will always be, a site for sore eyes. All for extraordinary results. Faster and more consistently. To help you thrive. And make the world a little brighter; our dual mission. And boy oh boy is it a good and worthwhile mission:)