Bing Images Search by Type

For almost every search term that you input on Bing's Image Search, you get results with tons of pictures scoured from every nook and corner of the internet. With so many choices, finding that perfect picture can become a challenge, especially when you need a picture that's more akin to an illustration rather than a camera-clicked photograph. At other times, you may want to explore pictures that look like they came from a professional camera. So in this tutorial, we will explore Bing's Type filter that lets you narrow down your search results to yield exactly the "type" of pictures you need.

Follow these steps to learn more about Bing Images' Search by Type filter:

1. Visit the Bing Image Search site and search for "animals". Figure 1, below shows normal search results for this term on Bing Image Search. We used Bing's US site for this tutorial.
2. 
   Figure 1: Search results for Animals

Changing Appearances?

Bing's Image Search page could change every day, and the screenshots and techniques on this page are current at the time of writing. Even if there are some changes, basic concepts explained on this page should be the same.

2. Now click on the Type filter, as shown highlighted in red in Figure 1, above. This brings up the menu that you can see in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Bing Images Search by Type Filters
4. Let us now explore the options within this menu. As you can see in Figure 2, above, you can use six filters to refine your search results:

1. All

5. This is the default option set by Bing, and provides all results available for the search input (see Figure 1).

2. Photograph

6. This filter returns results that display photographed pictures. Do note that this may be the most common result that you will see for almost all search terms.

3. Clipart

7. Displays clipart-type pictures for your search term (see Figure 3). Note that none of these look like photographs, most are multi-colored and may also include areas in which colors are shaded.
8. 
   Figure 3: Search results of animal pictures available as clipart

4. Line drawing

9. Brings up results that look hand drawn, as shown in Figure 4, below.
10. 
    Figure 4: Search results of animal pictures available as line drawings

5. Animated GIF

11. Choosing this filter shows all animated GIFS. Do note that the thumbnails don’t show animation unless you hover your cursor over the thumbnails, and then the file is loaded and animation plays, as can be seen in Figure 5, below.
12. 
    Figure 5: Find animated GIFs

6. Transparent

13. This filter shows cutout-style images that have transparent backgrounds. Most results tend to be PNG files.
14. 
    Figure 6: Look for images with transparent backgrounds
3. Do note that you can also combine Bing's Image Search filters. Maybe, you want line drawings of animals that are available in a particular size?

Remember though that all pictures you find may not be suitable for use in your presentation slides or other projects. Learn how you can find pictures that are allowed to be used in our Bing Image Search by License tutorial.