Monday, January 31, 2011

Pixmac Microstock Photography develops enhanced 'Search for Similars' technology for image hunting

Pixmac Microstock develops an enhanced 'visual similarity' tool to help save time and money for it’s stock photography searching customer base.

PRLog (Press Release)Jan 29, 2011 – Leading microstock website. www.Pixmac.com has developed new ‘Search for Similars’ technology to help its growing number of customers worldwide to zero in on the best content quickly.  

Marketing Director Simon Raybould says "We already had this popular feature on our site and now we have greatly improved it. Our research has shown that the number one feature most users find useful is a visual tool  to help them locate similar and related images."  

Pixmac partnered with a local University in Prague in the Czech Republic to develop the right proprietary code to maximise the usefulness of the feature. A University spokesman from the Computer Faculty says "It was great to work with an interesting New Media Company such as Pixmac to help them improve the performance of this 'mission critical' tool for their users."  

Michael Prynych, Lead Developer at Pixmac, spent almost two months installing and perfecting the new software, including testing it  on a number of customers to gain important insights. "Feedback so far " comments  Mr. Prynych "is that our new implementation is a very important  part of our offering, helping customers to save time. It also helps them add to the creative process by supplying alternatives in an easy-to-handle visual format."  

To see an example of "Search for Similars" in action......please click here:  

http://www.pixmac.com/picture/cute+young+woman+at+the+be ...

Pixmac also offers  a sister feature to 'Search for Similars' called 'Related Images' which is conveniently found next to 'Search for Similars,' says Mr. Prynych.

On the one hand, images shown in 'Visual Similars' are based on the visual parts of the images in question that include colors, composition and structure. An example of visual similarity  is: 1. slice of an orange. 2. oranges on a tree and 3. orange flower blossom.  

On the other hand, 'Related Images' works somewhat differently in that they are based on keywords.  Similar keywords mean that  images are "related".  

For example, blue flowers, red flowers, and a bunch of flowers are all actually related while apparently looking different.  So background, colors, composition ... anything can be different. These all together give the user multiple visual options  says Pixmac's Prynych.

In addition, one handy tip is to find a similar image, click on it, and then look at the next similars and so on --- thus uncovering a wide variety of visual options among  Pixmac's millions of images.

About Pixmac
Leading microstock photography company launched in Sept 2008. Millions of budget images with one of the fastest and easiest site for users to navigate in the marketplace. 15 regional URL's, with head office in Prague, Czech Republic, EU.

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