How to Find Multimedia for E-Learning

Who doesn’t like some help when it comes to building courses? How many times have you tried to identify a font, or find the source of an image, or tried to find just the right stock photo?

Well, today you’re in luck. I’m going to show you a few simple search techniques to find the right multimedia when you need it.

Multimedia for E-Learning: How to Find and Identify a Font

There are so many times I have to go back to old projects but can’t recall what font I used or where to get it. If that’s something you’ve also run into, then here are a couple of simple ways to find fonts.

What the Font?

Upload an image with the font you want to identify and the site tries to locate the closest font based on the font’s characteristics.

• Step 1: Upload image to What the Font.
• Step 2: Align fonts to letters.
• Step 3: Review possible fonts. Take a quick screen grab of an image with the font.

It’s not always perfect but for the most part it does a great job.

A few other similar sites:

• FontMatcherator
• WhatFontIs
• Identifont

And if you need some free fonts you really can’t beat Google Web Fonts because they’re all opensource and truly free to use. And be sure to check out these free hand written fonts.

Multimedia for E-Learning: How to Find the Source of an Image

A while back I started working on a demo module and used a temporary image. However, I forgot where I got the image and needed to know so I could purchase it for the demo.

TinEye

TinEye is a reverse image site that searches the Internet for the image and lists sites where it’s found.

You upload the image and it tries to locate where else it is being used. You can also install a browser plug-in and search right from your browser.

Another source for doing a reverse search on images is via Google. Upload an image and it searches for a matching image (or similar images).

Multimedia for E-Learning: How to Search Free Stock Photos

This one I’ve mentioned in the past. There are all sorts of free stock image sites. However, it’s time-consuming to stay on top of them all, especially considering that most of the images, while nice, have little value in the world of elearning.

StockUp

StockUp’s a collection of free stock image sites so all you have to do is enter a search term and see what comes up. Pretty simple, huh? Here is a previous post on searching for free stock images that includes a few other sites.

If you’re ever looking for just the right font, image, or free stock photo, then these three resources will sure come in handy. Are there any similar search services you use to find multimedia for your elearning projects?

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Free E-Learning Resources

Want to learn more? Check out these articles and free resources in the community.	Here’s a great job board for e-learning, instructional design, and training jobs	Participate in the weekly e-learning challenges to sharpen your skills
Get your free PowerPoint templates and free graphics & stock images.	Lots of cool e-learning examples to check out and find inspiration.	Getting Started? This e-learning 101 series and the free e-books will help.