v1
latestOpenAPI 3.0.42026-07-1376217536.1 KBSearch for creative images only
Use this endpoint to search our contemporary stock photos, illustrations and archival images.
You'll need an API key and access token to use this resource.
You can show different information in the response by specifying values on the "fields" parameter (see details below). You can search with only an API key, and that will give you search results that are equivalent to doing a search on the GettyImages.com site without being logged in (anonymous search). If you are a Getty Images API customer and would like to ensure that your API searches return only assets that you have a license to use, you need to also include an authorization token in the header of your request. Please consult our Authorization FAQ for more information on authorization tokens, and our Authorization Workflows for code examples of getting a token.
Search requests without a phrase parameter are not supported and may not always work.
Working with Fields Sets
Fields sets are used in the fields request parameter to receive a suite of metadata fields. The following fields sets are available:
Summary Fields Set
The summary_set query string parameter fields value represents a small batch of metadata fields that are often used to build search response results. The following fields are provided for every image in your result set when you include summary_set in your request.
{
"images":
[
"asset_family",
"caption",
"collection_code",
"collection_id",
"collection_name",
"display_sizes":
[
{
"name": "thumb"
}
],
"license_model",
"max_dimensions",
"title"
]
}
Detail Fields Set
The detail_set query string parameter fields value represents a large batch of metadata fields that are often used to build a detailed view of images. The following fields are provided for every image in your result set when you include detail_set in your request.
{
"images":
[
"allowed_use",
"artist",
"asset_family",
"call_for_image",
"caption",
"collection_code",
"collection_id",
"collection_name",
"copyright",
"date_created",
"display_sizes":
[
{
"name": "comp"
},
{
"name": "preview"
},
{
"name": "thumb"
}
],
"editorial_segments",
"event_ids",
"graphical_style",
"license_model",
"max_dimensions",
"orientation",
"product_types",
"quality_rank",
"referral_destinations",
"title"
]
]
Display Fields Set
The display_set query string parameter fields value represents the fields that provide you with URLs for the low resolution files that are most frequently used to build a UI displaying search results. The following fields are provided for every image in your result set when you include display_set in your request.
The URI provided is subject to change at any time and must be used as-is with no modification.
{
"images":
[
"display_sizes":
[
{
"is_watermarked": <boolean>,
"name": "comp",
"uri": "<link>"
},
{
"is_watermarked": <boolean>,
"name": "preview",
"uri": "<link>"
},
{
"is_watermarked": <boolean>,
"name": "thumb",
"uri": "<link>"
}
]
]
}
Enhanced Search
Our enhanced search uses machine-learning models to understand natural, conversational language. Meaning you can search for longer phrases and get more relevant results from our creative image and creative video libraries. Default is true. Set enhanced_search to false if you require a precise result set and not one expanded through enhanced search.
Query parameters
Filter based on the age of individuals in an image.
Search for images by specific artists (free-text, comma-separated list of artists).
Filter by collection codes (comma-separated list). Include or exclude based on collections_filter_type.
Use to include or exclude collections from search. The default is include
Filter based on predominant color in an image. Use 6 character hexadecimal format (e.g., #002244).
Filter based on image composition.
Filters based on which product the asset will download against. Allowed values are easyaccess, editorialsubscription, imagepack, premiumaccess and royaltyfreesubscription. If you have more than one instance of a product, you may also include the ID of the product instance you wish to filter on. For example, some users may have more than one premiumaccess product, so the download_product value would be premiumaccess:1234. Product ID can be obtained from the GET /products response.
Restrict search results to embeddable images. The default is false.
If set to false, your search will not use enhanced search. Defaults to true.
Filter search results based on the ethnicity of individuals in an image.
Exclude images that are only available for editorial (non-commercial) use. Default value is false.
Return only images not tagged with specific keyword(s). Specify using a comma-separated list of keyword Ids. If keyword Ids and phrase are both specified, only those images matching the query phrase which also do not contain the requested keyword(s) are returned.
Excludes images containing nudity. The default is false.
Specifies the facets to return in the response. Facets provide additional search parameters to refine your results. The include_facets parameter must be set to "true" for facets to be returned.
Specifies the maximum number of facets to return per type. Default is 300.
Specifies fields to return. Defaults to 'summary_set'. NOTE: Bytes, height, and width returned by 'download_sizes' field are estimates.
Return only images having a specific file type.
Filter based on graphical style of the image.
Provides searching based on specified graphical style(s). The default is include.
Specifies whether or not to include facets in the result set. Default is "false".
Specifies whether or not to include related searches in the response. The default is false.
Restricts results to iStock exclusive assets when true, or non-exclusive assets when false. The default is null (no filter).
Return only images tagged with specific keyword(s). Specify using a comma-separated list of keyword Ids. If keyword Ids and phrase are both specified, only those images matching the query phrase which also contain the requested keyword(s) are returned.
Filter based on minimum size requested. The default is x-small.
Filter based on predominant mood in an image.
Filter based on the number of people in the image.
Return only images with selected aspect ratios.
Request results starting at a page number (default is 1).
Request number of images to return in each page. Default is 30, maximum page_size is 100.
Search images using a search phrase.
Setting safe_search to "true" excludes images containing nudity, death, profanity, drugs and alcohol, suggestive content, and graphic content from the result set. The default is false. Because this is a keyword-based filter, it's possible that a small number of unsafe images may not be caught by the filter. Please direct feedback to your Getty Images Account or API support representative.
Select sort order of results. The default is best_match
Headers
Provide a header to specify the language of result values. Supported values: cs (iStock only), de, en-GB, en-US, es, fi (iStock only), fr, hu (iStock only), id (iStock only), it, ja, ko (creative assets only), nl, pl (creative assets only), pt-BR, pt-PT, ro (iStock only), ru (creative assets only), sv, th (iStock only), tr, uk (iStock only), vi (iStock only), zh-HK (creative assets only).
Provide a header to specify the language of result values. Supported values: cs (iStock only), de, en-GB, en-US, es, fi (iStock only), fr, hu (iStock only), id (iStock only), it, ja, ko (creative assets only), nl, pl (creative assets only), pt-BR, pt-PT, ro (iStock only), ru (creative assets only), sv, th (iStock only), tr, uk (iStock only), vi (iStock only), zh-HK (creative assets only).
Use of this parameter requires configuration changes to your API key. Please contact your sales representative to learn more.
Receive regionally relevant search results based on the value specified. Accepts only ISO Alpha-3 country codes. The Countries operation can be used to retrieve the codes.
Response
OK