Smart Image Finder

Smart Image Finder

A complete solution for AI agents to find high-quality images for articles, dashboards, and content creation.

No browser required — all methods work via command line in the background.

Core Methods

| Method | Best For | Pros | Cons | |--------|----------|------|------| | News Site Extraction | Specific news events | Authentic, high-res, authoritative | Need to know source | | Brave Image Search | General keywords | Fast, free, good relevance | Variable quality | | AI Generation | Concept art, custom visuals | Fully customizable | Requires good prompts |

Method 1: News Website High-Res Extraction (No Browser)

Workflow: curl + grep (Recommended)

Extract image URLs directly from HTML without opening a browser:

# Step 1: Fetch page HTML and extract image URLs
curl -sL "https://www.reuters.com/world/article-slug/" | \
  grep -oE 'https://www\.reuters\.com/resizer/v2/[^"]+\.jpg[^"]*' | head -3
Step 2: Download with HD parameters
curl -sL -o photo.jpg "https://www.reuters.com/resizer/v2/xxx.jpg?width=3000&quality=100"
Step 3: Verify it's actually an image
file photo.jpg  # Should show: JPEG image data

Source-Specific Extraction Patterns

# Reuters
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://www\.reuters\.com/resizer/v2/[^"]+\.jpg[^"]*' | head -3
TechCrunch
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://techcrunch\.com/wp-content/uploads/[^"]+\.(jpg|png)' | head -3
Bloomberg
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://assets\.bwbx\.io/images/[^"]+\.(jpg|webp)' | head -3
BBC
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://ichef\.bbci\.co\.uk/news/[0-9]+/[^"]+\.jpg' | head -3
France24
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://s\.france24\.com/media/display/[^"]+\.jpg' | head -3
Spaceflight Now (WordPress)
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://spaceflightnow\.com/wp-content/uploads/[^"]+\.jpg' | head -3
ThePaper (澎湃)
curl -sL "$URL" | grep -oE 'https://imagepphcloud\.thepaper\.cn/pph/image/[^"]+\.jpg' | head -3

Verified Sources (Direct Download Works)

#### Tech/AI Category | Source | CDN Pattern | HD Parameters | Notes | |--------|-------------|---------------|-------| | TechCrunch | techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/ | ?w=2048 | Most stable ✅ | | Bloomberg | assets.bwbx.io/images/ | Direct HD | WebP format |

#### Politics/International Category | Source | CDN Pattern | HD Parameters | Notes | |--------|-------------|---------------|-------| | Reuters | reuters.com/resizer/v2/ | ?width=3000&quality=100 | Most stable ✅ | | BBC | ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/ | /1024/ max | Limited to 1024px | | NBC News | media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/ | Direct download | Medium size | | France24 | s.france24.com/media/display/ | w:1920 | Adjustable ✅ |

#### Space/Science Category | Source | CDN Pattern | HD Parameters | Notes | |--------|-------------|---------------|-------| | Spaceflight Now | spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/ | Remove size suffix | WordPress standard |

#### Chinese Sources | Source | CDN Pattern | Notes | |--------|-------------|-------| | ThePaper (澎湃) | imagepphcloud.thepaper.cn/pph/image/ | Direct download ✅ |

Sources Requiring Manual Save

| Source | Issue | Workaround | |--------|-------|------------| | Guardian | URL signature validation | Right-click save | | The Verge | Complex CDN format | Use Brave search instead | | Wired | Page protection | Manual save | | CNN | URL extraction difficult | Use Brave search instead | | AP News | Parameter adjustment fails | Save original manually |

HD Parameter Quick Reference

# Reuters
?width=3000&quality=100
TechCrunch
?w=2048
BBC (replace number in URL)
/1024/  # Max available
France24
w:1920
NBC News (URL parameter)
t_fit-1500w

Method 2: Brave Image Search (No Browser)

Best for: Quick general-purpose images, automated workflows.

Basic Usage

# Set API Key (first time)
export BRAVE_API_KEY="your_api_key"
Search images
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search?q=keyword&count=10" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" | jq '.results[] | {title, url: .properties.url, width: .properties.width}'
Get first image URL directly
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search?q=SpaceX%20Starship&count=1" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" | jq -r '.results[0].properties.url'

Rate Limiting ⚠️

Brave API has rate limits. When making multiple searches:

# Add delay between requests (1-2 seconds recommended)
for query in "query1" "query2" "query3"; do
  curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search?q=$query&count=1" \
    -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" | jq -r '.results[0].properties.url'
  sleep 2  # Wait 2 seconds between requests
done

Best practices:

Search Tips

1. Add year: SpaceX Starship 2025 is more precise than SpaceX Starship 2. Add event terms: Keir Starmer Xi Jinping Beijing handshake beats UK China meeting 3. Site restriction: site:reuters.com Trump tariff limits to specific source

One-liner: Search and Download

# Search, get first result URL, download
IMG_URL=$(curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search?q=SpaceX%20launch%202025&count=1" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" | jq -r '.results[0].properties.url')
curl -sL -o spacex.jpg "$IMG_URL"
file spacex.jpg

Verify Image Accessibility

# Check if URL returns 200
curl -sI "$IMAGE_URL" | head -1
Should return: HTTP/2 200
Check content type
curl -sI "$IMAGE_URL" | grep -i content-type
Should return: content-type: image/jpeg or image/png

Method 3: AI Image Generation (No Browser)

Best for: Concept images, creative illustrations, when real photos unavailable.

Free Option: Pollinations

# Generate image (completely free, no API key needed)
curl -sL -o output.jpg "https://image.pollinations.ai/prompt/description?width=1920&height=1080&nologo=true"
Example: Tech-style AI concept image
curl -sL -o ai-concept.jpg "https://image.pollinations.ai/prompt/futuristic%20AI%20chip%20glowing%20blue%20on%20dark%20background%20minimalist%20tech%20style?width=1920&height=1080&nologo=true"

Prompt Best Practices

# Good prompt structure
{subject} + {style} + {color tone} + {composition} + {exclusions}
Example
"Sam Altman speaking at conference, professional photo, warm lighting, 
 shallow depth of field, high resolution, no text no watermark"
16:9 cover image
"... 16:9 aspect ratio, horizontal composition, clean space on right for text overlay"
Avoid garbled text
"... no text, no letters, no words, no watermarks"

Platform Comparison

| Platform | Prompt Language | Size Params | Notes | |----------|-----------------|-------------|-------| | Pollinations | English | width/height | Free unlimited | | Jimeng (即梦) | Chinese | 16:9/1:1 | Best for Chinese scenes | | DALL-E | English | 1792x1024 | Highest quality |

Complete Workflow Example (All CLI, No Browser)

Scenario: Find image for "UK PM visits China" article

# Option A: Extract from Reuters (no browser)
1. Find article URL via web search or known URL
2. Extract image URL from HTML
IMG_URL=$(curl -sL "https://www.reuters.com/world/uk-pm-china-visit/" | \
  grep -oE 'https://www\.reuters\.com/resizer/v2/[^"]+\.jpg' | head -1)
3. Download with HD params
curl -sL -o starmer-xi.jpg "${IMG_URL}?width=3000&quality=100"
Option B: Brave search (no browser)
IMG_URL=$(curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search?q=Keir%20Starmer%20Xi%20Jinping%202025&count=1" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" | jq -r '.results[0].properties.url')
curl -sL -o starmer-xi.jpg "$IMG_URL"
Option C: AI generate (no browser)
curl -sL -o uk-china.jpg "https://image.pollinations.ai/prompt/British%20and%20Chinese%20flags%20diplomatic%20meeting%20minimalist?width=1920&height=1080&nologo=true"
Verify result
file starmer-xi.jpg
ls -lh starmer-xi.jpg

Quick Reference Card

Choose Method by Scenario

| Need | Recommended Method | Reason | |------|-------------------|--------| | Specific news event | News site extraction | Authentic, authoritative | | General concept image | Brave search | Fast, free | | No suitable real photo | AI generation | Fully customizable | | Article cover | AI generation | Controllable text space | | Dashboard news | Brave search | Automation-friendly |

Image Quality Checklist

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Cause | Solution | |---------|-------|----------| | curl returns HTML | Hotlink protection/signature | Try different source or Brave search | | Image 403 | URL expired | Re-fetch URL | | Blurry image | Downloaded thumbnail | Adjust HD parameters | | Brave no results | Keywords too specific | Simplify keywords | | grep returns empty | Page uses JavaScript rendering | Use Brave search instead |

| Problem | Cause | Solution | |---------|-------|----------| | curl returns HTML | Hotlink protection/signature | Try different source or Brave search | | Image 403 | URL expired | Re-fetch URL | | Blurry image | Downloaded thumbnail | Adjust HD parameters | | Brave no results | Keywords too specific | Simplify keywords | | grep returns empty | Page uses JavaScript rendering | Use Brave search instead |