You don't need an account to search the filmphotonetwork database. Simply enter one or more words in the search box and hit enter. For example;
More advanced searches are possible with AND, OR, AND NOT. And with the use of brackets (for Boolean search queries). For example;
If you search for multiple words but without using a Boolean operator, the results are the same as when searching using AND. For example;
If logged in, you'll have access to earlier searches at the bottom of the side bar (open the side bar by clicking the tab at the top on the left).
You can refine your search results with the filters that you can find in the side bar on the left. If the side bar isn't showing, then click the tab to open it. The side bar has sections to filter your results by;
Simply select on or more filters to refine your results. When you search again, the filters are still active. To clear the active filters click on "Reset filters" in the side bar, or on "Clear all filters" at the top of the search results page..
Every photo has keywords. The bottom of the search results page shows the most common keywords that were used to tag the photos in your search results. You can click a keyword to start a new search.
Click on a thumbnail to open the details page with a larger photo and metadata. The photo keywords are shown at the bottom. Click on a keyword to start a new search, or drag multiple keywords to create a new search using more than one keyword (the latter requires you to be logged in). The top of the page shows the contributor name. Click on the name to go to the contributor's profile page.
Registered users can save their personal favorites to a lightbox. You can create and name as many lightboxes as you want. You can add notes to your lightbox and to the images in your lightboxes.
When logged in, you can open the lightbox panel at the bottom of the page while browsing galleries or search results. The contents of the active lightbox will appear in this panel. If the panel isn't showing, the click on "Lightbox" at the bottom left of your screen. You can close it again by clicking "Minimize" on the right in the lightbox bar. The bar above the lightbox panel has functions to rename your lightbox, to rearrange images, to copy or move images between lightboxes and so on.
To view your active lightbox full screen, click on Lightbox in the main menu or via the tools in the bar above the lightbox panel. The full screen lightbox page shows all your lightboxes in the side bar on the left.
You can also e-mail a lightbox to someone. The recipient does not need to have an account on this website. It is also possible to work together on lightboxes with other filmphotonetwork users. This function is called "collaboration" and it does require users to have a user account.