Catalyst Search Tool and Other Original Features Inspire Creativity and Streamline Workflows

SEATTLE, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Getty Images, Inc. (NYSE: GYI) today announced the launch of the new gettyimages.com. Fully redesigned and re-engineered, the site serves as a powerful source for creative inspiration while delivering a more efficient search experience. Numerous enhancements make it easier than ever to find a specific image or discover an expanded selection of relevant visuals, and a flexible user interface complements a broad range of work styles.

Extensive customer input and usability studies informed the development of Getty Images' added site features, including Catalyst, a first-of-its-kind search tool that uses interactive tag clouds to produce related concepts. Powered by proprietary technology, Catalyst gives customers the option to search via keyword cues, making it an especially helpful resource in the early stages of creative brainstorming.

"We owe our customers a great deal of credit for this innovative rebuild," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "Their input and expertise has allowed us to preserve the strengths of the old site and introduce a host of new features, resulting in a more agile and interactive gettyimages.com that is uniquely equipped to enrich the current and future communications landscape."

For the first time, customers can access Creative, Editorial and Footage content through a single site. Other new and improved features enable customers to:

  -- Refine search by narrowing results with a wealth of associated data
     including event, location, style or other criteria;
  -- Find similar images using associated keywords or an existing image as a
     frame of reference;
  -- Move from one detail page to the next and simultaneously view multiple
     detail pages;
  -- Perform separate or combined searches for Creative and Editorial
     imagery;
  -- Backtrack to previous results pages using the search path; and
  -- Avoid search dead ends by using spelling suggestions and expansion
     tips.

"It's great to see Getty Images has kept bland and boring away from the new site," said Mike Lyons, Senior Art Director at global creative agency Element 79. "The search experience has been brilliantly optimized to save time and spark bold, unexpected ideas."

Offering real-time inspiration to customers looking for timely visual content, the company has recently added creative imagery to its selection of news, sport and entertainment imagery delivered through Getty Images Live. Available at gettyimages.com/live, this robust tool streams a customizable selection of freshly captured images directly to customers' desktops.

"Our primary goal is to give every customer the search experience that fits their individual needs," said Bruce Livingstone, Senior Vice President of Technology at Getty Images and CEO of iStockphoto. "We're as committed to supporting simple, straightforward transactions as we are to deeply conceptual thinking."

The new gettyimages.com is available in nine languages. Catalyst is currently available exclusively in English, and will be adapted for other languages in the coming months.

About Getty Images

Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and the first place creative professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage imagery. The company's award-winning photographers and imagery help customers create inspiring work which appears every day in the world's most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Headquartered in Seattle, WA and serving customers in more than 100 countries, Getty Images believes in the power of imagery to drive positive change, educate, inform, and entertain. Visit Getty Images at http://gettyimages.com/.