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Scout features

Everything Scout includes, from the first search to the credit in your description.

74 features in 10 groups

Scout Join early access

Search in plain words

Ask for it the way you'd say it.

  • Plain-word searchDescribe the image you need, like a crowded harbor in the 1930s.
  • Search by what's in the pictureScout looks at the images, not just their titles.
  • One search, many collectionsArchives, libraries and museums searched together.
  • Best results firstFree-to-use results first, then by sharpness.
  • Every kind of recordPhotos, maps, documents, paintings, posters, newspapers and film.
  • Search in your own wordsNo archive jargon or catalog numbers needed.
  • Saved searchesKeep a search for the next episode.
  • Search historyCome back to anything you looked at.

Smart finds

Searches that know what you mean.

  • Find a portraitName a person and Scout finds portraits, matched to their life dates.
  • Find a map of a place in a yearThe right place, from the right era.
  • More like thisFind the same scene, or similar ones, in other collections.
  • Find a free copySaw a picture elsewhere? Scout looks for a version you can use.
  • Find a sharper copyThe same image at a higher resolution, or uncropped.
  • Era guessAn estimate of when a photo was taken, clearly marked as a guess.
  • Places from the recordWhere a photo was taken, from the archive's own notes.
  • People from the recordWho is pictured, from the archive's own notes, never from face matching.

Filters

Narrow it down in a click.

  • Date and eraAny range of years.
  • PlaceAny country, city or region.
  • TypePhoto, map, document, painting, poster, newspaper or film.
  • Color or black and white
  • ShapeWide, tall or square.
  • Minimum sizeOnly images sharp enough for your film.
  • Faces presentWith people, or without.
  • LicensePublic domain, free to use, credit required or paid.
  • Commercial-safe onlyOn by default, for monetized channels.

Where Scout looks

The world's open collections, in one place.

  • Public archivesNational and regional archives from around the world.
  • LibrariesPhotographs, maps and manuscripts from great libraries.
  • MuseumsOpen collections of paintings, objects and photographs.
  • Public-domain collectionsSpace, science, nature and history, free to use.
  • Openly licensed collectionsImages shared for reuse, with credit.
  • Wider sources, on requestCollections that need a closer check, when you turn them on.
  • Licensed stock and news librariesThrough your own account, with the license kept.
  • Web leadsPictures from the wider web shown only as leads to their original source.

Licenses at a glance

Know what you can use before you use it.

  • License badgesPublic domain, free to use, credit required, editorial, paid or unknown.
  • Exact termsThe license and the source's own rights statement, one click away.
  • Non-commercial hiddenImages you can't use on a monetized channel stay out of the way.
  • Credit required markedYou always know when a credit is needed.
  • Editorial-only markedImages meant for news use only are clearly flagged.
  • The source's wordLicenses shown as each archive publishes them.

Risk checks

A second pair of eyes on every find.

  • Unknown licensesFlagged before you place them.
  • Conflicting creditsSpots when an image's own details name a different owner.
  • Earlier copiesNotices when a picture appeared earlier from another owner.
  • Living peopleA note when a recognizable living person appears in a thumbnail.
  • Editorial in the wrong placeA warning when a news-only image lands in a sponsor segment.
  • AI-generated imagesPictures marked as AI-made are flagged, so fakes never pass as archive.
  • Old film claimsA warning for archive footage that often draws ownership claims.
  • Green, amber or redEvery find scored at a glance.
  • Your reasons, recordedNote why you used an image, saved to the report.

Credits written for you

Every credit, exactly right.

  • On-screen creditA short credit appears when you place an image.
  • In your brand's styleCredits set in your fonts and colors.
  • Long enough to readCredits stay on screen for a sensible time.
  • Required credits stayCredits a license asks for can't be removed by accident.
  • Credit list for your descriptionEvery image and clip, with its source and license, in order.
  • Copy in one clickPaste the list straight into your upload.
  • Full attributionTitle, author, source and license, as each license asks.

Highest resolution

The original, in full detail.

  • Largest originalScout fetches the biggest version the archive holds.
  • Giant maps, stitchedVery large maps assembled at full detail.
  • Sharp enough?See each image's size against your film's.
  • Pan and zoom that stays sharpSlow moves sized to the detail available.
  • Enlarging, notedAny enlargement is recorded, and never used on news photos.
  • Download only what you pickNothing is fetched until you choose it.

Into Library and your film

From the archive to the timeline, credit attached.

  • Saved to LibraryEvery find kept with its license, source and credit.
  • Details written into the fileThe credit and source travel with the image itself.
  • License re-checksScout looks again from time to time, in case a source changes its terms.
  • Paid licenses keptReceipts and terms stored beside the image.
  • License reportEvery image in the film, where it appears, its license and its credit.
  • Ready-to-publish checkPublish when nothing is left flagged red.
  • Straight into any elementPlace a find in Flowmotion, Cutroom or any element that follows.

Lab Partner in Scout

Your AI, as your archive researcher.

  • Images for every lineYour AI finds archive pictures for each point in your script.
  • Research a momentAsk about a place and an era, and get maps, photos and film.
  • Pick the bestYour AI compares results for sharpness, license and fit.
  • Check the creditsA plain summary of what's cleared and what needs a look.
  • Place it in the sceneFinds go straight into Flowmotion or Cutroom.
  • Always yoursEvery change is reviewable, and you can undo it.
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Scout

Open the world's archives
with Scout.

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