ImageSearch is a picky beast.

1. first it has to deal with locations on a screen or in a window
2. then it has to deal with a directory and file whose names must be capitalized properly.
3. then it has to deal with changing colors and sizes that you must take into account.
4. then it has to deal with the screen and window resolutions on different machines.
5. then you have transparencies to adjust for. 

As you can see there's a lot that can go wrong with it and having only 3 errorcodes to report any

possible problem it can encounter leaves a lot up to the user to try and figure out. This is why

many people take a screenshot of the area first and do an image from that. And why many people

combine an image search on just a partial image and not the full one where possible and I've learned

to do a doublecheck for a unique color within the image if possible using PixelSearch. 

things I've learned

1. make sure the CoordMode is properly set before calling ImageSearch. (Window or Screen)
2. Make sure to grab the biggest part of the image you can get away with.
3. If the window you're searching is a child window make sure you aren't using IfWinActive on a different window.
4. Make sure the command can find the image it's looking for using it's correct directory.
5. Make sure you use a few variations (*5 for instance) in the command to improve reliability
6. If the screen resolution changes the Search can fail. Make sure the resolution stays the same as when the image was captured.
7. If using larger or smaller fonts in your target machine than you did when the image was capture the search can also fail
8. Zoom in a browser is not your friend.
9. When in doubt use the smallest search area possible it not only makes the search faster it's more reliable.
10. If using CoordMode, ... ,Window make sure you make that window active before searching
11. If using CoordMode, ... ,Window make sure all the coords are relative to that window not the screen.
12. If using CoordMode, ... ,Window make sure that you get the WinGetActiveStats so you know it's width and height so you know where the max end of the search area really is and use those if necessary in the ImageSearch Command.
13. If calculating a coordinate postion use parens surrounding the calculation in the Search command to get the correct result and  so you don't use % around the variables in the calculation.
14. Use % around single variables, not calculations, in the ImageSearch command.
15. If you get an error 1 for a return result, the command found the image it just didn't match what was actually on the screen
16. If you get an error 2 for a return result, the command couldn't find the stored image or some other factor like permissions, a network error, or some system level event prevented it from completing.
17. If you use the Windows SnippingTool to grab the image the first time make sure to set Snipping tool's options so it doesnt store the border with the image.

Lots to remember huh? Write these down so you can refer back to them if your searches fail.