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Handling photos and illustrations

(Based on a lecture by Ross Collins, professor of communication, North Dakota State University)

Traditionally editors were not very visual people. Their training and interests lay in words, not images. Many an editor probably used to think, though usually not admit, what one editor once told me: "I don't give a damned about photos, but they say I have to publish them, so I do."

This attitude is perhaps at least partly the basis of a traditional friction between editors and photographers or artists. Photographers complain that editors don't understand visual images, and either print the poor ones, crop them poorly, or don't run enough of them. Editors, on the other hand, complain that photographers are the mass media's intellectual lightweights--they all they care about is getting photos published big, appealing to the lowest common denominator of reader, and might not even read much of the publication!

Perhaps these accusations are sometimes true. But nowadays I think editors have grown to realize photography and illustrations are absolutely necessary to contemporary mass media publications. These can tell the story better than words alone. And more and more publications are hiring both photographers and artists to provide professionally produced material editors can be pleased to use.

Still, I think some photographers and artists aren't always happy with the way editors use their creations. And even artists and photographers may disagree on photo usage. In many publications the power of artists and designers has grown to the point that they rival editors in influence over page design. And sometimes they seem to de-emphasize photography in favor of collages using photos as minor design elements for an overall effect. This de-emphasis in the power of photography in its "pure" form has moved from magazine design to newspaper design. Photo stories, those full pages of pictures designed to tell a story with only short blocks of text and cutlines, have become less and less common, leaving only a few old-style publications such as National Geographic to carry that torch. Instead, many artists use photographs as a starting point, combining them with graphics and textual flourishes to produce a story-telling "package." That may have been more difficult in the past, but today computerized pagination and digital techniques make it fairly easy.

The photographer who believes in the integrity of a real, unadulterated image taken at a real event, seems to have often seen his or her work played down in favor of the razzle-dazzle. I usually say the "golden age of photography," Life magazine serving as its standard-bearer, began in the 1930s and ended with the beginning of computerized pagination in the 1980s.

Nevertheless, photography still provides the largest share of images in most publications. And much of it still is simply straight shots without artistic manipulation. Editors are not graphic artists, usually, but nowadays they are expected to understand the significance of good photography, to know what doesn't work, to have the ability to crop and place images on pages in an attractive fashion. How those images are chosen depends on the publication.

Photography from news organizations is usually generated by a team of specialists, photojournalists, who are knowledgeable about journalism practice and tools, as well as design and technical hardware. That requires years of experience; writers can seldom pick up a camera and immediately produce acceptable pictures. A smaller organization, however, will often ask writers to take pictures, and put up with whatever they get. Magazines and public relations people often rely on free-lance photographers or agencies, and pay the hefty fees for professional quality.

Graphic artists and illustrators may be contracted to produce specific publications, or may be part of a regular staff of larger newspapers and magazines. Writers less often are asked to be designers--but editors often are expected to know design rudiments. Sometimes editors rely on royalty-free photographs or illustrations from "clip art" files, often on the internet. Seldom do professional-level publications use this material directly off the file, however--its generic look tends to mark a product as amateurish, like a club newsletter.

Of course it's illegal to download most art from the net and use it without paying royalty or asking permission. Don't get into the habit of doing this, even for your club newsletter. You never know where the publication might end up, and you could be sued for copyright infringement. As well, most net-based photography is about 72 dpi, too low quality for publication.

Assuming that most editors deal with staff photographers or free-lancers, the first step is to generate a photo assignment. Usually editors meet with a photo chief and/or art director to brainstorm illustration possibilities. Sometimes a drawing or illustration will work better than a photo. Sometimes both will serve. Based on the team's decisions, an editor may issue a "Photo Request" to the photo chief, who gives it to a photographer. Less important articles may not go through the brainstorming process--the editor may just issue the photo request based on his own ideas of illustration possibilities.

Photographers and writers try to go to assignments together, to coordinate coverage of an event. If only a "mugshot"--head-and-shoulders portrait--is required, or schedules can't be coordinated, the two will cover the assignment separately.

Photography and illustrations may go to a photo chief, or art director, for final choice. In many publications, however, the editor makes the final decisions regarding images: to decide which to use, how to crop them, how large to run them, how to place them on a page. What makes a photograph publishable?

1. Photo quality. You can do a lot with poorly-exposed photos nowadays, but that's not the editor's job. If the picture comes in too dark or too light, it will look worse in print. Also discarded are out-of-focus pictures, unless, well, it's the only surviving photo of Adolph Hitler writing his diary. Photos including a large expanse of white or dark, too, will not publish well unless the quality of the paper is fairly high. In other words, better than newsprint.

2. Most editors reject "grip 'n grin" and "dead fish" pictures, as well as large group photos. I'll admit many small-town weeklies run these as standard fare. But you won't find any among the more sophisticated publications. "Grip 'n grin" is the photo of two or three people giving a check or award, usually grinning into the camera, shaking hands. Try to get a picture of the person doing what she or he did to win the award. "Dead fish" is an angler holding a big one, or a hunter with dead deer head. Group photos are those pictures of, say, the entire Rotary club. Usually as published each face is so small you can hardly identify the individuals.

Also seldom published nowadays in newspapers are accident pictures, and "cheesecake" (women in swimsuits) or "beefcake" (ditto men). Of course, while we now consider it bad taste to publish this material in newspapers and newsletters, many major magazines have taken up the slack. National magazine publishers know that if you can get a celebrity on the cover, you sell a lot more magazines. And the less clothing that celebrity is wearing, the more magazines you'll sell. (At least, I suppose, if the celebrity is a lot younger than I am.) I suppose you'll have to decide whether this is an "editor's constraint" for your publication.

3. Avoid mugshots. Sometimes that's impossible, but visually oriented editors prefer "personality portraits," that is, pictures of people doing something. The principle is similar to that of leads: prefer action! People doing things, not just standing there! Generally editors for mass media publications reject photos without people in them.

4. Crop carefully, but confidently. Editors try for the "poster effect." That is, we try to make an image simple, direct, with few complicated details. These may wear well in an art gallery, but don't serve as well printed in relatively small form on paper stock of mediocre quality. Crop out areas that don't add to the center of interest. Often you can crop out parts of sky, furniture, distracting background. Yes, you can overdo cropping, but I usually see the opposite, photos which could be made more powerful by tightening in on a subject. Experiment with paper covering parts of an image, or if you know the program, Photoshop's digital crop feature.

5. Print big. If you have a strong image, show it off. A vertical photo in a tabloid-sized publication or larger should be at least two columns, a horizontal photo at least three. Postage-stamp-sized images look amateurish, and don't offer the kind of punch that grabs a reader's attention. Research shows people look at images two to three seconds at most. But that's often enough to burn a powerful image into memory. Still photos can become icons representing people's memories of events. Think of World War II, the Vietnam War, the space shuttle "Challenger" explosion, the Tiananmen Square massacre--what comes to mind? For many people, it's a particular photo. Exception to size rule: mug shots can be one column, even a half column with text going around it, called a "text wrap" or "runaround" in journalese.

7. Add a cutline. Mass media editors normally call the short description of a photo a cutline, while a caption is the title above that short description. It's a "cutline" because in the days of lead type, a cut was an engraving of a photo cut from a piece of metal. In mass media, all photos need cutlines. Often photographers write them. Sometimes editors write them. Guidelines:

Keep them short. Don't write a story in a cutline.

Identify anyone who may be recognizable. Names sell publications. At least you know the person who's depicted, and his relatives, will buy a copy.

Try to describe something not part of an accompanying story. Give the reader a bit of extra information.

Avoid the obvious: "This photo shows," or "Above is depicted." So we can see.

Write in the present tense, like a headline, but include articles a, an, and the. This kind of writing gives immediacy and freshness to the photo. Example: "Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness claims his tax proposal will give young home buyers a break."

Include a byline with the photo. Photographers, like writers, deserve credit, unless it's a mugshot or photo of art work.

Photos are normally scaled to fit into columns--1 col, 2 col, 3 col, etc. This makes them easier to design with articles. Sometimes a stand-alone "enterprise" photo in a newspaper will be published between a standard column size, and surrounded by white space. This is called   a float. Photos are usually measured and scaled in inches, not picas, so if you need to proportion them manually you'll need to convert your publication's space to inches.

Learn more: How to scale a photo using Photoshop software; practice exercise.