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Images for Designers and Art Researchers

Citing Images

  • The caption contains a description of the image and a credit line.

  • The citation contains enough information as necessary to locate the image. 

  • Some captions do both - they serve as both the caption and citation.

Captions

Title or Description. Credit Line.

caption appears next to the image and identifies or describes the image, and credits the source.  There is no standard format for captions.


Description

Point out any aspects of the image that you think are noteworthy or relevant.  You may want to include:

  • Names of people who deserve creative credit for the image (photographer, designer, stylist...)
  • Title or Description of Work
  • Date of Work
  • Medium (photograph, digital photograph, painting, sculpture, installation, drawing, poster, artists' book)
  • Dimensions

- Architecture & Interior Design
architect or designer, type of illustration (e.g., interior, exterior, plan, elevation, drawing), location (street address, intersection, neighborhood, city, state/province, region), year built, year designed, year pictured, block & lot, GPS coordinates, official name of site.

- Fashion
model or person, label or house, type of garment, fabric or material, collection or season, runway look number, location.

- Photography
type of print, name of series, location.


Credit Line

  • Suggested terms to credit a source: "From..." "Collection of ..." "Courtesy ..."
  • The credit line can be brief if you are also including a full citation in your paper or project.
  • For books and periodicals, it helps to include a date of publication.  You can also include the author, title, and page number.

* When reposting digital images publicly, you must follow any stated rules in a source's "Terms of Use," Image Credits," or "Image Permissions" section.

Citations

Name. Title (or Description). Year.  Source.

A citation appears in a note or in a bibliography and should follow the conventions provided in a style guide.  However, there is no standard format for citations, either.  The key to a good citation is that provides enough information to help readers locate the image. 

  • Name: If the creator is unknown, you can substitute the name of the entity that commissioned the image (e.g., Paramount Studios, Chicago Public Library, NASA).
  • If source is an image database: include identifying numbers and collection information.
  • URLs can be included but with the recognition that they are unstable and may become invalid in a few years. 
  • If the source is a book, periodical, or website: cite using Chicago style.

Additional Resources