Are the photos you choose really adding value to your posts?(Image from a public domain graphic by geralt/Pixabay/CC0 1.0 )
Are the photos you choose really adding value to your posts? They are if they are bold, vibrant, professional looking images that make a potential reader want to click through and check out your text!
But what if your images are blurry? What if parts of them get cut off when they display on the web site, or in social media shares? What if you’ve accidentally used a copyrighted image without the proper licenses and permissions?
Image use is a big problem on LiteracyBase. A lot of users are still selecting photos or graphics that are not the right size, or whose orientation doesn’t work with the site template. This causes the images to be blurry when they display, or to be cut off awkwardly when your post is previewed here at LiteracyBase, or shared in social networks.
Still other users are putting up generic image credits like, “Image credit: Pixabay,” or “Image by Wikipedia.” In the case of Pixabay, you’re probably not going to get in trouble if you don’t have a proper credit. The images on Pixabay are all in the public domain anyway, so you aren’t obliged to add a credit.
But in the case of Wikipedia and Flickr, most of the images on those sites are under a Creative Commons license that
Choosing the Right Image for LiteracyBase
For the featured image, the staff at LiteracyBase recommends an image in the horizontal or landscape orientation. That is, you must choose an image that is wider than it is tall. If you choose an image that is taller, it will be cropped both on the site and when your posts are shared on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. So please do not use an image that is taller than wide for your featured image! You can add it as a second image, though.
The recommended dimensions for the featured image are 1,200 pixels x 600 pixels. This is much larger than the default size you will download on many sites like Pixabay, Flickr, or Wikipedia. Most do offer a higher resolution version on the images you want; you just need to look for it and be sure to download one that is 1,200 px or greater in width.
When You Upload Your Image
When you upload your image, the file name will be recorded as the image title. This title will get picked up on Pinterest, depending on the way that the reader opts to add the pin. Why not take advantage of the opportunity provide a description you’d like to give your pin? Use a short, descriptive phrase that contains a few keywords.
I like to add one or two hashtags, as well. I’m still not sure how well they’re working for me on Pinterest, but I know that I will certainly click on hashtags to see similar content. I sure hope others are doing it too!
You can rename your image, right on your computer. Or you can just click on the title field to replace an irrelevant file name like “camera9876” with a more descriptive tag like, “3 Tips for getting the most from photos in your posts | #bloggingtips #photo.”
How to Write the Image Credit
Did you know that most people who write for the web aren’t giving proper credit for the images they use to illustrate their content? A lot of people think they’re covered because they’re writing something like, “Image: Wikipedia.” Guess what? That is not a proper image credit!
The credit is not going to the right person in this instance. And if it’s an image that was taken from Wikipedia, the chances are very good that it’s under Creative Commons licensing – which requires that anyone using the image also post the terms of the license.
So if you have a photo or other image from Wikipedia, and you’ve just written that the source was that site, you have committed copyright infringement. Technically, you are a thief.
It’s like taking something from the store without paying for it. Your “payment” when you use a royalty-free image is following the instructions of the copyright holder exactly, when it comes to the credit. You must supply all of the information required – which a majority of bloggers fail to do.
Learn more about what information needs to be in your image credit by reading this tutorial.
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View Comments
I find that picking, editing, and labeling my images takes almost as much time as writing a post. Sometimes, especially for book reviews, I just don't have an image of my own and I have to make one or download one. For one post I haven't finished I've had to get images from more than one site.
I also spend as much time on images I choose for my posts as I do on the writing. Especially on my personal blogs, I try to have 2-3 images (including one that's optimized for Pinterest.) I find it helps a lot!
I have never used images from Wikipedia's or Flickr creative commons. I always use Pixabay since i have been using that since the past 2 years.
Your post was a really informative one. I would remember the points you have listed out there especially regarding image source.
@manasi I think that Pixabay is the easiest source of free to use images, especially for beginning bloggers or writers who take a very casual approach to their writing. The different types of licenses and the requirement to include a detailed image credit when using Creative Commons images, both make Flickr and Wikipedia resources for more experienced web writers.
Most images on Wikimedia give us the freedom to chop and change.
@bestwriter The Wikimedia Commons images are mostly licensed under one of the Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA) licences. While this does give the writer permission to edit or create derivative works from the image, or even to use them for commercial ends (like illustrating a post on LB) it also obliges the writer to include a visible image credit.
I have yet to see writers on LB supplying a correct attribution for the artist on even a Pixabay image credit, let alone a properly formatted credit for Creative Commons materials. I would therefore suggest that Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, and other sites that rely primarily on CC licencing are not an appropriate image source for new bloggers or writers who are not prepared to go the extra distance to fulfil the requirements of the licence.