Guidelines

Headlines

Captions

Style

Assistance

Captions

Write captions, or cutlines, that satisfy skimmers who will not read the story. Captions often require as much care and skill as stories or headlines.

Things to do

• Captions should intrigue readers, dramatize the story or otherwise serve to pull readers into the story.
• Always look at the photograph before writing the caption.
• Captions should add details that aren’t in the accompanying story.
• Every photograph should have a caption with specific information if available, generic information otherwise. The same applies to photographs of buildings such as Jesse Hall and icons such as the Columns. Give background about the building, the grounds or surrounding area, or a bit of MU history.
• Don’t tell the obvious. If a person is smiling, waving, crying, don’t say that they are. Tell why a person is smiling, waving, crying.
• Don’t editorialize — Let your readers decide whether someone or something is beautiful, outstanding, lovely, happy, glum, troubled, overjoyed, pretty, handsome or cute as a button.
• Use specifics, rather than generalities: A 10-pound book is better than a huge book.
• Because readers know you are referring to the photograph, omit phrases such as is pictured, is shown, pictured above or the picture above shows.
• Use from left rather than from left to right. The first means as much as the second and is shorter. Neither left nor right should be overworked. If two people are in the photograph and one is a man, write Bill Doe and Sally Ray teach history instead of Bill Doe, left, and Sally Ray teach history. If unisex names could cause confusion, use left or right.
• Avoid the generic description that a person in a photograph is “looking on.” When action isn’t clearly apparent, simply write about that person’s identity, such as Bill Doe, professor of mathematics, is a member of the division’s steering committee.
• Write complete sentences that fill out width of the photo. Try to use present tense, but use past tense if the sentence contains a date or gives additional facts not described in the action in the picture.
• Both present and past tenses may appear in the same caption, but don’t use a past-tense verb in the same sentence with a present-tense verb describing the action. Instead of something such as Bill Doe, who made the All-America team last year, kicks the extra point, make it Bill Doe kicks the extra point. He made the All-America team last year.
• Don’t kid the readers. They will know whether a photograph is recent, particularly if you’re using a 10-year-old photo of a guest speaker and you write something such as in this recent photo of Bill Doe. Rewrite caption, giving date picture was taken or age of picture and where it came from — your file, the speaker or the speaker’s agent. This information may go in a photo credit line.
• Describe action in the photograph accurately. Avoid writing something such as Three students look over drawing of new addition to office if picture shows three people standing behind the drawing.
• Before having your publications printed, make sure captions match photographs, people are identified correctly by name and number in the group, and information is current.

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