That's when captions and cutlines must perform. When that look at the photo sparks any interest, the reader typically looks just below the photo for information that helps explain the photo.Often this reader look is merely a glance, so subtle aspects of the picture may not register with many readers. First, the reader looks at the photo, mentally capturing all or most of the most obvious visual information available.Reader behavior When writing a cutline with or without a caption, it is useful to have clearly in mind the typical reader behavior when “using” a photograph and accompanying text: Note: Not all photographs carry a caption line. See example.Ĭutlines: Cutlines (at newspapers and some magazines) are the words (under the caption, if there is one) describing the photograph or illustration. For our purposes, we will make the following distinctions.Ĭaptions: Captions are the little “headlines” over the “cutlines” (the words describing the photograph). Note: Captions and cutlines are terms that are often used interchangeably, particularly at magazines.

As with stories, they must be readable and informative. As with headlines, captions and cutlines must be crisp. It follows that standards of accuracy, clarity, completeness and good writing are as high for captions and cutlines than for other type. Of all the news content, only the titles of stories or headlines have higher readership than captions. Photo captions and cutlines are the most read body type in a publication. (but only if it's got a really good cutline, too!)

Examples of cutlines under photos