News and Events Images
Three things you need to know to make awesome looking news (and events) images
1. The default image size for news and events is 600 x 480 pixels
The default image size for news posts is 600x480 pixels (5x4 aspect ratio). You just have to provide one image for a news post. The image will be resized to fit for each use case -- news post page, news highlights block, and news current and archive blocks.
Use Photoshop, Preview, or another image editor to edit, crop, and resize your images. The online photo cropping tool will make sure that the image is the correct size. The online cropping tool will not resize the image if it is smaller than the default size.
2. Use Images and NOT TEXT
Pictures that rely too heavily on text are not accessible and disrupt the harmonious balance of font use on the page. Utilize short and quick headlines with captivating images to draw your audience into your content.
This caption describes the image above.
BAD! This image is too wordy, and the print is illegible at this size. Posters and text can be works of art but loose 'oomph' at small scales
This caption describes the image above.
GOOD! Focusing on an image's dramatic component can have more visual impact
3. Less is More...
Showing everything in a photo may be closer to showing nothing. The following two mock news stories illustrate the difference. Instead of showing everyone, we can crop (not more than 100% of the size) the image to show an interesting aspect of what is going on and we can link to the larger image in the story. If it is undesirable to crop out parts of a larger collective, use a different image that represents what they do or who they help and place the larger image into the text of the body where it can be bigger.
This caption describes the image above.
Example: "Amateur Image"
The subjects in this image are so small that they no longer produce any value. People are now 'dots' and lose any engaging humanistic qualities. Think of me showing you a cool postage stamp from across the street - It just isn't going to work.
This caption describes the image above.
Example: "Pro" and Engaging Image
Here we crop the image to get a little more of a visual story. People become recognizable, have expressions of joy, and are obviously showcasing an achievement. All this communication is accomplished needing to reading a single word of text in the news post.
updated August 15, 2023
