Photo Guidelines
The following are the general guidelines followed by editors as they consider photographs for Penn State News. All photos are subject to review and editing. Final decisions for inclusion of a photo rests with the editorial staff of Penn State News.
Image Requirements: Images should have a recommended aspect ratio of 4:3 (width:height), and should be a minimum of 900 pixels on the smallest side. Please avoid overly wide images, and when practical, vertical images.
Use: Photos that appear on Penn State News will be subject to Creative Commons licensing. They will be made available, royalty-free, for noncommercial use by Penn State units, news media outlets and others. (Please see Penn State’s photo use policy for media organizations and others, located at the end of this section.)
Photo manipulation: All photos should remain unaltered, unless clearly marked as a photo illustration. Images that have been manipulated should not be published on Penn State News.
Embedded text in images: In alignment with best practices in digital accessibility, please avoid embedding text directly into Penn State News images. There may be times when it makes sense to include a small amount of text in an image, but please don't rely on embedded text as the primary method for communicating a message. For example, an organization’s logo with its name is acceptable, but avoid uploading a full poster-style image with detailed event information. In addition, any embedded text should be repeated in the photo's alt-text field and/or caption.
Resolution: If at all possible, photos should be at least 150 DPI in resolution. Photos in Penn State’s database are available for printing in certain situations, so resolution is critical. Low resolution / “pixelated” photos will not be published.
Caption: Each photo should be published with a complete, sentence-style caption. Captions should identify all people in the photo, regardless of age; the name of the location where the photo was taken; the date on which it was taken; and other pertinent information. Captions should read like something you would expect to see in a news publication. This applies to head-and-shoulders photographs of individuals, as well -- at a minimum, the caption on a head-and-shoulders photograph should contain the individual’s full name and title.
Credit: Whenever possible, include a photo credit.
Candid vs. Posed: Photos published on Penn State News should be candid in nature. With the exception of professional head-and-shoulders shots, posed photos should not be used. This includes group photos, photos of two or more people smiling for the camera, posed photos of check or award presentations, etc. Photos of a speaker at a podium are acceptable, but should be avoided if better alternatives exist.
Focus: Photos that are out of focus will not be used.
Penn State photo use policy
The photos owned by Penn State and displayed with news stories at http://news.psu.edu/, at http://www.psu.edu/ and on the University’s official Flickr account at http://flickr.com/pennstatelive are free to media representatives for purposes of news coverage, as well as available to individuals for private, not-for-profit use at no charge.
Use of Penn State’s images in commercial, non-news-related publications and websites, or any other for-profit use, is prohibited.
Appropriate credits for each image must be used. If a credit is not listed with the image in question, the credit should read “Image courtesy of Penn State.” Penn State’s Office of Strategic Communications reserves the right to withhold access to images if false representation is suspected or there are questions about intended usage.
Copyright restrictions may apply to non-Penn-State photos displayed on the websites listed above.
Video guidelines
All videos submitted for publication on Penn State News and related platforms are subject to editorial review by the Penn State News and Media Relations Editorial Team. Though professional production quality is not required, videos should be of acceptable quality and content should align with the University’s strategic goals.
Closed captions: All videos on Penn State News must be closed captioned -- there can be no exceptions.
University Policy AD 25: Videos that fall University Policy AD 25’s definition of a “marketing or promotional video” must be reviewed by the Department of University Marketing in Penn State’s Office of Strategic Communications. Read the entire policy here: http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD25.html.
Video captions: Each video should be published with a complete, sentence-style caption. Captions should briefly describe the content of the video and provide other pertinent information.