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What would you call an image in a newspaper article that appears in the flow of the article with text wrapped around it? For example an article with two columns — on the right column there's an image with wrapping around it. What would you call it? In-line image? Article in-line image? Paragraph image?

RegDwigнt
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leon
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3 Answers3

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Illustration is the only word that fits in normal English. If you want more technical editing terms, you could try box, figure or image. There is, so far as I know, no one word for an image inserted into an article rather than next to it.

Tim Lymington
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  • It may just be in the US, but I don't think we would use illustration very often for an image in a newspaper article, unless perhaps the image was drawn rather than a photograph. Certainly the definition of illustration covers photographs, but it just has a connotation of something that's drawn by hand, probably because the most likely place we'd encounter that word would be in reference to children's books and diagrams and whatnot rather than exemplary photographs. We'd probably use picture or photograph for a print newspaper, and picture or image for an online newspaper. – Phoenix Dec 12 '11 at 12:05
  • @Phoenix: interesting. What would you use for a graph demonstrating the point made? (I was going to say illustrating but that's begging the question.) Illustration is BrEng for all three cases, I would say. – Tim Lymington Dec 12 '11 at 12:24
  • @TimLymington: A graph? Probably just graph, perhaps chart, depends on how the data is modeled. If it were a picture of something like, say, an engine with the parts labeled or a cutaway or whatever, then it would be a diagram. I can honestly say that I've never in my life heard anyone say something like "Take a look at this illustration in this article on page 2," it's always "Take a look at this picture (or photograph)..." or "Did you see that graph in the Times today?" – Phoenix Dec 12 '11 at 12:42
  • @Phoenix: I believe you're correct, except when you discuss all the ... images ... in a publication as a group. Then we may say "the illustrations". But then I fall back to agreeing that if they are all or mostly photographs, we would say "the pictures" or "the photos". – Jay Dec 12 '11 at 16:53
  • I was thinking of using it where a prescribed layout is required for an editor of an article. There needs to be an image/graphic/etc in one paragraph on a particular column. I think to describe this, the wording 'an illustration' covers it. – leon Dec 12 '11 at 17:02
  • @Jay: The more I think about it, I've only really heard illustration used with books with drawn pictures, and even then usually in the general sense of all the pictures in a book, e.g. "This book has wonderful illustrations, especially the picture on page 23." Except textbooks, as they have figures. There's still the general knowledge of both the noun and verb form definitions, but it just doesn't get used much as "a picture example" or "to give an explanation" when example and explain are available. – Phoenix Dec 12 '11 at 17:35
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In computer graphic layout, we talk about "in-line images", but I don't think this is a term used and understood by the average person. I don't know if printers have different terminology.

Jay
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Graphic (without an 's' at the end). Can be an all encompassing term for non-textual content in any context, appearing in/ on any of the media.

I do not have authentic references at hand right now. However, I am sure this term is emerging as a well understood and accepted catch-all, esp., in journalism.

Kris
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  • Would an audio clip be considered graphic? Seems the word visual should be a qualifier. – jimm101 Dec 08 '23 at 13:26
  • A graphic is usually either computer-generated or made through the graphic arts (etchings, woodcuts, lithograph, &c.) @jimm101 I think this is the noun graphic. – Joachim Dec 08 '23 at 15:29