Build image credits that survive reuse

An image can become separated from its credit as soon as it moves from a browser tab into a slide, article, or archive folder. Build the credit at the moment of selection, while the source information is still available. This workflow organizes evidence about reuse terms; it does not decide every legal question a publication might raise. 1. Start from the item's own source page. Search-result labels and repost captions can be incomplete. Identify the particular file and read its rights statement. A collection website may contain works with different terms, so a general site footer should not silently become the license for every image. 2. Create an asset record. Save a stable local identifier, filename, title if supplied, credited creator or rightsholder, source URL, license name and version, license URL, and the date you checked them. Keep any supplied credit instructions with the record. If a crucial field is unknown, say unknown and keep investigating. 3. Read the actual terms. Creative Commons recommends attribution using title, author, source, and license information. Different CC licenses impose different conditions. Check whether the intended modification and use fit the particular license. When the situation is unclear, select an alternative with clear terms or obtain appropriate advice or permission. 4. Record your changes. Cropping, color adjustment, text overlays, translation, and compositing can matter to readers and to the applicable terms. Keep a brief changes field and retain the unmodified working source where appropriate. Do not credit a derivative as though you created the underlying photograph. 5. Attach a readable credit to the output. A credits page or caption should let a reader connect each image to the correct asset record. File names alone may become ambiguous after an export. Use the same stable identifier in your project and your credit list, and test the links in the finished document. 6. Review the surrounding context. A permissive copyright license does not answer every issue involving identifiable people, trademarks, sensitive settings, or misleading presentation. Describe the image accurately and avoid implying that a depicted person endorses your argument or product. Before release, choose three images at random and follow the trail backward from the published caption to the exact source and license. If that journey fails, fix the records before scaling the collection. A well-kept credit trail makes future updates faster: when an image moves to another format, the necessary information travels with it instead of depending on someone's memory or an old browser history.

Editorial review: 2026-09-23. New evidence may change this account.

Report a problem with this record