What are captions and catchlines?
Captions and catchlines definitely help in telling the story. It is true, according to a Chinese proverb that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” yet some pictures are not independent by themselves or are self-explanatory. Pictures that particularly lack background may not be capable of sending the message to the readers as they are. They need some words to put across the message intended for the readers. That’s why we need captions and catchlines.
What is a catchline? A catchline appears to be a subtitle for a caption which is usually printed in different size or point, type or style. Some catchlines form part of the captions sentence as they are necessary to complete its thought.
What is a caption? A caption is also called a cutline, constitutes the line or lines or text that basically describe, explain, or tell something about the picture. Captions should not be so long that they become as thick as or even thicker than the picture. The standard is at least four lines for a good caption.
Guidelines in writing captions:
1. As in newswriting, the basic 5w’s and 1h are used in presenting the facts.
2. The present tense is preferred to the past tense.
3. The news elements such as prominence, proximity, timeliness, human interest, and the like are also considered.
4. A caption must be written while the picture is being viewed. It is impossible to caption a picture appropriately without looking at it.
5. Captions are basically informative yet they can be written also in such a way that they tickle readers’ emotions and minds by making them a bit intriguing.
6. Describing the obvious in the picture should be avoided.
7. Expressions like “photo shows”, “not in picture are…” do not really help to arrest readers’ attention but may insult them instead.
8. Credit lines which indicate the name of the photographer or photojournalist may be placed right under or just at the side of the photograph.
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