The following guidelines, some of which can be found in our brand guide, pertain to images used on all Michigan Tech websites and publications.
Copyright
All images taken by the UMC Studio team are copyrighted by Michigan Technological University. When using images from another source, please be sure to properly license, purchase, or attribute the image. You may not use non-Michigan Tech photos without permission. Departments not following copyright laws may be subject to fines and fees.
Safety
All subjects within photos must comply with safety guidelines as outlined by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).
Images and videos representing labs and experiments must show the proper use of all necessary safety equipment. This includes safety glasses, lab coats, masks, gloves, or any other necessary equipment as required by the lab.
If you aren't sure if your photo passes a safety check, contact EHS.
Quality
Photos should be of good quality. This includes using a photo that is large enough and has enough pixels for the space you wish it to fill. It also means having good lighting and composition.
Mobile/Phone Photos
Using images from cell phones is acceptable in some situations. Modern smartphone cameras are capable of taking photos to capture field research, breakthroughs, and spur-of-the-moment images on campus. You may be able to crowdsource images from staff, faculty, and students as well (be sure to provide proper image credit when needed). Michigan Tech offers free LinkedIn Learning access to faculty and staff, which contains a variety of photo and marketing tutorials, including ones specific to mobile device photography.
For the Web
When considering photos for the web, remember that most users access websites through a horizontal viewing space such as a desktop monitor or on a smartphone with limited screen space. Because of this, it is best to use horizontally cropped images.
The Image Editor within the CMS automatically converts files to the JPG format. Please refer to our blog post for preferred image sizes, common Image Editor errors, and how to use the Image Editor.
Accessibility
We are required to create and maintain websites that meet Level AA and/or AAA web accessibility conformance for as many of our standardized web elements as possible. A big part of this involves making sure that our online images are accessible. Follow online image accessibility training to help.