How-to · Step-by-step
How to cite an image
Citing an image means recording its creator, title, date, medium or format, and where you found it — a website, a museum or a reproduction.
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Step by step
How to do it
1.Identify the creator
Find the artist, photographer or designer. If no individual is named, the organisation or the platform username may stand in as the creator.
2.Record the title or a description
Copy the work’s title. If it is untitled, supply a short square-bracketed description (APA) or a plain description (MLA) so readers can identify it.
3.Note the date and format
Record the date the image was made or posted, and its format or medium — "photograph", "oil on canvas", "digital image" or "[Photograph]".
4.Record where you found it
Note the host: the website name and URL for an online image, or the museum or gallery name and city for a physical artwork.
5.Assemble the entry
Arrange the elements in your style’s order. For a figure reproduced in your own document, add a caption and a copyright attribution beneath it as your style requires.
APA 7th edition
Online image format: Creator, A. (Year). Title [Format]. Site Name. URL — Worked example: Smith, J. (2021). City at dusk [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/example In-text: (Smith, 2021). Museum artwork: Smith, J. (1890). City at dusk [Painting]. Example Museum, London, England. Use a square-bracketed format descriptor, and for an untitled work give a bracketed description in the title position.
MLA 9th edition
Online image format: Creator. "Title of Image." Site Name, Day Month Year, URL. — Worked example: Smith, Jane. "City at Dusk." Flickr, 14 Mar. 2021, www.flickr.com/photos/example. Museum artwork: Smith, Jane. City at Dusk. 1890, Example Museum, London. In-text: (Smith). Italicise the title of a stand-alone artwork; use quotation marks for an image titled within a website container.
Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography)
Museum artwork bibliography: Smith, Jane. City at Dusk. 1890. Oil on canvas. Example Museum, London. — First footnote: 1. Jane Smith, City at Dusk, 1890, oil on canvas, Example Museum, London. Online image note: 1. Jane Smith, City at Dusk, photograph, Flickr, March 14, 2021, https://www.flickr.com/photos/example. Italicise the title of an artwork and give its medium and the holding institution.
Common questions
FAQ
How do I cite an image that has no title?+
Supply a brief description in place of the title. APA puts it in square brackets — [Photograph of the Thames at dusk] — with no quotation marks or italics. MLA gives a plain descriptive phrase, not italicised or quoted. Chicago likewise uses a description in roman type.
Do I cite a figure I reproduce in my own paper?+
Yes. Beneath the reproduced figure add a caption and a copyright attribution. APA uses a "Note." line with the source and permission status; MLA and Chicago add a caption crediting the creator and source. You still need permission to reproduce copyrighted images in published work.
How do I cite a museum artwork I viewed in person?+
Give the creator, the title (italicised), the date, the medium (Chicago), and the institution and city holding it. APA adds a bracketed format such as [Painting]; MLA and Chicago name the museum and location after the date.
Going deeper
