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How to Cite a Picture or Image in MLA

Photograph – An image produced by a camera.

Citing a photograph or image displayed in a museum or institution (viewed in-person)

The citations below  are based on information from the MLA Style Center .

View Screenshot | Cite your source

Citing a photograph or image from a museum or institution (viewed online)

Many museums have online collections of their work. The citations below  are based on information from the MLA Style Center .

Citing a digital image on a web page or online article

Digital Image – A picture that can be viewed electronically by a computer.

Here’s the standard structure for a digital image citation found on a website. It follows guidance found in the MLA Style Center .  

 View Screenshot | Cite your source

Image search: Do not cite the search engine (example: Google Images) where the image is found, but the website of the image the search engine indexes.

Citing a photograph from a book

Citing a photograph you took

The photo would be considered as part of a “personal collection.” The example below follows guidance found in the MLA Style Center .  

Citing a photograph from a database

  View Screenshot | Cite your source

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Updated April 26, 2021.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
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• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
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• View all MLA Examples

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To cite an image with no author in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the title or description, museum or website name, date, and URL if applicable. Templates and examples for in-text citations and works cited list entries for an image with no author (viewed online) are provided below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose and parenthetical citations, use the title of the image.

Citation in prose:

The photograph Robert Frank in Automobile ….

Parenthetical:

….( Robert Frank )

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

Viewed online:

Title of Photograph or Description. Date Published.  Name of Gallery/Museum or Website Name, URL.

Robert Frank in Automobile. 1958. National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.89153.html.

To cite an image with no date in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the artist name, image title, and either the website where the image was viewed online or the museum or gallery name where it was viewed in person. If no date information is provided for an online image, omit the publication date details and instead provide the date you accessed it. Templates and examples for in-text citations and works cited list entries for an image with no date (viewed online and firsthand) are provided below:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the artist on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the artist.

First mention: Janet Cameron ….

Subsequent occurrences: Cameron ….

….(Cameron).

Viewed firsthand :

Artist Surname, First Name. Title of the Image. Name of the Museum or Gallery, Physical Location (Major City or City, State).

Muybridge, Eadweard. Attitudes of Animals in Motion . Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Viewed online :

Artist Surname, First Name. Title of the Image. Name of the Website , URL. Accessed Date.

Cameron, Janet. Who Was Cleopatra? Decoded Past , www.decodedpast.com/philosophy-2/ . Accessed 20 Sept. 2021.

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Works-Cited-List Entries

How to cite an image.

To create a basic works-cited-list entry for an image, list the creator of the image, the title of the image, the date of composition, and the location of the image, which would be a physical location if you viewed the image in person. If you viewed the image online, provide the name of the website containing the image and the URL. If you viewed the image in a print work, provide the publication information for the print work, including a page number. Below are sample entries for images along with links to posts containing many other examples.

A Photograph Viewed in Person

Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson . 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

A Painting Viewed Online

Bearden, Romare. The Train . 1975. MOMA , www.moma.org/collection/works/65232?locale=en.

An Untitled Image from a Print Magazine

Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. The New Yorker , 14 Apr. 2008, p. 49.

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APA examples: Images, tables and figures

All images, figures and tables referred to in the text or reproduced in an essay, assignment or presentation, must be cited and included in your reference list. 

See this guides images, figures and tables tab to view how the attribution of these examples below are treated within the text. 

See  APA Style examples, Clip Art Image and  Artwork References  for general notes and more examples. 

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Rhode island school of design, how to cite images.

• Chicago/Art Bulletin Style

MLA Caption Style

• When citing an image, the caption should be labeled as Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned a number, and given a title or caption
• For images found in a book or journal, include the publication information of the text.
• A caption ordinarily appears directly below the illustration and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper.
• Captions should be numbered consecutively.

Fig. 1. Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child , Wichita Art Museum. Illus. in Novelene Ross, Toward an American Identity: Selections from the Wichita Art Museum Collection of American Art (Wichita, Kansas: Wichita Art Museum, 1997) 107. Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook . 8th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

Additional Sources

MLA Style Center

Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Format

MLA Handbook (8th Ed) in the library

Citing Unidentified Images

When all or part of an image source is unknown or unknowable, use these points to guide your MLA image caption:

Unknown Artist, Author or Creator List that source by title in your works cited list. The title should be followed by the name of the source in the citation, and the remainder of the citation composed as appropriate for the source type. Alphabetize reference list entries beginning with a title using the primary word of the title (excluding a, an, or the).

An Image without a Title If an image is not titled, create a brief, descriptive title for it. Do not italicize this title or place it in quotes, and capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns.

Undated Sources Use "n.d." (for "no date") in the appropriate place in your citation. When this is used after a period in a citation, capitalize the "n" ("N.d.").

Sources consulted: MLA Citation Examples University of Maryland University Colleges Libraries Miscellaneous Photographs Collection , Archives of American Art

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How to Cite Images, Tables and Diagrams

The pages outlines examples of how to cite images, tables and diagrams using the Harvard Referencing method .

An image found online

In-text citations

Mention the image in the text and cite the author and date:

The cartoon by Frith (1968) describes ...

If the image has no named author, cite the full name and date of the image:

The map shows the Parish of Maroota during the 1840s (Map of the Parish of Maroota, County of Cumberland, District of Windsor 1840-1849)

List of References

Include information in the following order:

• author (if available)
• year produced (if available)
• title of image (or a description)
• Format and any details (if applicable)
• name and place of the sponsor of the source
• accessed day month year (the date you viewed/ downloaded the image)
• URL or Internet address (between pointed brackets).

Frith J 1968, From the rich man’s table, political cartoon by John Frith, Old Parliament House, Canberra, accessed 11 May 2007, <http: // www . oph.gov.au/frith/theherald-01.html>.

If there is no named author, put the image title first, followed by the date (if available):

Khafre pyramid from Khufu’s quarry 2007, digital photograph, Ancient Egypt Research Associates, accessed 2 August 2007, <http: // www . aeraweb.org/khufu_quarry.asp>.

Map of the Parish of Maroota, County of Cumberland, District of Windsor 1840-1849, digital image of cartographic material, National Library of Australia, accessed 13 April 2007, <http: // nla . gov.au/nla.map-f829>.  

Online images/diagrams used as figures

Figures include diagrams, graphs, sketches, photographs and maps. If you are writing a report or an assignment where you include a visual as a figure, unless you have created it yourself, you must include a reference to the original source.

Figures should be numbered and labelled with captions. Captions should be simple and descriptive and be followed by an in-text citation. Figure captions should be directly under the image.

Cite the author and year in the figure caption:

Figure 1: Bloom's Cognitive Domain (Benitez 2012)

If you refer to the Figure in the text, also include a citation:

As can be seen from Figure 1 (Benitez 2012)

Provide full citation information:

Benitez J 2012, Blooms Cognitve Domain, digital image, ALIEM, accessed 2 August 2015, <https: // www . aliem.com/blooms-digital-taxonomy/>.   

Online data in a table caption

In-text citation

If you reproduce or adapt table data found online you must include a citation. All tables should be numbered and table captions should be above the table.

  Table 2: Agricultural water use, by state 2004-05 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006)

If you refer to the table in text, include a citation:

As indicated in Table 2, a total of 11 146 502 ML was used (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006)

Include the name of the web page where the table data is found.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, Water Use on Australian Farms , 2004-05, Cat. no. 4618.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, accessed 4 July 2007, <https: // www . abs.gov.au>.

FAQ and troubleshooting

Harvard referencing

• How to cite different sources
• How to cite references
• How to cite online/electronic sources
• Broadcast and other sources
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• FAQs and troubleshooting
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Locating and Using Images for Presentations and Coursework

• Free & Open Source Images
• How to Cite Images
• Alt Text Image Descriptions

Copyright Resources

• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States from Cornell University Library
• Copyright Overview from Purdue University
• U.S. Copyright Office
• Fair Use Evaluator
• Visual Resources Association's Statement of Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study
• Creative Commons Licenses

Attribution

Again, the majority of images you find are under copyright and cannot be used without permission from the creator. There are exceptions with Fair Use, but this Libguide is intended to help you locate images you can use with attribution (and in some case, the images are free to use without attribution when stated, such as with stock images from pixabay). ***Please read about public domain . These images aren't under copyright, but it's still good practice to include attribution if the information is available. Attribution : the act of attributing something, especially the ascribing of a work (as of literature or art) to a particular author or artist. When you have given proper attribution, it means you have given the information necessary for people to know who the creator of the work is.

Citation General Guidelines

Include as much of the information below when citing images in a paper and formal presentations. Apply the appropriate citation style (see below for APA, MLA examples).

• Image creator's name (artist, photographer, etc.)
• Title of the image
• Date the image (or work represented by the image) was created
• Date the image was posted online
• Date of access (the date you accessed the online image)
• Institution (gallery, museum) where the image is located/owned (if applicable)
• Website and/or Database name

Citing Images in MLA, APA, Chicago, and IEEE

• Directions for citing in MLA, APA, and Chicago MLA: Citing images in-text, incorporating images into the text of your paper, works cited APA 6th ed.: Citing images in-text and reference list Chicago 17th ed.: Citing images footnotes and endnotes and bibliography from Simon Fraser University
• How to Cite Images Using IEEE from the SAIT Reg Erhardt Library
• Image, Photograph, or Related Artwork (IEEE) from the Rochester Institute of Technology Library

Citing Images in Your PPT

Currently, citing images in PPT is a bit of the Wild West. If details aren't provided by an instructor, there are a number of ways to cite. What's most important is that if the image is not a free stock image, you give credit to the author for the work. Here are some options:

1. Some sites, such as Creative Commons and Wikimedia, include the citation information with the image. Use that citation when available. Copy the citation and add under the image. For example, an image of a lake from Creative Commons has this citation next to it:  "lake"  by  barnyz  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 .

2. Include a marker, such as Image 1. or Figure 1., and in the reference section, include full citation information with the corresponding number

3. Include a complete citation (whatever the required format, such as APA) below the image

4. Below the image, include the link to the online image location

5. Hyperlink the title of the image with the online image location

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Electronic Image

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Film and Television
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
• Secondary Sources
• Citation Support
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

Helpful Tip!

Where can I go to find images?

If you locate an image online you need to determine who the source is as well as the copyright restrictions.

See our Images Research Guide for more information on Images and Copyright.

Below are a few good places to locate online images.

NOTE: Although some images are in the Public Domain and do not require attribution, you should always follow your instructor's requirements for citing images.

• Center for Disease Control (CDC) Public Health Image Library (PHIL)
• Health Education Assets Library (HEAL) Collection
• Historical Anatomies on the Web
• Medical Gallery: Hardin MD site
• National Cancer Institute: Visuals Online
• National Human Genome Research Institute: Digital Media Database
• National Library of Medicine:Images from the History of Medicine
• NIDDK image library
• Photoshare (USAID)
• Wellcome images
• Wikimedia Commons
• Yale Image Finder

Image from an Electronic Source

Images, diagrams and artistic works should be cited as you would cite any other type of work.

• Images in text are also generally accompanied by a caption that includes copyright information and a statement of permission for use. Please check with your instructor to see if this is necessary.

Tip: You should give as much information as possible about the images that you have used, including these basics:

• creator's name (author, artist, photographer etc.)
• date the work was published or created
• title of the work
• place of publication
• type of material (for photographs, charts, online images)
• website address and access date
• name of the institution or museum where the work is located (for artworks and museum exhibits)
• dimensions of the work (for artworks)

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Artist Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

References:

Artist Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Title of the artwork [Format]. Title of the Website. URL (address of web site)

References (No Author):

Title of work [Type of work]. (Year image was created). Title of the Website. URL (address of web site)

References (No Author, No Title, No Date):

[Subject and type of work]. Title of the Website. URL (address of web site)

Many images found on the Web fall under this category. Try to locate the missing information by clicking on the image, and/or looking at the bottom of the image.

(Baumel, 2010)

References (Basic):

Baumel, A. (2010). Cholera treatment center in Haiti [Online image]. Doctors Without Borders. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Flu epidemic [Online image]. (1919). History. http://www.history.net/photo/flu-epidemic-art/collections

[Untitled illustration of a sleeping dog]. Sleeping Animals. http://www.sleepinganimals/pix.com

Subject Guide

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• Subject guides
• Citing and referencing
• Images / Figures

Citing and referencing: Images / Figures

• In-text citations
• Reference list
• Books and book chapters
• Journals/Periodicals
• Newspapers/Magazines
• Government and other reports
• Legal sources
• Websites and social media
• Audio, music and visual media
• Conferences
• Dictionaries/Encyclopedias/Guides
• Theses/Dissertations
• University course materials
• Company and Industry reports
• Patents and Standards
• Tables and Figures
• Abbreviations used in referencing
• Medicine and Health sources
• Foreign language sources
• Music scores
• Journals and periodicals
• Government sources
• News sources
• Web and social media
• Games and apps
• Ancient and sacred sources
• Primary sources
• Audiovisual media and music scores
• Images and captions
• University lectures, theses and dissertations
• Interviews and personal communication
• Archival material
• In-Text Citations: Further Information
• Reference List: Standard Abbreviations
• Data Sheets (inc. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS))
• Figures & Tables (inc. Images)
• Lecture Materials (inc. PowerPoint Presentations)
• Reports & Technical Reports
• Theses and Dissertations
• Reference list guidelines
• Journal articles
• Government and industry publications
• Websites, newspaper and social media
• Conference papers, theses and university material
• Video and audio
• Images, graphs, tables, data sets
• Personal communications
• In-text Citations
• Journals / Periodicals
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Interviews and lectures
• Music Scores / Recordings
• Film / Video Recording
• Television / Radio Broadcast
• Online Communication / Social Media
• Live Performances
• Government and Organisation Publications
• Medicine & health sources
• Government/organisational/technical reports
• Images, graphs, tables, figures & data sets
• Websites newspaper & magazine articles, socia media
• Conferences, theses & university materials
• Personal communication & confidential unpublished material
• Video, audio & other media
• Generative AI
• Indigenous knowledges

Turabian Contents

• Introduction to Turabian Style
• Websites / Blogs
• Audiovisual
• Exhibitions
• Magazines / Newspapers
• Citing a source within a source
• University course materials / Theses / Exegeses

Rules for images

1. If you include any images in your document, also include a figure caption. See the "Positioning images in your document" box for more information.

2. If you refer to any visual material, i.e. art, design or architecture, you have seen in person and you are not including an image of it in your document, provide a detailed in-text citation or footnote. See the "Art, design and architecture you have seen in person" box for more information. 

3. If you have sourced an image from the web or a publication:

a) Notes Bibliography style: you need to include the publication information or web address in the footnote. See the "Images from the web" or "Images from books or other published sources" for more information. 

b) Author Date style: you need to include a brief in-text citation AND a full bibliography entry. See the "Images from the web" or "Images from books or other published sources" for more information. 

Positioning images in your document

• Author-Date (Parenthetical citations)

Positioning images in your document 

Figures are any images that you include in your document, i.e. illustrations, diagrams, graphs, photographs, images of artworks and etc. Whenever you include a figure in your document, you also provide a caption. Captions give concise descriptions, explanations, legends, or identify elements—depending on the type of figure. Position a caption below each figure.

Begin each caption with a figure number. And in your text, refer to the particular figure as you introduce it, spell out the word 'figure' if its in your sentence, or abbreviate to 'fig.' if it's written in parenthesis i.e. "in figure 1 you can see..." or (see fig. 1).

You may be the author of a figure in your document or you may have sourced it from elsewhere. If figures aren’t your work, captions can provide reference information, i.e. authors, titles and sources. Some assessments may require you to include a courtesy line acknowledging the name of the source organisation, archive or database, followed by an access date and the web address. 

Example:  In his painting The Banquet of Cleopatra (see fig. 1), Venetian artist Giambattista Tiepolo portrays a famous contest where Cleopatra wins a wager with Mark Antony by dissolving a pearl earring in a glass of vinegar and drinking it.  Tiepolo stage this scene amid columns of the composite order (see fig. 2), which visually underline links to ancient Rome (see fig. 3). 

Figure 1. Giambattista Tiepolo,  The Banquet of Cleopatra , 1743-44, oil on canvas, 250 x 357 cm. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria, accessed 12 March, 2020, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/4409/.

Figure 2. The composite order, showing a , the entablature and b , the column capital. Courtesy of OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay, accessed 12 March, 2020, https://pixabay.com/vectors/column-capital-composite-antiquity-148231/.

Figure 3. The Arch of Septimius Severus, 203 ce., Roman Forum, Rome. Courtesy of Artstor, accessed 12 March, 2020, https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au.

Example:  In his painting  The Banquet of Cleopatra  (see fig. 1), Venetian artist Giambattista Tiepolo portrays a famous contest where Cleopatra wins a wager with Mark Antony by dissolving a pearl earring in a glass of vinegar and drinking it. Tiepolo stage this scene amid columns of the composite order (see fig. 2), which visually underline links to ancient Rome (see fig. 3). 

Figure 2. The composite order, showing  a , the entablature and  b , the column capital. Courtesy of OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay, accessed 12 March, 2020, https://pixabay.com/vectors/column-capital-composite-antiquity-148231/.

Figure 3. The Arch of Septimius Severus, 203 ce., Roman Forum, Rome. Courtesy of Artstor, accessed 12 March, 2020, https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au.

Art, design and architecture you have seen in person

If you are referring to art, design or architecture and you are not including the image in your document, you only need to provide a detailed footnote.

Include the following information:

• artist or designer
• title of the work
• year of creation of work
• type of materials (optional)
• dimensions of the work (optional)
• location of item, e.g. name of the institution that houses the work, or city the building is in

Footnote     1. Giambattista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra , 1743-44, oil on canvas, 250.3 x 357.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

If you are referring to the actual artwork and you are not including the image in your document, you only need to provide a detailed in text citation. 

• location of item, e.g. name institution that houses the work,  or city the building is in

Parenthetical (In Text)     (Georgia O'Keeffe, The Cliff Chimneys , 1938, Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin )

Images from the web

• Author-Date (Parenthetical citations)

If you found the image online you will need to include in your footnote:

• title of work
• access date

1. Giambattista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra , 1743-44, oil on canvas, 250.3 x 357.0 cm, accessed 24 May, 2012, http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/4409 .

2. Max Dupain, The Sunbaker , 1937, gelatin silver photograph, 38.0 x 43.1 cm, accessed 24 May, 2012 , http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/7621 .

If you found the image online you need to include a brief parenthetical (in text) citation and a bibliography entry that includes:

​ Examples:

Parenthetical (In Text)

(Tiepolo 1743-44)

(Dupain 1937)

Bibliography

Tiepolo,  Giambattista. 1743-44.  The Banquet of Cleopatra. Oil on canvas. A ccessed 24 May, 2012.   http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/4409 .

Dupain, Max. 1937. The Sunbaker . Photograph. A ccessed 24 May, 2012.  http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/7621 .

Images from books or other published sources

If you found the image in a book or other published source you will need to include in the footnote:

• date of creation of work
• author of book
• title of book
• place of publication
• date of publication
• figure or plate number of the reproduction (optional)

1. Giambattista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra , 1743-44, in Ted Gott and Laurie Benson, Painting and Sculpture before 1800 in the International Collections of the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2003), 102.

2. Max Dupain, "The Sunbaker", 1937, in Isobel Crombie, Body Culture: Max Dupain, Photography and Australian Culture 1919-1939 (Images Publishing Group in association with National Gallery of Victoria, 2004), 150, 17.1.

If you found the image in a book or other published source you will need to include an in text citation as well as a bibliography entry that includes:

(Georgia O'Keeffe, The Cliff Chimneys , 1938, in Lynes, Poling-Kempes, and Turner 2004, 25)

Lynes, Barbara Buhler, Lesley Poling-Kempes, and Frederick W. Turner. 2004. Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico: A sense of place . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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• How to Cite an Image in Chicago Style | Format & Examples

How to Cite an Image in Chicago Style | Format & Examples

Published on May 25, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on April 9, 2024.

Chicago Citation Generator

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , it’s recommended to just cite images in notes, omitting them from the bibliography. List an image in your bibliography only if you cite it frequently,  if it’s essential to your argument, or if your university requires you to.

Follow the format shown below to create a note and—if necessary—a bibliography entry for an image viewed online. Make sure to cite the page where the image is hosted, not, for example, the Google search results where you found it.

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Table of contents

Citing an artwork from a museum, citing an image from a book, image citations in chicago author-date style, frequently asked questions about chicago style citations.

When you viewed an artwork in person at a museum, gallery, or other location, provide information about the institution housing it. Include a URL if the museum website has a page dedicated to the artwork.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

An image you encountered in a book , journal article , or other print source should be cited by first listing information about the image itself, then listing information about the source it was contained in, including the page number where the image can be found.

Use italics for the title an image originally created outside the context of the book or article (e.g., an artwork) and quotation marks for the title of an image original to the book or article (e.g., an infographic). Use plain text to describe an untitled image.

An example citation of an artwork from a book is shown below.

In Chicago author-date style , an in-text citation for an image consists of the author’s last name and the year the image was created.

These citations correspond to entries in your reference list. Reference list entries are similar to bibliography entries, except that the year comes immediately after the author’s name.

• Online image
• Museum artwork
• Image from a book

In Chicago style , when you don’t just refer to an image but actually include it in your (research) paper , the image should be formatted as a figure. Place the figure before or after the first paragraph where it is mentioned. Refer to figures by their numbers in the text (e.g., “see fig. 1”).

Below the figure, place a caption providing the figure number followed by a period (e.g., “Figure 1.”), a reference to the source (if you didn’t create the image yourself), and any relevant information to help the reader understand the image (if needed).

The caption is single-spaced and left-aligned, and followed by a blank line before the continuation of the main text.

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

In a Chicago footnote citation , when the author of a source is unknown (as is often the case with websites ), start the citation with the title in a full note. In short notes and bibliography entries, list the organization that published it as the author.

In Chicago author-date style , treat the organization as author in your in-text citations and reference list.

When an online source does not list a publication date, replace it with an access date in your Chicago footnotes and your bibliography :

If you are using author-date in-text citations , or if the source was not accessed online, replace the date with “n.d.”

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , the usual standard is to use a full note for the first citation of each source, and short notes for any subsequent citations of the same source.

However, your institution’s guidelines may differ from the standard rule. In some fields, you’re required to use a full note every time, whereas in some other fields you can use short notes every time, as long as all sources are listed in your bibliography . If you’re not sure, check with your instructor.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, April 09). How to Cite an Image in Chicago Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 24, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/image-citations/

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APA 7th Referencing Style Guide

• Figures (graphs and images)
• Referencing & APA style
• In-text citation
• Elements of a reference
• Format & examples of a reference list
• Conferences
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General guidelines

From a book, from an article, from a library database, from a website, citing your own work.

• Theses and dissertations
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A figure may be a chart, a graph, a photograph, a drawing, or any other illustration or nontextual depiction. Any type of illustration or image other than a table is referred to as a figure.

Figure Components

• Number:  The figure number (e.g., Figure 1 ) appears above the figure in bold (no period finishing).
• Title: The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number in Italic Title Case  (no period finishing).
• Image: The image portion of the figure is the chart, graph, photograph, drawing, or illustration itself.
• Legend: A figure legend, or key, if present, should be positioned within the borders of the figure and explain any symbols used in the figure image.
• Note: A note may appear below the figure to describe contents of the figure that cannot be understood from the figure title, image, and/or legend alone (e.g., definitions of abbreviations, copyright attribution). Not all figures include notes. Notes are flush left, non-italicised. If present they begin with Note. (italicised, period ending). The notes area will include reference information if not an original figure, and copyright information as required.

General rules

• In the text, refer to every figure by its number, no italics, but with a capital "F" for "Figure". For example, "As shown in Figure 1, ..." 
• There are two options for the placement of figures in a paper. The first option is to place all figures on separate pages after the reference list. The second option is to embed each figure within the text.
• If you reproduce or adapt a figure from another source (e.g., an image you found on the internet), you should include a copyright attribution in the figure note, indicating the origin of the reproduced or adapted material, in addition to a reference list entry for the work. Include a permission statement (Reprinted or Adapted with permission) only if you have sought and obtained permission to reproduce or adapt material in your figure. A permission statement is not required for material in the public domain or openly licensed material. For student course work, AUT assignments and internal assessments, a permission statement is also not needed, but copyright attribution is still required.
• Important note for postgraduate students and researchers: If you wish to reproduce or adapt figures that you did not create yourself in your thesis, dissertation, exegesis, or other published work, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder/s, unless the figure is in the public domain (copyright free), or licensed for use with a Creative Commons or other open license. Works under a  Creative Commons licence  should be cited accordingly. See Using works created by others for more information. 

Please check the APA style website for an illustration of the basic figure component & placement of figure in a text.

More information & examples from the   APA Style Manual , s. 7.22-7.36,    pp. 225–250

Figure reproduced in your text

Note format - for notes below the figure

In-text citation:

Reference list entry:

Referring to a figure in a book

If you refer to a figure included in a book but do not include it in your text, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way, citing the page number where the figure appears.

Note format -  for notes below the figure

Referring to a figure in an article

If you refer to a figure in an article but do not include it in your text, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way for an article, citing the page number where the figure appears.

Note format - for notes below the figure

Reference list:

Referring to a figure on a webpage

If you refer to a figure on a webpage and do not include it in your text, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way for a webpage,

Not every reference to an artwork needs a reference list entry. For example, if you refer to a famous painting, as below, it would not need a reference.

Finding image details for your figure caption or reference

• clicking on or hovering your mouse over the image
• looking at the bottom of the image
• looking at the URL
• If there is no title, create a short descriptive one yourself and put it in square brackets e.g. [...]
• For more guidance, see Visual works

If it has been formally published reference your work as you would any other published work.

If the work is available on a website reference it as a webpage (see examples in the webpage section ).

Citing your own figures, graphs or images in an assignment:

• Include the title
• Add a note explaining the content. No copyright attribution is required.
• You can, if you wish, add a statement that it is your own work
• You do not need an in-text citation or add it to your reference list
• See example in APA manual p.247, Figure 7.17 Sample photograph

Great Barrier Island 

Note. Photo of Great Barrier Island taken from Orewa at sunrise. Own work.

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• Leeds Harvard referencing examples

Leeds Harvard: Image

Reference examples.

If you refer to an image that you have found in a printed source, eg a book , you must provide a reference for that source. Check with your tutor about the most appropriate way to present images in your work, eg including a list of images in an appendix.

It is not necessary to provide a reference in your bibliography for an image that you have created yourself. Images generated by AI tools must be referenced. See below for an example of how to do this. 

Online image

Family name, INITIAL(S) (of the originator). Year. Title of image . [Online]. [Date accessed]. Available from: URL

Bowry, J. 2013. Telephone boxes in the snow . [Online]. [Accessed 10 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.flickr.com/

Picasso, P. 1925. The Dance . [Online]. [Accessed 4 March 2017]. Available from: http://www.oxfordartonline.com

Original image or photograph

Family name, INITIAL(S) (of the originator). Year. Title . [Material type]. At: Place: holding institution, department (if applicable). Identifier (if applicable).

Roux, E. 1915. Photograph taken at Gallipoli by Ernest Roux . [Photograph]. At: Leeds: Leeds University Library. Liddle Collection, FR 31.

Original image or photograph (missing details)

If there is no originator, start your reference with the image title. If there is no title, start with a description.

Title . Year. [Material type]. At: Place: holding institution, department (if applicable). Identifier (if applicable).

Photograph of two members of the Shaikevich family . c1920. [Photograph]. At: Leeds: Leeds University Library, Leeds Russian Archive Collection. MS 1210.

Image generated by AI software

Some generative AI tools provide a shareable link to the output they have generated. If this is available, you should include it. Otherwise, include the URL of the tool’s homepage.  

Company and software name. Year. AI generated image of (description) . [Online]. [Date accessed]. Available from: URL 

Adobe Firefly. 2024. AI generated image of a tree standing in a field surrounded by wildflowers and small woodland creatures . [Online]. [Accessed 12 March 2024]. Available from: https://firefly.adobe.com/public/t2i?id=urn%3Aaaid%3Asc%3AEU%3Abdae3474-5ded-425a-87ba-081ffbc50129&ff_channel=shared_link&ff_source=Text2Image  

Citation examples

Image, figure, table or diagram.

You should provide an in-text citation for any photographs, images, tables, diagrams, graphs, figures or illustrations that you reproduce in your work. The citation would normally be given after the title of the figure, table, diagram, etc.

Example: Figure 1, A four pointed star (Jones, 2015, p.54).

A reference within the text to a table, graph, diagram, etc. taken from a source should include the author, date and page number in brackets to enable the reader to identify the data.

Example: (Jones, 2015, p.33)

If you have already named the author in the text, only the publication year and page number needs to be mentioned in brackets.

Jones (2015, p.33) gave a detailed figures on the rapid increase of trade union membership during the twentieth century.

If the source of the data is not the author's own, but obtained from another source, it becomes a secondary reference and needs to be cited as such.

Example: (United Nations, 1975, cited in Smith, 2016, p.33)

If you use a table/graph, etc. from a source and then adapt it to use in your own assignment, you must make that clear in your reference.

We would suggest something along the lines of: Figure 1, Title, based on Smith, 2005, p.22.

Corporate author

If the item is produced by an organisation, treat the organisation as a "corporate author". This means you can use the name of the organisation instead of that of an individual author. This includes government departments, universities or companies. Cite the corporate author in the text the same way as you would an individual author.

According to a recent report, flu jabs are as important as travel vaccines (Department of Health, 2017).  

Common issues

When you're referencing with Leeds Harvard you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Harvard.

Skip straight to the issue that affects you:

• Online items
• URL web addresses
• Multiple authors
• Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)
• Multiple publisher details
• Editions and reprints
• Missing details
• Multiple sources with different authors
• Sources written by the same author in the same year
• Sources with the same author in different years
• Two authors with the same surname in the same year
• The work of one author referred to by another
• Anonymising sources for confidentiality
• Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)

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Research Guide: Citations

• MLA Images and Visual Presentations Citations Example
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• Quick Overview
• Plagiarism & Academic Honesty This link opens in a new window
• APA Citation Style Overview
• In-Text Citations - APA
• ARTICLES - APA Reference List
• BOOKS - APA Reference List
• ONLINE SOURCES - APA Reference List
• OTHER SOURCES - APA Reference List
• APA Formatted Paper Example
• APA Annotated Bibliography Example
• APA Verbal/Speech Citations Example
• APA Images and Visual Presentations Citations Example
• MLA Citation Style Overview
• In-Text Citations - MLA
• ARTICLES - MLA Works Cited
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• ONLINE SOURCES - MLA Works Cited
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Images, Charts, Tables, Graphs - MLA

• Images Inserted in Essays and Presentations
• Images Not Inserted But Referred To

Images Inserted in Essays and Visual Presentations

When you insert an image into your essay or visual presentation, you need to provide a caption.

MLA guidelines for illustrative visual material other than tables (photos, maps, graph, chart, line drawing, etc.):

• Images should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned a numeral and given a caption (information about the source)
• Type both label and caption directly below the image
• If the caption provides complete bibliographic information about the source and the source is not otherwise cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works cited list
• If full bibliographic details are provided in the caption, punctuate the caption like a works-cited entry but do not invert the name of the creator
• Otherwise, use commas to separate elements in a caption and provide full publication details in the works-cited list

Fig.1. Dorothea Lange. Toward Los Angeles, California.  1937. Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration.

Tables Inserted in Essays and Visual Presentations

• A table is usually labeled Table, numbered and titled
• Type both label and title on separate lines above the table, capitalize as you would a title (not all caps)
• Place the source of the table and any notes in a caption immediately below the table (designate notes to the table with lowercase letters rather than numerals)
• Contents of the table should be double-spaced
• Use dividing lines as needed for clarity
• If the caption provides complete bibliographic information about the source and the source is not otherwise cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works cited list

Table 1                                                                                                                                                       Title of Table, Capitalized.

Source information for the table.  If the caption provides complete bibliographic information about the source and the source is not otherwise cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works cited list

  a. Any notes about the information presented in the table. 

Images, Charts, Tables, Graphs Not Inserted but Referred to into Essays & Presentations

If you refer to information from an image, chart, table or graph, but do not insert it in your essay or presentation, create a citation both in-text and on your Works Cited list.

If the information is part of another format, for example a book, magazine article, encyclopedia, etc., cite the work it came from.

• Example: if information came from a table in an article in National Geographic magazine, you would cite the entire article.
• Example citation:
• MLA Style Center - How to Cite an Image Examples for images viewed online, in person and in print.

If you are only making a passing reference to a well known image, you would not have to cite it, e.g. describing someone as having a Mona Lisa smile.

Additional Resources

• MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples - Purdue Online Writing Lab Examples and guidelines for using visual materials in MLA style.
• MLA Style Center - Tables and Illustrations Guidelines and examples for incorporating visual images in MLA style.

Quick Guide - MLA

Quick guide - mla citation style.

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Quick Guide to APA Citations

☑ include both parts of the apa citation:.

In-text citations (placed in your paper wherever you are quoting or paraphrasing a source) Reference list citations (placed at the end of your paper in an alphabetized reference list)  

☑ If you quote OR paraphrase a source, you must cite it.

"Paraphrasing" includes describing someone else's idea in your own words.   A quotation requires a "locator" which is the exact page number or paragraph number of the quote 

☑ Do not include sources in your reference list if you did not use them.

In APA, reference citations are not a list of sources you read! Only include a source in your reference list if you quoted or paraphrased that source with an in-text citation in your paper.

☑ Each in-text citation must match its reference list citation.

The author name and year in the reference list citation and in-text citation must be the same. If you make a correction to the author and/or date in one of your references, you must also edit all of the corresponding in-text citations.

In-Text Citations

Citing paraphrased information:

(Author, Year).

Citing a direct quote:

(Author, Year, p. 3). OR (Author, Year, para. 3).

In-text Citation Examples

Paraphrasing a source with TWO AUTHORS:

(Tindall & Curtis, 2019).

Paraphrasing a source with THREE OR MORE AUTHORS:

(Amida et al., 2021).

Paraphrasing a source authored by a GROUP/ORGANIZATION with NO DATE:

(U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d.).

• 2023 In-Text Citation Instructions Help! I need more examples! Check out this PDF for what to do when you have long paraphrases, long quotations, you want to cite a source you found in another source, you have sources with the same author and date, and more!

Reference List Citations

Author. (Date). Title. Source. URL

Reference List Citation Examples

Reference list citation for a journal article with THREE OR MORE AUTHORS:*

Amida, A., Appianing, J., & Marafa, Y. (2022). Testing the predictors of college students' attitudes toward plagiarism. Journal of Academic Ethics, 20 (1), p. 85-99.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-021-09401-9

Reference list citation for an online article/webpage with ONE AUTHOR: 

Bailey, J. (2022, July 6). 5 things new students need to know about plagiarism. Plagiarism Today . https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2022/07/06/5-things-new-students-need-to-know-about-plagiarism/

Reference list citation for a source with a GROUP AUTHOR and NO DATE:

U. S. Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). What is plagiarism? https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2014/11/what-plagiarism

*Never use "et al." in a reference citation. Include every author's name, up to 20 authors. For guidance on citing works with more than 20 authors, see the 2023 Reference List Instructions PDF below.

• 2023 APA Reference list instructions Help! I need more examples! Check out this PDF for what to do if there is no author or when there are twenty-one or more authors, how to capitalize the title, when the title has a title in it, and more!
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How do I refer to a picture I added in my essay?

I'm trying to write an essay about the elements and principles of design in Michelangelo's Pieta. The essay must be in MLA format and I need to include a picture to visualize a central point I'm trying to make in one of my paragraphs.

There is clearly a hierarchy here too, with the Virgin Mary at the top, and Jesus at the bottom, and they seem to form the shape of a triangle. (figure one or something)

How do I refer to a picture in this context, and furthermore, how I include pictures in an MLA formatted essay? Should there be any? This professor is pretty lenient about how it's formatted, so I'm just sticking with what most people know.

These are her instructions.

Cite all work using APA or MLA Double space, font size 12, Times Roman font A good paper will be 3 pages, not including photos (place your photos at the end) No heading or title whatsoever! iLearn does that for you already

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

A good guide to MLA figures and tables may be found here .

In short, you simply say "Figure 1" for the first figure, "Figure 2" for the second, and so on.

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