How to Prepare Press Photos for Search and Social: Size, File Format, Alt Text, Captions and Credit Metadata

What Is a Press Photo?

A press photo is an image a company publishes for journalists and others to use with coverage, such as an executive headshot, product shot or facility photo, supplied with a caption, a credit and stated usage terms. It usually lives in an online newsroom or press kit and is the image most likely to appear beside a story about the company.

The same file now does several jobs. A reporter downloads it. Google may show it in Google Images, Discover or a news result. Facebook, LinkedIn and messaging apps pull it into link previews. AI answer engines may read its alt text and caption. Each system publishes its own rules, and a photo that meets the strictest of them works for all. Our guide to creating an online newsroom covers the media library as a whole, including where photos sit and how they are labeled; this guide covers preparing each file.

How Do You Prepare Press Photos at a Glance?

You confirm the rights, export to a supported size and format, name the file, write alt text and a caption, add metadata, and publish with the right tags.

Time: about 15 to 30 minutes per photo once a template exists (our estimate). Tools: an image editor that writes IPTC metadata, and access to the newsroom’s page templates. Cost: none beyond existing software and the photo license. Skill level: beginner; Step 7 needs basic HTML or CMS access.

What Do You Need Before Starting?

The original file, the photographer’s name and the license terms. Specifically:

• The original high-resolution image, not a copy saved from a website or social post.
• The photographer’s or owner’s name for the credit line.
• The license showing the company may distribute the photo to media. A photo licensed from an agency for the company’s own use may not allow onward distribution; our explainer on Getty Images and photo licensing covers why license terms matter.
• Names, titles and spellings of everyone pictured, checked against the executive bio.
• CMS or template access to set image tags on the page.

Step 1: Confirm You Have the Right to Distribute the Photo

Check first, because a press photo is an invitation for others to republish. Ask who took it, who owns the copyright, and whether the license covers third-party editorial use. If the photographer was a contractor, ownership may sit with them unless the contract says otherwise. This is not legal advice; a lawyer should review any unclear contract.

Record the answer. The metadata in Step 6 and the usage note beside the download both depend on it.

Step 2: What Size Should a Press Photo Be?

At least 1200 pixels wide for the web copy, with the full original offered for download. Google Discover lists “At least 1200 px wide” among its recommended image specifications (Google Search Central), and Meta recommends “at least 1200 x 630 pixels for the best display on high resolution devices” (Meta for Developers).

The chart shows that 1200 pixels wide satisfies both Google Discover and Meta’s top recommendation, while Meta’s 200-pixel figure is a floor for any preview, not a target. Meta adds that “The size of the image file must not exceed 8 MB” and advises keeping images “as close to 1.91:1 aspect ratio as possible to display the full image in Feed without any cropping” (Meta for Developers).

For pages marked up as articles, Google recommends “multiple high-resolution images (minimum of 50K pixels when multiplying width and height)” in “16x9, 4x3, and 1x1” aspect ratios (Google Search Central). Our recommendation, not a platform rule: export a 1200 x 630 crop for link previews and keep 16:9, 4:3 and 1:1 crops of each headshot so editors and templates have what they need.

Step 3: Which File Format Should You Use?

JPEG for photographs, PNG for graphics with text or transparency, or WebP or AVIF for smaller files. Google says it “supports images referenced in the src attribute of img in the following file formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, and AVIF,” and that “It's also a good idea to have the extension of your filename match with the file type” (Google Search Central).

JPEG XL is the format to watch. Search Engine Journal reports that JPEG XL support arrived in Chrome 155, which Google began rolling out widely on October 6, 2026, and in Firefox 158 on October 13 (Search Engine Journal). On October 15, Mueller replied in a Bluesky thread: “FWIW if you're hoping to get images shown in Google Images & as previews in Discover, etc - JPEG-XL is currently not supported.” Asked about fallbacks, he added: “The picture element includes an img element, so that would work for any search engine (or other page parsing setup)” (Bluesky). For a press photo, the safe choice is a JPEG or WebP src, with any JPEG XL version offered only as an extra <source> inside <picture>.

Step 4: How Should You Name the File?

Short and descriptive, using the subject’s name and context. Google says “use filenames that are short, but descriptive” and to “Avoid using generic filenames like image1.jpg, pic.gif, 1.jpg when possible” (Google Search Central).

A file a reporter downloads keeps its name on their desktop and in their CMS. jane-doe-ceo-acme-2026.jpg says who it is and which year; DSC_0042.jpg says nothing and is easy to attach to the wrong story. Use lowercase, hyphens and no spaces.

Step 5: What Should the Alt Text and Caption Say?

Alt text should briefly state what the image shows; the caption should name the people, place and date and carry the credit. Google calls alt text “The most important attribute when it comes to providing more metadata for an image” and says to “Avoid filling alt attributes with keywords,” giving alt="Dalmatian puppy playing fetch" as its best example (Google Search Central).

The W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative says the text alternative for an informative image “should convey the meaning or content that is displayed visually,” and that for simple images “A short text alternative is sufficient,” with “Dog with a bell attached to its collar.” as its example (W3C WAI). For a headshot, that means something like “Jane Doe, chief executive of Acme, in the company’s Denver office.” Leave out product names and slogans.

Google also says it extracts information “from the content of the page, including captions and image titles,” and recommends placing images “near relevant text” (Google Search Central). A caption such as “Jane Doe, CEO of Acme, October 2026. Photo: Sam Lee for Acme” gives search engines, AI systems and editors the same facts.

Step 6: Which Metadata Fields Should You Fill In?

IPTC Creator, Credit Line and Copyright Notice, plus Web Statement of Rights and Licensor URL if you publish usage terms. IPTC photo metadata is a standard set of fields stored inside the image file. Google lists Copyright Notice, Creator, Credit Line, Digital Source Type, Licensor URL and Web Statement of Rights among the properties it extracts (Google Search Central).

Google says that with image metadata, Google Images “can show more details about the image, such as who the creator is, how people can use an image, and credit information.” For the Licensable badge, “You must include the Web Statement of Rights field” (Google Search Central). The same page describes a structured data alternative: contentUrl plus at least one of creator, creditText, copyrightNotice or license, with license required for the badge.

Embedded metadata also helps once the file leaves your site, but some sites strip it on upload, so treat it as a backup to the visible caption, not a substitute. Digital Source Type is the field Google reads for how an image was made, including whether it was generated algorithmically; our recommendation is to disclose AI generation or material edits in the caption as well.

Step 7: How Do You Publish the Photo So Platforms Pick It Up?

Set the photo as the page’s og:image and in its structured data, and make sure the file is crawlable. Google says to “Use images that are relevant to the article, rather than logos or captions” and that “Image URLs must be crawlable and indexable” (Google Search Central). Discover’s guidance says “Avoid using generic images (for example, your site logo) in the schema.org markup or og:image meta tag” (Google Search Central).

For releases and newsroom posts, each page should name a real photo, usually the headshot or product image, not the company logo. Our guides to adding Article structured data and getting into Google Discover show the markup, and how to write a press release covers where the photo sits in a release. Offer the original as a separate download labeled with its size, so reporters do not screenshot the web copy.

How Do You Verify It Worked?

Share the page URL in a link preview and inspect it in Google Search Console. Check that:

1. The link preview on Facebook or LinkedIn shows the intended photo, uncropped.
2. Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool, which Google names for checking image access, shows the image URL as reachable (Google Search Central).
3. The downloaded file’s properties show Creator, Credit Line and Copyright Notice.
4. A screen reader, or the browser’s accessibility panel, reads the alt text you wrote.
5. The src image is a format Google lists, not JPEG XL.

Common Problems and Fixes

Most failures come from the wrong image being tagged or the wrong format being served.

What Not to Do

Do not post photos you cannot license onward. Consequence: republishers may face claims, and so may you. Correction: confirm rights in Step 1.

Do not stuff alt text with keywords. Consequence: Google says it “results in a negative user experience and may cause your site to be seen as spam.” Correction: one plain sentence.

Do not serve JPEG XL as the only version. Consequence: Google says it is not currently supported in Images and Discover previews. Correction: a JPEG or WebP img fallback inside <picture>.

Do not use the logo as the article image. Consequence: Google advises against generic images and asks for relevant ones. Correction: tag a real photo.

Do not alter a news photo without saying so. Consequence: an edited image presented as unedited can mislead editors. Correction: disclose material edits or AI generation in the caption and metadata. This is our recommendation, not a platform rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Methodology

This guide is built from Google Search Central’s image SEO, Discover, Article structured data and image metadata pages, Meta’s link share image guidance, the W3C’s informative images tutorial, John Mueller’s October 15, 2026 Bluesky posts and Search Engine Journal’s October 21 report of them, all read on October 25, 2026. The file naming example, the crop set, the per-photo time estimate, the AI disclosure advice and the step order are our recommendations, not platform rules. We did not test how each social network or CMS handles embedded metadata, and we did not check LinkedIn or X image specifications. This is not legal advice on copyright.

1. platform documentation Google Search Central, Image SEO Best Practices. Supported formats, filename extension, alt text and Dalmatian example, keyword stuffing, filenames, captions and nearby text. Last updated March 2, 2026. Read October 25, 2026.
2. platform documentation Google Search Central, Get on Discover. 1200 px width, max-image-preview:large, avoid site logos in og:image. Last updated March 9, 2026. Read October 25, 2026.
3. platform documentation Google Search Central, Article structured data. 50K-pixel minimum, aspect ratios, crawlable images, relevant images rather than logos, URL Inspection. Last updated September 8, 2026. Read October 25, 2026.
4. platform documentation Google Search Central, Image metadata in Google Images. IPTC properties Google extracts, Licensable badge requirements, structured data properties. Last updated December 10, 2025. Read October 25, 2026.
5. platform documentation Meta for Developers, Images in Link Shares. 1200 x 630, 600 x 315, 200 x 200 minimum, 8 MB limit, 1.91:1. Read October 25, 2026.
6. standards W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, Informative Images. Text alternative guidance and example. Read October 25, 2026.
7. official John Mueller (Google), Bluesky, Reply on JPEG XL support, October 15, 2026. JPEG XL not currently supported in Google Images and Discover previews; picture element fallback. Read October 25, 2026.
8. trade press Search Engine Journal, Google Images & Discover Previews Don’t Support JPEG XL (October 21, 2026). Chrome 155 and Firefox 158 support dates; report of Mueller’s comments. Read October 25, 2026.