Introduction
A picture is worth a thousand words. We encourage you to include images and videos in Elemeno resources to enrich the content and make it easier to understand. Our data tells us that some of the most popular and useful content in Elemeno contains images.
General Image Guidelines
Always provide the largest and highest resolution file available. We will optimize the image for web delivery.
Please do not submit images from documents that have undergone multiple photocopies, as they are often blurry and hard to read.
Photos captured on a mobile device are fine—no special equipment is needed.
Photographs
Focus and Context
Be sure to focus on what is most important for the information being conveyed. Note the major and minor points of interest with respect to that information and how best to present it via images.
Example: When describing a procedure for positioning a labor bed, consider images depicting the bed's manual levers and control UIs.
Provide context as needed.
Example: If you are describing the location of an emergency exit, provide enough context in the photo so that the reader will understand where the exit is located.
This image shows the location of the door, and includes other information that helps situate the reader.
Lighting and Glare
Lighting is important. Be careful of flash, especially reflections. For example, take pictures with indirect lighting instead of the camera flash.
Please avoid taking pictures of laminated materials or glossy cards, as these images will be difficult to read. If possible, try to find documentation from the manufacturer—perhaps a PDF from their website or other online information.
Example: Where possible, use images available through digital resources, as these will generally provide the highest possible resolution while avoiding possible vectors for image degradation (such as lighting, orientation, glare, etc.).
Graphical images like these are regularly found in IFUs, micro-learning handouts, or other instructional content from manufacturers. Their quality is best assured by sourcing digitally, when possible—rather than photographing them from physical copies.
Images Containing Text
If the image contains text, such as a screenshot of software or a control screen, ensure the text is legible and clearly oriented, appearing as it would most commonly be encountered (i.e., upright, straight-on, appropriate settings).
Example: Where content refers to a specific device screen, webpage UI, or set of interactive elements, ensure those essentials are identifiably and accurately present in the images you provide.
The image depicts all graphical elements legibly, well-oriented, and with good resolution, just as users might experience it directly.
When possible, please do not submit images that include annotations, such as numbers for steps or callouts.
We will create captions and supporting copy that are optimized for search engine discoverability.
Editing this "embedded" information is often difficult, and the image quality may be degraded in the process.
Charting Images
Double-check screenshots for Personal Health Information (PHI) or anything identifying a "real" person. If you are sending images from an EHR, please confirm that any names displayed are fictitious (as are often used in test environments).
Example(s): If a process calls for importing and/or filling out patient information into a form, try to provide a "blank sheet" image of the appropriate fields.
If a "blank" image is not available, please note at request that PHI is present and will need to be redacted.
Double-check screenshots for financial information or anything else you might not want shared.
Examples of Non-Optimal Images
Poor lighting and glare can impair an image's general quality and legibility, even with graphical elements such as an arrow indicator.
Blur and poor lighting effects make it difficult to identify practical information from images without explicit compensatory text.
Reflectivity and lighting can obscure image content and make text illegible. This can make the inclusion of pointers (e.g., an arrow or a finger) necessary rather than supports.
Screen reflectivity and glare impair the legibility and identification of display elements. In this case, the only guarantee a reader might have to identify the proper setting is the accompanying text and the fact that 2 indicators have been included with the image.
Unclear, illegible, and/or idiomatic text (e.g., shorthand, non-standard abbreviations, highlight-coding without a key). Content clarification may be required.
Images may be included as-is or transposed and reformatted during "Elemenoization". In either case, images that include a lot of handwriting, shorthand, and/or general formatting complexities can pose irremediable difficulties and might require clarification.
Excessive structural and graphical elements (e.g., procedures, supply lists, arrow indicators) can dominate an image in ways that cannot easily be edited or re-designed without chopping up the image or sourcing externally.
In general, Elemeno will adapt procedural information from provided images. However, when those images include elements representing important aspects of the resource as a whole, it is important that they not be heavy-laden with labels, indicators, and procedural information. Consider providing images which are complementary to the provided text, rather than "embedded" with one another.
Low-resolution, pixelated, blurry, and/or zoomed-out images can be difficult to read. Content clarification may be required.
Images begin to degrade and blur rather quickly from being saved, re-saved, transferred, copy & pasted, sized and resized and so forth. If an image in a content request is identifiably blurry, consider re-taking the image at its source.
Possible PHI (present here concurrently with blurring and low-resolution image quality) can obviously cause a number of editing concerns. If you know that any PHI contained in an image is simulated or for mock purposes only, please clarify during the content request.
The name depicted above is mock-PHI, but always remain vigilant for instances where real PHI might be present and provide indications for this during content request.