How to Submit Still Imagery

Imagery that should be considered for submission is imagery that depicts subjects of known or probable interest to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or more than one DoD Component. Examples of this type of imagery include:

  1. Current operations
  2. Contingencies of all types
  3. Major exercises, especially joint and combined exercises
  4. Deployment/redeployment of troops, equipment and weapons systems
  5. Weapons systems in use (especially new systems)
  6. Significant events happening at your location that would be of interest to others
  7. Major accidents
  8. Major construction projects, from start to finish
  9. Good images of daily life in the military, particularly for deployed forces

Remember, if you don't send it, it will NOT be widely available!

Preparing Imagery for submission. Using the established procedures for your particular camera model, download and save your imagery to a folder. Imagery submitted should be saved in the JPEG file format. If your images are not already saved as JPEGs, or you are not sure, open Photoshop and save the images with the following settings:

  • File Format: JPEG
  • Quality: Level 10
  • Format Options: Baseline Optimized
  • Filename: Use a VIRIN for the file name. Make sure the VIRIN used for the filename matches the VIRIN used in the file. See the Content Block on creating a VIRIN.

Important: Do not perform any color corrections. Do not change the file size, the image size, or the resolution. Also, do not crop your images.

Filling Out IPTC Content. This is a critical point since when images are posted, the processing automatically takes embedded International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) header information from the images and indexes the metadata and imagery into a fully searchable database. A captioning cross reference that lists the names of fields in many popular applications and the data required for each field is available in the Metadata Cross Reference. For in-depth guidance on how to fill out IPTC content, see the Captioning Style Guide.


Caption Content. The caption block should contain only two items: the caption and the credit line. When constructing a caption:

  • Include the full name, rank, and title of the person or persons featured in the photo. Include the full name and model number of all featured equipment, vehicles, aircraft, or ships.
  • Clearly identify the activity being documented. Include the date and place the image was shot.
  • Briefly explain the purpose of the event, exercise or operation. Why is the action happening and/or why it is significant?
  • Follow the style guidelines found in The Associated Press Stylebook.
  • Use acronyms sparingly. Do not use an acronym for a term appearing only one time within the caption. Be certain to define the acronym the first time it is used. (This includes military units. For example, do not use "1/14 Infantry"; use "1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment.")
  • Before you cut and paste text from word processing programs into either Photoshop or MediaGrid, turn off the "smart quote" function within the word processing program. This will prevent the appearance of odd characters in the text when the caption is presented by a Web browser.

Avoid odd characters in your captions.

A number of captions that come into the Defense Imagery Server have extended ASCII characters as a result of cut-and-paste actions from text editors such as MS Word. Those extended ASCII characters do not display properly in web browsers leading to errors and extra work to replace them. MS Word can be configured to stop replacing certain characters with extended ASCII characters.

In MS Word change the autocorrect settings as follows:

  1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options
  2. Select the AutoFormat tab
  3. In the Replace section uncheck the top four boxes Straight quotes, Ordinals, Fractions and Hyphens
  4. Click OK to apply the changes

When constructing a credit line:

  • Place the credit line at the end of the caption.
  • Include the Service, rank and full name of the photographer as well as the release status of the image. Do not include the photographer's unit in the credit line; it goes in the "PH Home Unit" block within the IPTC header.
  • Enclose each element in parentheses: (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Dan Smith) (Released)
  • If an approved public release authority has released the image, place "(Released)" at the end of the credit line. Remember to include "Cleared for public release by," and the name, rank, unit, and contact information of the release authority in the "Public Release Instructions" block within the IPTC header.
  • If the image is explicitly not cleared for public release, put "(Not Released)" at the end of the credit line. Remember to include "Not cleared for public release by," and the name, rank, unit, and contact information of the release authority in the "Public Release Instructions" block within the IPTC header.
  • If a release authority has not reviewed the image, put "(Not Released)" at the end of the credit line and "Not Reviewed" in the "Public Release Instructions" block within the IPTC header.

Examples of properly constructed captions and credit lines:

U.S. Navy Air Traffic Controller 2nd Class Esther R. Hines plots ship coordinates in the amphibious air traffic control center aboard USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) May 2, 2006. Iwo Jima is conducting an expeditionary strike group exercise in preparation for an upcoming deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Joshua T. Rodriguez) (Released)
Iraqi army soldiers salute as they graduate from basic training during a ceremony at the regional training center on Camp Habbaniyah, Iraq, April 30, 2006. The soldiers are part of the first all-Sunni class to graduate. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Sean D. McCullough) (Released)

Submitting images. Image transmission is best accomplished using Secure FTP or Fast File Transfer (FFT). You must have an account for each transmission type, contact the IOCC at jcccstill@dma.mil, or call (703) 695-7118 to obtain an account.

For those producers who cannot FTP or FFT, email your images to stills@defenseimagery.mil. This is the last resort for submission. Ensure your email size is less than 15 MB.