AP Photo Transmission Guide

All U.S. photos are to be transmitted directly to the New York Headquarters Photo Desk.  The former State Photo Center has been rolled into this operation. The toll free number is:  888-273-6867. Please call this number (or one of the direct lines listed below) following a transmission to ensure that the photo and caption are complete and please feel welcome to call before transmitting if you have any questions.

Transmit using an ftp account.

In a pinch, photos can be sent via e-mail to them at statephotos@ap.org, but is the least preferred method.

This is only a brief guide, so please do not hesitate to call the NY bureau to answer ANY questions. 

Contact person Brent “Mike” Stewart, bmstewart@ap.org or 212-621-1900. Mike is the supervisor of the New York Photo Desk and is happy to talk with anyone who has questions about photos.

TONING

Toning should be basic, following the “less is more” philosophy that avoids over-doing images. Absolutely no changes are to be made to any photo, other than basic cropping & toning and traditional photojournalism dodging & burning methods. We recommend first cropping the photo, then setting levels. Set curves, adjusting basic lightness or darkness and color. Then work on hue & saturation, if needed.

SIZE

The photo should be sized no less than 2000 pixels on the longest dimension. Anything over that is fine, if under that re-size up. Save as a .jpg so that the photo is close to 1.3meg.

WRITING CAPTIONS

The caption information is critical—please make every effort to ensure accuracy. Captions can be done using Photoshop’s “file info” command or Photo Mechanic's IPTC Info box. For captions, most of the info boxes should be filled in, as follows:

Caption: 

The first sentence of the caption describes what the photo shows, in the present tense, and states where and when the photo was made. It must always include the day and date the photo was made.

“A crowd gathers in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams, Pool)”

The second sentence of the caption gives background on the news event or describes why the photo is significant. Whenever possible, try to keep the captions to no more than two concise sentences, while including the relevant information. Try to anticipate what information a newspaper editor or reader will need. Nonpublishable information in the body of the caption should be set off by dual asterisks. (** ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS AUG. 18-19 **

End the caption with the appropriate signoff.
(AP Photo/Albuquerque Journal, Greg Sorber)

Caption Writer: Add your initials, MS

Headline:  The full name of newsmakers, individuals pictured, with a comma between names. Headline: Ichiro Suzuki, Felix Hernandez

Special Instructions:  As needed. For instance BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE or ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS JULY 20-21. EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT

Category:  Usually A for all news and features, S for sports, F for business.

Supplemental Categories:  Used occasionally, ADV for advance, WST for West Wire, BKC for college men’s basketball, BKW for college women’s basketball, etc. Complete list appears in Style and Settings attachment.

Byline:  Photographer’s name

Byline Title:  STR for stringer, MBR for member photographer, MBO for member photographers that allow online usage and STF for an AP staff photographer.

Credit:  AP

Source:  AP for staff and stringer photos, name of newspaper for member photos

Object Name:  Story slug, usually assigned by the AP bureau. You may call and confirm the slug that will be used on the story.

Date Created:  Fate photo was shot (ex: 07/26/02)

City:  City where photo was taken

State:  NM for New Mexico, AZ for Arizona, etc.

Country: USA

Original Transmission Reference
For freelancers, an assigned code plus 100 series, ex: NMPW101. For members, it’s the member’s routing code plus the numbers, ex: NMALJ101.

We don’t use the Keywords or Copyright pages on File Info.

SAVING PHOTOS

Use your transmission reference number as the photo name and save as a .jpg.

HELPFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Member toll Free 888-273-6867

New York photos

General photos

212-621-1900

Sports photos

212-621-1918

Photo Special Assignments

212-621-1980

Mike Stewart, supervisor, New York Photo Desk