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Image Library Style Guide

The goal of the Digital Media Library is to store only the highest-quality images, sounds, videos, and documents. When choosing items to submit to the library, ensure that they are of a high quality in terms of subject matter, and try to follow the guidelines below when creating electronic versions of your items.

Guidelines for Submitting Images
  • We prefer to receive images in GIF or JPEG format if they will be displayed on the website.
  • We will accept other formats (for instance, EPS or TIFF) when lossless quality is important. However, these formats have some limitations:
    • They will not display as images in our web pages. Users will not be able to view the image without downloading it.
    • They may be too large. Our submission forms will not accept files greater than 6 MB in size.
    Note: If you wish to submit images files that are larger than 6 MB in size, please contact us.
  • JPEG is recommended for photographic images, while GIF is appropriate for signs and logos with a limited number of colors. EPS or TIFF is recommended when lossless quality is important, such as for reproduction in high-quality print media or presentations.
  • Make sure the images are sharp and in focus, and of the highest resolution possible. Your submission will likely be rejected if the quality of the scan is poor. We accept images with dimensions up to 2800 x 3300 pixels; file size should be no more than 6 MB.

Guidelines for Submitting Other Media
The Digital Media Library also stores sounds, video and application specific documents.
  • For documents such as newsletters and manuals we prefer Adobe Acrobat PDF format
  • If your file size is greater than 6 MB, please contact us.

File Naming/Saving Requirements
  • Make sure the file extension is lowercase (e.g., .jpg not .JPG)
  • Make sure file names have no spaces or non-alphanumeric characters. Hyphens and underlines are acceptable.
    • Acceptable filenames tree.jpg
    FishingInRiver.jpg
    high_life.gif
    balloon-rally.jpg
    Unacceptable filenames Joe'sBar.jpg
    Fishing In River.jpg
    Joe&Sue+Fred.gif

General Guidelines
  • Give your submissions an appropriate caption and description. We store images of many areas of the U.S., so it’s better to have a caption of "Wildlife Along Green Canyon Scenic Loop" than "Wildlife Along the Byway."
  • Be aware that the Digital Media Library's Search feature finds photos based on words in the captions and descriptions of your image. Choose descriptive words to aid such searches. Specific words like "sandstone" or "peregrine" are better than words like "rock" or "bird".

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Copyright information and usage terms provided by the Digital Media Library are subject to change without notice and are accurate to the best of our knowledge. The FHWA is not responsible for incorrect copyright and usage notices provided by third parties and expressly prohibits use of items found herein in any way that is inconsistent with the terms and conditions displayed.

Digital Media Library © 2008 Multimedia Data Services Corp. (MDSC)