How to cite an image
To cite an image — a photo, painting, or figure — you need the creator, the year, a title or description, the medium, and where you found it (a museum, or a website with its URL).
What you'll need
- Creator / artist
- Year
- Title or description
- Medium (photograph, painting)
- Source / location + URL
Examples: how to cite an image
Real, correctly formatted citations — generated by Corroba's engine, not hand-typed.
APA (7th ed.)
van Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Painting]. Museum of Modern Art. https://example.org/collection/starry-night
In-text: (van Gogh, 1889)
MLA (9th ed.)
van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night. Painting. Museum of Modern Art, 1889, https://example.org/collection/starry-night.
In-text: (van Gogh)
Chicago (notes)
Gogh, Vincent van. The Starry Night. Painting. Museum of Modern Art, 1889. https://example.org/collection/starry-night.
In-text: Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, Painting, Museum of Modern Art, 1889, https://example.org/collection/starry-night.
Harvard
van Gogh, V. (1889) The Starry Night. Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://example.org/collection/starry-night.
In-text: (van Gogh, 1889)
Example source shown for illustration. Always cite the actual image you used.
Common gotchas
- No title? Give a bracketed description, e.g., [Photograph of a bridge].
- Credit the museum or the website where you accessed it.
- Always check the image’s license before reusing it.
Cite an image automatically
Skip the manual formatting. Paste a link, DOI, or title and Corroba builds a perfect citation from real data — free, no sign-up, no ads.
Open the citation generator →Cite other sources
Questions
- What do I need to cite an image?
- To cite an image you need: Creator / artist, Year, Title or description, Medium (photograph, painting), Source / location + URL.
- How do you cite an image in APA?
- van Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Painting]. Museum of Modern Art. https://example.org/collection/starry-night
- How do you cite an image in MLA?
- van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night. Painting. Museum of Modern Art, 1889, https://example.org/collection/starry-night.
- Does Corroba cite an image automatically?
- Yes — paste a link, DOI, or title and Corroba builds the citation from real data, for free, in APA, MLA, Chicago and thousands more styles.