Images for the REA Site Header

REA header images should be 940 by 198 pixels. This is a very wide image.

Since the REA site is very public and REA is a non-profit, we need to have a clear right to use whatever images we put in our header. Generally the easiest way to ensure we have proper rights is to use either images we make ourselves (many past images have been photographs by Mary or others) or images from Flickr with clear Creative Commons licenses that allow for such use. In the latter case we also need to know the original source of the image so that we can properly attribute them (see, for example, the photo credits in the footer of the REA 2014 site).

It is also important to use images that are not too “graphical,” since those will appear cartoony and suffer quite a bit from the severe cropping of the header. That severe cropping will also rule out many pictures which won’t be sufficiently recognizable in the extreme widescreen presentation of the website. When looking at a normal photograph, just imagine what it would look like if only a narrow strip of it were visible.

Once an image has been found, use graphics tools on you computer to crop it to 940×198. The images can also be cropped in WordPress, but that can be an awkward process.

This cropped image can be sent to the webmaster for use as a header image, or if you have access to the appropriate parts of the WordPress dashboard, you can go to Dashboard > Appearance > Header to change the header image yourself.

Note, if you are uploading the image to WordPress, please include the full attribution in the image caption. For example: “Banksy: Armoured Peace Dove by eddiedangerous. http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddiedangerous/2131727813/”