Why? Internet and intranet images are used very small – often no bigger than about 250 pixels wide. This immediately throws up a problem. On printed pages where we had a whole page to play with we could afford to be clumsy with our cropping and composition. Not any more.

Photographers should adopt a different shooting style for intranet, one that involves much tighter composition and adherence to common shapes that are used.

Take a look at your on-line news service and you will see that most imagery tends to be landscape shaped. The more enlightened will have adopted portrait-shaped images too, which seem to give viewer more to look at when placed alongside copy, while still leaving space for a decent column width for text.

But, with a few exceptions, I bet you don’t use cut-outs, or full-screen shots that whack reader right between eyes. And you don’t have too much room for picture stories that tell tale across about 10 images either.

So what we need is a single image that has impact, even when only two inches wide.

The answer then is to brief your photographer carefully about space you wish them to fill. If possible, show them a typical page or send a print-out. If you don’t brief your photographer carefully how can you expect to get results you require?

If you’re taking pictures yourself then try to a) get a lot closer to action and b) compose your shots to maximize area you have. I have one consultancy client who nicknamed me “Phil Frame” as apparently that’s all I kept saying to them! I don’t care – message seems to have struck home!

But how can you compose your shots better?

For example, while browsing through net, these colored print outs catches your eyes. Even though you do not intend to see it, you got curious. You stopped and read through. It might even convince you if it is a promotional advertisement. If it is factual, then you get to absorb its meaning. Try browsing through printed materials, what is first thing you see? Catchy headings, then pictures. You get to set aside others that seem plain and bland.

It’s same thing in brochures and pamphlets. Boring may be content but colored prints made it not so boring in eye of reader. They might even read it. Or consider what it says. All because of wonderful pictures.