As part of our WordCast Craft Month series, we’re exploring how craft bloggers blog and use social media to connect and build a community. In this article, we look at several ways to include images in tutorials, guiding a reader through the process step-by-step.

Images are critical to help tell the story of a tip, technique, method, or process, be it code, crafts, how tos, or guides. There are three distinctive ways of using images to guide them through each step in the process. While many are turning to video for their tutorials, which we will discuss in another article, let’s look at how a picture can have more to say than words.

The three key ways of using images in guides, tips, tutorials, and techniques are inline, images fitting into the article with the text wrapping around them, or in a step-by-step bullet point process, the images between the paragraphs and points, and through the use of galleries or albums. We’ll also look at how publishing platforms like WordPress offer options for image links, allowing the visitor to see the thumbnailed image in its full size.

First, a little semantics so we all know what we mean when we reference the following:

• Tip: In general, a tip is just one singular bit of advice or technique.
• Tips: A collection of several tips.
• Technique: An article that describes a specific way of application or method, such as your specific technique for cutting fabric or crocheting a specific stitch. You may compare the method to other methods, but it is focused on your method.
• Guide: In general, a guide is a fairly complete set of instructions, technique, advice, and tips, covering the topic thoroughly.
• Tutorial: A step-by-step guide that explains a single technique or method.

There are no rules that say you can only cover one tip, or one technique per post. You can mix and match things as dictated by your audience and publishing voice and style. It just helps us understand which are which as we move forward and apply images to each type of content. Read more…