Reference Glossary
Cutline
A cutline is the text block beneath a published photo — traditionally a longer descriptive line under a short caption/title, though most modern newsrooms use "cutline" and "caption" interchangeably.
Why it matters in a DAM
Because "cutline" and "caption" both map to the same IPTC Description/Caption-Abstract field in nearly every DAM, a system's field labeling should reflect whichever term a given newsroom's contributors actually use, so print-trained staff and digital-native staff don't independently create duplicate custom fields for what is functionally one piece of data — a common cause of search results that only surface half the archive depending on which field a query happens to hit.
A worked example
Common mistake
A newsroom DAM ends up with a separate custom "Cutline" field alongside the standard IPTC Caption/Description field because a legacy print team insisted on the traditional term, resulting in two fields holding equivalent information for different subsets of assets — so a caption search only surfaces half the archive depending on which field the query happens to check.
“Cutline” comes from print production, where a photo’s title or short caption ran directly above or beside the image, and the cutline was the separate, longer block of descriptive text set underneath it — literally the text that ran under the cut (the printing plate a photo was engraved onto). Digital publishing largely collapsed that distinction: most newsrooms and wire services today use “cutline” and “caption” as synonyms for the same text block describing a photo, and style guides increasingly treat the terms as interchangeable outside of specialized print contexts.
| Traditional print usage | Modern usage | |
|---|---|---|
| Caption | Short title above the photo | Same as cutline — the full descriptive text block |
| Cutline | Longer descriptive text below the photo | Used interchangeably with caption |
| Stored in | — | IPTC Description/Caption-Abstract field, either way |
For a DAM, the terminology only matters insofar as it affects field design. Because both terms ultimately describe the same function — text explaining a photo, stored in the IPTC Description/Caption-Abstract field — a system supporting contributors from different editorial backgrounds should either standardize on one label in the interface or clearly document that “cutline” and “caption” refer to the same underlying field. The failure mode worth avoiding is letting each team’s preferred vocabulary produce a separate custom field, since that fragments what should be one searchable data point into two, and search results silently miss whichever half of the archive used the other label.
Frequently asked
Is a cutline the same as a caption?
In strict traditional print usage, a caption was the short title over a photo and the cutline was the longer descriptive text below it, but most modern newsrooms use the two terms interchangeably for the same descriptive text block.
Which term should a DAM use in its field labels?
Whichever term the organization's own editorial staff actually uses, documented clearly — the specific label matters less than making sure everyone maps it to the same underlying IPTC Description field rather than creating separate fields.
Where does cutline text get stored in image metadata?
The same place caption text is stored — the IPTC Description (Caption-Abstract) field embedded in the image file, so it travels with the file regardless of which term the newsroom prefers.
Does AP style still distinguish between caption and cutline?
Contemporary AP style guidance largely treats "caption" as the standard term for the full descriptive text under a photo, with "cutline" surviving mostly as a legacy or regional term rather than a formally distinct element.
Why would a legacy print team insist on "cutline" specifically?
Because that's the term they trained and worked under for years in print production workflows, where the distinction from a headline-style caption was a real, functional difference in page layout.
What's the practical risk of having both "Cutline" and "Caption" as separate DAM fields?
Search, syndication exports, and any automation that reads caption text will only check one of the two fields unless explicitly configured otherwise, so assets tagged under the other field become effectively invisible to that process.
Sources
- In journalism, a caption is traditionally the short title above a photo while the cutline is the longer descriptive text below it, though the terms are frequently used interchangeably, particularly at magazines. checked 2026-08-07 — Wikipedia, "Photo caption"