Adding Images to Written Reports

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LNCtips.com: Adding Images to Written Reports


Reports with images look more polished and professional than plain-Jane ones.  A medical summary with a photo of the surgical procedure or a diagram of a body part helps the attorney understand nuances of medical diagnoses and processes.  However, many legal nurse consultants are reluctant to add images in fear of copyright violations.  Let's look at how to add images to written reports without breaking any laws.

First, locate images.  Many people use Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines, which offer a wide range of images.  It's a simple matter to double-click on an image to find its source page and then right clicking to save the image to the hard drive on your computer.

However, those internet images are copyrighted.  Using them in your reports probably doesn't meet the Fair Use exemption.  It's unlikely that anyone will find out that you've committed a copyright violation.  Still, it's an illegal act subject to potential fines and other penalties.  

Purchasing royalty-free stock photos for a nominal fee solves the copyright problem.  You can purchase high-quality photos from websites such as CanStockPhoto, ShutterStock, and StockLib for as little as one dollar each  The photos are better quality than those downloaded from Google or other search engines.  You can use the photos not only in reports, but also on websites, promotional materials, and publications without danger of copyright infringement.

Once you've downloaded your photo, adding it your report in Microsoft Word is easy.  Place your cursor where you want to insert the picture in your document.  Go to Insert, and click on Picture.  Navigate to the location of your photo and click Insert.  If the photo is too large or small, click on one of the corners and use your mouse to adjust the size.

I always wrap the text around the photos in my reports because I think it looks better than seeing a photo stuck in the middle of the page.  To wrap the text, right click on the photo and select Wrap Text.  Then select one of the options.  I used the Square option in the illustration below.  This photo already has the caption of Colon Diseases, but if you want to add a caption to your photo, right click it and select Insert Caption.  In the end, your report will look something like the one below.  (I used Latin filler words in my report.  Your report will be in English, I'm sure!)

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Adding photos is a fabulous way to dress up your legal nurse consultant reports.  Purchasing royalty-free photos ensures that you're not infringing on any copyrights.

To learn more about copyright infringement, Diane M. Ellenberger has an excellent article, Do You have the Right to Copy? in the Spring 2009 volume of the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting.

...Katy Jones