{{Short description|Graphic device to add descriptive text to visuals}} [[File:Japanese TV closed caption using gaiji.jpg|thumb|Japanese TV closed caption using Gaiji]] A '''caption''' is a short descriptive or explanatory text, usually one or two sentences long, which accompanies a photograph, picture, map, graph, pictorial illustration, figure, table or some other form of graphic content contained in a book, newspaper, or magazine article.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/caption |title=Caption - Cambridge Dictionary |access-date=28 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=A Dictionary of Journalism |year=2014 |author=Tony Harcup |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Caption|accessdate=28 February 2023}}</ref>
A caption of an image is usually placed directly below the image. A caption for a table is usually positioned above the table. In magazines and similar publications, a caption can be placed opposite the picture or sometimes on top of the picture itself.<ref>{{Citation |author1=Amanda Hopkinson |author2=Robin Lenman |title=The Oxford Companion to the Photograph |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
In technical writing, the caption usually contains the number of the figure or the table, as well as lengthy and complete details about the figure. The source of the information in a caption is usually cited at the end of it.<ref>{{Cite web |website=Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age |author=Joe Schall |url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c4_p12.html |title=Captions for Figures and Tables |access-date=28 February 2023}}</ref><ref>[https://captionscraft.com/ Instagram Captions Craft]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Copy editing Category:Phrases