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** Quotes from the same work or instance tend to make good captions.
** Snark, while not discouraged, is a good second to a meaningful quote.
* '''Things to avoid:'''
** [[Just a Face and a Caption]]: The visual equivalent of a [[Zero Context Example]]. Most of the time, they only make sense if you're already familiar with the work ''and'' the trope. Read the link for more details about why this is a bad idea.
** Heavy stylized drawing style. If a picture is heavily stylized (and not to illustrate a trope about something being stylized), it's harder for people to decipher what is going on in there. ▼** "If you read the example, this makes perfect sense" is not a good way to explain the trope . (seeIn this case, the firstexample is essentially a long point)caption. ▼** [[Wall of Text]]. If the image is nothing but a paragraph of text with a character drawn so that there's somewhere to stick a [[Speech Bubble]], it's not a great image. It might make a good quote, though. ▼▲** Heavy stylized drawing style. If a picture is heavily stylized (and not to illustrate a trope about something being stylized), it's harder for people to decipher what is going on in there.
▲** "If you read the example, this makes perfect sense" is not a good way to explain the trope (see the first point).
▲** [[Wall of Text]]. If the image is nothing but a paragraph of text with a character drawn so that there's somewhere to stick a [[Speech Bubble]], it's not a great image. It 's mighta makequote athat goodpage quote,readers (used by blind people) can't thoughread.
** [[Fauxtivational Poster|Demotivators]] have a current kill order on them - again, page readers can't read them. If you find one, the preferred response is to cut the image out of the middle and put the text as a caption, as a placeholder. If you're not sure it's good without it, bring it up in Page Images.
** [[Entry Pimp]]ing. The image is not there solely to bring your favorite work to the attention of others.<ref>Of course, if your favorite work actually ''does'' have a better picture for a trope, that's a different matter.</ref>
** Spoilers. There's no code to make an image disappear when the image pops up and most peoplespeople's eyes are immediately drawn to images, meaning they can't unsee the image. This applies to pages that say they contain unmarked spoilers, too - casual readers will see the image before the notice.
** Images based on a [[Literal-Minded]] interpretation of the trope's title can be misleading. For example, [[Pet the Dog]] is not about [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|petting dogs]], it's a metaphor, which is a reason that the page features a kitten instead.
** "X shows us how it's done", "One of these things is not like the others", and other [[Memetic Mutation|meme-tastic]] captions are worse than nothing. Captions are not mandatory.
** Sometimes a trope is too text- or plot- dependent for an image to work, and the better option is to just leave the page imageless than put an image that would confuse the reader even further. Don't fret, it happens. ▼▲* '''Not Picturable .:'''
▲** Sometimes a trope is too text- or plot- dependent for an image to work, and the better option is to just leave the page imageless than put an image that would confuse the reader even further. Don't fret, it happens.
=== [[Pothole|Potholing]] ===
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