Lunchbox

Image tools for social media sharing

Lunchbox is a suite of tools to create images for social media sharing. It includes Quotable, Factlist and Waterbug. To customize Lunchbox for your organization, follow the directions on https://github.com/nprapps/lunchbox. To use Lunchbox, see guidelines below.

Usage and Guidelines

Waterbug

Creates a watermarked image with attribution.

How to use it

  1. Open Lunchbox and select Waterbug.
  2. Click 'Select file' and chose the source image from your computer. Alternatively, click URL and paste the URL for your image. Your image will replace the default image.
  3. Select the image copyright holder from the dropdown menu.
  4. Type in the photographer's full name.
  5. Type in the source when appropriate.
  6. Change 'Crop' option if you need a different format. Drag the image within the crop space to adjust what is visible.
  7. Adjust the text color to provide the most contrast against the image.
  8. Change the logo if you need alternate branding.
  9. Adjust the logo color to provide the most contrast against the image.
  10. Verify that all sharing guidelines are met.
  11. Click Save image to save to your computer.

Guidelines

To make photos source and attribution clear to users:

  • Follow the sharing guidelines of your organization to ensure licensing and copyright rules are properly met.
  • Waterbug is meant to create a watermarked image with attribution. If you need to share a list of facts or a quote, use the Factlist or Quotable tools.

Examples





Factlist

Factlist produces a branded image with a list of text bullets.

How to use it

  1. Open Lunchbox and select Factlist.
  2. Select and replace the sample bullet text with your own (press enter for a new bullet).
  3. Select and replace the sample headline text with your own.
  4. Adjust font size so the text fills the space comfortably.
  5. Change theme if you need alternate branding.
  6. Change aspect ratio if you need a different format.
  7. Optional: Hide timestamp.
  8. Click Save image to save to your computer.

Guidelines

To keep facts clear and understandable to users:

  • Do NOT include links in the image. Save those for the tweet or Facebook post.
  • For developing stories, include the timestamp so facts may be compared to future/past versions for updates.
  • Factlist is meant to present facts as a bulleted item list. If you need to share a quote, use the Quotable tool.

Examples





Quotable

Quotable converts quoted text into an image.

How to use it

  1. Open Lunchbox and select Quotable.
  2. Select and replace the sample quoted text with your own.
  3. Select and replace the sample attribution text with your own.
  4. Adjust font size so the text fills the space comfortably.
  5. Change theme if you need alternate branding.
  6. Change aspect ratio if you need a different format.
  7. Optional: Hide quotation marks.
  8. Add attribution details for more context.
  9. Click Save image to save to your computer.

Guidelines

To make quotes most useful and understandable to users:

  • Do NOT include links in the image. Save those for the tweet or Facebook post.
  • Do NOT attribute a quote to a person if they did not make the statement. Treat the words you create with this tools as journalism—same rules and standards.
  • Quotable is meant to present an attributed textual quote. If you need to share a list of facts, use the Factlist tool.

Examples



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