Editing | Tips and Tricks

Setting the Focal Center of a Medium Image

Two seconds is all it takes to ensure that images display correctly

Image purchased from Shutterstock and modified by author

In any story, the featured image displays in full. The important part of it can be off to one side, as is the case with the image above, which is wide and not very tall. Or the important part can be at the top or bottom of an image that is taller than it is wide.

Before a reader opens the story, however, when it is displayed in a story preview list, only the center of it can be seen. The above image will look like this in a story preview list:

That is, unless you fix it. To do this:

Press the Alt key (on Windows) or the option key (on a Mac) and then click on the image where you want the center of it to be.

Note that a green circle displays where you’ve clicked and a message tells you that “The new focus has been set, and it will be taken into account when the image is cropped in story preview listings.”

I clicked the above image near the center of the little girl’s white shirt. Here’s the result in the story preview list on the Publication Creators Hub:

That’s it. A two-second procedure will make your story preview lists look professional and will encourage readers to open and read your stories.