Getting creative with images in long content | CSS tricks

When you place images in placing images in long-shaped content-such as articles, case studies or reports is the standard approach inline rectangles and the breaking of text blocks. Functional? Certainly. Inspiring? Hardly.

Why do so many long-shaped articles feel visually flat? Why do images so often seem to be fixed instead of being part of the story? And how does that influence involvement, understanding or tone?

Images in long content can (and often) do more than illustrate. They can shape how people navigate, deal with it and interpret what they read. They help determine the pace, influence how readers feel and add character that words just cannot always convey.

So how do you use images to add personality, rhythm and even surprise someone along the way? Here is how I do it.

My letter: Patty Meltt is an emerging sensation of country music and she needed a website to launch her new album and tour. She wanted it to be distinctive and memorable, so she called Things and nonsense. Patty is not real, but the challenges of designing and developing sites such as those of her.

First, a non-so-long form summary.

You probably already know that rasters feel designs predictable, rhythmic and structured, making readers feel at ease when consuming long -shaped content. Rasters bring balance. They help keep things on each other, organized and easy to follow, making complex information less overwhelming.

But once I have set up a grid, it can occasionally be a powerful way to draw attention to important content, add personality and prevent layouts from feeling formal or flat.

In long -term content, for example, I can pull images in the margins or push them out of a line to create a more casual, energetic feeling. I could expand the inline size of an image from the column with the help of negative margin values:

figure {
  inline-size: 120%;
  margin-inline-start: -10%; 
  margin-inline-end: -10%;
}

Savings are used by these breaks as a punctuation, supervising the reader’s eye and adding moments of visual interest in the flow of the text.

Text width or full

As soon as we start to think creatively about images in long content, there is usually one question in me: how wide should those images be?

Should they be the same with the edges of the text column?

img {
  inline-size: 100%;
  max-inline-size: 100%;
}

Or expand to fill the entire width of the page?

figure {
  inline-size: 100vw;
  margin-inline-start: 50%;
  transform: translateX(-50%);
}

Both approaches are valid, but it is important to understand how they serve different purposes.

Book and newspaper layouts keep traditional images limited to the text column, which strengthens the flow of words. Magazines, on the other hand, regularly break the grid with full images for a dramatic effect.

In articles, news stories and reports, images in the color cream with the copy, which gives a sense of order and rhythm. This works especially well for graphs, diagrams and infographics, where it is important to keep things clear and easy to read. But in the wrong context, this approach can feel predictably and have no energy

Stretching images outside the content of the content to fill the full width of the viewport creates immediate impact. These moments work like dramatic breaks – they deliberately break the reading rhythm, reset attention and shift the focus from words to visuals. That said, these images must always serve a purpose. They quickly lose their impact if they are used too much or feel as a filler.

Use a modular schedule for multiple images

So far I have focused on some images in the text stream. But what if I want to present a collection? How can I arrange a series of images that belong together?

Instead of stacking images vertically, I can use a modular schedule to make a coherent arrangement with precise control over placement and scale. What is a modular schedule? It is a structure that is made up of repeated units – usually squares or rectangles – arranged horizontally and vertically to bring order to varied content. I can place individual images within a few modules or include multiple modules to make larger, more impactful zones.

figure {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr);
  gap: 15px;
}

figure > *:nth-child(1) {
  grid-column: 1 / -1;
}

Modular schedules also help us to break free from conventional, column-based layouts, add variation and to keep things visually interesting without trusting completely bloody images every time. They give me the flexibility to mix landscape and portrait images in the same room. I can vary the scale, making some images larger for emphasis and others smaller in support. It is a layout technique that groups related visuals, which strengthens the relationship between them.

CSS forms and expressive possibilities

Whatever form the subject takes, each image is in a box. Text flows above or below that box as standard. If I drive an image left or right, the adjacent text wraps around the rectangle, regardless of what is in it. When a subject fills its box edge to the edge, this winding feels of course.

But when the subject is cut out or has an irregular circumference, that rectangular wrap can feel uncomfortable.

CSS forms solves that problem by allowing text to wrap every customized form that I define around. Letting a shape flow through a shape is not only decorative – it adds energy and keeps the page lively. Usage shape-outside influences the reading experience. It slows people somewhat, creates visual rhythm and adds contrast to the steady march of regular text blocks. It also brings text and image into a closer relationship, making them feel part of a shared composition instead of isolated elements.

Most shape-outside Starting explanations with circles or ellipsen, but I think they should start with something more expressive: text to wrap the Alpha channel of an image.

img {
  float: left;
  width: 300px;
  height: auto;
  shape-outside: url('patty.webp');
  shape-image-threshold: .5;
  shape-margin: 1rem;
}

No clippers. No polygons. Simply let the natural silhouette of the image form the text. It is a small detail that a design considered more, more manufactured and makes more human.

Integrate captions into a design

Captions do not have to sit still under an image. They can play a much more expressive role in shaping how an image is observed and understood. Most of the captions look at me – small, gray text, hidden under a photo.

But if I think more intentionally of their positioning and styling, captions become an active part of the design. They can help attention, emphasize important points and bring a little more personality to the page.

No rule says that captions must be under an image. Why should you not treat them in itself as design elements? I could position a caption to the left or right of an image.

figure {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(6, 1fr);
  gap: 1rem;
}

figure img {
  grid-column: 1 / 6;
}

figcaption {
  grid-column: 6;
}

Or let it overlap part of the photo yourself:

figure {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(6, 1fr);
  gap: 1rem;
}

figure img {
  grid-column: 1 / 6;
  grid-row: 1;
}

figcaption {
  grid-column: 5 / -1;
  grid-row: 1;
}

Captions connect images and text. Well done, they can both raise and explain. They also do not have to look conventional; You can style them to look like migratory quotes or suts.

I could design a caption to reflect a pull -quay, or combine it with graphic elements to make it feel less like a label and more as a part of the story it helps to tell.

The power of white space

So far I have focused on the images themselves – how they are subtitled, positioned and format. But there is something else that is just as important: the space around them.

Whitsespace is not an empty space; It is active. It is how satisfied, how it flows and how it is read. The margins, filling and negative space around an image influence how much attention it attracts and how comfortable it is within a page.

Fast distance is useful when grouping images, but it also creates tension. On the other hand, generous margins give an image more breathing space.

figure {
  margin-block: 3rem;
}

Just like a line break in a poem or a break in conversation, white space slows down and gives people natural moments to pause while reading.

Conclusion

Images in long content are not only illustrations. They form how people experience what they read – how they go through it, how it feels and what they remember. By thinking after the standard rectangle, we can use images to make rhythm, personality and even moments of surprise.

Whether it is by breaking the grid, choosing completely in the line, wrapping text or designing playful captions, it is about being intentional. So the next time you put a long article, don’t ask yourself: “Where can I place an image?” To ask, “How can this image help shape someone’s experience?“