It is not a general-purpose "no image present" indicator. Editors placing this template on a talk page should provide information about what photographs are wanted.

The template employs several optional data field parameters as described hereafter.

{{photo requested
|1=
|2=
|3=
|of=
|in=<!-- alias to 'in1' -->
|in1=
|in2=
|in3=
|in4=
|in5=
|in6=
|in7=
|in8=
|in9=
|in10=
|in11=
|in12=
|in13=
|in14=
|in15=
|in16=
|in17=
|in18=
|in19=
|in20=
|category=
|free=
|collapsed=
|small=
}}

• |1= - may be passed to indicate an appropriate topic subcategory. The positional parameter alternatively may be unnamed (e.g., instead of "|1=xxx", the string "|xxx" would have the same results as "|1=xxx").

Up to three positional parameters (e.g., 1=, 2=, 3=) may be used to specify appropriate subcategories. For example, use {{photo requested|1=sportspeople|2=musicians}} or {{photo requested|sportspeople|musicians}} to add the page to Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of sportspeople and Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of musicians.

• |of= - may be passed to indicate what the subject of the photograph should be.
• |in= - specifies where the photograph may best be taken, and adds the article to the appropriate location subcategory if there is also a "Wikipedians" category for the location (e.g. {{photo requested|in=Wisconsin}} adds the article to Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Wisconsin if Category:Wikipedians in Wisconsin also exists). In addition, if |in= is specified with a specific location in a state or province, if the specific location category does not exist, it will default to the last word given in |in=

Additional in2=, in3=, ... up to in20= parameters may be used to specify up to twenty location categories (such as for roads that cross multiple counties or celebrities and others who may frequent multiple locations).

• |collapsed= - may be set to collapsed=yes to close up the template message box.

If more than six locations are specified (e.g., in=, in2=, in3=, in4=, in5=, in6=, in7= ... are used), the template message box will collapse automatically without using the collapsed= parameter. Specifying collapsed=no will keep the template message box expanded, no matter how many in= parameters are specified (i.e. no matter how many locations are specified).

• |small= - toggles the message box from standard size to small, if small=yes.
• |category= - suppresses the automatic categorization if category=no.
• |free= - if free=yes, the substituted text will explicitly request a freely-licensed photograph.

• If no category or location parameters are present, this template adds the article to Category:Wikipedia requested photographs.
• To avoid needlessly cluttering up talk pages, it is usually appropriate to remove any unused parameters from the template. A common initial configuration for the template includes the following basic parameters:

Description	Template	Example
Basic template with no additional parameters	{{photo requested}}	It is requested that a photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With "in" specified	{{photo requested|in=the United States}}	It is requested that a photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. Wikipedians in the United States may be able to help! The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With subject category parameter	{{photo requested|consumer electronics}}	It is requested that a photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With subject category parameter and multiple "in" specified	{{photo requested|rivers and waterfalls|in1=France|in2=Germany}}	It is requested that a photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. Wikipedians in the following regions may be able to help: France Germany The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With subject category, in parameter and additional information parameter	{{photo requested|architecture|in=England|of=the main entrance}}	It is requested that a photograph of the main entrance be included in this article to improve its quality. Wikipedians in England may be able to help! The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With "|free=yes" parameter	{{photo requested|free=yes}}	It is requested that a freely-licensed photograph be included in this article to replace copyrighted images in order to better comply with our policy for non-free content. Many copyright-free image sources are listed at Wikimedia Commons, or you could create your own. Alternatively, you may request permission from the copyright holder of the original images to release them under a free license. The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload
With "|small=yes" parameter	{{photo requested|small=yes}}	It is requested that a photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. The external tool WordPress Openverse may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. Upload

Although it is possible to add just the template {{photo requested}} to a talk page, it is strongly advised that you add at least one category parameter. If you don't categorize your request, it will be placed in Category:Wikipedia requested photographs, and may not receive attention from subject/regional photographers, and it is more likely to be deleted by other editors.

For example, if a photograph of a specific car is required, then the following should be added to the talk page: {{photo requested|cars}} — this will then be added to Category:Wikipedia requested images of cars.

Picture of places are sorted by location, for example {{photo requested|in=Norway}}

Adding more than one subject to the list of parameters will bring it to the attention of more people. If, for example, the subject is found in a location (or predominantly is in one country) then you can add more additional categories like so: {{photo requested|computer equipment|in=Russia}}

For requests of people, reason for notoriety (i.e. occupation) and where they are known (born, lived, died, worked) is recommend. For example: {{photo requested||American football people|people of Pennsylvania}}

If you are requiring a specific photograph of the article subject, it is possible to add detailed text. For example, in the talk page of a specific building: {{photo requested|architecture|in=London|of=main entrance hall}}

For a full list of categories in use, go to Category:Wikipedia requested photographs. When selecting a category, please click down to the most relevant sub-category, and select the most appropriate to the topic of the article requiring a photograph.

Adding more than one subject category in the template is recommended.

If the subject matter isn't perfectly obvious (such as an article about a physical object), please explain your request on the talk page. It is very helpful to give photographers your ideas, particularly for abstract ideas, such as legal and philosophical concepts.

If you have a specific idea for another photograph, then use the |of= parameter to name the specific picture that you would like. This is particularly helpful if there are already photographs in the article.

Unexplained and uncategorized templates may be deleted by any editor.

Alternatively, several talk page WikiProject banners can also list an article as needing a photograph. For instance, the {{WikiProject Biography}} template supports adding the |needs-photo= parameter. See image request templates list below.

However, where the talk page banners do not highlight a need for a photograph in an article or where photographs for the article are requested in more than three locations, this template may be placed on the talk (discussion) page of the article, instead.

Another alternative is to find existing photographs that might meet the needs.

Redirects to this template are considered "copies".

• WP:TALK#CREATE

The following templates may be used on article talk pages to request the addition of particular types of media files. See the individual templates for usage notes. Specific templates are indented under the more general templates, and wherever possible, the most specific template should be used.

• {{Audio requested}} – general audio
  • {{Music requested}} – music
    • {{Musical instrument requested}} – musical instruments
  • {{Animal requested audio}} – animals and other nature
  • {{Spoken article requested}} – spoken article text
  • {{Pronunciation audio requested}} – article text or language pronunciation
  • {{Pronunciation requested audio}} – article title pronunciation only
  • {{Captions requested}} – to request captions like lyrics or a transcription of a speech.