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enter image description here

I'm looking for examples of this serrated, cut-off bottom edge, but I don't know what to search for. Does this pattern have a name? It's often used to indicate that a particular image is a fragment of something bigger.

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Break lines

The convention comes from drafting or mechanical drawing.

The treatment you referenced is used in Google's Material Design documentation, which alters the convention to leave out the second (lower) half of the broken segment.

Mechanical drawing with short and long break examples

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Paper with a rough edge intended to make a book look "old" is called Deckle Edge. Here is a quote from an online dictionary (one of many examples):

Deckle Edge in American. 1. the rough, irregular edge of a sheet of paper after it leaves the deckle and before it is trimmed: such edges are often favored as decorative. an imitation of such an edge produced on trimmed paper, as by tearing.

I am guessing that the web page you saw is alluding to this motif. (Why would we want web pages to look old?)

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  • I think the OP describes an edge that's more functional (communicating that the image continues, but is not included) as opposed to the decorative use that you mention. Interesting word though—I didn't realize that particular type of edge had a name.
    – maxathousand
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 16:49
  • @maxathousand Everything has a name. There is an annual book festival called "Deckle Edge" near where I live.
    – user67695
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 17:03
  • In the fine art print making world (where I started a million years ago) a print without a deckle edge immediately lost street (gallery?) cred.
    – plainclothes
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 18:42
  • @plainclothes so now you can have it on web pages too! Beats taking a sawzall to your screen.
    – user67695
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 18:44
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    I do miss those days where I had near total control over my medium simply by following a process. It was just me, the ink, the paper, and a big ol' press. So few dependencies 😍
    – plainclothes
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 18:56

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