A dislocation in a perfect crystal matrix gives rise to contrast only in those regions where the local orientation of the crystal lattice differs from average orientation by more than about the Darwin width of the Bragg reflection used. A quantitative description is provided by the dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction. As a result, and somehow counter-intuitively, the widths of dislocation images become narrower when the associated rocking curves are large. Thus, strong reflections of low diffraction order are particularly appropriate for topographic imaging. They permit topographists to obtain narrow, well-resolved images of dislocations, and to separate single dislocations even when the dislocation density in a material is rather high. In more unfavourable cases (weak, high-order reflections, higher photon energies), dislocation images become broad, diffuse, and overlap for high and medium dislocation densities. Highly ordered, strongly diffracting materials – like minerals or semiconductors – are generally unproblematic, whereas e.g. protein crystals are particularly challenging for topographic imaging.