User:Angel Emfrbl/Image Guidelines - Append

Images are used on this wikia to depict what often is hard to describe in words. To this extent, all images on this site are being used for illustrational purposes only.If images are used for anything more, they can be considered going against copyright laws. To keep the wikia healthy, avoid questions of "misuse" of the wikia and to generally avoid sensitive image arguments we have certain guidelines and rules that should be note. Unacceptable images can be considered Vandalism just as text can be considered if it is spam, offensive or flame.

Unsuitable or unused images can be deleted at any point without warning by an admin or a member of the wikia staff.

Acceptable

 * Single cell or single pages from the manga
 * Screen shots of a single scene from the games.
 * Screenshots of a single frame from the anime and Panoramic images.
 * Animations showing a single event from the anime, such as a single fighting move.
 * Fanart showing a single symbol (such as a pirate flag) used with permission of the original maker, used where the manga/anime could did not provide a decent enough image.
 * File extensions: .JPG, .GIF or .PNG, this is standard requirement for the wiki system and many file extension types (such as .BMP) are not uploadable.

Unacceptable

 * Porn or nude images
 * Fanart art of any form - from fan colour images to full character depictions, though there is one exception (see "Acceptable").
 * Doctored images of any form.
 * Images unrelated to this wikia, we're not an image host, sites like Photobucket exist for this purpose.
 * Images showing multiple pages from the manga.
 * Animations showing more then one event e.g. showing a full fight scene between two characters.
 * Images of people with no involvement with the making of One Piece at all.
 * Watermarked images, these are claimed by an owner as their property and they may be offended if the image was taken without permission.
 * Note: TV, DVD and sub watermarks are excempted from this rule. However, no image taken from Youtube may be used.
 * spoiler images (note: see Spoiler Rules for more information)
 * Images uploaded souly for user page usage. If you upload the image elsewhere (e.g. photobucket) and direct link to it, you will be able to use the image on your user page without the wikia having to host it for you.

Mass Uploading
Mass uploading is when a editor uploads a number of images within the span of a short amount of time (usually within an hour). Often the intentions of the user are in the right place, however mass uploading cause problems. Other editors cannot keep up or check on what images were uploaded if a mass upload happens too fast. In the case of mass replacement as well as uploading that means other editor may be left with 20+ pages to look and compare the images of. On top of this, if the source of the images is deemed unsuitable (i.e. they were taken from a single site where every image was watermarked), then those images would have to be removed causing time wasted.

It is advisable that if a mass upload is intended that the uploader seek out help beforehand, if the images ARE coming from a single site it is important you investigate the site or ask another more experienced editor to check out the site for you.

Give it a Good Name
When uploading, you get a chance to rename it, it is avisable you give it a suitable file name. A picture of Boa Hancock kicking, for example, may have the name "hancockkick.png". Be careful! If the uploader mentions you have giving it the name of an existing image, don't overwrite - rename. You will be taken back to the uploader if you choose not to attempt another name for the file.

Unsuitable names may be renamed by the members of the wikia as a decent name helps classify the categories, find it easy as well link to the image. Long random letters and numbers for names is hard for all editors to work with. Undescriptive names such as untitled, screenshot-xxx shall also be avoided. Luffy25 is not really a good name either, if you are not able to give a proper name to your file maybe you should question yourself if it is necessary to upload it. You are not limited by the length of the name so abreviations shall be avoided. In all cases the clearer the better.

Categorization
It can be usefull to add a category to an image as it can help to find it more easily. However, only categories belonging to the Images categories shall be added.

Only images used in articles shall be categorized, image from user's pages or talk pages (or even worse unused images) shall not be categorized. That also means that if an image is removed from an article for whatever reason, its eventual categories shall be deleted.

Note that pages which have a prefix such as Template or File are classified by default at the letter of the prefix (T for Template and F for files). If the category contains a table of content it is usefull to redirect the category name by using the pipe character (|). For example to categorize hancockkick.png one can add so that the file appear at the letter H. If the file has been properly named (Cf previous chapter) one can use the template variable PAGENAME. When you edit an article, you can see if the category has been redirected by clicking on the Code view link in the category section.

Image Overload
Overloading a single area of text with multiple images can lead to layering issues. The most common form of layering problem is the rendering of a mass white space due to conflicts with either other images already on the page or page templates. You can Preview all edits using the "Preview" option next to the button "Save page". Please use this to check you have no caused a layering problem. Images that cause layering problems will be removed from the page when spotted, although they may not be completely destroyed as experienced editors may find other uses for them on the page or another page.

If you wish to fit many images in one space, the template Gallery can be used, such as follows:

Alternatively, if there is no call to use a gallery table, another code to use to avoid page layout problems is the code  . This will leave a gap after the code, any previous coding will not effect the page, and any further coding will not conflict with the previous text and images before the code. Please note, if used with too many images close together however, even this code can leave a image not aligned with the text it is intending to support, as the following example will demonstrate.

Image Replacement
Any image on a page can be replaced by uploading a new image with the same name. Editors do not need permission or explaination to replace an image on a place. However, take note what you consider a better image may not be considered a better image by other editors. Please also take note that replacing an image from the manga with its counterpart is acceptable, however you should not replace a manga image with another manga image of less quality. Likewise, do not replace an anime image with another anime image of less quality.

"Demostrations" not "Decorations"
A edit war is when editors are constantly changing images on a page from one version to another for a variety of reasons, but usually because one editor likes one image and another prefers another and both wish to have the image they prefer in that limited space. In the event of constant reverting between two revisions of the same image, the most useful or related image to its intended use will be chosen, or in the event of neither image being of satisfaction, both images may be rejected for another image. Take not as well, that another better image may appear at any one point, thus rendering the image settled upon not as useful.

Many edit wars over images can simply be avoided by analysising the usefulness of the image. While personnel perferences is one thing, if a issue cannot be resoled then it is pointless to continue with the edit war. If you feel the the other editors are making a bad choice, there is a choice to argue the point of the image, backing it up with support from the guidelines listed on this page.

Profile and Identification Image Advise
Aside from standard images uploaded to support text, images can also serve the page in two other ways. The first is by the profile image and the second is via a thumbnail used in identification templates.

Profile Images
On every character page, there may be a infobox section on the page acting as a "quick reference" for viewers. The images in the infoboxes should show at least the two following things:


 * 1) A character's face and features must be clearly seen in an image
 * 2) An image of a full body pose is preferable the only exception is when no full image exists in the first place.
 * 3) The character's full body pose in the image must not distort the character's features regardless of quality.
 * 4) The clothes the character in the image have to be at least the ones that they are most commonly seen in. A good example would be Luffy's red vest and blue pants. They do not have to be the most up to date, however if the standard clothes the character wears changes, then the new style may replace the old in such an occurrence.
 * 5) For characters that constantly change clothes like Nami and Robin, just a good image of them is acceptable. However, the image should at least show their features.

If a new image covers more of these points then the previous image, then it is fine to upload and used as a replacement image. In addition while the games such as the Grand Battle! series offer dramatic poses of the featured characters, they should be seriously thought about before used. Equally, filler arc pictures should be avoided as the wikia prefers canon-based over filler, unless the character itself is filler.

Dramatic Poses, What To Avoid
Temptation is to use the most "awesome" image of a character you can find. Dramatic poses can be found across the border in regards to One Piece itself. They are present in the manga, the anime, games, etc. It is advisable however that you think before using such an image. While they can be indeed "awesome" to the eye, they may also be awkward or clumsily posed. Sometimes in the artist's attempts to impress the looker(particularly with the games) they end up creating a image that is unsuitable, at the very least for the wikia's needs.

A common problem with poses is hidden body parts, particularly of the front, though in cases such as Portgas D. Ace whose tattoos best identify him this can be ignored to a degree. To create a pose that is dramatic, the illusion of distance needs to be demonstrated, this leads to another common problem; warping of body parts. That is, when a foot or arm ends up far too small, giving the character an appearance that his or her foot is very far away. This is most noticeable when other body parts may seem up close, often resulting in a very long, thin looking limbs. However the reverse can also happen wherein the body parts are depicted as being too close, resulting in the opposite occurring, that is the body parts are too big and bulky. Finally, to create these dramatic poses, sometimes feature distortion occurs (e.g. the face becomes awkward, in a few cases abnormal or even unrecognizable) as often the head ends up being in the wrong place or at the wrong suitable angle for the pose itself.

In this case the dramatic pose has left his coat covering most of his visible body and part of his lower face. On top of this, as this is a rear view pose, most of the possible details have been lost. His pose is awkward, with feature distortion occurring to create an effect of limbs posed at an angle. The end of his hook is hidden from view and could easily be mistaken for a hoop rather then a hook. Overall, while this is an impressive game image, it does not depict his character very well. On top of this, someone new to One Piece would be slightly confused as to what is going on with his right hand.

In contrast, the image of the Luffy, while again a dramatic pose is occurring, the full body is visible and there are no hidden parts of the body or his outfit. While the Crocodile image offers little in the way of a quality image, the Luffy image covers most of the guidelines.

Anime Vs. Game, what is best?
While it is true games are filler, they can also be based off of the current storyline. So while games are indeed non canonical, so long as the character image matches their canon self (i.e. has the right clothes), a game image can be used as a profile image. As the previous example pointed out, the poses used for the games may not always be suitable to add to this, however that does not mean they are to be completely dismissed entirely. In fact the only downside (aside from dramatic poses) to the games is that some of them may have the wrong colour scheme on them. Such as the Keimi image from Oceans Dream given above on this page wherein her hair and tail are both the wrong colour.

In the above example we have a previously used anime image Vs a image from one of the Grand Battle games. Take note that the most noticeable problem with the anime image is that Usopp's foot is blocking at least 40% of the image. While Tamanegi is indeed a full body pose here as well (which is preferred), he is rather small. At the very least, this image should have been cropped to remove unneeded imagery from the scene, focusing on just Tamanegi. However, even if this was done, another problem is the image has a quality lack, enlarging results in pixelation, a common problem with image expansion. Also, even if this particular image was cropped, much of the foot remains and Tamanegi's own left leg is hidden along with his left hand.

While the game image misses the color match just slightly, it however is much better for the profile image usage. Here, a full image is visible, with no distractions, something very hard to find outside of the One Piece games.

Quality Check
As previously mentioned, quality can be a reason for one image being used over another. Quality in itself means many things, but in this context it means the grade of the picture. A notable effect of files Types such as .JPG is their habit of lowering the grade of the image, making the size smaller as this file type was created to make uploading images quicker by compacting the image and removing unneeded data that often exists on a file. Pixelation, size compacting and dithering can led to detail being lost, limiting the usage of the image.

On top of this, another problem exists in relation to RAW copies of the manga; it may have yet to be cleaned up by another person. This means the image will have odd things like many shades of grey,the manga itself is originally black and white, meaning only 2 or so shades of grey are intended to exist. When scanned, bending pages and other occurrences may add new shades to the black and while image that already exists. The RAW itself also depends on the quality of the scan made by the person who scanned the image, quick scan groups will scan a manga in Low Quality resulting in a manga scan that will appear faster then any other scan being released, while a High quality scan may not appear until up to 72 hours later.

While whether or not a quality is important to other images, we advise for profile images there be a high quality profile image on a page. Profile images are there to show a character is high detail, that means if things such as pixelation or dithering are occurring on the image, may effected any details on the character too greatly to be used. Important things to note on a profile image is firstly the face, all lines must be clear and heavily defined. Secondly things that make the character stand out from others in the series (such as the character having a particular item worn at all times like Nami's Log Pose.

One way around the loss of detail is to upload a large sized file, however profile images are coded to be a certain size on the page, this means any image will automatically be compacted to meet a certain width. Unintentional detail loss may occur, particular if the width difference is great, such as uploading a 700px image which would normally have to shrunk to a width of just 250px. It is therefore advisable above all things that the image for a profile be no wider then 350px to avoid such a detail loss.

Identification Images
These are a standard 120 x 120 px image used for templates designed for speedy identification due to the sheer number of characters in the series. They are found on pages such as Red Hair Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates or locations such as Arabasta. Colour is preferred once again, however in many cases it is impossible to get such an image and often these images must come from Data Books and the Manga directly itself. None of these images are being used for avatars for sites, so why a good representation of the character is important, quality of the image may not be an issue. Also, the image should not be anything more then the characters head, unlike the infobox image which it is preferred that a full character image be used.

Head Position
Unlike profile images, Identification images are a lot simpler to handle. There is therefore on top of the previous advise on this page there is only one important thing to note on these images. This is that it is preferred a decent profile, normally 3/4 or frontal, be used over other head positions like side profiles.

In the Luffy image, his head is angled so he is facing slightly behind him, this has left Luffy with a strange expression on his face and the appearance of a babyish character. In contrast, the Crocodile image is facing straight on, with no distractions or objects blocking any part of the face.

Still Vs Animated
Sometimes despite editors best efforts, there is something that simply cannot be described between either image or text, and an animation can often aid the subject of the article. Having a animation simply of two people talking is an example of animations which don't belong on a page, as a single frame and text can describe this action without any problems. However, when it comes to things like a battle move, which can often be complex, then an animation can often provide a better demostration then any text or single frame.

Be aware that there are a few things to consider before you upload an animation.

Firstly, animations are much larger files then images and larger files take time to load on a page. If there are several animations or a particularly large animation, then lag may occur on the page in some form (be it page loading time or just image loading time). The image may not even load at all leading to the a box with a red "X" appearing. It is advisable that if there are 3 or 4 images on a page already, you don't upload more, however sometimes shrinking the images already on the page can resolve this problem. Note however like ALL images, animations will loose details when shrunk, and they must never end up smaller then thumbnail size.

Next, there is a consideration that too many animations on a page may not be a good idea. Animations can make a page look busy, having a dozen things moving at once can be somewhat off putting to a user but can also led to the usual image related problems of large white gaps and page layout problems. Previous examples of animation overload would be the Yami Yami no Mi and Mera Mera no Mi pages. Both these pages at some point had many animations and almost no still images and had 6 or so animations uploaded onto them. The text they supported was also often just a few sentances, leaving the page with layout problems and/or large gaps of white on a page.

A good ratio between animation and still images would be 1 animation for every 4-6 images on a page.

Manga Vs Anime
As common practice, many editors add a manga image to a new piece information as the chapters are released, this is more often then not replaced with its anime counterpart. This is owed to the days of the wikias earliest developement when scanaltions were poor and the anime was the only way around getting over the poor manga counterparts. However, the subject of anime and manga has many arguments and in the end the wikia will leave things up to the editors to decide on themselves what is the best image for the task is.

While the argument "Its true to Oda's work" is often brought up on subject matter, Oda himself does not work on every single image himself. Obivously, character designs are his own work and many other aspects are his own, a % of every chapter of the manga will have been worked on by his assistants. It is common practice for mangaka to have 2-4 assistants, this helps train the next generation of mangaka and in return helps the mangaka with their work in return, particularly meeting deadlines and targets. Scanalations are not "true". sometimes when you compare a raw image to a scanlation odd differences are noticed between them. In the process of cleaning up a manga, the tone, a series of "." that are used to portray depth are often lost. Scanalation groups often replace this with their own. This is just the only example of their work, as often to get the process complete, minor other differences such as this will occur.

Manga may also have large text bubbles or sound effects cluttering up the page. While one can argue also they are "true" to Oda's work, in many cases they may be added at the last moment, being placed on top of the orginal artwork. Therefore while they are part of the finished work, they are not part of the orginal piece. The same is applied to sound effects such as "don". The anime counterparts will often be a cleaner version as because emotion and events are displayed in moment, thus rendering the need for action lines, speech bubbles and other detailing uneeded, although action lines are still used from time to time.

Manga images often appear on the wikia when the chapter is released, however take note that this breaks the copyright rule; Shonen Jump magazine appears on the following Monday AFTER the scanalations appear. In contrast, anime images almost never appear before the anime is aired as so have also been. Take note also that scnalation sites are reluctant in the current climate of copyright issue to host many chapters, so while it was often very easy to access early chapters of the manga it is no longer so easy to do so. Take note also that a entire page of manga being placed on the wikia is a serious copyright issue infrindgement and puts the wikia on par with scanaltion groups - entire pages should never appear.

Another note also is that the wikia is designed to cover both anime and manga, however manga is taken for most text based information because conflicts often appear in filler episodes and sections of the anime. Therefore to have the information exactly as was intend, manga is used for that reason. The anime sometimes covers events not explained in the manga but was part of the storyline, these events should never be used for images in sections where manga canon is found as the scene never happened at all to begin with. An example would be the scene seen in the anime showing the error that led to Buggy being sent to Impel Down - this was not seen in the manga.

Anime does not always provide a good example of the manga counterpart, in such an event it would be okay to revert the image to manga until another better image is found. Sometimes various problems with transferring Oda's style into the anime occur and Oda's style is not particularly easy for some to copy. On top of this, within the animating staff will also be a certain level of quality, and usually the best animators are reserved for the best episodes, other animators are specifically hired to do episodes with large battle scenes. So while they may not be a particularly sound character drawer, their skills in fight scenes are often noted to be smoother then the more precise character drawers who may not find battle scenes so easy to draw.

Image or No image at all?
Images are a usefully tool for the wikia as it can provide many levels of detail in just one short file. This proves useful in particular cases where the event was too difficult to describe in words. However when uploading a new image it is important to ask the question "does this image need to be here?". More often then not, a page can surpass with very few images at all, however images are often crammed into one section of the page, for example the "history" section just because editors feel that a large paragraph must be accomplied with a image. However this leds to "Image Overload" sometimes. While overall effect can be somewhat determined by moniter screen size, text web display size and many other items, a general guideline for images is 1 image per 2-4 paragraphs. While gallery is an alternative, in area such as "History" sections, where text is a very reliant issue, images are the least of the concerns and there is simply no room for this code as the focus is on the information not the image.

Unused Images
All images are intended for use on the wikia and unused images can be found via the Unused files page. Please note that an image may ALREADY exist on the wikia and one can check using this page the image isn't already uploaded by this wikia. If you upload an image, but do not add it to a page, or it was deemed unsuitable/unneeded by another editor and removed, then that image can be deleted without question. Images take up memory and space and unused images serve the wikia in no way. If you do not wish your image to end up deleted, make sure you put it on a page straight away. If a editor removes it, check the history of the page to check why is was removed, failing that, ask the editor to explain. If no explaination is provided you can revert, however please remember it is more important to avoid a edit war then it is to get a suitable picture.

Duplicate Images
Like with unused images, duplicate images are also at risk to be deleted at any point, like with unused images, without question. If the image already exists, there is no need for a copy, it simply takes up space. Check the page and related pages to make sure the image doesn't already exist. Also note images can be used on several pages, not just one. Also, likewise check the Unused files page to see if the image exists there.

When a duplicate image is found, the Duplicate Template can be added with the original file as an argument.

To avoid duplicating images, it is worth to make a quick research first, by:
 * Looking in the Wiki Pages related to the image object
 * Making a research in the Special:Search page with File option checked
 * Looking in the Images Category and its subcategories
 * When a new chapter or episode comes out, check in the New Files page if the image has not been already upload by another user. A lot of duplicate images occurs a these moments.

Remember that it is better to upload a new version of the file than replacing a link with a new one since it creates unused files. After all this verifications one can safely upload the image (remember to add eventual Images Category since it can help the users research).

Youtube
As stated in our rules, animations are allowed, however only single events are permitted. When it comes to Youtube, several other issues arise that are not clear in the rules. Firstly, as it is a copyright violation the Youtube staff may delete any One Piece related videos as they see fit. This could potentially be a problem for the wikia if such a video is deleted as not only does it mean we need to track down another copy of the video (which there may well not be so), we also have broken links. On top of that, a owner may replace an video as well as delete it themselves resulting in more potential headaches for editors. On the wikia, we have control and can regulate our images better, reverting a image back to its original format if need be, on Youtube, these things are out of our control and we cannot replace or revert lost videos. On top of this, Youtube videos also prefer to stay their specific sizes and often led to problems with the page layouts. They are not as simple to insert into a page as normal images are.

Also, please remember even if you own the video, youtube owns their site and thus every image on Youtube carries the Youtube watermark uploading the images also breaks another rule.

Game Sprites
While screenshots are allowed and once again, likewise animations, be aware of a few issues related to games. First, most sprites are ripped by a single person and while various people may rip the same set of sprites, they between them have their own conditions for usage. For most, a simple "Thank you" for using their sprite n your project and maybe a link to the site you got the sprites off of is enough. Some will directly require you ask them first before using their sprites.

Most animations of game moves will use sprites borrowed without permission or referencing back to the original owner, so some citation is needed when approaching them. The majority of sprites will also have no background, thus they can never been truly considered "direct" from the game or represent the gameplay of the game. To date in order to also use a sprite to prove the existence of say a move a link to notify all editors on the discussion page is a better idea then to upload one of these animations. Regardless, stick to screenshots to back up text rather then a single sprite and do not use them over the manga and anime representations.

The most notable problem with sprites is they are very easily faked. Fake screenshots, sprites and animations have been around for many years and even in the One Piece fandom they exist.