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All The Tropes:How to Pick A Good Image: Difference between revisions
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<div style="background-color:yellow;"><big>'''''If you last read this page before
So, you want to find a good image for a page. The image is a great attention-grabber; it's likely to be the first thing a person sees when the page loads. In a page about the work, a good image will introduce the work; in a trope page, it will illustrate the trope and help the reader understand it. Just like a good name, a good image follows the mantra "clear, concise, and witty" (in descending order of importance: clarity is key, the other two are merely [[Bonus Points]]). There are a lot of good ways to go about making sure our images are clear, concise, and witty... let's look at them.
* [[Forum:Page Images|There is an entire forum section dedicated to finding good images.]] If you're not sure an image is good, think you've found a better one than what's on an article, or just want to open the door for discussion, stop by and start a thread.
* Page Images is fairly good at picking images. If an image was chosen by Page Images and you think it should be changed, don't just unilaterally replace it; start a new thread. The Page Images crowd usually leaves a [[Help:Formatting|commented-out note]] about this in the page source.
* When you make a thread, be sure to use the ''actual'' location of the trope or work. The wiki won't tag the article if you use a redirect or don't spell it correctly.
* When multiple good images are proposed for a trope with no consensus on which one should be used, polling users in a thread in the [[Forum:Page Images|Page Images forum]] is really the only option.▼
* The most common picture for a works page is a title screen or box art. It's what most people will see when they look in the store for a copy, and images are fairly easy to come across.▼
* The purpose of the poll is to decide between multiple images that are all ''equally illustrative of the trope''. If an image has been determined not to illustrate the trope (or to illustrate the ''wrong'' trope), don't include it as a candidate.▼
* Official promotional art such as movie posters are common, including cast pictures. This is particularly common when the actual cover is a flat color and a logo or something similarly minimalist.▼
* Polls are generally left open until voting slows down. All polls must be open for voting for at least three "business days" -- e.g. if the third day falls during a weekend, the poll is left open until Monday, as forum traffic tends to slow during the weekend.▼
* Unlike many other types of work, [[Fan Fiction]], [[Web Comic|Web Comics]], and [[Web Original]] have relatively easy-to-access creators. If you want to know what they'd prefer, send them a simple email with links to both the site and the page in question. For instance, this was how the page images for ''[[xkcd]]'' and ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' were chosen.▼
=== Creator pages ===▼
* The most common picture for a works page is a photo (or painting or sketch) of the creator. This is relatively easy to find when the creator is a single person, but even large groups sometimes have promotional images of themselves available somewhere.▼
=== Quality of image ===▼
* Some images simply have bad image quality (compression artifacts, pixelation, and so on). This detracts from what the image is showing, and simple quality upgrades are something you don't even need to ask to replace. For example: [[Giant Enemy Crab]] had [[media:giant-giant-enemy-crab.jpg|this image]] that was replaced with [[media:giantcrabcw_resized_7685.jpg|this image]]. No fanfare, just a quick replacement, and on your way.▼
* While there are no size limits, sizes more than 350 or 400 pixels wide will crowd out text, especially on smaller screens. Either resize the image before uploading it, or use the image width parameter for the File markup (either with or without the Thumb parameter).▼
* If you need to resize an image and don't like working with MS paint or other programs, you can use [http://www.picresize.com/ pic resize] to do it.▼
=== [[Images in Wiki Pages|Images on the wiki]] ===▼
* Pages with quotes should have the image on the right side (you can learn how to do this on [[Help:Formatting]]).▼
* Modifying images to work better or building a collage are allowed and sometimes preferred over individual, unmodified pictures.▼
** Newspaper comic strips and web comic strips in particular are frequently modified to fit within the 350 pixel width. If a comic is too wide, a common solution is to stack the panels vertically.▼
** Single images are usually sufficient; however, with some tropes, especially those that deal with changes or comparisons, it may be necessary to have a [[All The Tropes:Multi-Part Picture|multipart image]].▼
* Troper-made images are fine. If you have artistic skills and would like to make an image for a page, go for it; just look at the [[List of Pages Artists Can Illustrate]] to get started. [[Dug Too Deep]] is one such example.▼
* If there's more than one good image, feel free to start an [[Image Links Wiki]] for the page.▼
=== Safe For Work ===
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I am seeking permission to use [[Friday the 13th|this picture]] of yours for the page image of the trope, [[Villain Decay]]. If this is alright, please respond to the email or [https://allthetropes.org/w/index.php?title{{=}}Special:WikiForum&forum{{=}}4 comment in the discussion here]. If you wish us to not use your image, it will be changed, if you give permission but want a specific link please respond.
-Deboss}}
* Original art (from [[DeviantArt]], [[Flickr]], etc.) may be licensed under Creative Commons,
* [[TV Tropes]] added NC to their CC license in 2012, which is why we can't use something copied from The Other Tropes Wiki after they changed their license to include it. If you really want to use an image on TV Tropes that was added after 2012, you'll have to find the original image and use it instead.
Speaking of TV Tropes, their version of this page as of the fork included the phrases "If an image has a little copyright stamp (©) on it, we can't use it" and "The same goes for watermarks of ownership". These statements are [[
Also, as per [[Special:WikiForum/Policy_request:_use_Public_Domain_or_Creative_Commons_licensed_images_wherever_we_have_the_option|this forum discussion]], All The Tropes prefers using Public Domain and Creative Commons licensed images when they exist. ''Please use copyrighted images only where there is no other alternative.''
== Images for Trope pages ==
* '''Visual Aid''': Unlike Works, page images for trope pages are there to help explain the trope, not provide an example above the example line.
* '''Why are [[Comic Books]], [[Manga]], [[Newspaper Comics]], and [[Web Comic]]s so popular?''': Because the addition of [[Speech Bubble]]s allows the image to include [[Dialogue]] on top of visualizations, something which multimedia works lack. This, combined with a distinct lack of [[Motion Blur]], leans toward a dominance of these images.
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** Snark, while not discouraged, is a good second to a meaningful quote.
* [[Just a Face and a Caption]]: The visual equivalent of a [[Zero Context Example]]. Most of the time, they only make sense if you're already familiar with the work ''and'' the trope. Read the link for more details about why this is a bad idea.
** "If you read the example, this makes perfect sense" is not a good way to explain the trope. In this case, the example is essentially a long caption.
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* "X shows us how it's done", "One of these things is not like the others", and other [[Memetic Mutation|meme-tastic]] captions are worse than nothing. Captions are not mandatory.
* Sometimes a trope is too text- or plot-dependent for an image to work, and the better option is to just leave the page imageless than put an image that would confuse the reader even further. Don't fret, it happens.
== Images for Work pages ==
▲* The most common picture for a works page is a title screen or box art. It's what most people will see when they look in the store for a copy, and images are fairly easy to come across.
▲* Official promotional art such as [[Lobby Card|movie posters]] are common, including cast pictures. This is particularly common when the actual cover is a flat color and a logo or something similarly minimalist.
▲* Unlike many other types of work, [[Fan Fiction]], [[Web Comic|Web Comics]], and [[Web Original]] have relatively easy-to-access creators. If you want to know what they'd prefer, send them a simple email with links to both the site and the page in question. For instance, this was how the page images for ''[[xkcd]]'' and ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' were chosen.
▲* The most common picture for a works page is a photo (or painting or sketch) of the creator. This is relatively easy to find when the creator is a single person, but even large groups sometimes have promotional images of themselves available somewhere.
* A picture of the creator doing some creating or with a creation is better than a simple profile shot of the creator. For example, which tells you more about this writer: [[c:File:Clarke sm.jpg|Arthur C. Clarke]] in profile, or [[media:Arthur C. Clarke 1965.jpg|Arthur C. Clarke on the set of ''2001: A Space Odyssey'']]?
:''Main article: [[All The Tropes:Uploading and Adding an Image to a Page]]''
▲* Pages with quotes should have the image on the right side (you can learn how to do this on [[Help:Formatting]]).
** Pages without quotes should have the image on the right side, too.
* If the image is rather tall, move it to the right as well. ''Note:'' This is the default in MediaWiki wikis such as ours, so there's no need to explicitly say it.
▲* Modifying images to work better or building a collage are allowed and sometimes preferred over individual, unmodified pictures.
▲** Newspaper comic strips and web comic strips in particular are frequently modified to fit within the 350-400 pixel width. If a comic is too wide, a common solution is to stack the panels vertically.
▲** Single images are usually sufficient; however, with some tropes, especially those that deal with changes or comparisons, it may be necessary to have a [[All The Tropes:Multi-Part Picture|multipart image]].
▲* Troper-made images are fine. If you have artistic skills and would like to make an image for a page, go for it; just look at the [[List of Pages Artists Can Illustrate]] to get started. [[Dug Too Deep]] is one such example.
▲* If there's more than one good image, feel free to start an [[Image Links
▲=== Quality of image ===
▲* Some images simply have bad image quality (compression artifacts, pixelation, and so on). This detracts from what the image is showing, and simple quality upgrades are something you don't even need to ask to replace. For example: [[Giant Enemy Crab]] had [[media:giant-giant-enemy-crab.jpg|this image]] that was replaced with [[media:giantcrabcw_resized_7685.jpg|this higher-resolution copy of the same image]]. No fanfare, just a quick replacement, and on your way.
▲* While there are no size limits, sizes more than 350 or 400 pixels wide will crowd out text, especially on smaller screens. Either resize the image before uploading it, or use the image width parameter for the File markup (
▲* If you need to resize an image (which you shouldn't need to unless it's huge - you can set the image width parameter for the File markup in most cases) and don't like working with MS paint or other programs, you can use [http://www.picresize.com/ pic resize] to do it.
=== [[Pothole|Potholing]] ===
* Most images don't have the title of the work in them -- which is a problem, since people will likely want to know what work an image is from. Fortunately, we have ways of getting around this. The most common method is to simply make the image clickable. See [[Help:Formatting]] for how to do this.
* Multisource works
* Non-potholed images that you've found can be potholed to the appropriate work if you know it.
* If a [[Real Life]] image is chosen, you can either pothole to [[Real Life]] or don't pothole it at all.
* If an image is not potholed or sourced in some way, bring it up in the [[Forum:Page Images|Page Images forum]].
▲* When multiple good images are proposed for a trope with no consensus on which one should be used, polling users in a thread in the [[Forum:Page Images|Page Images forum]] is really the only option.
▲* The purpose of the poll is to decide between multiple images that are all ''equally illustrative of the trope''. If an image has been determined not to illustrate the trope (or to illustrate the ''wrong'' trope), don't include it as a candidate.
▲* Polls are generally left open until voting slows down. All polls must be open for voting for at least three "business days" -- e.g. if the third day falls during a weekend, the poll is left open until Monday, as forum traffic tends to slow during the weekend.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Image Administrivia]]
[[Category:Wiki FAQs]]
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