Images

This Images page is one of the Editing the Wiki guides. This guide deals with photographing figures, editing images, uploading them to the wiki and how to place them in galleries.

Note: do not feel obliged (at all) to follow any of the suggestions on this page. We'd rather you uploaded your images in a way that works for you rarher than have you not upload your images because you don't have the time to follow the suggested methods below.

Image Types

The JPEG format is preferred. There are a couple GIF files in use (e.g. the wiki logo) and there are several PNG files (e.g. a lot of the company logos). But, unless it is a logo, then all images should be JPEG format and, preferably, use the lowercase ".jpg" file extension.

Image Sizes

Image sizes are a problem on the wiki as we don't have infinite storage capacity and the cost per-month of running the wiki is based on a number of things including, crucially, how much data we have. Some image uploads are rather large compared to what they represent. Images of figures do not need the same level of detail as packaging (where we might want to be able to read the writing on a box cover).

The File List

One of the special pages on the wiki is the File list page. If you go there and click sort-by-size "500" then you will see a list of the top 500 largest image files on the wiki. Take a look. Lots of them (currently) are images of packaging which is sort of okay, but many of them are also ordinary images of figures none of which should really exceed 100kB, and most should be less than 50kB. The largest image is (currently) 1662kB in size but it is possible to reduce that particular image to 69kB by following the guidlines on this page.

Images

Figures

As a rough guide, any image of a human-sized figure, unpainted, against a plain background, properly lit, in focus, scaled to around 610px high and saved as a JPEG should come in around 50kB - and hopefully a lot less. If it is a large figure or a vignette then that is justification enough for the image and file size to be larger. This is also the case for painted figures. In all cases, an image of a figure should not really exceed 100kB unless the figure is particularly large, painted, is against a scenic backgorund, has many parts, is a group shot etc. (there are always exceptions).

Packaging & Documentation

Images of packaging, adverts or other documentation are welcome on the wiki but we need permission to reproduce catalogue pages. Some cut-down catalog images could be argued as "fair use" or "selective quoting" to prove that the other images of actual figures on the wiki are what we claim they are, but we are not a document archive. However, if you do decide to upload any scan or image of packaging where reading the text is essential then those images will likely be much larger in order to still be readable. Too much of this is a problem for the wiki as it takes up a lot of space.

Editing Images

If you are lucky enough to have access to a graphics editing package such as Photoshop, PaintShopPro or similar, then you should be able to figure out how to crop, resize and save your images to meet our requirements. You can also use the excellent free Paint.net to do practically the same thing as these commercial packages offer. However, if you can't or don't want to edit your image, then please still upload it - but realise that at some point in the future your image will be re-edited for you.

There are some "free" editing packages that come bundled with your operating system, tablet, phone etc, and they can usually do things like crop, rotate and resize but what they often can't do is the more advanced feature of adjusting the JPEG compression level when you save the image. There are online tools that can compress images for you - such as toolur.com - but if you are on a computer, then there is a better solution to this in the form of GIMP which is an entirely free and fully featured graphics package. If you are a confident computer user then GIMP should be no problem but more casual users might be put off by GIMP's wonderful but cluttered user interface.

Install GIMP

• Download GIMP for GNU/Linux, OS/X or Windows.
• Install it.
• Launch it.

Load an Image

• Use the menu option File->Open to load in your image into GIMP.
• ...or drag and drop the image onto GIMP from a file explorer.
• ...or copy and paste the image into GIMP.

Resize the Image

• Use the menu option Image->Scale Image to re-scale your image.
  • Type the height in pixels into the Height box.
  • Click the "chain" icon to the right to re-scale the Width.
  • Press the "Scale" button to actually scale the image.

Crop the Image

• Find the "crop tool" icon in the toolbox (it's a scalpel) and click it.
  • Click and drag the pointer to draw a canopy over the area to keep.
  • Press Enter/Return to actually crop the image.
  • (CTRL-Z or Command-Z will undo the crop if you don't get it right first time)

Export the Re-Scaled Image

• Do NOT "Save" your image - instead "Export" your image.
• Use the menu option File->Export Image
  • Change the filename to whatever you want.
  • The default file type here is ".png" but we don't want that.
  • Expand the "Select File_type (By Extension) list at the bottom.
  • Scroll down the extension list to find "JPEG Image" and click it.
  • Press the "Export" button to open the "Export Image as JPEG" dialog.
  • Adjust the quality to 50%.
  • Expand the "Advanced Options" list.
  • Un-check everything and remove the "Created by GIMP" comment.
  • Press the "Export" button.

Check the File Size

• That's it. The new image file should be much smaller than before and is ready to upload to the wiki.

Filenames

Filenames are case-sensitive on the wiki. They have to be unique and they should not have spaces in them. The suggested general format is:

MANUFACTURER[-SERIES]-PRODUCT_CODE[-PART_NUMBER]-##.jpg

If you look behind the scenes on any gallery at random, you will see how "general" that is (i.e. not very). Try to avoid putting too much information in a filename and at the same time avoid being too generic. The following are some examples of filenames that match the general formula:

1. RP-FA-58-01.jpg
2. RalPartha-FA58-01.jpg
3. Rp-FA58-01.jpg
4. RalPartha-FA58-01.jpg
5. RP-FantasyAdventurers-FA58-01.jpg

The second one is the "best" one here as it matches the minimal version of the general format:

MANUFACTURER-PRODUCT_CODE-##.jpg

Existing Images

Please be considerate when deciding whether you should overwrite someone else's existing image. The new image should be of superior quality to the one you are about to overwrite or it should correct some defect in the original (a bent or missing spear, for example). If you are not sure or the difference is marginal, it may be better to leave the original one in place.

Image Maintenance

Every so often, as a maintenance task, we will resize an image and re-upload it to reduce the file size. The problem with that is that the image is now associated with whoever re-uploaded it: i.e. the original uploader loses their accreditation. To combat this we use a template to name check the original user on the image page like this:

{{PUB|original_user_name}}

Which expands to:

Previously uploaded by original_user_name.