User:Shokora/MarioWiki:Image Use Policy

=Image use policy=


 * No techical language
 * Written to work in conjunction with help:image (and Help:Screenshot)
 * Only what you can/can't do with images. The rest is for Help:Image

The guidelines on this page should be followed closely when uploading, modifying and using images for this encyclopedia.


 * Unused images/userpage links (when deleting)
 * reuploading

What to avoid
First things first, please do not attempt to upload (or link to using a URL) images which include the following. Such images will be deleted.


 * Inappropriate content, which includes nudity, blood and violent weapons.
 * Uploading inappropriate content is a level four offense and, depending on the severity, the uploader may be banned without warning.
 * Images containing sensitive personal information about a user, such as a home address or telephone number.
 * Potentially libelous content, which is made with the intention to disrupt or make fun of other users.
 * Content which may pose a copyright infringement [link to licensing and game guide section]

The following kinds of images are not permitted for use on the wiki's articles. Unless said images are claimed as a personal image, they must be deleted.


 * Duplicate or lower-quality versions of existing files.
 * Fanmade or "unofficial" images which are intended to be used on articles (see section).
 * Images that aren't vaguely related to the Mario franchise of games, spin-offs and media. For example; uploading a photo of a real life dog and placing it on the dog article.

Accepted file types
Before uploading, it is important to check whether the file type (also referred to as an extension) is acceptable to upload. The wiki currently accepts four different file types for images. You can what find out what the file type is by looking at the letters after the dot in the file name. These letters may appear either in capitals or lowercase, however this does not affect the usage of the image. The Super Mario Wiki accepts the following: PNG, JPG (or JPEG), GIF and SVG. The difference between each type and recommendations for usage is explained below.


 * JPG/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – These file types are desirable for photographs, film/television screenshots, as well as posters and flyers. Game artwork released by Nintendo is often found in this format. If you find an artwork in the JPG format, please upload it without changing the file type (unless you wish to reupload an existing PNG file).
 * PNG (Portable Networks Graphics) – These types of files are lossless, which means that they do not lose quality when making edits such as cropping and resizing (unlike JPEGs, where a large amount of quality could be lost while editing). PNGs are ideal for game sprites, models and screenshots, as well as images with transparency. Sometimes, bitmap (.BMP) files are produced when taking screenshots from game emulators. As these files are not able to be uploaded to the wiki, all Bitmaps should be converted and uploaded as PNG files.
 * GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) – These support animation, such as a moving sprite of an enemy as they appear in an RPG game (example). GIF files may also be used for basic, low-resolution logos and drawings with a small number of colors (if you are unsure, it is best to upload it as PNG instead).
 * SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) – These are more difficult to correctly produce than other types files. SVGs are made up of shapes, rather than pixels. This means that the image can be scaled to any size, without blurring or loss of quality. They also tend to appear sharper and clearer than other file types. However, SVGs are not fully supported by the wiki's MediaWiki software. Any relative path (like 'm', 'l', 'c', etc.) will lead to bad thumbnail rendering. If you're not sure if your SVG has relative paths, it's better to save the image as PNG.

Any other image types cannot be uploaded here. The wiki also accepts OGG and OGA extensions, which are used exclusively for media files. When uploading a new version of a file, remember that the image must be of the same file type. However the capitalisation does not have to be the same. For example, an existing ".PNG" can be reuploaded with a ".png" and vice-versa. JPG and JPEG files can also be reuploaded over each other without problems.

File names
A file should be given a straightforward and meaningful name. This will make the file easier to use, and appear more professional. Searching for the file can also be made more effective with an appropriate name.


 * In general, names should include the title of the game/show/etc. (or an abbreviation), what kind of image it is (profile art, screenshot, box cover, sprite etc.), and what the image is showing (i.e. the name of the character pictured, the name of a level a screenshot is taken from, something notable about the image's contents, etc.). This is not a strict standard: the order can be changed and different images may require more or less information. That being said, aiming to have those three pieces of information is ideal, but as long as a file name is accurate enough to be useful for understanding what the image is and how it could be used on the wiki, it will be allowed. For example, a name like "Screenshot-82.png" is vague and nonspecific, while "Super Mario Bros screenshot - Bowser, Mario and a Podoboo.png" is too cumbersome for a file name; instead, "SMB screenshot end of 1-4.png" or "SMB Bowser screenshot.png" would both be appropriately succinct yet informative name choices.
 * Unless said content is in another language, such as the German Club Nintendo comics or official romanized Japanese names, please use English for file names so everybody can understand them.
 * Do not use symbols (stars, hearts, etc.), foreign characters and alphabets (i.e. Japanese kana or Greek letters), accented letters (é, ü, etc.) and other specialized characters. These are often difficult for users to type, and may even render as unicode rather than the proper symbols, making the image even more difficult to understand and use.
 * Names should be serious and professional. As such, inappropriate or offensive material must be avoided. Words should not be intentionally misspelled or garbled, and any other attempts at humour, mockery or sarcasm are best saved for personal images.

Image titles which do not follow the above guidelines should be moved to a more suitable name.

File size (review and ask porple)
Any images should not exceed five megabytes in file size. The wiki's limit is actually ten, but it is still strongly advised that files are uploaded at five or less. Image dimensions are restricted to no more than 5000 pixels in width or height. An image cannot exceed an area of 12.5 million pixels (including transparent areas), as the file won't be able to be viewed through a thumbnail after being uploaded (the thumbnail error does not apply to JPG/JPEGs). If you have found an image that you wish to upload, but it goes beyond these resolution limits, then you may need to optimize it. Image resolution can be scaled down to an appropriate size using image editing programs such as GIMP.

Compression
Compression is a process performed to reduce an image's file size. This can reduce load time on articles where the images appear. JPG files should never be compressed, as some image quality is normally lost. PNGs and other image types can generally be compressed without issues.

Note: Compressing an image is not the same as scaling down the resolution.

Image editing programs like GIMP can automatically compress the image when saved. Dedicated programs for image compression are also freely available, such as PNG Monstrous.

Copyrights
Stuff about licensing and fairuse.

Image content from game guides
Official guides, such as those published by Prima and Shogakukan, are a significant resource of game imagery. However due to copyright concerns, there are restrictions on the types of content which can be uploaded or linked to here. The following content is not allowed:


 * Full page scans. Even though they may contain desirable information which can act as supplementary material for articles (such as confirmation of an official name), they should not be stored or linked from this website. Instead, users should follow the citation policy to simply refer to the publication and page number. Short quotes taken from the guide and added to the reference are an acceptable alternative to uploading the page.
 * Level or area maps. Our objective is to be an encylopedia, not a walkthrough. Content showing a level or area's layout are not permitted: the information should be described through text and screenshots instead.
 * World maps that include strategic information, such as secret locations or annotations. However, world maps which are simply stylized as an artwork (Lindsay's example), without conveying any strategic information are acceptable.

Any prohibited content will be deleted, with prior notice to the uploader. The following types of game guide content are acceptable to upload:


 * Front covers.
 * Game artwork which hasn't already been sourced from other official media.
 * Screenshots cropped from pages within a game guide (although screenshots which have been properly captured using an emulator are preferred.

Uploading modified images
The MarioWiki aims to be the most complete and reliable resource for information about the Mario franchise. We want visitors to the website to expect that all images are accurate to official media distributed by Nintendo and other areas of valid coverage. The following modifications are not allowed for any image which is to be used on our articles.


 * Poor attempts at editing or removing an image's background. This includes leaving behind defects or negatively affecting the original image.
 * Attempting to redraw, or reproduce an official image in any way.
 * Overlapping and arranging game elements together, such as character artworks and backgrounds, to create a fan-made scene. This does not apply when screenshots or sprites are arranged next to each other for comparison. (two examples).
 * Screenshots of games where the official hardware output has been modified, or "hacked". Such as custom palette swaps which may be available in some emulators, or fan-made builds of games. This general standard is consistent with our coverage of the content which is accessible through officially distributed media.

Specific standards which require further explanation are detailed in the sections below.

Modifying or adding colors
Adding false colors and shading to an official image is not acceptable. For example, recoloring an artwork of a gold Power Star to make a Silver Star, with the intent of using it on the article would not be allowed, as the resulting image is considered "fan-made" and unofficial.

Sometimes when an artwork is scanned from a physical source, such as an official game guide, the colors of the artwork may appear paler in the digital scan. It is acceptable to made small adjustments with an image editing program in order to try and match the colors as close as possible to the original.

Image transparency
Transparency is applied to images in order to remove an existing background, such as a white square which surrounds the object of an image. The image can then be placed on a colored background, such as an infobox template, without displaying the white square. JPEG files do not support transparency. PNGs do, but we have a standard which must be followed. In July 2011, a proposal passed which restricts giving transparency to an artwork unless it has no visible outline or pixelation when displayed at full size against a black or neutral-coloured background (please refer to the image on the right for comparison). Any poor transparency will be reverted. Users are not encouraged to try and modify artworks with transparency, as attempting to create acceptable transparency can negatively affect the outline of the artwork It is also not acceptable to replace JPG/JPEG artworks with PNGs that have been modified with transparency. This rule does not apply to PNG artworks which already have transparency when retrieved from an official source, such as a press release or an official Nintendo website: this is referred to as "official transparency".


 * Sprites and models: These are graphics which can be moved on the game's screen and be made to look like independent objects, such as a character or enemy. For the correct terminology, sprites are two dimensional and are generally drawn using large pixels. Models are three dimensional, such as those used in Super Mario 64. We recommend giving transparency to sprites and models, as the aforementioned transparency guidelines only applies to artworks. Sprites and models normally have larger and less detailed pixels; thus able to give perfect transparency.


 * Sprites and models should also be tightly cropped to the very edges (without leaving empty space around the border), as this is suitable for consistent display and usage in tables on articles. The image will also be displayed more clearly in galleries.

Separating sections of a complete artwork
Sometimes official artwork of an article subject in a certain game appearance may only be known to exist within a group artwork or promotional image, rather than an official solo artwork. For example File:SMA3-Japanese Flyer.jpg (or Black and White yoshi complete artwork?) contains unique artwork of many different characters and enemies arranged together as a scene. In such cases, users may have the incentive to crop the desired section of the full image to focus on a single subject, and then upload it as a separate character artwork for use on articles. This is strongly discouraged. The reason being that it's not a good look when we have the full image being split up like a jigsaw puzzle and placed on pages as separate images.

Unless the artwork can be properly and professionally edited to look like a complete solo artwork, then it cannot be used as an image separate to the scene it came from. For example, the Beanie that appears in Yoshi's New Island was not given an official individual artwork. However, it is shown in the complete Big Beanie character artwork. Because the background to the image was already blank, and because the Beanie was edited without affecting the original image, then it is acceptable to be uploaded as an individual character artwork.

In contrast, cropping an image is not allowed when the subject is already the main or part of the main focus of the image. An example of this is the artwork of King Boo from Luigi's Mansion. Even though a Bowser suit can be seen behind King Boo, cropping the image to only show King Boo is not acceptable, as the image is already focused on this character.

Screenshots
When taking screenshots, note that some emulators can alter the display beyond what the actual hardware supports. Screenshots with a resolution close to that of the actual hardware (referred to as "native resolution") are preferable, but upscaled screenshots are tolerated if there's no higher-quality alternative available. However, video filters (such as 2xSal) and forced aspect ratio changes are not acceptable in any form.

Please refer to the following table for a general guide to the preferred resolution of screenshots according to system.

Screenshots which contain a black border on all four sides of the image at the native resolution of the game should be cropped to remove all borders. If a screenshot needs to be cropped to remove black borders or have transparency added (if a game element overlaps the border), note it in parameter #4.

Use of images in article infoboxes
An infobox aims to show a profilic image.


 * Artwork of unreleased games
 * Recent art or more recent model
 * main series artworks
 * showing two box arts
 * Types of image per infobox. Eg. Rpg enemy infobox should use the sprite?

Miscellaneous recommendations for artworks
Which one should be uploaded:


 * art with shadows
 * large differences/artwork variations
 * shared game artwork