User:Meco/dev2

The following are guidelines for the addition and use of files (i.e. images, videos, etc.) on the StarCraft Wikia.

Summary of steps

 * 1) Decide how the file will be used
 * 2) Determine whether the file is appropriate for uploading
 * 3) Upload the file in the approved manner

Deciding file use
With few exceptions, uploaded files are expected to be used to be integrated into the wiki's content (i.e. articles). If one does not have a clear idea of how the file can be used to this end, do not upload the file.

The wiki's file repository is not (amongst other things):
 * 1) A mindless dumping ground for any and all StarCraft media.
 * 2) A store for personal use.

Files that do not contribute to the wiki may be deleted without warning.

Blizzard Authorized Work
Images for general use on the StarCraft Wiki generally depict work created by Blizzard authorized sources, whether they be Blizzard employees, or companies or individuals contracted from outside for specific projects, as may be the case for concept art. These works may come to the wiki in the following forms:
 * 1) Directly from Blizzard. For example, images taken directly from Blizzard websites.
 * 2) Screenshots. For example, capturing a still of a cinematic from a computer.
 * 3) Camera shots. For example, taking a picture of a Blizzard poster on the wall with a digital camera.

Fan Work
Fan works are not suitable for general use on the wiki. They may still be uploaded but their numbers should be limited and their use confined to user images and pages.

Other Things to Consider

 * Do not upload duplicate images. A duplicate is any lower quality version of an existing image. Replacing an image with a higher quality version is permitted, given the new version is appropriately sized.
 * New images should depict something that no existing image does, perhaps in terms of the act depicted or point of view.
 * Check the image categories and unused file list to see if an appropriate image has already been uploaded.

Where to Upload
Many images exist within the wiki and even more are available. When uploading images to an article, the question must be asked as to where they should be inserted. This is subjective, and editing should be in good faith, but a few pointers should be remembered:

Image Placing
Images are there to supplement the text, not overshadow it. In other words, images should not disrupt the flow of the main text by stacking. It is always best to preview an image edit before saving changes for this reason. Any supplementary images can be worked into a gallery. Generally, images should not be parallel to each other, on either side of the text. See how large an image is, where it goes down to vertically, and once its reached its lowermost point, the section below can be supplemented by another image.

Also note that as for the core image of an article (e.g. the first one encountered), the most recent image should be used. In other words, for an article such as the zergling, an image pertaining to its Second Great War appearance should be presented first rather than its Great War/Brood War form, though these should still be present in the (overview section of) the article as placing permits. Note that "most recent" corresponds to a period of time rather than a direct point in it-e.g. Jim Raynor's profile picture should be of him during the Second Great War. That being said, the image does not have to be up to the most recent minute. Rather, it should be of him during the conflict as image quality dictates.

Gameplay/Lore
"Game images go with game sections, lore images go with lore." This is only really applicable where articles are divided as such, but for the most part, game sprites should be reserved for the gameplay section of an article, whilst artwork, cinematics, etc. should be reserved for the in-universe content. There are exceptions to this-portrait images have become more detailed and can be fitted into an in-universe section if appropriate. Also, some gameplay templates begin in the top section of an article. Artwork/cinematics should be used here, as it's the core image of an article.

Which Image?
Are some images better than others? Such a question is subjective and there is no right answer. Generally, the more detailed the image, the 'better' it is, and should be used over more simplistic ones (e.g. game sprites, which are best reserved for a gameplay section as stated above). The highest quality images generally fall into the range of (concept) art and cutscene screenshots. Keep in mind however, that while cinematic/cutscene scenes may have more detail, they are limited in use to the moment they are referring to. Art is more general however, and can therefore be inserted in more places within an article where appropriate.

Take Jim Raynor as an example, where he first received his CMC-300 Powered Combat Suit. In the relevant section of his article for this event, it is alright to upload artwork of the suit, provided it does not refer to a specific point in time or event. It is not alright to upload a screenshot of this armor from StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in this section however, as this depicts a point in time that does not correspond to the relevant information.

When art and screenshots depict the same event, there is no real "correct" answer as to which should be inserted. Keep in mind the quality (which might lend itself to screenshots) but also that screenshots have been extracted by users, while artwork is from official sources and therefore more appropriate in some cases.

Deletion
Articles marked for deletion are covered further down, but the topic is covered here to an extent. As what is hopefully clear by now, there are often more images than an article can easily fit and some may depict similar events/individuals. Does this mean that these images should be deleted? In a word, no. Firstly, image galleries exist to catalog images and are far from overflowing. Secondly, an image that is similar to a 'better' one may still have a use of its own, such as the pros and cons of artwork and screenshots. Thirdly, there is the reason of posterity. In essence, an image should only be deleted if a) it violates existing policies (referencing, fan work, etc.) or b) if it's exactly the same image as a pre-existing one.

Licensing
All images uploaded to the wiki should indicate the conditions and/or licenses that govern its use somewhere in the description. Images that cannot be legally used maybe removed without warning. The wiki has templates for copyright- and/or license-labeling purposes of which some are described below. All may be found in Category:Image copyright templates.

Template:ImgCPBlizzard
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material taken from directly from Blizzard Entertainment.
 * This may include material from Blizzard websites, such as concept art and videos.
 * This does not include screenshots or camera shots taken by users of Blizzard work. These fall under fair use.
 * Blizzard permits this material to be used under certain conditions (Blizzard Legal FAQ).

Template:ImgCPSonsStorm
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material taken from Sons of the Storm.
 * Please ensure that material taken is related to StarCraft.
 * Sons of the Storm permits this material to be used under certain conditions (Sons of the Storm FAQ).

Template:ImgCPBlizzardDerived
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material that modifies work taken from Blizzard Entertainment.
 * Modifications must not change the content of the original
 * Modifications should only be of a significant technical nature, aimed solely to better suit the needs of the wiki.
 * This may include material from Blizzard websites, such as concept art and videos.
 * This does not include screenshots or camera shots taken by users of Blizzard work. These fall under fair use.
 * Use of the original material is permitted by Blizzard under certain conditions (Blizzard Legal FAQ), or is usable under fair use.
 * This is not for fan art.

Template:ImgCPFairUse
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material that may be used under the tenants of fair use.
 * Be careful: fair use is not a catch-all for any material lacking discrete terms of use by the copyright holder.

Template:ImgCPScreenshot
 * Usage:
 * Intended for screenshots of copyrighted video games (StarCraft series).
 * Material directly from Blizzard goes under Template:ImgCPBlizzard instead.

Template:ImgCPCover
 * Usage:
 * Intended for cover art of Blizzard-licensed work. This may include cover work from
 * Novels
 * Graphic novels
 * The use of this material must adhere to fair use.

Template:ImgCPFreeUse
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material whose copyright holder has allowed the unlimited reuse of by all parties.

Template:ImgCPComic
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material from a comic book or graphic novel that may be used under the tenants of fair use.
 * Be careful: fair use is not a catch-all for any material lacking discrete terms of use by the copyright holder.

Template:ImgCPPubDom
 * Usage:
 * Intended for material which has been released into the public domain or whose copyright has expired.

Descriptions
Each image must have a description containing:
 * An overview of the image ("what are we looking at?")
 * Name of the artist ("who made it?")
 * For screenshots, this is not the person who took the screenshot. This is the creator of the original.
 * Name of the copyright holder if the artist is not the copyright holder
 * Source ("where is it from?")
 * If a screenshot was taken personally by the user, the source is the source program.
 * If an image was taken from another site, the source is the webpage with the image.

Naming
Images should be renamed in a descriptive fashion before being uploaded. This makes it easier to locate wayward images in the unused files list, in addition to aiding general identification.

Buildings and Units
Building and unit images should take the following format:

__.

Note the existence of underscores. The  represents the extension of the image file type and is only included here for completeness. Aside from that the extension is irrelevant.

Image Names
This is the name of the primary focus of the image. There should be no spaces. Refer to the appropriate image categories to find names already in use.
 * Marine_SC1_HeadAnim1
 * Zealot_SC-G_Game1
 * Zergling_SC2_Cncpt1
 * Hive_SC1_Art1

Source
This is an identifier for the StarCraft product the image came from.

Type
This identifies the nature of the image.

Every type identifier should be followed by a number, as there may be multiple images of the same type. For example, a category might have images named as follows:
 * Marine_SC1_Game1
 * Marine_SC1_Game2
 * Marine_SC1_Game3
 * Marine_SC2_Game1
 * Marine_SC2_Game2
 * Marine_SC2_Game3

Note that the StarCraft II images are indexed independently of the StarCraft images. Remember that since file extensions are irrelevant to the scheme, it is not permissible to have something as follows:
 * Marine_SC-G_Game3.png
 * Marine_SC-G_Game3.gif

The following would be correct:
 * Marine_SC-G_Game3.png
 * Marine_SC-G_Game4.gif

File Extensions
File extensions should be represented as a three letter, lower case, suffix (eg. gif, png, jpg, svg).

Case Sensitivity
Names are case sensitive. "Marine_SC1_Game1" is not the same as "Marine_SC1_game1" or "marine_SC1_Game1". The latter two would be incorrect.

Image Categories
All images should be categorized within the Category:Images tree. Like articles, images may belong to multiple categories.

Notable Categories

 * Category:User images
 * This is for images that are used only on user pages. Images used in articles as well as user pages should not be placed here.

Image Size
Note that by image size we mean the amount of space it occupies in file storage space. Uploaded images should be smaller than 150kB each, and ideally they should be far smaller. We wish to avoid having to download multiple megabytes worth of images for an article to function. Ultimately the challenge is to minimize size while preserving sufficient quality for the image to be useful or aesthetically pleasing.

Images not intended for use in articles or to augment the wikis informational content, and exceed 150kB, may be subject to summary deletion without notice.

The following are some suggestions that may help.

JPEG
If in doubt, images should be submitted in JPEG format. JPEG is a lossy compressed format which aims to reduce size by sacrificing some quality.
 * Many image manipulation programs allow one to choose the 'quality' of a JPEG before saving, typically on a scale from 1 (lowest quality) to 100 (highest quality). One will need to try different quality settings and compare the results to the original image to determine the optimal balance. If in doubt start at 80 and adjust as needed. Remember: most images will appear as thumbnails so loss of quality will be less noticeable.
 * If possible find the original image in a lossless format before converting to JPEG.
 * If resizing or cropping a JPEG, to ensure minimum loss of quality either:
 * 1) Convert it to a lossless format first then reconvert it to JPEG, OR
 * 2) Use the GIMP and save directly to JPEG using the advanced option "Use quality settings from original image".

PNG
While JPEG is a good general purpose format, small images maybe submitted in PNG format. PNG is a lossless compressed format which prioritizes quality. This can result in rather large sizes if the image has many pixels and a wide range of colors.
 * Do not upload images in BMP format. BMP is lossless but does not use compression. Convert from BMP to PNG before uploading.
 * Do not upload static (as opposed to animated) images in GIF format. Savings can be had by converting GIF to PNG if one uses a program that gives the option to save 8-bit (as opposed to 24-bit) PNG images.
 * Consider using utilities like pngcrush or OptiPNG to further compress PNG images.

Animated Images
Currently, most animated images are in GIF format. Other formats should be avoided as they are not well supported at this time. Some guidelines follow:
 * Do not upload animated images larger than 300kB. If one cannot, somehow, slim it down than one will have to pick out the noteworthy frames within the animation and upload those separately.
 * Animated images should only be used if the result is a noticeable and notable difference from a static image.

Other Thoughts
Still too large? Consider the following:
 * The wiki is not an art gallery and does not need to include ultra-high resolution images. Upload a lower resolution version instead and give the original high resolution image as the source.
 * Cut out parts of images that are not needed. Focus the image on the object(s) of interest.

Helpful Templates
Template:AttentionImage Template:Delete
 * Usage:
 * Flags an image as requiring some sort of improvement.
 * Usage:
 * Nominates an image for deletion.