Sticky: Art Arena - 5 Common Reasons for Disapprovals

[hakubaikou]

The 5 Most Common Reasons for Art Arena Disapprovals
And How to Prevent Them From Happening To You

Hope this list helps. Good luck with your submissions. smile

1. Image size is too big.
2. Artwork is copied or stolen.
3. Subject is not related to anime or fantasy/sci-fi.
4. Broken Link.
5. Low quality image.

This is a quick reference. For the complete rules, please see the Art Arena Rules & Information thread.


MINI FAQ:

Q: Do I get gold for posting in the Arena?
Nope. Unlike the avatar and housing arenas, the art arena does not charge an entry fee and does not grant any prizes.

Q: How long of a wait is there for my picture to be approved?
That depends on how many entries people are submitting, how many mods are available to work on the arena, and a few other factors. In the past, the wait time has been anywhere from a couple seconds to a couple months. To check on how long of a wait there is currently, you can go to the View All Posts page for an estimate. If, for example, the date if the images on that page is, say, 2 weeks behind today's date, then you can expect your picture to be approved approximately 2 weeks after the date you submitted it.

[hakubaikou]

1. Image size is too big (over 640x640 pixels.)

Many browsers and image viewers tend to automatically fit images onto your screen. Because of this, the picture might look small even though the actual dimensions are much larger.


How To Check Image Dimension (Size)

If you're not sure how to check the size to make sure your image is small enough, do this:

If you're using Windows: [click for example image]
1. Open the folder with your picture file.
2. Click on the file you want to submit.
3. The "Details" box on the left side of the folder lists the image Dimensions
4. The Dimensions should be less than 640 x 640.

If you're using a Mac:
1. Click on the image to open it.
2. In the Preview menu, click on Tools.

If you're using FireFox and are on-line:
1. Right-click on the image.
2. Choose "View Image".
3. The top blue bar of your browser should show the dimensions.

How To Shrink Your Picture

Most scanners come with image editing programs that allow you to shrink images. Also, if your artwork is done digitally, whatever program you used to draw it will often be able to shrink it. Since there are so many programs out there, please refer to the Help section of the program you are using to shrink the image down.

Photobucket now allows you to shrink an image without affecting the image URL. When you go to the image page on Photobucket, click on "Edit Image" or "Resize" and you can shrink the picture from there. Afterwards, be sure to save as the original, not as a copy.

If you do NOT have any image editing software that you know of, then there is a really great program called IrfanView that is FREE to download and really EASY to use.


If you are using IrfanView, here is how to shrink your image:

1. Open IrfanView and click on the little folder icon.

2. Find the file that you want to convert and click "Open". You should be able to see your picture now.

3. Under the Image menu, click on Resize/Resample. [click for sample image]

4. A Resize/Resample Image menu will pop-up. There are a lot of choices here: [click for sample image]


• Current Size: This tells you how big your picture is before you shrink it. The first number is the width in pixels. The second is the height. If both numbers are under 640, then your image size is fine, and you can click on "Cancel".
  
  
• Set New Size: If your size is too big, then for whichever number is bigger, type in a new Width or Height that's 640 or less. Make sure that you're using "pixels" as your Units!
  
  
• And make sure that the "Preserve aspect ratio" option is checked. (If that's not checked, then your picture will be stretched in really funny looking ways.)
  
  
• Click "Okay" when you are done.
  
  
  

[hakubaikou]

2. Artwork is Copied or Stolen.

Stolen Art

The Art Arena is for posting artwork that you made yourself. It's NOT for posting cool pictures you happened to find on-line. Also, please do not claim you drew a picture if you didn't actually draw it. Posting stolen pictures can get you BANNED. gonk

Copied Art

Copied art is not allowed in the Art Arena EVEN IF YOU DREW IT FREEHAND YOURSELF. If you look off of an official anime/manga picture and you try to draw it so that it looks just like the official pic, then it's copied. Copied art is not allowed in the Art Arena and might also get you BANNED. crying So please don't do it!

[hakubaikou]

3. Artwork is not related to anime or sci-fi/fantasy subject.

If it's drawn in an anime or manga-like style, it's fine as long as it doesn't break any PG-13 or other Terms of Service rules.

If it's drawn in any other style (like realism or something else), then the person or thing being shown in the image should be related to an anime show or some kind of sci-fi or fantasy show/book/game/etc.

Example 1: A horse drawn in anime style is fine. But a regular horse drawn in a realism style is not okay.

Example 2: While a horse done in realism style is not okay, you can stick some wings on it and make it into a Pegasus. Now it's okay because it's fantasy-related.

[hakubaikou]

4. Broken link.

The most common reasons for broken links:

1. Typing the URL of the PAGE the picture is on, not the picture itself.
Your picture URL should start with "http://" and usually end with ".jpg" or ".png" or ".gif" to be correct for the Arena.


A note to ImageShack and Photobucket users:

For some reason, Shack's and Photobucket's PAGE URLs end in ".jpg". This makes them seem like an image URL, but they're really not.

For photobucket accounts, be sure to use the link shown in the "Direct Link" box, NOT the "Share URL" box. (Yeah, it's a little confusing, I know.)

You can test to see if your link is right by cutting and pasting it into your browser's address bar and hitting the Enter key on your keyboard. If any page elements end up showing in your browser in addition your image, then you know that the URL you have is incorrect. The ONLY thing that should show up is your picture itself.

To be sure of the correct URL for pics, please right-click on the picture itself and then click on "Properties" to see the actual image URL.


2. Trying to link to a picture on your computer's hard drive.

If your image URL begins with something like, "C:" instead of "http://" then the image is actually still on your own computer. Also, if the URL begins with "Documents and Settings", it's still on your computer. It's not on-line yet.

In order to post your art in the arena, your picture has to be stored on-line. There are several websites that allow you to do that, and each of them has very easy instructions on how to do it.

Please note: You can't just manually change "C:" to "http://" by typing in "http://" instead of "C:". If you do that, the picture is still just on your hard drive. You have to actually upload it online to a site.

Photobucket.com is one of the most commonly used sites by Gaia users. If you sign up for an account there, they'll show you how to get your artwork uploaded. It's really as easy as sending an attachment by e-mail.

[hakubaikou]

5. Low quality image.

This is usually because the image is too tiny or so dark that it's hard to tell what's on there. Low quality does NOT mean the artwork itself is bad. It just means that the moderators can't see it very well. sweatdrop

Some hosting sites like Photobucket.com will automatically shrink images that are way too big. Sometimes when they shrink them, the images become too tiny. Check your Photobucket account to make sure your images haven't been automatically shrunk.

[Seger Bonalee]

This should be a good easy read for the users that are new to the Art Arena.

Nice organization there, Haku! biggrin

[hakubaikou]

Thanks. eek I'm surprised you found this thing! Heh.

[Skye River]

This definitely needs to be a "sticky" 3nodding

[Qoi]

ö_ö whoa. very useful ınformatıon you have there! great for newbıes lıke me wıth the attentıon span of a goldfısh sweatdrop ı agree, thıs should be made a stıcky.

[KIRIHITO]

Thank you very much! whee Now I can refer here... it's usually because my images are too big. sweatdrop

[~Angelina Elven~]

But....

Thankies!!!!<3333

Why is the rum gone?

[Ryod]

This helps 3nodding

[Bare Naked Mizzie]

Stickystickysticky!

[hakubaikou]

Thanks, everyone. I do hope this proves helpful.

Locking this so it doesn't end up collecting spam. smile