How To Post Images
Ready to post your artwork? Before you can show off your art to the other forum visitors, you have to make sure that it is hosted online. There are a number of sites that will do this for you for free, such as:
Follow the instructions of your image host of choice to upload your artwork.
Once your art is hosted, display it in your post by using the BBCode IMG tags - just click on the little IMG button in the row of buttons that appear right above the window where you type your post. Enter the link to your picture when prompted. The final code for displaying your picture should look something like this:
[img]http://www.myimagehost.com/mymasterpiece.jpg[/img]
You can also use gallery sites like
DeviantArt, but keep in mind that these usually do not allow direct-linking, so if you use one of these you will have to post the link to your work rather than putting the actual image in a post.
Image Posting Rules and Etiquette
exclaim Make sure that your picture is in a web-friendly format and a reasonable size. The most commonly used formats for posting images are .JPG , .GIF, and .PNG. Keep the images that you post in one of these formats to prevent people who try to look at your artwork from having to wait to download gigantic image files. Physically large pictures not only take needlessly long to load, but are also difficult to take in at once and cause horizontal forum scrolling. Please try to keep the width of the picture you are embedding in your post at around 500 pixels or less, and if you absolutely
must post a large version, add a separate link to it.
exclaim Post things that you actually want serious feedback on. You shouldn't waste other members' commenting/critiquing time by posting art that you don't actually care about. This is not fair to both the users who actually do want help with their art and the users who are providing critique. On a similar note,
please only post artwork that you have put effort into. A ten second MSPaint stick-person doodle is not acceptable. For those of you who are doing it to be funny - yes, we know you are trying to ridicule members with less than stellar art skill. It wasn't that funny the first time and still isn't now.
exclaim Do not make excessive amounts of art topics. This is unfair to other forum members, because it needlessly pushes their threads off the front page. If you would like to post a large number of images, please keep them in one thread.
exclaim Do not post your art in other people's art topics. This is called "thread hijacking" and is rude to the thread creator, because it detracts attention from the thread's subject, the picture that they are trying to get feedback on. If you want to show your art off, please make your own topic for it.
exclaim Unlike in the Art Arena, posting artistic nudity is allowed in the WIP forum. However, if you would like to post such art, please include a nudity warning in the topic title and make sure to give a link to the image rather than embedding it directly in your post.