Help:Images

Whenever possible, provide images to accompany your article.

Uploading Images

Follow the Upload File link in the toolbox or press Alt-U for the upload screen.

• When adding an image, remember to provide a description with appropriate links, a source, and appropriate image categories.
• If you are replacing an existing image, it's better to upload it over the old image. Use the same file name and check "ignore all warnings". That way, the new image will automatically appear on all pages that used the old image. The exception is if you are resizing an image for a special use, such as in a sidebar or table, in which case you should keep both the old version and the more specialized version.

Using Images

Adding and Linking Images

To add an image to an article, link to it like you would any other article, being sure to include the extension. If you want to link to an image's page rather than displaying it directly in an article, precede the word "image" with a colon. A blank pipe after the link will remove the Image: namespace, but not the file extension.

Typing	Yields
[[Image:Sylar_mini.jpg]]
[[:Image:Sylar_mini.jpg]]	Image:Sylar_mini.jpg
[[:Image:Sylar_mini.jpg|]]	Sylar_mini.jpg
[[:Image:Sylar_mini.jpg|Picture of Sylar]]	Picture of Sylar

Image Formatting and Captions

You can make the image display as a thumbnail, automatically sized to the reader's preference, by piping "thumb" after the image name. You can include a caption by piping it after "thumb". To include a caption without resizing the image, use "frame" instead of "thumb". You can include links to other articles in the image captions. Finally, you can float the image to the right or left, or center the image, by piping "right", "left", or "center".

The default orientation for framed and thumbed images, if none is specified, is right. Other images will appear in-line—that is, in the text.

Typing	Yields
A picture of Peter flying: <tt>[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg]]</tt>. Neat, huh? inline	A picture of Peter flying: . Neat, huh?
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|thumb]] thumbnailed
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|thumb|Peter flying]] thumbnailed with caption	Peter flying
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|frame|[[Peter]] flying]] framed with linked caption	Peter flying
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|left]] floated left	Note: Since this image is floated, the accompanying text appears along side it and will wrap as needed. Therefore, you can safely use thumbnailed, framed, and floated images in the middle of a page without creating lots of unnecessary whitespace.
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|center]] centered	Note: Text works a little differently with centered images. Instead of floating around the image, the text appears below the image and whitespace is created on either side of the image.
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|right]] floated right	Note: Whether the image is floated right or left, the page syntax is the same: first, link the image, then follow it with the text you want to float around it. When the length of the text exceeds the height of the image, it will automatically wrap around the bottom of the image.
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|thumb|left|[[Peter]] flying]] thumbnailed with linked caption, floated left	Peter flying
[[Image:Painting_peter_flying.jpg|100x100px|left]]</tt.> resized to max 100 pixels height and width	Note: You can also force the image to resize using a px value (like this: 100px), which constrains width, or a pair of px values (like this: 100x100px), which constrain width and height respectively. If you specify both height and width, the aspect ratio will be maintained, so only the more-restrictive value applies. In this case, the image is taller than wide, so 100x100px scales the image to 100 pixels high. If the image was landscape-oriented, it would scale to 100 pixels wide instead. You should be careful about specifying a size for images; only do so when absolutely necessary for formatting reasons. Otherwise, it's best to use thumb and let the user specify how the image is scaled.

Image Galleries

Articles with several images should use the <gallery> tag. A properly formatted gallery looks like this:

 
<br clear="all">
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Picture1.jpg|Caption for picture 1
Image:Picture2.jpg|Caption for picture 2
</gallery>

Be sure to assign the page the Galleries category

Image Standards

Standard Image Formatting

• The first image should be at the top of the article or in a sidebar, floated to the right, and thumbnailed or framed.
• If an article contains an image gallery but no lead image, use the {{tocright}} template to float the table of contents to the right instead.
• Provide a caption for your image by piping it at the end of the image link. Your caption can include other links, like [[Image:Picture.jpg|thumb|right|A picture of [[Mr. Bennet]].]].
• In most cases, don't add a pixel width to thumbed images. Users can set their own preference for thumbnail size in their Preferences page. If you feel it's important an image display at a fixed size, use thumb and a width, but remember that doing so overrides a user's express preferences. The only cases which clearly call for a fixed-width thumbnail are formatted tables, templates, and such where it's important that images fit in a certain space or that several images be sized consistently. For example, the Powers article scales several images to match and to fit the size of the table column.
• In general, use JPGs instead of PNGs. PNGs do not scale properly, so elements which try to resize the image (thumbnails, sidebars, portal pages, and such) can produce poorly rendered images.

Image Size

Be mindful that different readers use different screen resolutions. Overly large images can take up too much screen real estate, use excessive bandwidth, and possibly increase the likelihood that your use of copyrighted images won't be considered fair use. If you do include a high resolution image, it's often best to link to its image page rather than adding it directly to the article.

Be careful about scaling large images using width or thumb. While the resulting image is sized to fit the page, the rescaling requires extra processing and bandwidth.

Certain elements, such as sidebars and portal pages, look better when the images from different pages are all of the same size. In general, it's a good idea to make your image about the same size as others in the same category, but for these elements it's especially important. Some common standard image sizes:

Image Type	Size
Character, Cast and Crew, and Animal portraits	200x250 pixels
Episode images for sidebar and portal page	300x169 pixels (300 wide at 16:9 aspect ratio)
Graphic Novel images for sidebar and portal page	300x200 pixels
Location Images for sidebar and portal page	300x200 pixels
Place Images for sidebar and portal page	400x350 pixels
Isaac's paintings	Full size and aspect ratio for Isaac's paintings 300x200 for Prophecy
Powers images	450x350 pixels

Note that Galleries will resize images to match and thus do not require standard-sized images. While it's still a good idea to keep images for galleries roughly the same size and shape, there's no set "standard size". Some common pages that use Galleries include Isaac's paintings and Portal:Plot Points.

Image Sources

When you upload an image, please note the source of the image.

• If your image is a screen capture from an episode, using the {{image-screenshot}} template will produce the standard screenshot fair use statement. Also be sure to assign it to the appropriate episode image category to make it easier for other users to locate it.
• If the image is not a screenshot, be sure to note the website or other source from which you obtained the image
  • If your image is a promotional shot, using the {{image-promotional}} template will produce the fair use statement, but be sure to include the source as well.

Articles Without Images

If you aren't able to provide an image for your article, be sure to add the {{noimage}} template (or the Articles without images category) so other editors will know the article needs images.

If you have used a character, cast, crew, episode, location, or place sidebar, the {{noimage}} tag will be added or removed automatically based on whether an image is specified in the sidebar template call.

To request a screen capture for an article, add your request to Requested Screen Captures. Be sure to note the size you need or the use you plan for the image so the uploader can get an appropriately sized image.