Wowpedia:Image guidelines

This guideline outlines good practices to use for images uploaded to Wowpedia, and steps that can be taken to make them display better and/or become lighter for download. To upload image files, visit Special:Upload.

Image usage and layout
Images make an article memorable and pretty. They can speak where words fail. At the same time, misplaced or untidy images can detract from an article. When choosing images, keep in mind placement, size, and the appropriateness of the image to the section. Let images flow with the text instead of break it up.

Almost all images (especially screenshots) should use the "thumb" (example: ) option which displays large images as thumbnails. Images should generally be right aligned to enhance readability by allowing a smooth flow of text down the left margin - the "thumb" option does this by default. If an infobox is not being used in an article, a right aligned picture in the lead section is encouraged.

For general information on wiki images, see the MetaWiki page on images and other uploaded files.

Galleries
When an article has many images, or can be improved by having more, and having inline images would detract from the article's readability, the use of a  section is encouraged. Additionally, the  or   prefixes can be omitted. However, it is helpful to include it as an aid for quickly locating image specifiers in the wikitext (for example, when cleaning up page layout).

Image sourcing
To include the image in a page:
 *  File.png 
 *  [[File:File.jpg]]  for a direct link

For more methods of showing or linking images, see Help:Editing and Help:Navigational image.

Transparency
Images that require transparency should use the PNG file format. GIFs also handle transparency, but only in an on-off sense; they do not allow smooth shading (anti-aliasing) of edges, which is required to work with our different wiki skins, and they only support 256 colors.

Screenshot layout
Game screenshots are "photo" like in appearance, and rectangular (do not need shading). Make sure to increase your "Antialiasing" in the in-game options (SSAA being the highest quality and FXAA the lowest) in order to smoothen out rough edges.


 * Location pictures should...
 * Show no UI
 * Not show the player character
 * Example location


 * NPC portraits should...
 * Show the NPC selected
 * Be highlighted by hovering over the NPC with the mouse or targeting them (select them), especially in cases where the NPC is standing in a dark place
 * Show no UI
 * This includes turning off the NPC color outlines and the targeting circle (the circle under the targeted NPC)
 * The targeting circle can be removed by using an AddOn such as RemoveSelectionCircle or setting ObjectSelectionCircle to 0.
 * Be cropped to the NPC's shape
 * Example NPC


 * Item screenshots should...
 * Not contain player's names and UI
 * Be cropped to the item's shape or position
 * Example item


 * Photographs or renderings of physical objects should...
 * NOT contain anything else other than the object itself
 * Be taken against a background of a solid color
 * Preferably a black or white background or using a green screen
 * Be cropped to the object itself if need be
 * Example object

Resolution

 * Crop non-landscape images to show the important areas.
 * Do not upload huge images - try to keep to about 1920x1080 or 3840x2160 as a reasonable upper size limit.
 * Do not blow up small images to larger sizes without good reason - as this can detract from their overall quality.

Programs
Programs can be easier to use than the ingame screenshot system. Here is a list of programs that help crop an image before taking a screenshot.
 * - provided with modern Windows systems
 * Snip & Sketch - provided with 
 * - macOS software
 * lightshot - free
 * ScreenToGif - free and open source
 * ShareX - free and open source