Wikipedia talk:Graphics Lab/Illustration workshop/Archive 3

Wikigraphist Sprint?
Seeing that there's a few pretty active graphists, I'm wondering if there are there any interests in "getting together" and doing an illustration sprint? What I have in mind is that we'll spend some time (1-2wk) identifying an area where illustrations are generally lacking (e.g., from the dead-in-the-water Greenspun-project, the outstanding request-list, or some special project drive), put together a list of targets (just like the "top 4" - but including more involved illustrations as well as "simple" vectorizing tasks; 1wk), and find a weekend where we'll IRC/skype for us to keep semi in-touch while whittling away at the list and make a tangible accomplishment.

Obviously, with time-zone differences and other obligations, there's no expectations for anyone to be there for a 16h day - but with a defined time, goal, and human contact, it would make for a fun and productive time. As this is a one-off event, we may even be able to pitch it at other groups (e.g., reddit-illustration) to help grow the graphist community; I presume some of you have special techniques of doing illustrations that the others can learn from, and this can happen informally, or via a "webinar". What thinks y'all? Jon C (talk) 19:38, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
 * If I'm honest, this sounds like a great idea! Count me in.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 20:44, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Ditto! sounds fun. Sodacan (talk) 22:21, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Sweet! Some more thoughts about the list of targets. I've given this some thoughts over the past hours, and I think we need

A broad range of tasks to engage graphists (or aspiring graphists) of different skill-sets/commitment: e.g.,
 * graphs/infographics,
 * timelines,
 * maps,
 * SVG'ing,
 * vector drawing of different difficulties,
 * pixel-pushing digital painting,
 * 3D/pseudo-3D illustrations (I presume that's how you did the Fukushima pic, Sodocan? It's great!), and possibly
 * programmatic stuff;

A thematic topic that Suggestions and preferences? Ideas about what we need to do to / ppl we should get in touch with to make the sprint run smoothly? Realistically we need a few weeks' of lead time to spread the word and get-ready - what is a good weekend in May/early June for the current "core graphists"? Jon C (talk) 23:16, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
 * has high impact,
 * is of enduring relevance,
 * currently has much missing images (to satisfy the range of task requirement), and
 * accessible sources (an active wiki-community that can help explain the concepts for us before and during the sprint, or existing quality images / open textbooks that is easily accessible).
 * Since we're doing it for fun, it would be good to find a theme that caters to our curiosities and captures our imaginations as well. A brief look-around makes me think that many natural sciences fall in the scope (e.g., geology, physics, medicine).
 * I think there is always a need for scientific diagrams, some very linear, like Feynman ones, and some much more complex illustrations, like this one for skin, that I'm sure someone could improve a whole lot. Whether "Science" is too broad a topic, I'm not sure, but that would be a good idea, yeah.
 * As for contacts to be made, I can't honestly say. Fallschirmjäger changes the Top 4 regularly, so he may be a good user to ask, and there are various artists who've contributed in the archive that you may wish to contact.
 * Timewise, it's an exam period for me as a student, but I can't imagine that'd affect many users here. Equally, weekends are actually quite good, and a good distraction is no bad thing, either!  Nik Naks  talk - gallery 20:35, 20 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Heya. I just put together a project page for the sprint before seeing NikNak's message.  I wanted a narrower field so that after a weekend's toil we could say, "70% of [subject] vectorization is done!  3 FP-quality pictures were made!" as opposed to "We chipped away 5% of the requests".  So... as I was making the table on the workshop page, I kept an eye out for what seemed reasonable in quantity and diverse in scope.
 * Being bold, I thought biology may be a good theme, and proceeded to setup a Gooey Sprint project page. Please add to the project page as you see fit; when it is suitably populated I'll post this in the main illustration page as a request for better visibility.
 * I've ask around Wikiproject:Bio to see if any of them would like to help set the path beforehand, and serve as advisors in IRC during the sprint itself. Wikiproject:Illustration maintains a list of illustrators, and the plan is to write and invite them to participate.  I'll also try to gauge the interest from other sources (real life friends, reddit, etc.) - please invite to the Gooey page whoever you think would enjoy coming together to "do art and make the world a better place".Jon C (talk) 03:53, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm with NikNaks in terms of exams (until after May 6th). Otherwise I'm game under any subject, It would be fun to expand my horizons a little bit. Sodacan (talk) 16:40, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
 * This will definitely be *much* later to let me get my ducks in a row. Probably first week of June.  I'll fill out the project page as time allows and plop this on the main illustration page when it's less in shambles. Jon C (talk) 17:35, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Adobe Illustrator Color Matching
Hi all - I have a persistent oddness with Illustrator, and I'm hoping someone can help me find a solution. All the colors in Illustrator are perverted when I paste from clipboard, which makes color matching a manual and tedious task. An example is shown in this Figure: the larger frame shows what pasting into Illustrator does, and the smaller frame the corresponding paste into Photoshop (and also what I see on screen). Note the difference in color between the blue "talk pages". Does anyone know where this comes from and what can be done? (AI CS4, OSX 10.6) Jon C (talk) 17:27, 17 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Jon. Just go to "File" menu and change the document color mode to RGB before pasting from the clipboard. By the way Illustrator chooses the defaults depending on the "New" document type, e.g. CMYK for "print" and RGB for "web" so remember to check that. Personally I always keep it on RGB unless I absolutely have to. On another note, It's good to see you back at the Lab! Regards, -- Orionist  ★  talk  19:11, 17 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Sweet! Thanks for the tips Orionist.  Glad to be "back" - may be able to take on some more ambitious projects as the dissertation is nearing its birth.  Jon C (talk) 03:42, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

New Template for the Top 4
Hi, I have started a discussion on a new template for the Top 4 gallery at the Illustration Workshop. Please go to Wikipedia_talk:Graphic_Lab to discuss implementation. Thank you. –  Kerαu noςco pia ◁ gala xies 22:13, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Proposal for new image for Template:GLNF
This is a notice of my discussion where I propose a new image for this highly used non-free content template used at the Illustration and Photography Workshops. The discussion can be found at Wikipedia_talk:Graphic_Lab. Thank you! –  Kerαu noςco pia ◁ gala xies 20:15, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

sound help?
Want a file converted in formats midi to ogg. Left a request at Commons, but it is super dead there...TCO (talk) 21:32, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Top 4 is too much lead
Currently the "todays top 4" is above the TOC. That is cluttering the page's overview, and it really should not be part of the lead. I sugggest moving the "top 4" to below the TOC. -DePiep (talk) 07:42, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Even worse. Your page is too much cluttered. Actually, it is not a page at all. Just a stack of attention seeking blocks. You graphicists need help. -DePiep (talk) 00:39, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

More bitmap tracing
Can I just make (repeat) a remark, that tracing a bitmap does not (usually) produce a good SVG image. 76.117.247.55 (talk) 00:07, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you should have said that an autotrace rarely produces a good result? Personally I manually trace everything I do. It may take longer but it produces a vastly superior result. I groan at some of the stuff being put forward by vector newbies. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 00:25, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Non-free images and this page
There has been a recurrent pattern here of quite a number of non-free images being posted to this project page such that they are displaying, in violation of WP:NFCC #9. This has been happening so much that DASHBot, a bot tasked with (among other things) removing non-free images from pages like this, is one of the top 50 editors here. I am routinely seeing this page come in a report indicating pages in violation of WP:NFCC #9. I understand this is difficult; plenty of new people come to this page and post images here without knowing about the policy.

What is problematic is that of late a couple of frequent editors here on this page have been restoring non-free images in direct violation of this policy, even though they are aware of it. Twice today this has been done. This was done with an apparent demand that I use some template. With respect, I am not going to use a template. All of you who frequent this page are far more aware and capable of using this template than someone conducting NFCC enforcement. So use it.

The restoration of non-free content to this page in violation of WP:NFCC needs to stop. There is no special exclusion for this page from the WP:NFCC #9. --Hammersoft (talk) 21:10, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The only recurrent pattern here is your arrogance. You've been told by two users (and I'm sure you knew even before we had to tell you)how to properly link non-free content. Instead, you've chosen to just remove images and leave requests blank. Just because new and unexperienced users aren't aware of the non-free policies, that is NOT an excuse for you to be an ass, when you know the proper way of going about things. You're the problem, you, not the policy, and not it's enforcement.  Fry1989  eh?   21:22, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * (ec) Ah, his holy dickness doing his jobsworth duty again. It has been explained on your talkpage and here that you should use the GLNF template. This is a NFCC compliant template that allows people to see the requests that have been placed here. But then along comes a dick with the personality of an automaton who deletes the image so that no-one can see what the request is other than by looking in the page source. That is neither collegial nor helpful. Your standard answer of "...in violation of WP:NFCC #9" just doesn't cut it. Your unwilligness to use this particular template is just a measure of how big a dick you are. Stop deleting images here, you are ruining the functionality of this page. That is obstructive and totally unnecessary when there is an accepted way round it. Forget coming here, remove from your watchlist and we will police it. At least we know what the hell we're doing. Now toddle off and increase your edit count somewhere else. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 21:35, 12 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I would ask you to please remain civil. Commenting on me rather than issue brings heat, not light. To the issue; People who conduct NFCC patrol can not be expected to remember every template every project uses in order to comply with policy. I believe an appropriate response to either a live editor or a bot conducting NFCC work is not restoring the violations, but applying whatever management templates you, who are more experienced with this page, make use of. --Hammersoft (talk) 21:29, 12 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Get the hint. We're tired of cleaning up the mess you make, and are trying to get you to do it properly yourself, because you already know how and are deliberately choosing not to. That makes you an ass  Fry1989  eh?   21:33, 12 October 2011 (UTC)


 * You do not deserve civility when you come here and destroy the functionality of the workshop. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 21:35, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Look, all I'm trying to do is to get the regular denizens of this page to comply with policy, such that when a live editor conducting NFCC enforcement or a bot doing the same conducts such edits, that one of you regulars here will take the opportunity to apply whatever templates you use to comply with policy, rather than restore non-free images in violation of policy. This is a reasonable request. Can we agree on that please? --Hammersoft (talk) 21:39, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * (ec)The problem is that it isn't the "regular denizens" who make requests using non-free images. The regulars are the one who fulfil the requests. Most times it's junior editors who aren't aware of the rule you are obsessed with. As I've said before, quit ruining the functionality of the page, go elsewhere with your obsession and we will police the page. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 21:44, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * You didn't suggest that, I did. You suggested that you carry on doing what you're doing and we can go to hell. These workshop pages are not like any other pages on wiki. We need to see the images so we can answer the requests. You coming along and arrogantly nuking the image link prevents this from happening. Given its uniqueness then that's just one template you have to learn, in fact I'd say you already know it yet your arrogance prevents you from using it. The only way this situation is going to get better is if you steer well clear of the workshop. You are not the final arbiter in the 'war' against NFCC #9, we do not need your aid, life here will continue without your presence. This has worked well for years, and will work well for years to come if only you'd bugger off and deal with the plenty of other violations. You are not needed, you are not wanted, we''ll get along quite nicely with you thanks. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 21:50, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The policing of this page is precisely the concern I am raising. It's failing. When myself or DashBot conducts the removals, they're restored by you and Fry. This needs to stop. You aren't policing it correctly. Can I get you to apply whatever templates you use instead of restoring the non-free content violations? --Hammersoft (talk) 21:51, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * What are you? A fucking Borg? You aren't policing this page correctly either. Nothing about NFCC #9 says the image links have to be deleted. That is your personal choice because you are quite obviously either trying to rack up your edit count or you are just plain lazy. For fucks sake at the very least all you have to do is put a colon at the front of the link. Now piss off with your "policy" mantra bullshit. You are the problem here, not us, not policy, it's you and your bullshit that is the problem. --The Pink Oboe (talk) 21:59, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

I've started a thread at Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents. You are welcome to contribute there. But please, please, keep a civil tongue. Thank you, --Hammersoft (talk) 22:14, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

IP User(s) Recently
I mentioned to one IP user who requested a lot yesterday about how to use the form, and as there was a characteristically similar request today by another IP, I've removed it and posted on this new IP's talk page. Considering we've already dealt with five or six of these (there may have been more I missed), I don't think it's fair on us to continually waste time fixing requests.  Nik Naks  talk - gallery 12:41, 22 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh - I've fixed up a bunch of these requests as well.
 * Following what you're saying here, I've deleted the incomplete requests from IP-user (e.g., missing article, incomplete instructions) that I've fixed up. My worry is that the IP users may not realize they also have a talk page for ppl to leave messages on... Jon C (talk) 09:04, 26 December 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm wondering that as well. Perhaps we could bring it up at the AN?  It seems a bit extreme for what are seemingly good faith requests.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 14:43, 26 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Maybe there should be an interface, something like the Upload form on Commons? That would cut down on failures by having the formattting automated. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 22:29, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
 * This is a very isolated incident. I've honestly never seen anyone have a problem with the form, or completely ignore responses and instructions on how to properly use it (which have been provided several times already).  This user is not treating the workshop in the correct manner.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 07:47, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I have posted at the AN/I here. If any of you would like to post your opinions, it would be much appreciated.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 13:10, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

The form is easy to miss filling out a section title with. The space for the title is sort of hiding. (That said, I would not spend much time on IP requests, unless you really somehow see them doing active, at length article work.)TCO (Reviews needed) 15:17, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Just a passing mention, this edit summary of rm - withdrawn, might not look like the edit of a non-knowledgable newbie IP editor to anyone who doesn't assume the buckets of good faith I try to&hellip; Begoon &thinsp; talk  09:31, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Top 4 of the day
Hi guys & gals - I've made several of these top-4 in the past few days, and a heads-up about how the images were chosen. I noticed that the previous 2-3 sets were quite involved coat of arms, and languished for months without anyone having the right skills and time to tackle them. The idea of the Top-4 is to generate a bunch of requests that can be fulfilled "within 48 hours", and I thought that simpler requests would be more appropriate (as was the precedence from pre-summer 2011). The high visibility would also help would-be contributors get their feet wet.

Within the confines of "straight-forward" tasks, I've opted to pick SVG'ing of the most used raster images that should be SVG. With the templates ones done, we'll shortly be done with the ones that have >100 uses. Good job guys - esp. NikNak93, who's been steadily chipping away large and small requests! Jon C (talk) 13:46, 30 December 2011 (UTC)


 * I made a very similar comment on the Top 4's own talk page earlier this month. There are plenty of images and diagrams for clean-up that are simpler and better choices for the Top 4, so perhaps we could list some there under the Suggestions header?  I'm happy to switch out the requests if I find them all completed.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 17:39, 31 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, I've not seen that page for awhile. I'm glad we share the same opinion.  The "suggestions" current there are dominated by the coat of arms - precisely what I thought was not suitable for Top-4.  I'll look into adding simple requests to that list.
 * While we're on the Top-4 topic - the chIP-sequencing one I picked turned out to be non-trivial. The source diagram is factually muddled and I'm reading up to get a sense of what the right diagram ought to be like.  Still hope to get it done in a reasonable time. Jon C (talk) 16:19, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I started putting in my own requests after I (and other users) put in suggestions, and got frustrated to see that our suggestions were being overlooked (for several months in some cases) while others put their desires directly into the Top 4 template. It has been my understanding that anybody can put in special requests of what they feel is important, and without sounding conceited, there are things that I and other users all feel have importance. I have tried to only put in requests (especially coats of arms) when major elements are already available, to make them as easy as possible. Examples of this are the request for Puerto Rico's seal (where I linked the SVG coat of arms), and the Wisconsin seal I put in today (which already has the coat of arms in SVG, just needs the words around it).  Fry1989  eh?   05:05, 14 January 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry about overlooking the suggestion list. For a long time everything in that section was done, and I personally simply haven't checked that page when updating the Top-4.
 * That said, I consider many currently on that list to be things that are time-consuming to draw (1, 2, 3), some impractically so in a 48 hour turnaround (example 1). These complex requests are probably better served being an illustration workshop request in its own right.  But, I would agree that if they have large portion of the elements that are already vectorized, then it would be fair to add to the Top-4 (but certainly the links would need to be explicit - e.g., I could not see a link in the archival revision for the Wisconsin seal request, and the assumption was that the entire graphic was to be drawn).  Jon C (talk) 09:37, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
 * No, I didn't think to give a link for Wisconsin, but I did for Puerto Rico and the Marianas.  Fry1989  eh?   20:37, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
 * For the next round I'll put up the Wisconsin flag - could you please provide the associated elements? I can't see any outstanding requests on the suggestion list that I (personally) would consider "quickly vectorizable".  Jon C (talk) 04:01, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, what I wanted was File:Seal of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.png, and the coat of arms is already in svg at File:Coat of arms of Wisconsin.svg.  Fry1989  eh?   20:12, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I've covered the four currently up, if anyone could check them: first time in a long time I've done something like this. Also their usages might need to be replaced (is that something I'm supposed to do?) Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 15:49, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
 * They all look fine to me, although the Riksdag may need some optimisation. I don't normally change the file linkages myself (we really ought to get a bot written for us), but I would recommend changing the SVG template to "Vector version available" on the originals if you haven't already.   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 16:13, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I think I added the vva templates to the file pages already. On another note, the Riksdag should be redone using circle elements (I use Illustrator which sadly doesn't do this). It might even be better to define one symbol/use element for each circle of a color and just use symbols instead of repeating circles. The Haz talk 17:28, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I've no idea how to do that, but I have used Jarry's (unreleased) optimisation tool to bring it down further. Now 68kb, so I'm thinking further change might not be a priority? Anyway, if someone else wants to redo it, fine. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 18:09, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Most used possible vector version created
I've created File:Porto Alegre (RS) - Brasao.svg to replace File:Porto Alegre (RS) - Brasao.png. The latter was used on 367 pages across all Wikipedias, could someone with AWB run them down? Or else ask somewhere for that to happen? Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 23:20, 23 January 2012 (UTC)


 * I've asked this (somewhere) a year or two ago

(village pump?), and the response I received then was that automated substitution should not happen. I'm not sure why that was the policy - probably some quality assurance issue. There's a great number of other Vector Version Available images that are on the "To Substitute" list - so if you managed to get this one done, consider petitioning to have them all run down. Jon C (talk) 13:46, 24 January 2012 (UTC)


 * User:Addihockey10 (automated) is a bot that does automatic SVG substitution. Just a thought. The Haz talk 20:05, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
 * How do we make requests to that bot? Should we get in touch with Addihockey?   Nik Naks  talk - gallery 20:51, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Not sure. The Haz talk 01:11, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

SVG mapmaking tutorial

 * (moved from Yug's talkpage)

Hello Yug! I opened your SVG tutorial (which is great by the way) and many embedded images were shifted down and mixed with the text. Can you check that out? I have the latest Inkscape version by the way (0.48.2.1). Cheers! -- Orionist  ★  talk  03:17, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Your request is unclear. I found 2 possibilities:
 * some exercices' answers are 'out of the page'.
 * some editors notes are out of the page. I labelled them as such. These items are not important for the reader.
 * I fixed these issues in the new 02/29 version. If some images are still clearly bugging, then be more specific : which section ? which image ? or by a screenshot.
 * And thanks for the feedback ! :D Yug (talk)  10:49, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Only the first tool images look like they're in their place, all the other images and vector objects appear below their intended position. I included screenshots of some examples in this image. Are you using a nightly version of Inkscape with some new features not available in stable versions? I can't think of any other possible cause for this. Cheers! -- Orionist  ★  talk  05:04, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Wow, quite strange. I guess it's a font size trouble. You don't have my font, so your computer use a different font, with different display size, creating the bug. Need other users feedbacks. Yug (talk)  15:20, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

I've noticed this too. What typeface is it supposed to be in? Matthewedwards : Chat  22:31, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the feedbacks. Will see this weekend. Cheers ! --Yug (talk)  11:41, 2 March 2012 (UTC)
 * It is probably because the font "Bitstream Vera Sans/Serif" is substituted to a different font, for example "Arial" in MS windows which is much smaller than Bitstream font. The text is within a rectangle forming a "Link Flowed Text" and graphic area is reserved by "CR/LF" characters. Then if a substituted font is smaller than Bitstream font, the graphic area become smaller and the position changes. A possible solution is to separate the graphics from the "Link Flowed Text". ―― Phoenix7777 (talk) 22:36, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
 * By the way, "Link flow text" is not supported by MediaWiki. See Commons:Transition to SVG. Please see the rendered png image in File:Tutorial-cartography (basic).svg. (Click 500px of "This image rendered as PNG in other sizes:") No text is displayed in the png. ―― Phoenix7777 (talk) 07:54, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
 * To solve the font problem, maybe use a web-safe font (like Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman, Georgia.) Other point, the "Link flow text" is not supported by browsers either. So a possible solution is to de-link the text and have it in separate flowed boxes instead (which will appear as black boxes in Media Wiki, but will look okay in browser) --  Orionist  ★  talk  08:36, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
 * @Pheonix, thanks for your input. The PNG/"Link Flowed Text" is bugging (MediaWiki/ImageMaggic bug), yes, and that's ok. I planned this as a "SVG-in-Inkscape TODO tutorial" from the start, The PNG preview is not my objective.
 * @Pheonix & Orionist: Edit 1, it is need to change to a web-safe font, I agree. This can be done quickly in a text editor. I can do it. Edit 2, I don't undertand your 『A possible solution is to separate the graphics from the "Link Flowed Text"』 and 『a solution is to de-link the text and have it in separate flowed boxes instead』. If you think it's safe for the file, may I request you to do this fix ? Yug (talk)  21:57, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Umh. Sémhur did something (that I don't understand) to the file, maybe it's it (de-link). May you check ? The text is now visible but bold texts are now buggy, and the texts will be harder to edit (no automatic line jump anymore). Yug (talk)  22:27, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I think Sémhur did "Convert to Text" in Text menu. I am not sure web-safe fonts are applicable to MediaWiki renderer. "Sans" font is substituted to Bitstream/DejaVu font which is much larger than Arial font. Bitstream/DejaVu is almost identical to Verdana font. As for the solution, my suggestion is to split the graphics from the text box. Do not edit the graphics in a space reserved by CR/LF character. ―― Phoenix7777 (talk) 23:06, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Hi there! Yes, I converted all the flowroot tags to text. About the fonts, I use commonly Nimbus Sans L, DejaVu Sans Condensed (like Arial) or DejaVu Serif Condensed (like Times New Roman). The Condensed is especially important. I havn't finished to study your file yet, but you can find some things to correct in the W3C SVG validator. You can group the graphics with the corresponding text also, to avoid "floating" objects. Sémhur 09:54, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
 * FYI, in MediaWiki, "Arial" is substituted to "Liberation Sans". "DejaVu Sans Condensed" is a little bit smaller. Also "Times New Roman" is substituted to "Liberation Serif". "DejaVu Serif Condensed" is much larger than "Times New Roman". ―― Phoenix7777 (talk) 11:16, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes I know that, but the rendering of the Liberation fonts is not very good on Commons, whereas DejaVu (Sans or Serif) Condensed, is better (although this is not a panacea). And even better with Nimbus Sans L (for Arial). Sémhur 18:36, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Recreation of non-free images as SVGs
There have been a lot of requests lately (there are five at the minute) which ask for vector versions of non-free images. As is mentioned in the requesting advice, we clearly can't hand-draw them, but I don't think it is clear whether it is our job as the editors to find PDFs or other vectors of these files, or whether it is down to the requester. Given that these types of request tend to sit around without being completed, I feel consensus is that the onus is on the requester, but if that is the case, it should be made clearer in the advice, and we should have a set response to these requests, so that we can clear them from the page more quickly. Thoughts?  Nik Naks  talk - gallery 12:48, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Yeah. The onus must be on the requester to find a vector version. Most probably, the requester would be someone who is editing the relevant article and so would be in a better position than wikigraphists to find a suitable vector version. Although I think most requesters really don't understand the fact that hand-drawing non-free images would be a violation of copyright. Roshan220195 (talk) 05:20, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Yet another one. Roshan220195 (talk) 06:17, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

See Template talk:Should be SVG. --Leyo 15:11, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

WP:CRIC/GR
We have a project creating batting graphs for cricketers, and was looking for a few volunteers who could upload the graphs. And if one of you guys could... extra 999 ( talk ) 13:30, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Transparency with GIMP 2.6
How do I go about making the white background of an image transparent without any of the white within the main image almost being made transparent? Cloudbound (talk) 21:15, 18 June 2012 (UTC)


 * How many layers do you have? Is there anything against selecting the supposed-to-be-white area in the main image, and fill it with white? Jon C (talk) 14:47, 21 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I'll give it a try. I'd like to make the background of File:First Choice logo.png transparent without losing the white within the logo. Cloudbound (talk) 19:31, 24 June 2012 (UTC)


 * This one is slightly tricky, because it seems that the white "within" the logo is directly connected to the outside. What I'd have done (in Photoshop) is to first select all the whites, then subtract the area within the logo, before filling in No Color.  Alternatively, since you've already done up the fully transparent version, you could also paint in the whites -- on a lower layer, so no careful manipulation is necessary.  Jon C (talk) 03:41, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

HDR photo improvement ?
HDR photo improvement looks frankly great. Does someone of the lab know how to do it ? Yug (talk)  19:22, 13 July 2012 (UTC)


 * High dynamic range imaging is a reasonably common photographic technique these days; all you need is a digital camera (even a point-and-shoot) with manual exposure and f-stop settings. There's plenty of good instructions out there. I personally use Luminance HDR - a free, open-source program - for my HDR shots.


 * That said, the example on that site is mildly confusing - HDR is not just post-processing. You cannot* usually take an existing single image and turn it HDR - you must start out with multiple existing images.


 * You can make lighter and darker copies of a single image and feed them into an HDR program. This generates an HDR-looking result, but at the expense of graininess and off-colored light areas. I've used it a handful of times to fix badly-exposed images on Commons. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 04:58, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see, I was indeed confused believing it was processed from a single image. The site sometimes shows the HDR result having a clearly better pixel quality than the former image, I was wondering how they do that. Just by using multiple pictures as raw material. Ok. Following your comment, I also improved High_dynamic_range_imaging by separating the raw materials from the processed results. It's much clearer to understand now :) Yug (talk)  08:21, 14 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Raw material


 * Thanks, that rearrangement definitely makes the article clearer. Cheers! Pi.1415926535 (talk) 17:07, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

SVG Graphs
I am trying to change several raster graphs into vector versions. I know that I need to recreate it in a text editor. I've seen some graphs with colorful lines and pie graphs, but I've also seen some in grayscale. But are there any guidelines on graphs and how they should look like? Thanks. --Wylve (talk) 14:10, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I think you need inkscape, not a text editor. Yug (talk)  14:56, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
 * No, the problem with Inkscape, is that it generates ridiculously lengthy and messy code. With graphs, it would be best to use text editor, as the actual data can be converted to coordinates on the canvas. --Wylve (talk) 10:17, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * There are no guidelines that I know of. Personally I'd just make sure they look discernible when placed in the article, and maybe make a consistent style if they are in a series. As for working with Inkscape, you can get rid of most of the bloat by saving as "Optimized SVG". Then you can use an editor (I use Notepad++) to trim it even more (e.g. remove metadata, find/replace to remove any superfluous tags etc.) Cheers! -- Orionist  ★  talk  20:42, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * You may save as "plain SVG", a French graphist said it's helpful to clean up the code. I never tested myself. Yug (talk)  13:44, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks, guys! --Wylve (talk) 15:58, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Is there a nice starters guide for vectorizing? -DePiep (talk) 15:01, 14 October 2012 (UTC)
 * You might start with How to Draw a Diagram with Inkscape and follow the links from there … otherwise it’s a pretty broad topic, and dependent on the available software. Some programs have auto-tracing features, but the results almost always need some manual cleanup. Which is not to say that everyone takes the time! When it comes to graphs and source data are available, it’s often best to start with a charting program that can produce vector output (typically PostScript or PDF), then to finish with a drawing application.—Odysseus1479 (talk) 00:47, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Upload an svg file with all layers?
Before I upload an svg file (usually from inkscape), I remove supporting settings (layers, guides, etc.). Is that good practice, or is it better to leave them in so the next editor can work with them? -DePiep (talk) 11:23, 4 November 2012 (UTC)


 * If the layers &c. are helpfully organized, I would say keep them; they can make future editing easier, and AFAICT don't carry a lot of “overhead”. Saving as a plain SVG, rather than in the Inkscape-native version, does trim a fair bit of stuff that’s less obviously useful, reducing the file size considerably.—Odysseus1479 (talk) 18:00, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Wrong pinout
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_talk:Rj25_connector.jpg

The read arrow on the following picture marks pin 6: http://www.mindstormsforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=7875 194.114.62.88 (talk) 10:02, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Wikigraphists-in-Training
Hi all,

A heads-up about an activity we started here at the College I teach at. A student and myself started a local work-group named "Wikigraphists". In these weekly sessions, we train students on Illustrator/Inkscape, with the expectation that they contribute to the enrichment of Wikicommons during these sessions (1--2 years). In the long run, I hope this would help build the critical mass of illustrators, which can in term help attract talent for the betterment of our open Commons.

To get them started, over the next weeks I may post some requests in Illustration Workshop that match their abilities (i.e., simple to start with). I hope this does not negatively impact the Illustration Workshop; the requests came from the backlog, and you're more than welcome to jump on any you'd like to fulfill.

Please let me know if you foresee concerns, and I will try to relay these to my fellow facilitator and participants.

Regards, Jon C (talk) 14:46, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

WMF grant request for Wikimaps system
Hello all, I just announced a grant request on the Map workshop talk page. Please take a look, and support us. We are competing with other great projects as well. Details and talks there : Wikimaps Atlas: generating thousands base maps. Yug (talk)  11:42, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Archiving
I'm wondering: why doesn't archive a section marked as resolved five weeks ago, while it does archive a section marked as resolved yesterday? SiBr4 ("CyberFour") (talk) 11:05, 25 November 2013 (UTC)