 | Excuse Zblader not being here, he's busy fixing cards. |
 | Alright guys, so the summary is this : the following sites are now permanently banned from being sources of card art.
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LIST OF BANNED SITES FOR ART USAGE:
http://photobucket.com/
http://imageshack.us/
http://www.google.com/
| | Now, with that being said, it's time to get new sources of art. SXC and Wikimedia commons do what they can, but the more art for everyone, the better (it also gives card makers a bigger pool to search through and a better chance of finding what they need). |
| As a result we've decided to compile a list of free card art sites so that you don't have to bookmark all your safes sites and you can automatically check which sites are off limits. |
Banned Sites
Seriously. Just don't use these sites.
| Site | Reason for Banning |
| http://photobucket.com/ | Users have been known to copy and paste copyrighted art here and claim it as their own. Since sources cannot be traced (unless someone is nice enough to put the author in the description), it's very hard to tell what images are copyrighted and what images aren't. |
| http://imageshack.us/ | There is no way to trace the image back to it's original source. |
| http://www.google.com/ | Google Images is not an art provider - it is a searcher, and it will turn up art with and without copyright. While it is possible to find a legitimate source of art, you cannot say you "found art on Google Images" itself. |
Questionable Sites Sites where the art's questionable. Don't use these unless you plan on heavily researching the source of the art.
| Site | But Shouldn't this be Okay/Banned? |
| http://www.deviantart.com/ | | | There is the occaisional nice person on deviantart who will allow their art to be used as long as you ask permission, but avoid the copyrighted art.
TIP:
When searching for art on Deviantart, use the "Resources and Stock Images" option. The majority of images there are up for use, although every image should be investigated on an individual basis.
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| Look for this when using Deviantart images. 
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| Any Non-English Sites. | SIDE NOTE: ...I should probably mention something about people using artwork off of NON-ENGLISH sites; those are the worst to trace back to, since I don't know Swahili or Arabic words. T_T
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Usuable Sites These sites are perfectly fine although you may encouter a hiccup here and there with some of the better images. Feel free to use them, but read the copyright section.
This is guaranteed to be 100% usuable. No problems here, use any art you want!
| Source | Proof? |
| Our Art section of the forums. (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,22.0.html) | Self-explanitory, it's our forums. Most artists keep a thread of all the art they have, so check those first. "Request Card Art Here" is a good place to get more specific art done, but don't submit too many ideas at once. |
| The Elements Game (http://elementsthegame.com/) | ... You don't need an expanation for this one. However, for those of you who don't know how to get such precious art:
I'm feeling so good after doing this  And Paint is the standard image editor brought with Windows. You can use any other image editor as well, though. You can find it under "Accessories" under the name "Paint" 
 |
| Do it yourself. | It doesn't matter if your art skills are terrible. Even if it's just placeholder art, it is enough for it to get it into the Polls. For example, here's something Zblader whipped up pretty quickly using just Paint/Pixlr and Kamietsu's Death Marks.:
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,21217.0.html
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| http://www.public-domain-image.com/ | | | Taken from the FAQ on the site-
Are these pictures really free?
Yes, all photos on this site are top quality high resolution public domain images, royalty free stock photos. They are explicitly placed in the public domain. You can use them freely without asking. |
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If you have any more art sites that you believe can be used/banned, post them here. Also, A Blademaster's Journal needs feedback.
^Shameless advertising
. Anyway, feel free to contribute to this list. Keep in mind for the This is guaranteed to be 100% usuable. section, you'll need proof though.
