Wikipedia:Uploading images
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For more information on multimedia on Wikipedia in general (images, sound files, etc.), see Wikipedia:Media.
Before uploading images at Special:Upload, make sure to read and follow the image use policy. Please note that most images you might find on the Internet are copyrighted and not appropriate for uploading to Wikipedia. If you did not create the image or are unable or unwilling to verify its copyright status, do not upload the image. Also, images which are for non-commercial only use and by permission only are not acceptable for Wikipedia [1]. For hints on how to find images appropriate for uploading, see the finding images tutorial. It might also be helpful to read Wikipedia:Preparing images for upload.
Contents |
[edit] How to upload
[edit] Determine image copyright status
- Determine which Image copyright tag is applicable for your image file.
[edit] Free license images (in other words public domain or self-created)
After looking over the Wikipedia:Copyright and Image copyright tags pages, you determine that the image is public domain or other free license (e.g. GDFL, Creative Commons), then you may upload it to Wikimedia Commons. This is a shared repository for images and other media files. Images uploaded to Wikimedia Commons can easily be used here on English Wikipedia as well as by other language Wikipedias and Sister projects. Another advantage of Wikimedia Commons is its category system that helps to organize and make images easy to find. An important caveat to Wikimedia Commons is that they do not accept fair use images.
- See Wikimedia Commons Help for further instructions on uploading to Commons
[edit] Fair use images
If the image you need to upload is not under a free license, but meets fair use, then you may upload it directly to English Wikipedia. Remember that fair use images are not allowed to be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, but are allowed through direct upload to English Wikipedia. In addition to fair use images, it is possible to upload any image directly to Wikipedia; though, doing so lacks some advantages of Commons.
[edit] How to Upload
You can upload an image by using the Upload file link in the toolbox, which is a link to Special:Upload. On most browsers, you will see a "Browse..." button, which will bring up your operating system's standard file open dialog. Choosing a file will fill the name of that file into the text field next to the button. You must also check the box affirming that you are not violating any copyrights by uploading the file. Press the "Upload" button to finish the upload. This may take some time if you have a slow Internet connection.
Note that some licenses, such as the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.5, require that licensees attribute the work as specified by the copyright holder. After uploading, you may need to manually edit the "Licensing" section. For this example, you would add the correct attribution as a parameter to the {{Cc-by-sa-2.5}} template, which would then appear as {{Cc-by-sa-2.5|Attribution}}.
[edit] Find previously uploaded images
- To view or search images previously uploaded directly to English Wikipedia, go to the list of uploaded images.
- Uploads and deletions are logged on the upload log.
- Many images can be categorized in one of the subcategories of Category:Images by subject or its parent category Category:Wikipedia images. You may want to check there to see if an image already exists and has been categorized. You might need to poke around the category hierarchy a bit.
Please note that as with wiki pages, others may edit or delete your uploads if they think it serves the encyclopedia, and you may be blocked from uploading if you abuse the system.
[edit] Adding images to articles
The procedure for adding images to articles is the same, regardless if the image was uploaded to Commons or directly to English Wikipedia. To make your uploaded file appear in an article, you need to insert it: edit the article and add the syntax
[[Image:Image name|thumb|Caption]]
where you want the file to appear.
Important: Image names are case-sensitive. For example, if an image is called Picture.jpg then neither picture.jpg nor Picture.JPG will find it.
See Wikipedia:Images or Wikipedia:Extended image syntax for further instructions.
[edit] Technical aspects
The preferred formats are JPEG for photographic images, SVG for drawings and line-art illustration, PNG for non-vector graphic iconic images, Ogg Vorbis for sound and Ogg Theora for video. Please name your files descriptively to avoid confusion. To include the image in an article, use a link in the form [[Image:File.jpg]] or [[Image:File.png|alt text]] or [[Media:File.ogg]] for sounds. To include an image as a thumbnail, use [[Image:Apublicaffaircover.gif?|thumb|Caption]].
When overwriting an image with one of a different size, you must refresh your browser's cache to see the new image in the correct size, but sometimes this does not work.
[edit] Mini HowTo
The Upload file screen has three fields.
The Source filename field with the browse button allows you to choose a file on your local system. The Destination filename is the name used to link to the image from articles. If JavaScript is enabled, it will be set automatically to the same name as the one you have specified in the Source filename field, but may be changed to any valid name you wish. For the convenience of non-JavaScript users, if the destination field is left blank, source filename will be used.
The Summary field appears below the image on an image page, and allows Wiki markup. Here you should include a brief description of what the image is, its source, and what license you are uploading it under. This can be done with Template:Information. Here's an example that you may copy and paste:
{{Information|
|Description = What can you see/hear?
|Source = self-made or URL, if existent name of institution and such things as catalog numbers or similar
|Date = date image was taken and/or released, formatted like "created 2. Oct. 2099" (to prevent misunderstandings with different date formattings — or use ISO 8601[2] notation: 2099-10-02 —)
|Author = pre name and last name of the author (in case of own files additionally ~~~ ) and/or the name of the institution
|Permission = Short quote of the permission of the copyright owner (if too long shortened with link to long version).
|other_versions = Wiki link to other versions if they exist within the Wikimedia Commons (e.g. a black and white version of a color image)
}}
Submitting this information will upload the image and save the summary. There is no preview, as there is for editing pages. Nevertheless, after the image is uploaded, you can still click the edit button and make changes to the summary and license, should you make a mistake you did not catch beforehand. If there is already a file uploaded with the Destination filename that you chose, you are given the option to save anyway and overwrite the old file (although it remains in the image history), or returning to the upload form and specifying a new filename.
[edit] Examples
For examples on how to upload images and use this template look at the following images:
[edit] Licenses
If you are uploading an image under the doctrine of fair use, please place the text "{{fairusein|Article name}}" (or a more specific fair-use template, such as {{albumcover}}) in the summary and provide the reason for the claim of fair use. Always state the source of the image. If the image is licensed under the GFDL, please include "{{GFDL}}" in the description.
If the image is under any other license please indicate this by using the appropriate message from Image copyright tags.
[edit] Multiproject upload
It is not possible to use an image uploaded to one Wikimedia project in another one without re-uploading it. If you want to use the same image in more than one project, you can upload it to Wikimedia Commons and it would become immediately accessible from all Wikimedia projects. Note that Commons only accepts free images (public domain or licensed under a free license). If the image is fair use, you can't upload it to Commons. To upload the image existing on Wikipedia to another project you will need to download the image to your own computer (often right clicking on it will give you this option), and then re-upload that to the place you want the image to be copied to. Interlanguage links can be added between the two.
