Category talk:ArenaNet icons

Consistency

A few skill icons are currently inconsistent with the other images. Before I override them with a new version, I want to make sure we all agree on the best format.

Here's the current gallery.

As you can see, most icons are cropped just around the actual image but Barrage contains the complete Anet's border and Water Trident has a custom-made black border.

So, what do we want? No border, Anet's border or solid black border? Chriskang 17:25, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

No border, if possible, I think, because we don't know if ANet's borders will be used in-game - using them now could just create problems later down the line. We can just add in a solid black border later if need be. --Santax (talk · contribs) 17:31, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

I like the look of the Anet border...but it may not be what they use in game...so just the image seems to be the best solution.Book 18:55, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Very good job Chriskang on the skill icons. Thumbs up! ge4ce 14:13, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Formatting

Following the discussion here, I suggest renaming all icons to "[Subject/Name/Item/Whatever] icon.jpg". This should allow greater consistency and more template consistency as well. Also note that, unless transparency (.png) is required (never the case for icons), saving as .jpg does not lower quality (unless saved in MS paint, quite possibly) and is therefore a better option. In case of duplicate names (note: NOT duplicate UPLOADS), adding the version of item, i.e. (weapon) between [Whatever] and icon should rid us of such problems. Hmm? - Infinite - talk 10:49, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I thought I had done that already (probably filled it under "to be done later" and forgot about it ;_;), so I agree with renaming everything. I wouldn't bother to change all pngs to jpgs, but in those cases in which we have two of them under the same resolution, I wouldn't oppose to deleting the png and keeping the jpg.

One thing I'm curious about, though: what are we going to use, "Ghastly Dagger icon" or "Ghastly dagger icon"? Erasculio 11:47, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Ghastly Dagger allows us to use a {{{PAGENAME}}} in templates because that's the actual name of the weapon (as opposed to Ghastly dagger). - Infinite - talk 11:55, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Also, as per the Capitalization discussion, it makes sense to use "Ghastly Dagger" as that is the name of the weapon. - Infinite - talk 11:11, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Extensions (important)

We have inconsistencies within the icon category and it is solved easily;

• Have all icons which feature transparency as .png files, with a transparent background.
• Have all icons which feature no transparency as .jpg files, cropped to fill the entire image (leave no background).
• Have all icons which are meant to be animated (if applicable in the future at all) as .gif files, animated appropriately and optimized.
• Note that .jpg files can be saved without loss in quality. Many graphic programs allow quality of .jpg extension files to be saved with 100% quality kept (desirable if changing the extension .png to .jpg).
  

That is all. - Infinite - talk 12:18, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

“jpg files can be saved without loss in quality” – you might believe that, but it's actually not true. All simple/plain icons should be png, regardless of the fact if they include transparency or not. If the image's source is a JPG, or a screenshot (that is rendered by a graphics card), then JPG should be used. In fact there is no good reason to change png files to jpg if a png image already exists. poke | talk 12:33, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

I worked for years with graphics and extensions, the visual quality is not lost if you save it correctly. The reason why I suggest we'd change all non-transparent background icons to .jpg is to free up the .png extension for item cut-outs/renders. It makes sense, really. - Infinite - talk 12:39, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

And to elaborate; I am just waiting for consistency, because I believe it matters. - Infinite - talk 12:54, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

If I had it my way, all icons (skill, trait, inventory, etc) should be png's for consistency. Unfortunately no one will know for sure what images have transparencies until the game comes out and we start extracting from the .dat. Venom20 14:07, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

I can't recall, but don't the .dat files just export information which is visualized by a program and exported to suit the user's whim, as in; the user determines the file type? - Infinite - talk 14:18, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

“the visual quality is not lost if you save it correctly” – visual, yes, but jpg is still is lossy format, whereas png is completely lossless. Again, there is absolutely no reason to convert existing png files to jpg just for “consistency”, and there is also no reason to restrict png just to transparent images. poke | talk 15:25, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

But if the extensions are consistent throughout an entire type of icons (which it currently isn't for icons), templates can be made to interact with them automatically, saving editable variables and thus time to edit. I don't particulary mind which extension per say, as long as it is a single extension per type. (For instance, .jpg for all item icons and .png for all.) In my favoured outcome, though, non-transparent icons would be uploaded as .jpg. And the .png extension saved for transparent images and image with a lot of detail that shouldn't lose any quality at all (think concept art). - Infinite - talk 15:35, 22 February 2011 (UTC)