Help:Images

Images are used on Starfield Wiki to provide visual examples of NPCs, systems, planets, locations, aliens, items, and missions. If you have an image you would like to add to a page, feel free to upload it following the steps below. This page provides details on how to create good screenshots, recommended file formats, and standards for different types of images.

The most common source of Starfield Wiki images is game screenshots, but images that you have created yourself are also acceptable (provided they are relevant and are good quality).

Images on websites other than Starfield Wiki can not in general be copied here. Images that have been copied from elsewhere that violate our copyright policy will be deleted on sight. Contact an administrator if you have questions about the legality of an image.


 * For categories listing all images by game and by subject, see Category:Images.
 * For a full, searchable gallery of all images on Starfield Wiki (listed by the newest first), see Special:NewFiles.
 * For a list of specially requested images, see StarfieldWiki:Image Requests.

Screenshots
The following instructions provide some tips on how to create screenshots while playing the games.

When you capture a screenshot, the image may be saved as a BMP file. Do not upload BMP files. BMP format is not supported by web browsers, and the files are very large in size. Before uploading, you must convert the files to a more web-friendly format; JPG is the standard for screenshots. For Windows, Microsoft Paint is the simplest option&mdash;just open and then 'Save as' selecting .jpg as the format. While you are converting the file, you can also consider editing the file. For example, you may want to crop out unnecessary parts of the image, change the image to a square image (for NPC images), or change the brightness/contrast in order to make the subject more visible. See the Image Standards section below for more details.

Uploading Images
Once you have an appropriate image, the next step in adding it to the wiki is uploading it. At the bottom of the left-hand menu on any wiki page, under the "tools" heading, is an "Upload File" link. Clicking that link will pull up a window where you can browse to find the file you wish to upload. Fill in the remaining entries on the page:
 * Destination Filename: Provide an appropriate name for the file.
 * Summary: Enter a brief description of the image.
 * Licensing: Choose one of the options in the drop-down menu. For screenshots, use "Screenshot generated by a Starfield Wiki user and not taken from any other site" (sfwimage) to use the sfwimage license. For other Starfield images, such as images taken from official Starfield sites, use sfimage instead. Other image licenses can be found here. If in doubt, select "I don't know the license"; the license information can be added later.
 * Category: Enabling the HotCat gadget in your wiki preferences will allow you to add the appropriate category directly from the Upload File page. Otherwise, the category will have to be added manually in the "Summary" box, or by editing the file page after the upload. Choose the appropriate category for the game and type of image you're uploading (such as Category:Starfield-System Images). Images intended for use on your user page should have the User Images category. It doesn't matter where the category goes on the page as it is not displayed.

Click Upload File.

If you made a mistake in the summary or licensing of the image, these can be modified from the "File:" page by clicking the edit tab. This will pull up a standard wiki edit window. If you forgot to include a license, add the following to the end of the edit window (for screenshots):


 * == Licensing ==

Note that Starfield Wiki is not a general image-hosting server. Any non-Starfield Wiki images that are uploaded will normally be deleted on sight.

Replacing Images
Any image can be replaced using the "Upload a new version of this file" link on the file page. In general, this is only appropriate if your new image is of significantly better quality than the existing image, or if you have edited the previous image to improve its quality, correct the aspect ratio, or fix any other issues with it such as visible UI or being too dark. Images uploaded in undesired formats need to be re-uploaded using the correct format for both the image and name.

Occasionally when an image is replaced, the thumbnail of the image will not update right away. If you notice this problem after you update an image, purging the page should fix the problem. To purge an image, click on "edit" on the image's page, then in the URL replace "edit" by "purge" and hit Enter.

Image Standards
All images should be free of text and user interface elements and free of objects or characters added by mods. Depending on the subject of the image, the aspect ratio should be either 4:3 (e.g., 1024x768 or 1600x1200), 16:9 (e.g. 1920x1080), 16:10 (1920x1200), or 1:1 (e.g., 1200x1200). Images should use 16:9 and 16:10 over 4:3 for images that use those aspect ratios (see table), although 4:3 is still allowed.


 * Creature images should show the creature as clearly as possible. For larger creatures, an image of one animal is preferred. For very small creatures, such as insects, multiple creatures may appear in the image.
 * Exterior images should generally show an aspect of the building or location that makes it easy to identify in-game.
 * Flora images should feature the plant in as much detail as possible.
 * Ingredient images should display the ingredient clearly, without any other clutter nearby.
 * Interior images should show as much of the interior area as possible. Depending on the size of the location, more than one interior image may be needed for a page.
 * Item images are not ingredient images or flora images; if a 1:1 image of an ingredient or flora type is needed, it is best to make a duplicate and designate the 1:1 image as an "item".
 * Map images can have text annotations, though use of Image Mark and related templates is often preferable.
 * NPC images should show as much of the NPC as possible, preferably performing some kind of action, but the priority is to create an image that allows clear and easy visual identification of the NPC. It should have a 1:1 aspect ratio and preferably be at least 900x900 pixels in resolution.
 * Quest images should show something unique from the quest. If this isn't possible, a place or NPC image may be used instead.
 * Story images are additional images used to illustrate NPC pages. These should show the NPC during key quest moments or performing other actions.

Fixing an Aspect Ratio
If an image does not conform to the preferred aspect ratio, there are several ways to fix it:
 * Crop the image down to fit the preferred size.
 * If the image is surrounded by empty space (e.g., black or transparent), add more empty space on either side in the proper dimension to fit the preferred size. This generally only applies to things like icons.
 * Do not squash or stretch the image in order to meet aspect ratio standards. An image with a nonstandard aspect ratio is preferable to one which is distorted.
 * Do not add letter-boxing to fill the space, unless the image is already surrounded by black as mentioned above.
 * If the image cannot be cropped or expanded to meet the aspect ratio standard without significantly reducing its quality (e.g., cropping out an important feature in the image), it may need to be completely replaced with a new image.

Naming Images
The standard naming format for all images is:. Start the image name with a prefix for the appropriate namespace, follow the prefix with a category, and finish the name with a description of the image, capitalizing the first letter of each word.

Use the full, in-game name of the subject of the image (i.e., File:SF-item-Chunks.jpg, not Chunks.jpg). For additional images of the same subject, numerals should be added to the file names (i.e., File:SF-npc-Marika Boros.png, File:SF-npc-Marika Boros 2.png, etc.).

Images that are intended for use on your user page or in talk page discussions should follow the following format:.

* The categories listed here are common examples; other category names may be used as applicable.

Renaming Images
If you make a mistake naming your image, you can ask for it to be renamed by clicking the "edit" tab on the file page and adding the following to the top of the page:

where xx = the game code; yyy = the category; and zzzz = the correct file name. If you are not sure how the file should be renamed, don't add a parameter. For example:
 * rename

If you are uncomfortable inserting this code, ask for help on the talk page or seek out an active editor on StarfieldWiki's Discord server.

If you are able to move files yourself, please follow these steps to ensure the process is completed correctly:
 * 1) Check for any links to the file by looking at "What Links Here" ( Special:WhatLinksHere/Filename ). If there are links to the file, you will need to make sure they are updated after the file is moved.
 * 2) Click on the "move" tab at the top of the page.
 * 3) Type the new name of the file in the text input box to the right of "File".
 * 4) In the text input box below, provide a reason, such as "Correcting filename".
 * 5) Click "Move Page".
 * 6) A screen will return reporting "move succeeded". If you receive a different message, try again. If it prevents you again, ask an administrator or patroller for help.
 * 7) The move successful page will also note that a redirect has been created, as well as any related talk pages. Administrators may suppress redirects to cut down on pages that need to be deleted later.
 * 8) Update any links you found before from the old file name to the new file name.
 * 9) Mark the old file (now a redirect) for deletion by adding the following above the #REDIRECT:
 * Adding a colon before the "File" part of the text will prevent the image from loading in full on the redirect page: change  to.
 * Adding a colon before the "File" part of the text will prevent the image from loading in full on the redirect page: change  to.

Acceptable Image Formats

 * JPG is the standard format for screenshots and other larger images.
 * JPG is better than PNG for screenshots and large images, because they compress more efficiently.
 * PNG is the standard format for icons.
 * They have the best alpha for images requiring transparency.
 * Can easily be resized.
 * GIF files are not a preferred file type in StarfieldWiki and should be used in special cases only.
 * Ideal for small graphics with few colors.
 * The only accepted format that supports animations, albeit short ones.
 * Limited alpha capability, so are generally not best for creating transparent images.
 * Don't scale well (it is difficult to resize them).

Most other image formats are not widely supported by web browsers. BMP files may be seen as a result of taking in-game screenshots, but they are a bad format for the site because they are not compressed and so require much more storage space than other types of files.

Improving Screenshots
Screenshots are usually saved as BMP files. Do not upload BMP files to the wiki, because their file sizes are very large. Before uploading, use graphics software such as Photoshop, GIMP (free download here), Microsoft Paint, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, Paint.NET (free download here), etc., to convert the BMP files to an acceptable image format. The jpg format is the standard for screenshots. Also consider editing the file to improve the quality of the image. For example, crop out any unnecessary parts, or brighten it up and enhance the contrast.

All of the above can generally be accomplished by clicking on "auto-correct" in MS Office Picture Manager.
 * It is useful to open a histogram window to judge the overall color quality of the picture if you are using GIMP, Photoshop, or another application that supports this. Before uploading to the wiki, it should look like a moderately steep hill with its peak at the horizontal midpoint, or a bit to the left of it.
 * You can use image tools like gamma correction or color levels to brighten the picture (move the hill to the right).
 * Finally, use a simple contrast tool to broaden the curve so that it covers 60% or more of the horizontal area.

In general, files can be uploaded at their original resolution. The wiki will automatically create smaller versions of the file for use on most wiki pages, and users can click on these to see the full-size image.

Adding Images to Pages
To add an image to a page, you need to use the  tag, as in this example:   (replace "filename.jpg" with whatever name you chose for your file when uploading it). This will insert the image right into the line of text. So, for example,  produces a full-size image  that becomes part of the paragraph.

When you are adding images it is highly recommended that you use the Show Preview button before saving the page. This is general good practice when editing wiki pages, but becomes more important when you start adding more complicated features such as images.

Image Size, Height, and Width
For any images other than icons, you probably do not want to include the full-size image on the wiki page. In general, images such as screenshots should be displayed as a thumbnail (see this section).

If you need to specify a specific display size, add the desired width to the File tag. So  produces. You should generally only reduce the size of an image, not enlarge it, as stretched images lose quality.

You can also specify the height of an image rather than the width, but this is more difficult. You must first specify a width that you are sure will be higher than it should be, then follow it with an "x" and the desired value for the height. produces. The "500" value in this case is arbitrary, and can be any number that is higher than the resulting width will be. Using this syntax, you can specify both the maximum width and height for a whole set of images in order to standardize a set of images with varying aspect ratios.

Wrapping
Subsequent paragraphs will continue to wrap around the image that you have inserted. Often, this is what is desired. At other times, the wrapping can become somewhat messy. In particular, if you insert multiple images and they overlap you may not end up with the desired effect. To force the rest of the page to start below the image you have inserted, you can insert the code NewLine. NewLine is not always appropriate, so you can use NewLeft or NewRight instead for text to wrap on only one side of the article. NewLeft is very common due to NPC, place, and other templated pages having their main image in the top-left corner.

Captions
It is generally recommended that you provide a description of your image. This is accomplished by adding the description to the end of your tag. So the complete version of the image command, used to create the image shown at the left-hand side of this paragraph, is:. Note that if you do not include the  in this command, you will not see the caption; the text will only be shown if you hover over the image.

Image Position
An image inserted into a page without the  tag will be inserted in the middle of the text, and images with the   tag are aligned to the right by default. Most commonly, you will want your image shown at the side of the page, with the rest of the text wrapping around it. To change the horizontal alignment of a non-thumbnail image, add a position to the File tag. For example,  would place the image to the right of the paragraph.

A set of vertical alignment options is also available. They are shown below. The first four (default, top, middle, and bottom) place the text relative to the picture. For example,  places the text in the middle of the picture's height. This is more apparent on taller pictures.

The last five place the picture at various positions based upon the text. For example,  places the picture even with the bottom of the superscript.

The underlined word "frog" is used here because it has both an ascender letter "f" and a descender letter "g" with the underline pointing toward the picture which facilitates comparisons. The word "after" is used to demonstrate the continuation of the alignment. The orange highlighting is used to show how high the text line actually is, from bottom to top. The default is. Often the differences are not apparent for a particular font. Here,  and   are the same.

Thumbnails
Specifying a particular image size as above is only appropriate for icons and small images, because it does not actually create a thumbnail version of the image. For most images, add  or   in order to ensure that the wiki generates a reduced-size version of the image. For example,  produces the image at the right. In general, it is not necessary to specify a particular width for thumbnails; the thumbnail will default to the reader's preferred thumbnail size (180px for readers who have not set a preference).

Thumbnail images are by default positioned on the right-hand side of the page, as evident with the example in the previous paragraph. If you want the image to align with the top of the paragraph, you would put the File tag at the start of the paragraph. Thumbnails always default to the right side of the page. If you want a thumbnail to appear on the left or in the middle, use the following format:. Replace  with   to place it in the middle. (Sometimes you will see a thumbnail with the  parameter specified. This does not actually do anything, as thumbnails are always on the right unless told otherwise.) One final placement option is , which overrides the default right alignment and places the thumbnail at that location without "floating" the image or wrapping text around it.

Aligning Multiple Thumbnails
Using multiple thumbnails is a simple matter of writing them one after another. They will appear in the order written, stacked one above the other.

Mixing left- and right-aligned images can lead to unusual misalignment.

To avoid this, you should alternate between left and right.

Even more control over image placement can be obtained by placing images within Tables.

Galleries
Another method of showing multiple images is to use a gallery. To create one, use the HTML  tags, listing the images you want to display on their own line. In gallery mode, the prefix is optional and may be removed. Images will automatically be created as thumbnails, arranged horizontally, wrapping to multiple rows if necessary. Additional information can be found on MediaWiki's help page.

You can add a caption to each thumbnail by adding a pipe and a description after each file name.

Special Cases
There are some pages that include templates that automatically insert images with all of the correct formatting. In particular, quest, NPC, and place pages have been set up with a template that provides a standard look for the summary information on each quest page. In templates such as Quest Header, you do not need to provide a complete File tag. Instead you can just add  and. See the Oblivion Tutorial page for an example.

Linking Images
By default, clicking on an image will take you to that image's page on the wiki. To link to something else, add a  parameter.

Example:

Or if you don't want any link at all, you can use the link parameter, but leave it blank.

Example:

Sometimes you want to create a link to an image without actually including the image on the page. To do that, format the link the way you would any other link, but add a before. Just like any non-image link you can choose the text that will display, or you can leave it out to just display the name of the file as your link.

Example:

Viewing Images
If you have a wiki account, you can specify preferences for the image sizes on wiki pages. This is particularly useful if you have a slow web connection. In the top-right corner of the wiki interface, click on "preferences", and under under "Appearance", you will see the following options: The first option limits the size of images shown when you pull up an image page (i.e., if you were to follow this link: File:SF-item-Chunks.jpg). Any images larger than the specified size will be automatically thumbnailed. If you want to see the full-size image, you must then click on the image itself, and it will then download the image alone into the browser window. The second option, "Thumbnail size", provides the default size for thumbnails on all other wiki pages; any thumbnails without a specified size, or with a size larger than your preference, will be reduced to your specified size.

Additional Help
If you have questions which are not covered on this page, feel free to ask one of our site's resident mentors for expert assistance. As always, the Starfield Wiki's Discord server is available for a more immediate response.