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BIG FAT DISCLAIMER: stop-tracing supports and appreciates real vector art. I am NOT dissing every vector artist ever. This article is about vector "artists" who take other people's art, trace over it, and call it their own. Those of you that create lovely vector art from your own mind or use resources and references that you have the legal right to use are in the clear, okay? Keep on artin'. </b>
This is gonna be a shorter one, folks, but I've been thinking about this for a while.
deviantART prohibits the submission of screenshot "edits". For those of you that have never encountered a screenshot edit- let me give you a very typical example.
Big note: The vast majority of this sort of "vector art" is anime-related, and that's what I'm most familiar with, so that's the example I'll be using. I'm sure this happens to American cartoons and maybe even live-action shows.
Say someone is a fan of the anime Naruto, and they like to RP or write fanfiction or something. That's fine, right, everyone's entitled to their fandom tastes, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with wanting to have pictures of your original character(s). But the people with OCs who "can't draw" often use screenshot edits to create pictures of their character. There are two ways to do this...
Trace-Over Method:
The "artist" takes a screenshot with a character in it that looks close to what they want their character to look like. Then, in a digital art program, they paint over the character in the screenshot and transform it into "their" character. They may change things like the face, hair, and clothes. It's rarely hard to figure out which canon character the "original" character was based on, and the painted-over character often doesn't blend in well with the rest of the screenshot.
Here's a screenshot of Sakura from Naruto, traced over in Photoshop: i37.tinypic.com/2s0monp.jpg
Original: i37.tinypic.com/5mgzs1.jpg
Animated layover with the original (warning, the file is XBOX HUGE): i33.tinypic.com/2i8cdmr.gif
Bonus game: How many times did the word "character" appear in this paragraph? Answer for a prize!
Recolor Method:
Some editors don't even bother to draw anything and instead, simply digitally recolor the canon characters and name them something else. This can be done by actually painting over, or selecting areas of the picture and playing with the hue. For instance, someone may take Sailor Moon, make her hair brown and all of her clothes different shades of green, and call her Sailor Earth.
Here's the same screenshot of Sakura from Naruto, simply recolored this time rather than drawn over: i34.tinypic.com/egs6sp.jpg
Animated layover with the original (once again XBOX HUGE): i34.tinypic.com/mltcnl.gif
Most screenshot editors don't bother to paint over everything- just the character(s) of their choice. Recolors especially are rarely covered up all the way. deviantART deletes screenshot edits because they contain pieces of the original, which is a copyright violation.
So, now that we've got that out of the way, let's move on to vectors. Specifically, screenshot vectors.
They're done by taking a screenshot, opening it in a vector program (Illustrator for example) and tracing precisely over the lines. Colors may or may not be changed. Usually vectors are little more than a fancy makeover- "shinier" than the screenshots they are "based" on. Some of them may be changed into "original" characters, but it's more common for them to just be "fan art". While the background in edits and trace-overs is usually left intact, the backgrounds for screenshot vectors are usually (but not always) changed.
Here is a screenshot vector of Mori from Ouran High School Host Club. Notice how little changes between the two images. The background is what changes the most, but the two images are near identical. However, the deviantART staff would not remove this.
So I ask you now, deviantART:
What's the difference?
Honestly, what is the difference between screenshot edits and screenshot vectors? Why is one method not allowed because it's "copyright violation," while the other method is allowed to grow and flourish here like a weed?
Neither method has the artist starting with a blank slate. Both methods take someone else's art as their base. Anime vector "artists" just tend to cover up the original better.
Vecotring is just another method of painting over. Sure, it's more complete, and the results are, 90% of the time, much more attractive.
But does that make it okay?
Why does that make it okay?
Shameless club self-promotion:
Are you against tracing? Please <a href=stop-tracing.deviantart.com>join us.
Got a question about the club? Read our FAQ.
This is gonna be a shorter one, folks, but I've been thinking about this for a while.
deviantART prohibits the submission of screenshot "edits". For those of you that have never encountered a screenshot edit- let me give you a very typical example.
Big note: The vast majority of this sort of "vector art" is anime-related, and that's what I'm most familiar with, so that's the example I'll be using. I'm sure this happens to American cartoons and maybe even live-action shows.
Say someone is a fan of the anime Naruto, and they like to RP or write fanfiction or something. That's fine, right, everyone's entitled to their fandom tastes, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with wanting to have pictures of your original character(s). But the people with OCs who "can't draw" often use screenshot edits to create pictures of their character. There are two ways to do this...
Trace-Over Method:
The "artist" takes a screenshot with a character in it that looks close to what they want their character to look like. Then, in a digital art program, they paint over the character in the screenshot and transform it into "their" character. They may change things like the face, hair, and clothes. It's rarely hard to figure out which canon character the "original" character was based on, and the painted-over character often doesn't blend in well with the rest of the screenshot.
Here's a screenshot of Sakura from Naruto, traced over in Photoshop: i37.tinypic.com/2s0monp.jpg
Original: i37.tinypic.com/5mgzs1.jpg
Animated layover with the original (warning, the file is XBOX HUGE): i33.tinypic.com/2i8cdmr.gif
Bonus game: How many times did the word "character" appear in this paragraph? Answer for a prize!
Recolor Method:
Some editors don't even bother to draw anything and instead, simply digitally recolor the canon characters and name them something else. This can be done by actually painting over, or selecting areas of the picture and playing with the hue. For instance, someone may take Sailor Moon, make her hair brown and all of her clothes different shades of green, and call her Sailor Earth.
Here's the same screenshot of Sakura from Naruto, simply recolored this time rather than drawn over: i34.tinypic.com/egs6sp.jpg
Animated layover with the original (once again XBOX HUGE): i34.tinypic.com/mltcnl.gif
Most screenshot editors don't bother to paint over everything- just the character(s) of their choice. Recolors especially are rarely covered up all the way. deviantART deletes screenshot edits because they contain pieces of the original, which is a copyright violation.
So, now that we've got that out of the way, let's move on to vectors. Specifically, screenshot vectors.
They're done by taking a screenshot, opening it in a vector program (Illustrator for example) and tracing precisely over the lines. Colors may or may not be changed. Usually vectors are little more than a fancy makeover- "shinier" than the screenshots they are "based" on. Some of them may be changed into "original" characters, but it's more common for them to just be "fan art". While the background in edits and trace-overs is usually left intact, the backgrounds for screenshot vectors are usually (but not always) changed.
Here is a screenshot vector of Mori from Ouran High School Host Club. Notice how little changes between the two images. The background is what changes the most, but the two images are near identical. However, the deviantART staff would not remove this.
So I ask you now, deviantART:
What's the difference?
Honestly, what is the difference between screenshot edits and screenshot vectors? Why is one method not allowed because it's "copyright violation," while the other method is allowed to grow and flourish here like a weed?
Neither method has the artist starting with a blank slate. Both methods take someone else's art as their base. Anime vector "artists" just tend to cover up the original better.
Vecotring is just another method of painting over. Sure, it's more complete, and the results are, 90% of the time, much more attractive.
But does that make it okay?
Why does that make it okay?
Shameless club self-promotion:
Are you against tracing? Please <a href=stop-tracing.deviantart.com>join us.
Got a question about the club? Read our FAQ.
Advertising.
~FanArtIntegrityClub (https://www.deviantart.com/fanartintegrityclub) and :icontracing-is-not-art:
They're good for your face. :heart:
Dead club is dead.
It's been a while again, hasn't it?
I just logged in to find 3000+ messages and 43 notes. Wow.
Unfortunately, although I haven't stated it officially until now, this club is dead.
After the news article that fourteenthstar (https://www.deviantart.com/fourteenthstar) posted back in February it all started to seem pretty hopeless.
I've sort of just retreated back into my little circle of watchers and friends. I have ads blocked, I won't be buying any more subscriptions, and I've stopped reporting stolen artwork unless it directly affects me or someone I know.
If you want to keep fighting, by all means, do so. Hell, start another club. I've already seen a couple of them. I'm leaving the
Not sure what to do.
https://news.deviantart.com/article/70128/
:/
Guys, I hate to say this. Because I've tried so hard to be positive and diplomatic, I mean, for the most part. None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes. And we all tried really hard to change things. And maybe some of us did misunderstand things, and said things we shouldn't have. Maybe there was too much venom. But we did good. We made a point.
But in the end, none of this really mattered at all.
We didn't so much as get tracing moved to scraps. The poll did nothing. No step in the right direction. Nothing.
We are still shit in a pit. Our opinions don't matter as long as we have money an
Not dead! / IMPORTANT/moar edit
Well, it looks like I'm just in time. :o
Sorry for being DEAD AS A DOORNAIL for the past, what, 10 weeks?
In Real Life stuff happened. Near catastrophic IRL stuff, and I will not go into details, but you can be assured that nobody died (myself included... I think) no houses blew up, no countries were overthrown, and nobody as been murdered, taken hostage, or tossed overboard as of yet. =P
And I would like to say I am terribly, terribly sorry for vanishing. *begs for forgiveness on knees!*
I cannot possibly respond to all 2000+ messages in the club's inbox right now, but I have 81 notes, many of which I assume are join notes, so I guess I'
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5 characters in the paragraph above it, but the paragraph itself that the "bonus game" is in doesn't have any.
XDDD
I find all of this to be true and right. They should not be considered anything more then a theft and they should be dealt with accordingly.
I actually believe that they policy should be enforced harder and they should just start banning people (though I know that will never happen...)
XDDD
I find all of this to be true and right. They should not be considered anything more then a theft and they should be dealt with accordingly.
I actually believe that they policy should be enforced harder and they should just start banning people (though I know that will never happen...)