Tutorial: How To Credit
Since I realize crediting is as foreign and strange to LJ newcomers as monkey-brains soup is to anyone outside of Canton I decided to put up a little tutorial on how to do it. This will be short and sweet - just know that crediting isn't hard at all once you know how, so don't be intimidated by this tutorial!
How To Credit
Scenario: you come across an icon journal and see that this person is just giving away icons for people to use. It is likely that he or she would like you to credit them. But how do you do this? And why?
Uploading the icon
As you can see by the below example, you can upload, define your keywords and credit the icon journal in one fell swoop.
You do not have to use the "lj user" code, or really any code at all, as long as you mention the name somwhere. A simple username in plain text would suffice.
And for our friends at GJ, DJ, or other journal communities that only have the "Keywords" field, simply put the credit in the form next to the keyword (ex: Amidala // credit: dinosaurrricons @ lj ).
Remembering Who's is Which
You may be asking me right now: "Yugami, how am I supposed to remember where I get my icons?". Simple: just remember that you can re-name your file.
You've just right-click'd, save-image-as'd, and now is the part where you can take action!
I simply re-name the icon and put the journal's name at the end of the file. That way when I go to upload it later, I have a quick and easy reference.
Why Credit?
Strangely enough, this is a tricky question to answer, but I'll try. Here are a few really simple reasons why I believe people should credit.
1. You should never, ever take credit for something you did not make, even if it seems inconsequential. Whether you're aware of it or not, whenever you don't credit someone it gives the impression that you were the one who made the icon, simply because it doesn't say otherwise anywhere else.
2. It gives the icon journals traffic. If a visitor to your journal sees our name next to an icon they really liked, they go to the icon journal to find more. A very selfish reason, to be sure, but why would we spend all this time making icons if we didn't want people to see and use what we've made?
3. We have egos! Sure, it's just a little 100x100 pixel picture, but somebody made that and was proud of it - honor that hard work, creativity and pride.
4. So you won't get yelled at. Trust me - if there is an uncredited icon out there, we will find you. Not only will we find you, but we tend to get angry and start pulling off limbs. Protect yourself from angry iconers!
How To Credit
Scenario: you come across an icon journal and see that this person is just giving away icons for people to use. It is likely that he or she would like you to credit them. But how do you do this? And why?
Uploading the icon
As you can see by the below example, you can upload, define your keywords and credit the icon journal in one fell swoop.
You do not have to use the "lj user" code, or really any code at all, as long as you mention the name somwhere. A simple username in plain text would suffice.
And for our friends at GJ, DJ, or other journal communities that only have the "Keywords" field, simply put the credit in the form next to the keyword (ex: Amidala // credit: dinosaurrricons @ lj ).
Remembering Who's is Which
You may be asking me right now: "Yugami, how am I supposed to remember where I get my icons?". Simple: just remember that you can re-name your file.
You've just right-click'd, save-image-as'd, and now is the part where you can take action!
I simply re-name the icon and put the journal's name at the end of the file. That way when I go to upload it later, I have a quick and easy reference.
Why Credit?
Strangely enough, this is a tricky question to answer, but I'll try. Here are a few really simple reasons why I believe people should credit.
1. You should never, ever take credit for something you did not make, even if it seems inconsequential. Whether you're aware of it or not, whenever you don't credit someone it gives the impression that you were the one who made the icon, simply because it doesn't say otherwise anywhere else.
2. It gives the icon journals traffic. If a visitor to your journal sees our name next to an icon they really liked, they go to the icon journal to find more. A very selfish reason, to be sure, but why would we spend all this time making icons if we didn't want people to see and use what we've made?
3. We have egos! Sure, it's just a little 100x100 pixel picture, but somebody made that and was proud of it - honor that hard work, creativity and pride.
4. So you won't get yelled at. Trust me - if there is an uncredited icon out there, we will find you. Not only will we find you, but we tend to get angry and start pulling off limbs. Protect yourself from angry iconers!