User talk:MrLizard

Talk to me here! &rArr; MrLizard (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 19:18, August 22, 2020 (EDT)

Monster Images - Style
I noticed that on your userpage, you have a project to upload images for monsters that are missing them. I've had a thought of doing the same, although I'm still relatively new to the wiki. I have started taking screenshots of monsters I see that don't have images, but now I am paused at what to do next; specifically, I wanted to see if there are any guidelines or recommendations on how to crop the images (note: I only have MS Paint), what format to save them as, or...anything else I might -not- know about. Since you have this as a project of your own, I figured I would ask you for tips and advice! If you could tell me anything and everything someone would need to know on what to do to upload a -good- image, what criteria to fulfill, that would be greatly appreciated! &rArr; TheWarforgedArtificer (Contribs • Message • Email ) 13:37, October 7, 2020 (EDT)
 * Don't worry, I am also new to the wiki. I must confess I am not an expert on taking pictures of monsters and uploading to the wiki. I also need some advices. I will detail the procedure I usually go through when taking pictures of monsters, but as you will see, it can be VERY painful. There MUST be a easier way to make good images. I use GIMP do edit the images (it is free software and available for windows), and usually upload them in png format. The procedure assume you are playing DDO on Windows 10:
 * 1: Make sure the Snipping Tool of Windows 10 is configured to be used directly with the Print Screen key. This will make the process far less painful.
 * 2: Open DDO in windowed mode. This will allow you to take screenshots from 'outside' the DDO window. I have noticed that at least the Steam screenshot (F12) can reduce the image quality.
 * 3: Engage the monster you want to take a picture. Zoom in until you enter in first-person view mode. Make sure no hirelings/pets/summons, DM messages, or damage numbers are in your screen.
 * 4: (Difficult part!) Have a good angle, wait for the 'right moment'. Full monster and floating name must be on screen (if possible). Then, click outside the DDO window (can be on the windows taskbar) and finally call the Snipping Tool using the Print Screen key. This will freeze your screen and allow to cut the image. (Be sure you are overlevel, because the monster will be attacking you while you cut the image!)
 * 5: Click the notification generated by the Snipping Tool after cutting the image. This will open a new window with the screenshot. By doing this, you can take any number of images of the monster without losing the previous screenshot.
 * 6: Click on Copy in the Snipping Tool, and open GIMP. Paste the image in there, it will create a new file. Save it in the native xcf format for later editing if you like.
 * 7: Edit the image using GIMP as you like, then export it as png.
 * 8: Upload the image to https://compresspng.com/. This will normally reduce the size of the file in about 60%. Download the compressed png file.
 * 9: Upload the compressed image to the wiki.


 * Feel free to give me tips and advices or ask me any questions! &rArr; MrLizard (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 20:06, October 7, 2020 (EDT)

Monster Images - Categorization
I also noticed that you started another project to categorize all monster images that don't have that proper categorization. I also noticed you stopped at some point, so I though I might assist a little...but then I realized, there is NO reason to do all this work by hand. Literally all you are doing is adding to the bottom of each page, right? And you've created a diagnostic tool of your own to locate every image that is used in a monster page but not categorized as a monster image. SURELY this is absolutely the kind of work meant for a bot, right? (Unless you were already using a bot but stopped it for whatever reason, of course) &rArr; TheWarforgedArtificer (Contribs • Message • Email ) 13:37, October 7, 2020 (EDT)
 * Thanks for contacting me! Indeed, this is exactly what I am doing, but without using a bot (all my edits were made by hand!). I still need to learn how to use a bot. It will be great if we can automate something like "Add to the end of every File: page linked from U:MrLizard/Diagnostics/Uncategorized monster images". &rArr; MrLizard (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 15:24, October 7, 2020 (EDT)