NationStates Jolt Archive

Flag Faq
v 1.1 *beta*

If you wish to request a flag, go here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398).


Introduction

Greetings since you are reading this, I will assume you are interested in learning more about Flags here on Nationstates, First of let me say, this, I have made nearly a thousand Flags as of the writing of this Faq, for those who are keeping count or score. In this post I will try to cover, general flag guidelines, tips and hints on making flags, general information, and a list of folks who are willing to help ya out.

Contents
> Introduction
> NS flag guidelines
> How I do it
> Known Flag Artisans
> Flag Ownership
>Browser and OS issues.
>Conclusion & Version Updates



NS Flag Guidelines

You can create an image on your computer and upload it as your nation's flag.

The image must be in JPEG (.jpg) format, 107x71 pixels in size, and no larger than 6KB. Images that don't conform will either not display properly or cause an error when you try to upload them.

Non-flag-like or inappropriate images are not permitted. Please don't post them.

First thing, Jpg only, doesn't matter, it will accept Gif. The sizes that this quotes are the default sizes, used to be you always saw your own flag as this size regardless of the size it actually is, and everyone else would see it as its actual size, this was changed in late fall, and now flags show up at actual size to even the owner. So while it is a moot point, I will leave it in here as it is part of NS history.
Also, the limit of 6k is a bit misleading as the server will read a flag as being too big if it is over 5.5k while this seems a bit small, it is easy to work with once you get used to it.
When I make flags, I will make them from between 107x71 to 300x200 with the latter being the largest I will make in standard flag shape, in special circumstances, I will make them taller.
The Flag upload page also states this (added recently to slow the tide of related forum post queries).

Please Note: You are replacing one uploaded flag with another. Your browser may not realize the image has changed and show you the old version it has cached instead. If you still see the old flag after uploading, refresh the page to clear your browser's cache.

This is important, also you must click the Update Settings button on the settings page or nothing will happen.

Inappropriate stuff
As the Flag uploads page says, Non-flag-like or inappropriate images are not permitted. Please don't post them.
Inappropriate is defined as
Swastikas, Don't even try to argue with the mods about this one, [violet] put the ban into effect on orders of Max, Max owns the site and the game, He lets you play, Max says No swastikas, and yes we know the reversed Swastika, or Manji is used in certain Eastern, European and American Aboriginal religions (it is also a prevalent image on quilts in the Appalachians, usually on children?s quilts), it don't matter it is too similar, and the Nazis caused you to loose your Manji privileges.
Also we know that Stalin did worse stuff than Hitler, and you will immediately say, Why is the Soviet flag allowed, Because Max allows it, the Commies may have done a lot of bad stuff I agree, but unlike the Nazis, they did do some good. You may also ask why the Confederate States of America's flag is allowed, well Owning and advocating the ownership of Slaves, is a lot different than enslaving all the Jews you can find, working them till they drop and burning them and burning all the ones you cannot work to death.
Goatse, If you don?t know what it is, count yourself lucky, if you do, you know why it is banned, as I recall the posting of the Image is a Immediate IP ban, consider your self warned.
Tub Girl, this is one like the above, see its description, Ditto on it here.
Nudity, there is no reason for it, there are children in elementary school playing this game, you don?t want to get a corruption of a minor charge, so don?t do it, also it don?t matter if it is obscene, or tasteful, or even artistic nudity, it is banned.
Also, you put a nekkid child on your flag, and not only will you get IP banned, [violet] WILL report you to authorities.
You have been warned.
Impersonating a mod If a Mod has a custom flag, especially one I have made, it is their flag, Do not use it, especially if you are impersonating them as it is. You will be banned most likely.

*Note this is all I have for now, expect this part to expand as more and more folks abuse various flag related privileges.
This should cover the basics or the rules side of flags, now into the technical part.


How I do it.

First off, I use Google Image Search to locate the parts of the flag, Then I use Photoshop 7 to assemble the flags, I open a window, 600x400 pixels at 72 dpi resolution, this will help keep the resolution decent by allowing you to save at higher quality.
You now assemble your images and do whatever you need to make the flag look the way you want it to look. This is the hardest part, as you may have guessed.
Now, if your image is realistic stuff or really complex, convert the mode to jpg, this will keep it looking good, if it is really simple, say 32 or less total colors, make it a gif, the server don?t care, even though it says Jpg only.
Next, you Must use the Save for Web option in your saving of the image, as it gives you ability to adjust the quality on a scale of 0 to 100. your best option is to now use the Optimize to file size ability, and set it to 5.5k, this will automatically adjust the quality to the best for the desired file size. if the quality is too low, just make the image smaller I use increments of (width) 300, 275, 250, and 200. Photoshop will automatically adjust the Height to match the width.
Also you need to be sure you save the file as Image only, as the cute lil Icon that is a tiny version of the image, it can add up to 30k of file size, also the image preview can add up to a hundred K of file size. To disable these you will have to change your preferences, In File Handling, uncheck all the boxes you do not need any or them. As they only add to your file size.
lastly I upload the image to my Invision forum, and tell the person who wants it is ready.
If you don't want to use a Invision forum, you can try, Imagestation.com, or Photoisland.com, or a Geocities website, however if you plan on hotlinking after you upload the file to the Geocities server you must rename it to whatever it is.txt as Geocities doesn?t allow hotlinking of images, however you can hotlink text all day long.


Known Flag Artisans
We like to be called Flag Artisans, it just sounds more professional, and well this will be the hardest part of this faq to write,
First off there is me,
Loop, I work out of the thread,
NS Flag Service, it is here.
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398
as well as the EP offsite forum, here
http://invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php
(it is near the middle of the main page)
Also if you have a request for me, Please post it either in the NS Flag service thread, or via the EP offsite forum, if you TM it to me, I will most likely Not see it.

Qaaolchoura you can submit requests to Qaa via the EP offsite forum as well.

PRD ditto on the above.

Myrth ditto on the above.

If you want to be a Flag Artisan, just let me know. and I will add you here.
to see examples of my work you can visit these threads.
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39061
and
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398
you can also see the East Pacific Offsite forum.

Flag Ownership
Ok, the Images I make for requests are as I see it Jointly owned, with the requester owning the flag, however I reserve the right to post it as a reference to my work, should you see an image on a nation that you like, Always ask the nation before you use it as using it will most likely result in a Cloning accusation.

Browser and OS issues
When downloading a flag via your browser always right click (or for one button Mac users either click and hold or Control click) and select Save Image as, or whatever your browser's equivalent is.
Most importantly, in Windows, when you save an image, the OS for some reason Automatically converts the Image to a BMP, or Bitmap format, you will need to remedy this or you will never be able to save a custom flag. I don't know how to do it, you will need to ask a Windows person.

Conclusion & Version Updates
this Faq will most likely change, as more is added to it, and all, so please watch it.
Also , Please Do Not post flag requests in this Thread. They will be ignored.
If there are any topics You feel I should add to this, please post here.

Version 1, 12/14/2k3: Covered the basics. really should spell check better too.
Version 1.1 12/14/2k3: Spell Checked it! added how to disable excess crap in Photoshop saving.
=-=-=
Loop
My current flag
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/1_infinite_loop.jpg

I like it, it might help with all of the "my new flag won't upload right" complaints.

[quote]Greetings since you are reading this, I will assume you are interested in learning more about Flags here on Nationstates, First of let me say, this, I have made nearly a thousand Flags as of the writing of this Faq, for those who are keeping count or score. In this post I will try to cover, general flag guidelines, tips and hints on making flags, general information, and a list of folks who are willing to help ya out.[/qoute]

I'll look for spelling and grammer issues for you, Loop, then bold them out.

First thing, Jpg only, doesn't matter, it will accept Gif. The sizes that this quotes are the default sizes, used to be you always saw your own flag as this size regardless of the size it actually is, and everyone else would see it as its actual size, this was changed in late fall, and now flags show up at actual size to even the owner. so while it is a moot point, I will leave it in here as it is part of NS history.
Also, the limit of 6k is a bit misleading as the serer will read a flag as being too big if it is over 5.5k while this seems a bit small, it is easy to work with once you get used to it.
When I make flags, I will make them from between 107x71 to 300x200 with the latter being the largest I will make in standard flag shape, in special circumstances, I will make them taller.
The Flag upload page also states this (added recently to slow the tide of related forum post quarries).

:shock:

You better have lots of time on your hands if you plan on correcting all of Loops grammar errors. :wink:

BTW, my flag is the best EVAR!!!!11!!!11

Inappropriate is defined as
Swastikas, Don’t even try to argue with the mods about this one, [violet] put the ban into effect on orders of Max, Max owns the site and the game, He lets you play, Max says No swastikas, and yes we know the reversed Swastika, or Manji is used in certain Eastern, European and American Aboriginal religions (it is also a prevalent image on quilts in the Appalachians, usually on children’s quilts), it don't matter, it is too similar, and the Nazis caused you to loose your Manji privileges.
Also we know that Stalin did worse stuff than Hitler, and you will immediately say, Why is the Soviet flag allowed, Because Max allows it, the Commies may have done a lot of bad stuff I agree, but unlike the Nazis, they did do some good. You may also ask why the Confederate States of America's flag is allowed, well Owning and advocating the ownership of Slaves, is a lot different than enslaving all the Jews you can find, working them till they drop and burning them and burning all the ones you cannot work to death.
goatze, If you don’t know what it is, count yourself lucky, if you do, you know why it is banned, as I recall the posting of the Image is a immediate IP ban, consider your self warned.
Tub Girl, this is one like the above, see its description, Ditto on it here.
Nudity, there is no reason for it, there are children in elementary school playing this game, you don’t want to get a corruption of a minor charge, so don’t do it, also it don’t matter if it is obscene, or tasteful, or even artistic nudity, it is banned.
Also, you put a nekkid child on your flag, and not only will you get IP banned, [violet] WILL report you to authorities.
You have been warned.
Impersonating a mod If a Mod has a custom flag, especially one I have made, it is their flag, do not use it, especially if you are impersonating them as it is. You will be banned most likely.

*Note this is all I have for now, expect this part to expand as more and more folks abuse various flag related privileges.
This should cover the basics or the rules side of flags, now into the technical part.

I've found that saving the file as a .png helps further reduce filesize, while maintaining quality. Are open liscence products amazing?

First off, I use Google Image Search to locate the parts of the flag, Then I use Photoshop 7 to assemble the flags, I open a window, 600x400 pixels at 72 dpi resolution, this will help keep the resolution decent by allowing you to save at higher quality.
You now assemble your images and do whatever you need to make the flag look the way you want it to look. This is the hardest part, as you may have guessed.
Now, if your image is realistic stuff or really complex, convert the mode to jpg, this will keep it looking good, if it is really simple, say 32 or less total colors, make it a gif, the server doesn’t care, even though it says Jpg only.
Next, you must use the Save for Web option in your saving of the image, as it gives you ability to adjust the quality on a scale of 0 to 100. Your best option is to now use the optimize to file size ability, and set it to 5.5k, this will automatically adjust the quality to the best for the desired file size. If the quality is too low, just make the image smaller I use increments of (width) 300, 275, 250, and 200. Photoshop will automatically adjust the Height to match the width.
Lastly I upload the image to my Invision forum, and tell the person who wants it (Double word here, delete the extra “it”) is ready.
If you don't want to use a Invision forum, you can try, Imagestation.com, or Photoisland.com, or a Geocities website, however if you plan on hot linking after you upload the file to the Geocities server you must rename it to whatever it is.txt as Geocities doesn’t allow hot linking of images, however you can hotlink text all day long.

Lol, Im glad someone spell checks, I keep forgetting to I will redo it in a few.

We like to be called Flag Artisans, it just sounds more professional, and well this will be the hardest part of this faq to write,
First off there is me,
Loop, I work out of the thread,
NS Flag Service, it is here.
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398
as well as the EP offsite forum, here
http://invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php
(it is near the middle of the main page)
Also if you have a request for me, Please post it either in the NS Flag service thread, or via the EP offsite forum, if you TM it to me, I will most likely Not see it.

Qaaolchoura you can submit requests to Qaa via the EP offsite forum as well.

PRD ditto on the above.

Myrth ditto on the above.

If you want to be a Flag Artisans, just let me know, and I will add you here.
To see examples of my work you can visit these threads.
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39061
and
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398
you can also see the East Pacific Offsite forum.

The last few sections were small, so I did them together-

Ok, the Images I make for requests are as I see it Jointly owned, with the requester owning the flag, however I reserve the right to post it as a reference to my work, should you see an image on a nation that you like, Always ask the nation before you use it as using it will most likely result in a Cloning accusation.

When downloading a flag via your browser always right click (or for one button Mac users either click and hold or Control click) and select Save Image as, or whatever your browser's equivalent is.
Most importantly, in Windows, when you save an image, the OS for some reason Automatically converts the Image to a BMP, or Bitmap format, you will need to remedy this or you will never be able to save a custom flag. I don't know how to do it; you will need to ask a Windows person.

This Faq will most likely change, as more is added to it, and all, so please watch it.
Also, Please Do Not post flag requests in this Thread. They will be ignored.
If there are any topics you feel I should add to this, please post here.

Version 1, 12/14/2k3: Covered the basics. Really should spell check better too.

And yes, I have no life. ;) Your welcome Loop, great work man.

It's a minor technicality perhaps, but the "Save for Web" command is not available in earlier versions of PhotoShop.

woo hoo, its spell checked!

Hachi, I was afraid of that, Hmm, I need to load up my old copy of Photoshop, and see if I can remember how I did it then.

Greetings since you are reading this, I will assume you are interested in learning more about Flags here on Nationstates, First of let me say, this, I have made nearly a thousand Flags as of the writing of this Faq, for those who are keeping count or score.

Change this to-

Greetings since you are reading this, I will assume you are interested in learning more about Flags here on Nationstates. First of let me say this- I have made nearly a thousand Flags before the writing of this Faq, for those who are keeping count or score.

Makes more sense that way.

Hachi, I was afraid of that, Hmm, I need to load up my old copy of Photoshop, and see if I can remember how I did it then.

TG me if you need help, I've got 5 and 7 loaded here, 4 and 6 at the office.

I've found that saving the file as a .png helps further reduce filesize, while maintaining quality. Are open liscence products amazing?

PNG is certainly better for large blocks of color, and for pictures with few colors. IOW, flags.

JPG is better for pictures with many colors, shading into each other or in complicated little splotches. IOW, the kind of avatars too many on NS use.

I dont really like PNG, as it isn't automatically recognized all the time by some browsers, like if you click on a link to a PNG, it will ask to download it, rather than just open it and show it to you.

I tried to send a TG, Loop, but couldn't.

Can you make a flag for me? I don't have Photoshop.

Here's the image:

http://www.acidrefluxcomic.com/whoswho/tuque.gif

I'd like to credit the artist or show a link to her because she's good and could use some publicity.

Let's see here... poll fixed, sticky granted, and NS Flag Service's Sticky removed as we really don't need two flag topics stickied.

Loop I'm not making flags anymore for the time being.
Maybe I'll start again later, but for now I have enough on my plate.

The following flags are up for grabs:

http://www.satanstephen.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Berberiasml.jpg

http://www.satanstephen.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Rodriquezlandsml.jpg

First person to claim the flag wins! GOGOGO!

http://www.satanstephen.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Berberiasml.jpg

Taken

Let's see here... poll fixed, sticky granted, and NS Flag Service's Sticky removed as we really don't need two flag topics stickied.
*Loop=saddened*
will make the flag thread hard to find,
and the two threads are inherently different, one is for Diseminating infotmation, this thread, and one is for people to request new flags, the other one.
also I hate to sound like a Nazi, but as I stated in the first post, Flag requests in this thread will be ignored, please post all Flag Requests here.
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75398

Loop

I dont really like PNG, as it isn't automatically recognized all the time by some browsers,<snip>

Which one(s) would that be?

Hmm this one was unstickied, perhaps it can be moved to the Archive?

Is a link in Scolos Tech Sticky sufficient?


http://www.weirdozone.0catch.com/projects/nationstates/salusasecondus/salusasecondus2.jpg
SalusaSecondus
Tech Modling
PGP: 0x0604DF3E

sure thing can ya toss this one into archive maby so it don't accidentally get purged.


if the flag service thread could be stickied I would appreciate it, as folks are startig to PM their requests to me again and I loose them on expecially busy nights.

Certainly. If you need to update this at all, just grab a mod.


http://www.weirdozone.0catch.com/projects/nationstates/salusasecondus/salusasecondus2.jpg
SalusaSecondus
Tech Modling
PGP: 0x0604DF3E