I tend to sharpen every image I post in Photoshop to some extent, Rick. I never write under an image 'sharpened in Photoshop' anymore because I don't see it as post-work, more of a necessity to every image I make. Sometimes it does bugger the image up a bit which is why I always duplicate it onto a new layer and then sharpen the bottom one. All you have to do then is adjust the opacity of the top layer until you get the right amount of sharpening. Matt

I tend to post a lot of stuff that is bigger than the standard 800x600 mainly because I work big to start with and dont want to lose detail.

I try to keep the file size under 250Kb on all images though. So that people with slower connections can have a chance at looking at them also. A lot of the time I shrink the image dimensions rather than go above 250Kb file size. But if I believe the image really should be seen at a larger size then I will sometimes post it at full dimensions with a larger file size.

I know a 2000x1000 size image or whatever is hard to see properly if you have a 800x600 screen but sometimes I just have a need to post something BIG!!!

Matt.

Message edited on: 06/26/2004 11:48

Message edited on: 06/26/2004 11:49

I'm kinda stuck in the middle of the Hot 20 thing... On the one hand I don't really care if my images make it there or not, but on the other hand I would like to see the chaff weeded out of it and replaced by some half decent images. I'm as much to blame as the next person though because I don't really vote as often as I should. But if someone was to post a really sweet fractal ninja pic though, then I would be like... WHOA!!! TOTALLY SWEET FRACTAL NINJA PIC DUDE!!! V Matt. (If anyone wants to make a totally sweet fractal ninja pic and post it, then let me know and i'm sooooo there).

I think the Hot 20 is where it's at. It's the ultimate fractal accolade that everyone here should be striving for... The only thing better than having one of your images in the Hot 20 is...Ninjas!!! Ninjas are sooooo sweet and they are mammals. www.realultimatepower.net Matt.

Fractals i've created would probly be around 700-1000 and only a fraction of those have ever been posted. Plus about another 300 odd of other types of images over about an 8 year period. I don't have a collection because I never keep them or save them to disk. I will fill up a couple of folders with images and then when it gets a bit much to handle, I delete them. I have a few older images but nothing more than about 18 months old. Most are less than a year old. So if anyone has any of my older images saved they are probably the only ones in existance.

Yea I complained about the use of superlatives and yea it was started in another thread by Keith. Since this thread was also started by Keith and since I already know he has some issues with comments. I took the diabolical liberty to share my views on the subject in this thread as a part of my explanation. Rather than post them in the other thread. What is your actual problem with this? I can only assume that I have said something very similar to what Keith has said in the past for you to have a problem with it. Since I haven't looked at the archive postings and really don't have the time or inclination to do so now. Then Keith should just be happy that something he has said in the past has not been in vain. It has stuck in my subconcious and has raised itself again here... Now i'm really not in the mood to comment on the rest of your posting except to say that you don't know me well enough for me to disappoint you... Nobody here knows me at all or can even be 100% sure that my name is... Matt.

One more quick thought... In the comments I have just left (all were on flame images since that is what I am most knowledgable about) the most extreme superlative that I used was..."Excellent spiral". All the others I left comments and a simple "nice or very nice". Isn't this enough? Why does everything have to a "stupendously, brilliant and amazing masterpiece!!!" What is wrong with making an image that someone finds nice? Surely the main point should be that I found the image "nice" enough to leave a comment on it...Without feeling pressurized into leaving it because the person was expecting me to... I would rather receive a simple "nice" from a person that means it than all the "stupendous, etc etc" from 20 people who just feel obligated to comment on my image. I think there should be a clinic for people addicted to superlatives, they seem to be spiralling out of all context at the moment. Can't we all just be "nice" and get along? Matt.

LMAO, Scouts honour! That piece of crap isn't mine! This whole thing started as an exercise to show people that they should take the Hot 20 with a pinch of salt. If I can manipulate an image to this extent then there is no reason why someone can't do it regularly to a lesser extent for their own gain. Someone who isn't as honest as I am and wouldn't own up to it. I purposely waited until Rick uploaded an image before doing this (sorry, mate) because it would have more of an impact. Before anyone says anything...No, I don't think Rick is manipulating votes to get his images to the top of the Hot 20. He gets a lot of comments and a lot of votes and they're all deserved. Anyway, I just noticed something really strange (apart from me, Keith, LOL). After spending all day venting in this forum I went out into the gallery and started leaving comments on peoples images and actually enjoyed it! I think having vented sorta chilled me to the point that I could just say what I thought. This may sound weird but one of the reasons I started to cut back on the amount of comments I left was because I felt that what I was saying didn't mean anything. This is one of the reasons I started to go on about leaving constructive criticism. I wanted to feel like what I was saying actually meant something! Some people may think i'm talking crap here and wonder what i'm going on about but I have never found leaving comments easy. I'm not comfortable leaving gushing, praise heaping comments on peoples images. Likewise, it makes me uncomfortable when I receive that kind of comment since in my own mind I have never made an image that was worthy of it... I know sometimes like in this thread I come across as surly, but MOST of the time that is just me having fun, I don't mean anything by it, you really should take everything I say with a pinch of salt (WOW! you wait years to use that expression and then end up using it twice in one posting). While i'm still in a confessional mood. I should apologise to ClassyLadyTwo. The comment I left on your image was made while I was still in venting mode and may be a bit blunt. It should have been helpful, and I hope, like you said in your IM, you can can see it as constructive. Ok...I'm ready for my spanking now, Mr. De Mille! Matt.

Ok, I worded that wrong, I wasn't saying Keith was leaving nasty messages (as far as i'm aware this hasn't happened). It was just that he was the one who mentioned it, but I was talking to everyone in general. There have been a couple of comments left on the image in question...

someone "hacked" the system. Nobody "hacked" anything. I think you should scroll up and read my previous postings, I already admitted that it was me who voted the images into the Hot 20. All I did was get a lot of accounts. The penalty under the Zero Tolerance rule for "Intentional practices that affect the normal operations of the community" is a permanent ban along with any clone accounts...This i'm actually looking forward to because I have WAY too many accounts at the moment. So i'm just sitting here waiting to be banned...Gee, I really hope they spank me first... Keith, a person isn't victimised by having one of their images voted into the Hot 20 by me. The victimisation occurs when other people start leaving nasty comments on those images saying they are crap and don't deserve to be there. Maybe you all ought to look at yourselves and your intolerance of others before you point the finger at me... Still waiting to be spanked... Matt.

Rick, I have never said that I display images just for myself, obviously I upload them for everyone to look at. I just don't make them for anyone else... If I did then I would still be doing the Bryce/Sphere combos or the layered flames I was making last year. They got a lot more votes and comments than the Apo Faces I am doing at the moment. But because I am happy just making images that I like and not trying to make something I think will get a lot of comments or votes, then I will continue doing my own thing, just like I always have. Matt.

Don't worry, Rick, I won't hold it against you. You have as much right to voice your opinion as I do. I would love to think this was a democracy and majority rules applied, but that isn't the case. When one person can suddenly decide to move an image from the fractal gallery into the mixed media gallery regardless of the original artists views and reasons for posting it to the fractal gallery, then i'm afraid that isn't democracy, it's a dictatorship. I'm over the whole 'votes' thing now but what has really got my back up is the image being moved. I can't believe that me and Andreas are the only people here to voice our concern over this. This is an issue that effects everyone on this site, if you just sit back and let it happen then next week it could happen to ANYONE. I'm sure we would have people coming out the woodwork to make their voices heard if it was a popular image! Unfortunately because this image wasn't and still isn't popular then people are willing to just let it happen and not say anything! So you all just go right ahead and not say a word about it...But when it happens to one of your images and you feel violated...Don't expect me to speak up on your behalf! It may be a little confrontational on my part, but i'm not in the mood to sugar coat what I say today so that people can swallow it easier. Shame on anyone that lets this injustice slide by unchallenged... Matt.

Unfortunately as it says in another recent thread in this forum...One persons crap is another persons masterpiece! What right do we have to stop people voting on an image just because we may not agree with them? Matt.

I've just re-read the TOS and found that "Intentional practices that affect the normal operations of the community" is punishable by banishment...Pretty severe...Especially since nothing has actually been violated... It is legal for a person to have an account and vote for any image that they like... It is legal for a person to have multiple accounts and vote for any image they like using any of those accounts... Therefore it must be legal for a person to have multiple accounts and vote for the same image more than once... Am I wrong? Matt.