This help desk is a forum for questions and help on:
How to use Commons
Anyone, from newbie to experienced, can ask a question here. Questions will be replied to here as well. Any answers you receive are not legal advice and the responder cannot be held liable for them.
Resolved sections (marked by {{section resolved|1=~~~~}}) will be archived after two days. Sections with no discussion will be archived after ten days. The latest archive is Commons:Help desk/Archive/2025/06.
Latest comment: 8 days ago3 comments2 people in discussion
Hey there. I'm working on updating the "Outer_planet_moons" Wikipedia template from the legacy Graph extension to the new Chart extension. In trying to follow the instructions and now have the appropriate ".tab" file in the wikimedia commons ("Data:Outer_planet_moons.tab") with all of the data (copied from the "Graph" version of the template) and the ".chart" file. I have left the "Categories" attribute empty in the .chart file.
For now, I've just updated the "Moons of Neptune" Wiki page directly, replacing the reference to the "Outer_planet_moons" template with a reference to the "ChartDisplay" template, specifying the .chart and .tab files there. I'm a real noob here, so I didn't want to go mucking with the existing template. Esp666 (talk) 19:24, 12 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
I was hoping (although, I admit that it wasn't clear!) that somebody could tell me the correct mechanism for inserting the graph with the new Chart extension. Do I just use the "Template:ChartDisplay..." as I have currently done in the "Moons of Neptune" page. If so, I suppose the next step would be to replace just about all of the {{Outer planet moons} template with the reference to "Template:ChartDisplay" as I used directly for Neptune.
Hi @Ranikhetboy: You can view your uploads at Special:ListFiles/Ranikhetboy. It looks like you're visiting Wikimedia Commons from a mobile device. You can access this page on the mobile interface in the future by clicking on your user icon at the top-right, going to your contributions, and then clicking on "uploads" at the top by your username. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 10:27, 13 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
"This file is lacking source information. Please edit this file's description and provide a source. This file is lacking author information."
Latest comment: 10 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
I have uploaded this file https://w.wiki/ETvS, but I get the notification "This file is lacking source information.
Please edit this file's description and provide a source. This file is lacking author information." I don't understand, how to get the description right to delete the notification. The important informations about author and source are already in the details. Politikwespe (talk) 10:35, 13 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 9 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion
hm, ich meine hier früher die Möglichkeit gehabt zu haben, eine Slideshow aller Bilder zu starten. Irre ich mich oder funktioniert das aktuell nicht? VG
en: hm, I think I used to be able to start a slideshow of all the pictures here. Am I mistaken or is that not currently working?
@James Oldroyd: I'm sorry that's really confusing wording. Can you spell out more specifically what you are trying to do? If this is about a particular page could you please link it? - Jmabel ! talk23:15, 13 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for response.
At the request of the subject I am trying to erase his birth date because there is confusion as to its correctness.
And secondly trying to replace the still photo from Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth by a better one, the copyright being free to the subject, and also in the public domain.
The process of editing is rather complex for me. I hope you can help. (or I can ask Robin Hawdon to verify these changes?)
You have repeatedly uploaded photographs without an appropriate licence, lately saying that the photographer gave permission to the subject for its use. You have provided no evidence of such permission.
Still doesn't make it clear what their questions are.
FWIW: The stated grounds for copyright in File:WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH.jpg seems to me to be a mess, and while I suppose we should let VRT play out, I cannot see how this can possibly be OK. If the photographer is unknown, it clearly cannot be {{Self}}. Also, there is almost no likely scenario in which the subject of the photo would own the copyright.
In below it states that using Google default translator
Access conditions
Access type: release
Terms of Use
Usage Type: No restrictions
Usage cycle: In order to utilize the original negative film, it is necessary to consult with the current owner, the Seoul Museum of History.
Now i have doubt that can I upload these on commons or not .the Copyright Policy of SK prohibits(architecture is copyrighted) and it doesn't allowed commercial use. 獅眠洞 (talk) 22:20, 13 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 9 days ago4 comments2 people in discussion
I properly uploaded text to en:Angela Davis#References in other venues (A mural of Angela Davis painted by Ian S Young, and it was accepted. However, I uploaded the image incorrectly and it was deleted. I would like to undelete it and re-submit with required permit by the author of the image. Unfortunately, I have problem to follow undeletion instructions. I would appreciate assistance. Thank you. Helping To Remember (talk) 02:17, 14 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
It's a very pleasant acquaintance, I don't send spam. I want my music to be heard. Pavel Valeryevich Durov promised to help with the services when I successfully registered on Wikipedia
Latest comment: 8 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
I've made a visual representation of the characters in the novel Girl, Woman, Other, and would like to upload it as a help when reading the book. It could be described as a family tree.
It contains only the first names of the characters, and only words.
Would this be an infringement of copyright rules? Hovmann (talk) 13:29, 14 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 8 days ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Hi, I recently noticed many wikis use the following image for their page for miniskirt: File:Chequered_Miniskirt.jpg
It seems to me as if the image description is a common form of bot spam, soliciting people to email the original uploader for invites to a social media site. The file has also been deleted off of flickr. Apologies if this isn't the best place to bring this up, but should this image have that part of the description modified, or should it be removed entirely?
It's not the description, it's the title at source. Since it is spam of something almost 2 decades old, it is hard to see it mattering in this case. - Jmabel ! talk01:37, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for the ping. @Trade - interesting ideas. I just added those three properties to Commons Walkabout, to see how they would go. I'm not sure any of them are widely-used enough to really justify inclusion, though others may disagree. The "AI-generated prompt" one is quite interesting to look at, though - but unfortunately it's not currently working when you click on a value, because it's a property of type "Monolingual text", which is not supported yet. I may add support for this, because these are indeed interesting, even if they represent a tiny proportion of the overall files. Yaron Koren (talk) 16:48, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
There’s probably a problem with your browser. Maybe try using a different browser in your PC to see if the problem is still there? Tvpuppy (talk) 03:59, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Wikidata items are not supposed to use English names when said name is identical to the "mul" name. This is something that needs to be fixed on Walkabout's end Trade (talk) 12:47, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Yes, Commons Walkabout doesn't yet handle default names, unfortunately. Tvpuppy - thanks for adding that workaround.
Of these three newly-added properties/filters, by the way, "cosplay of" seems the most iffy, first because it's so minimally-used, and second (which may be tied in) because it doesn't seem quite correct. Shouldn't it always be "depicts → cosplay of"? After all, it's not the file/photograph that's doing the cosplaying. Commons Walkabout, by the way, can theoretically be used to query for the latter (see here), but right now the query always seems to time out. Yaron Koren (talk) 14:24, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
"cosplay of" is a supproperty of "depicts" so it's already implicit that the cosplay is what is being depicted. If you are concerned about the properties used for SDC you should visit the Wikidata property proposals so you can participate in the discussion before they are created --Trade (talk) 00:03, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
"cosplay of" seems the most iffy, first because it's so minimally-used" It takes more time for properties to get used because AC/DC cannot search subcategories + there are many characters which exists on Commons but not on Wikidata. And i dont think we should avoid subcategories entirely because of the limitations of AC/DC Trade (talk) 00:01, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Oh, I didn't realize that "cosplay of" was a subproperty of "depicts". (I assume "subproperty" was what you meant by both "supproperty" and "subcategory"). As for the fact that it's minimally-used - to me, it doesn't really matter what the cause is; the issue is whether the benefits of having that filter justify its inclusion. There are any number of minimally-used properties that could be added - "recordist", "date postally canceled", "file page offset" (plus many even less valid than those) - but they might start to overwhelm the actually useful filters. Ultimately, it's just a matter of opinion for each one. Yaron Koren (talk) 01:00, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Why does the font of the text at the bottom change when I add Korean and Chinese? Other languages remain the same. Is there any other solution? YeBoy371 (talk) 00:41, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Uploading another person's Biography into Wikipedia
Latest comment: 7 days ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Hi Team,
I am assisting Mr. Simon Gimson to upload his biography into Wikipedia. Have been facing number of challenges. Could you please guide me with simple steps to upload?
Please do not keep sending links after links, as I am struggling to understand the pathway to get this completed.
I'm guessing you mean the English-language Wikipedia. If not, details may vary, but what I'm about to write will still be pretty accurate.
You cannot "upload" a biography into Wikipedia. You have to write it in Wikitext, within the Wikipedia application.
You say you are assisting someone with getting their own biography into Wikipedia. Clearly you have a potential conflict of interest here (Wikipedia editor vs. whatever relationship you have with the subject of the article). You absolutely should read en:Wikipedia:Conflict of interest before proceeding, or you are almost certain to break rules and have your account blocked.
Latest comment: 7 days ago8 comments2 people in discussion
Hi everyone. I've been working on a more in depth diagram based on information from this publication here (Figure A1). It contains information from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which does not authorize re-publication of their materials, but simultaneously I've changed or expounded on nearly all text and have found that the information could easily be sourced from several other places, though it would be a patchwork job of referencing. Where does policy sit on this? Any help would be appreciated, and my thanks in advance.
Best - CSGinger14 (talk) 07:20, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Additionally, if it comes to pass that it it acceptable, can I rotate / crop the image before uploading? Apologies, my first time here and kinda necessary, it came out sideways and off-center exported as a pdf.
We can't really advise without seeing the image. Please upload it, then we can discuss it. It's no shame to have an image like that deleted it it turns it to be unsuitable, or replaced if people make suggestions for improvement. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits08:41, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Have just uploaded. That one can stay up if it ends up being alright but otherwise I plan to add a rotated version. Thanks again - CSGinger14 (talk) 09:34, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
I would say it needs to be an image (maybe SVG) rather than PDF to be used in articles. AIUI, if you make an SVG, it's also easier for other people to copy it and translate the text onto different languages.
Finally you may want to look at using some indicator other than (or as well as) colour, for the different components, so that it works if printed in black and white, or for people with colour blindness. Maybe superscript letters, or different kinds of hatching. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits10:44, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Hi @Pigsonthewing thanks so much for your help thus far. Based on the color blindness palette scheme seen here (How to design charts with a color friendly palette), what colors would you recommend changing / switching out? I figured red and green would need to be switched, or made more pronounced, but otherwise I have difficulty with it cause I can’t really see a meaningful difference between most of those colors in the way that color blind people might. Thanks in advance - CSGinger14 (talk) 20:11, 15 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
@Kivtas yara03: that makes no sense at all. If there is a language in which you express yourself more clearly than in English, feel free to use it. Otherwise, please try to write something clearer with more detail of what you are asking. - Jmabel ! talk17:46, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
I just added a file which should have the blue edited out and also the name - spelling- changed, please
It has the word Cotten spelt incorrectly - it should be "Cotton".
Also, please check that the word "Keayne" is spelt correctly as such on all the information on the page especially the file history which has the wrong spelling for Cotton and Keayne.
Also, the file is from https://www.masshist.org/. - Not The Colonial Society of Massachusetts which it WAS falsely listed by me as. I have tried to change it.
Finally, can you please edit out the blue part at the top right hand side. I have asked Wikipedia to check this new file out too.
Latest comment: 6 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hello, why do they make it so hard to add onto or revise something here? The signature, time and date. You have to be a computer programmer to be able to do anything gere Popsbarry (talk) 15:15, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
@MrsJug: If you want to delete something accidentally uploaded to here, you can add {{SD|G7}} to that file within 7 days from the uploaded date.廣九直通車 (talk) 13:48, 17 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
me gustaría encontrar una fotografía del vaso de libaciones de gudea sin copyraidh
Latest comment: 6 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi, I want to create a biography of my friend. I am having difficulty posting it. Can you please explain how to do this step by step? CoupleUSA (talk) 23:57, 16 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Assuming you can get hold of the photographer, it would not be surprising if they would sign these rights over to you, either for free or for a nominal fee for filling out the paperwork. Note that such a transfer should always be done in writing or equivalent (that is, not just orally). - Jmabel ! talk18:48, 17 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
The two are right. One category contain prosecution by "State of Minnesota" and the another category contain prosecution by "United States of America".
In USA , you can be prosecuted by one of the 50 "states" and prosecuted by the "federal state".
In this case , the person is accused of a "state offense" and a "federal offense".
Latest comment: 4 days ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Good morning,
I am currently working on updating the website "Roamer of Switzerland" who I work for. I have access to their servers, and tried uploading pictures from there. The pictures have been declined as it says they may not be original works. How can I get past this issue? It would really help.
@Saschafromjdmswissgroup: Hi, and welcome. I am sorry to inform you that you have triggered Special:AbuseFilter/153 by trying to cross-wiki upload a smaller (<50,000 bytes or <2,000,000 pixels) jpg photo as a new user. The photo you tried to upload is smaller, and you indicated it's your own work. Usually when someone uploads a smaller photo, it is a copyright violation taken from the web. If you took the photo yourself, please upload the full-size original of it per COM:HR, including EXIF metadata. If you did not take the photo, please see Commons:Licensing for why we can't accept it, and have the photographer post permission on their official website or social media or send the photo and permission via VRT with a carbon copy to you. If you can't get a compliant license, the photo may still be uploaded to English Wikipedia in compliance with en:WP:F because we don't allow Fair Use here. If you use our Upload Wizard instead, you should be able to avoid that filter. — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 11:50, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
@Dontell Maestropage: Please read and understand those three pages and the contents of and links on your user talk page to better inform yourself about the reasons your uploads were deleted. Unless you want to get blocked and have Disney's cadre of lawyers sue you for copyright infringement. — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 12:10, 19 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 3 days ago5 comments4 people in discussion
Hello, I am unsure if this is the correct place to direct this message to, but I am trying to get information on the correct procedure of FBI most wanted posters. From my understanding, since they are posted by the federal government, they should be public domain. However, I have gotten a series of speedy deletion requests for these posters under the notion that the images within the FBI poster may be copyrighted even though they mostly consist of mugshots and evidence photos. Given that the FBI are the ones who released the posters, which sometimes include several images of the suspect, does that mean we must figure out if the images within the poster themselves are somehow copyrighted? If the images within are, we cannot edit them out because editing official FBI posters is illegal according to 18 U.S.C., Section 709. Furthermore, wouldn't this mean that the FBI and every news agency that posts these posters at their request are also committing copyright infringement? This all seems very unclear if the argument for these speedy deletion requests is accurate. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. The posters in question can be found on my talk page. Thank you. DigitalPhantoms (talk) 17:52, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Typically the federal government does not own copyrights the photos on these posters. Either they have obtained relevant permissions explicitly or they are operating under fair use. - Jmabel ! talk19:42, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 3 days ago4 comments3 people in discussion
Hi team, I am wanting to upload a photo of an old newspaper article from 1993 as a source for an article I am writing - is this allowed? I appreciate your assistance! SLJ10 (talk) 18:14, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
The upload is most certainly not allowed, as newspapers are in the vast majority of cases copyrighted (at least those as recent as the 1990's). But: apparently, you have the actual paper in your possession or can easily access it. Wikipedia articles can easily be sourced using something like en:Template:Cite journal (and the others from the cite family: en:Template:Cite book, en:Template:Cite web or whatever is relevant in your home wiki), you only have to state the biographical informations of your source(s). An actual hardcopy of them is not needed. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 18:28, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 4 days ago3 comments2 people in discussion
Hola, realice un articulo y no estoy segura como debo hacer para publicarlo y que aparezca si alguien busca desde google sobre lo que escribi. Pedi revisión pero no estoy segura si lo hice bien. UsuarioBandUY (talk) 19:41, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
No tenemos artículos aquí en Wikimedia Commons. Quizás refieres a es:Usuario:UsuarioBandUY/Taller en la wikipedia en español. Este es un sitio web hermano, bajo la misma fundación (WMF), pero sus decisiciones son enteramente separadas. Necesitas preguntar allí, no aquí. - Jmabel ! talk19:48, 18 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Could you please tell me the specific reason for the deletion request, and what license information I need to provide and how I should provide it?
If I simply captured an image of OSM to explain how to use the OSM iD editor, do I still need to obtain a separate license? Adreamy (talk) 11:54, 19 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 2 days ago8 comments2 people in discussion
Я сначала загрузила фото и опубликовала их, потом сделала запрос на удаление и их удалили. Как мне снова их загрузить? Сейчас выпадает ошибка - пишут, что файл с таким названием был удален и перенаправляют на страницу журнала удалений. Там естественно этих фото нет, а мне нужно их опять загрузить. НинаГМ (talk) 14:37, 19 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
How do I re-add photos that I deleted?
I first uploaded photos and published them, then made a deletion request and they were deleted. How do I re-upload them? Now I get an error - it says that a file with that name was deleted and redirects to the deletion log page. Of course, these photos are not there, but I need to upload them again.
@НинаГМ: Привет и добро пожаловать. Зачем вы хотите это сделать? Вы можете попросить восстановить эти семь файлов, разместив новый раздел в нижней части COM:UDR.
Они восстановятся где? у меня в профиле? Просто мне их нужно загрузить на другую страницу википедии, первый раз я не туда загрузила, перепутала личность НинаГМ (talk) 20:41, 19 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Where will they be restored? In my profile? I just need to upload them to another Wikipedia page, the first time I uploaded them to the wrong place, I mixed up the identity
Latest comment: 2 days ago9 comments3 people in discussion
Hello, I recently created maps of the Suba, Fontibón, and Engativá districts. I based them on maps from the Military Geographic and Cadastral Institute (1940). But it's asking me to indicate where I base my data from, and I don't know how to do so. Can you explain this to me?
Hi Jeff, first of all, thank you for answering my question. I haven't been able to get much help with that, But now they put the Template:No permission since, Which according to the Bogotá digital library are copyright free (I'll add the link at the end), how is the process here? PatojuanC (talk) 14:30, 20 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
The last question, regarding coats of arms, flags, and anthems, I have to show you right now that the Fontibón coat of arms was copyright-free. The administration there told me that it was.But they told me orally, right now I'm going to ask if they give me a certificate for that, but then how do I upload it or what do I do? PatojuanC (talk) 14:47, 20 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Understood, although my idea is that I can do it directly (it would be a gratification and I will be able to learn how to message inskcape) But I will have to base myself on an image from the internet to develop and vectorize it. PatojuanC (talk) 19:50, 20 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 2 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi There, when adding an image to a topic how do i format it the correct way? For example the image i want to use is on wikicommons for the public figure i am creating, but when i add it to the infobox, it's huge! Nomadfrau912 (talk) 18:10, 20 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 2 days ago5 comments2 people in discussion
I recently uploaded this image from the US Library of Congress, and would like to crop out the black/white bordering. However, I keep getting the error Upload failed! undefined which prevents me from using the tool. Does anyone else have the same issue, or is able to crop the image? I have used the tool before, so this is not a permissions issue. Thanks! GGOTCC (talk) 00:32, 21 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 1 day ago3 comments2 people in discussion
senior yesterday I upload many images from flikr under CC Lisence.Now they are automatically appointment for deletion by bot. will I blocked from uploading images on commons. 獅眠洞 (talk) 06:48, 21 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
There is a mess right now because Flickr changed what licenses it allows users to select, and our tools haven't caught up with the API change. - Jmabel ! talk17:08, 21 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 2 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Has the facility to upload directly from Geograph been removed? I'm wanting to upload, with attribution, but can no longer find the tool on Geograph. KJP1 (talk) 09:28, 21 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 10 hours ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi!
I see Wikimedia Commons are somehow lacking in terms of reading nooks pictures - there is one from early 20th century, a drawing. To be honest, I would like to write an article about them for English Wikipedia. When looking for a pictures online with the right kind of license, I found some made by AI. Would it be okay to upload them here? I do not know their prompts or AI program that generated them, just their online links.
Latest comment: 1 day ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi. I would like to know if there is any license for publishing photographs taken by the Investigative Committee of Russia. Can these photographs be considered state property and published in the same way as documents and photographs from the Kremlin? I thought I had seen a similar license, but I couldn't find it again. Thank you to anyone who can help YillowsGiblles (talk) 22:56, 21 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
@Loumalsace: Bonjour, L'astérisque s'affiche normalement. En prenant comme exemple ce fichier, le problème est plutôt que vous avez inséré des trémas (caractère unicode U+0308) à différents endroits. Les «deux minuscules petits points» sont le tréma. Dans trois versions différentes de ce fichier, vous avez inséré un tréma notamment avant une astérisque, puis au-dessus d'une parenthèse fermante, puis après une astérisque. Je suppose que c'était involontaire. C'est peut-être quelque chose que vous auriez programmé sur votre clavier ou une erreur de manipulation. Si vous enlevez les trémas, l'affichage est normal. -- Asclepias (talk) 13:49, 22 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 20 hours ago4 comments2 people in discussion
I have been trying to update colouring scheme for File:Irmán-irmá-irmao idioma galego.png (edit: using "Upload a new version of this file" link) with another PNG but I was kept being asked for a license, which is absurd, cause it must be the same before CC4ShAlike. I feel dumb, because I did this twice in the past, as it can be seen in the file history, I don't remember having passed this step and I can't find this voted or mentioned anywhere. ※Sobreira ◣◥ 〒 @「parlez」 12:49, 22 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 19 hours ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hello, I need help using an image on an uploaded book file for an English Wikipedia article: [1]. Specifically, I wish to use the image on page 194. Should I screenshot and upload separately or is there another way to do it?
Latest comment: 11 hours ago4 comments3 people in discussion
The Wiktionary defines this word as "One of the two long pieces of wood, extending before a vehicle, between which a horse is hitched; a shaft." This makes perfect sense, but because we barely see horses in the First World anymore, it could use a visual aid. Shushimnotrealstooge (talk) 17:54, 22 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
Seen that they are already red (and the body of the cart green), I do not think that the hassle is worth it. Simply use text in the image legend, something like: "The thills are the red bars to the left of the wheel". But you're technically fine to make and upload a derivative of the image, if you want. There's nothing in our rules or licenses that forbid you in performing such a task. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 00:34, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply