What is Art Tag?

[T Paul]

This is a fun, fast paced project area. Unlike other challenges/projects on this site, the Art Tag projects do have a time limit. So don’t work on them too long as others are eagerly waiting for their turn! These are short-term projects with quick-turn-arounds and immediate results and that's half the fun!

Each project starts with a simple object such as a photo of a mailbox. Players sign up and are notified in turn to download the object and add their creative touch to it. Once they are done they rename it and upload the new image. Then the next person gets to try their hand at it and so on until the project is closed. The results are very creative and despite the numerous creative personalities involved, some really beautiful images have been created --- so it isn’t true that too many chefs spoil the soup! (grin)

To join the project, watch for a new project thread and private message (PM) me that you want to join for that particular project. A good way not to miss out on a new project is to add the Next Round of Art Tag thread to your subscription list. To do this click on the Next Round of Art Tag thread and at the very bottom of the thread you should see a hyperlink that says “subscribe to this thread”. Click on it and your subscription should be started. Now you will get an email every time a new response is added to the thread so you won't miss out on the next Art Tag.

The Art Tag projects are a lot of fun, and the results are truly amazing! So join one and remember to have fun!

-T

To Go directly to the Next Round of Art Tag thread click here

P.S.
Subscribing to a forum (as opposed to a thread) doesn't do anything but list that forum in your User CP. Only by subscribing to the individual threads will you get an email on new posts.

[T Paul]

Now for the process:

Once a new project has been announced that you want to participate in, private message (PM) me (T Paul) with the subject line "Art Tag – and the name of that project"…such as “Art-Tag – Time”.

I will PM you back, one at a time, with the FTP address where the file is stored. Download it and make your contribution. Then rename it and upload it back to the same address. Note don’t use any spaces in your renamed title. Then PM me that you've uploaded it (very important!).

A few necessary things for this to work:

1. We can't use JPG files since they degrade each time they are saved, so anyone that chooses to participate should be able to FTP a TIF file of size 2-5 meg

2. Several people will be waiting their turn, so when you get your turn try not to take too long.

3. Don't resize or resample to a different resolution

4. Flatten your image before sending back.

5. Leave it as a TIF file

6. PM me when you've uploaded your version

Once demand has died off, I'll announce that this version is closed, and post the original and what we came up with here. Don't post any of your interim images, at least until this version is closed.

Feel free to ask questions here.

If you don’t know how to FTP…there are some great tips in the software forum. Click below to view them.

FTP Info Thread

Now let's have some fun!

-T

[T Paul]

Are you participating in Art Tag? Well don't forget to check your private messages or you might get left out! Art Tag players are alerted about the game through private messages (PM) so if you have signed up to play make sure you check your messages daily. Since this is a time sensitive game your quick response to messages is very important. Also make sure you empty your RetouchPro mail folders from time to time as there is a mailbox size limit and when it's full you will no longer be able to receive messages.

How do I check my messages?
Click on USER CP (control panel)
Click on private messages
Click on Inbox

To ensure you are notified about new messages:
Click on USER CP
Click on EDIT OPTIONS
Make sure you have YES selected for

Send you an email when you receive a private message

and

Pop up a box when you receive a private message

This will help to make sure that you are not left out of the game!

For more information on Private Messaging go here

[T Paul]

Occasionally we play a variation of Art Tag called Art Tag Quilt.
Instead of everyone working on the same image in turn, this time everyone gets their own section of the image to work on at the same time. Once all the sections are submitted back to me I will put them back together to recreate the photo.

For more on Art Tag Quilt go here

[svsg]

Originally posted by T Paul

A few necessary things for this to work:

1. We can't use JPG files since they degrade each time they are saved, so anyone that chooses to participate should be able to FTP a TIF file of size 2-5 meg

I use a dial-up connection(agreed it is cave-age technology,but nothing much i can do about it as of today) at home and it takes more than 20 min to download a 5MB tif file.I agree we cannot use jpg, but why save as tif??
I would rather prefer a lossless compression format that occupies less space. Why not "compressed tif"(if i am not mistaken, it is lossless) or plain zip of a tif file or some other popular lossless compressed format? Can we limit the file size to less than 2MB?

Svsg

[T Paul]

I can understand your frustration with dial-up. One must be very patient or have a lot of chores to do as one waits for a file to download. In fact, I don't always run a high-res graphic so many of the games are under 2 MB.

I will research the difference in file sizes if I zip it, as I can always load a regular file and a zip file and let the players choose which one they want to download. I will also look into compressed tifs and see if they degrade or not and see if I can make dial-up a bit faster!

Thanks for the info. I will also post the file size in future games so everyone will know if it's a large file or not.

~T

[T Paul]

Scavenger Hunt

Instead of the standard two photos, each player will get a photo and an object to add to the photo. You will have to find the object via your own collection of items, the web or make it yourself and add it to the photo.

For an added twist players will be asked to send me a name of an object and an adjective that will be used as part of the game, such as "horse", and "windy".

[T Paul]

In this version of Art Tag, instead of everyone adding to a single image, each player will be given a random image to incorporate into the main photo. Yes random image! This should challenge your creativity and produce some interesting, most likely bizarre results! Thanks to Doug for the fun idea!