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Can I upload media from Wikimedia Commons?
What file formats are allowed at Wikimedia Commons?
Should Wikimedia Commons permit upload of insecure file formats?
What is Wikimedia Commons?
To avoid spam uploads, Wikimedia Commons has a protection mechanism that only allows files from certain domain names (and not from any website!) to be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. This so-called allowlist is quite long.
- Size and Scaling
- Png
- Jpeg
- Gif
- Tiff
- Webp
- Xcf
- Mp3
- Ogg
- FLAC
See also: Commons:Maximum file size 1. Note that new PNG resizing software has been installed since the text below has been written. Unfortunately the image scaling system is still limited. Currently, (PNG, GIF, JPEG) thumbnails are generated in the same format as the original image and are always in 24-bit color (unless the image is GIF, in which ...
PNG is a "lossless" format (which supports alpha transparency), meaning that the exact pixel color is preserved when saving, and can be used for any kind of drawings/diagrams that is not available in SVG format (SVG is preferred when creating diagrams etc.). PNG is good for practically anything except digital camera photographs. PNG is better for s...
JPEG (also JPG) is appropriate for photographs, especially when the photographs are already JPEGs. JPEG uses “lossy compression”, sacrificing precision for smaller file size. If you have a choice of file formats in which to save a graphic, scan, or other such thing, save it as PNG(or save it as another lossless format, such as TIFF, and convert to ...
PNG is almost always superior to GIF for still images (smaller size, more colors, better transparency). If you are creating or editing a graphic (not a photograph), and have a choice of file formats to save it in, the preferences for Wikipedia/Wikimedia use is SVGfirst, then PNG. Never save an image with more than 256 colors in the GIF format. GIF ...
Only some TIFFfiles can, at this time, be displayed in resized (thumbnailed) form within Wikipedia or on Commons, and TIFF files are not supported by most Internet browsers. They are an archival format, and should never be used for images intended to be displayed. TIFF generally serves as a lossless format, similar to PNG, but with much less compre...
The image format WebPis supported on Commons. It supports both lossy image compression based on VP8 and lossless image compression based on a new algorithm. The lossless mode is more compact than PNG.
XCF can be useful if you are working on an image with GIMP. Unlike PNG and similar files, XCF files support text and multiple layers. It may be useful to upload the XCF file, so that other editors can continue working with it directly, while retaining the layering information. Please note that a thumbnail of a XCF can only be generated by the Media...
MP3 is a widely supported audio format and is highly recommended if an ogg or lossless version can't be found. Commons currently only accepts MP3 uploads by users with Autopatrolor higher rights, due to concerns about the capacity of the community to monitor for copyright violations.
Opus is the preferred audio codec for the Ogg container. Please use the file type opus or oga to upload audio files in Ogg Opus format.[Note 4] Opus is supported by MediaWiki (phab:T42193, phab:T53313) since 2014. The format has excellent quality and low algorithmic delay.It automatically switches between speech and music-optimized modes and is abl...
The Free Lossless Audio Codec is supported with or without encapsulation into ogg-containers. TimedMediaHandler will automatically offer transcoded variants in ogg format. File extension without encapsulation: .flac. (The related phab:T51505was resolved in 2013 and closed in 2014.)
Understand what kinds of uploads Wikimedia Commons can accept. Images that you upload to Wikimedia Commons have to be educational and freely licensed . While "educational" may be a vague category, "freely licensed" is quite specific:
Jan 7, 2014 · The ability to upload files in almost arbitrary formats would make it clearer which free/open source formats are most important to support as unrestricted files in the future. For example, if we only get 5 .blend uploads per year through such a system, .blend support may not be a priority.
Jan 3, 2022 · Other image formats should be avoided in most cases BMP – Images are uncompressed, resulting in larger file sizes. Should usually be converted to PNG. GIF – Files may be larger, less and poorer scalable, and not as colorful. Should usually be converted to PNG unless animated.
The files uploaded to the Commons repository can be used like locally uploaded files on all projects on the Wikimedia servers in all languages, including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikisource and Wikinews, or downloaded for offsite use, as all of the content is either in the public domain or released under licenses such as the Creative Commons Attrib...
Apr 27, 2024 · There are freely licensed media resources (also public domain) that can be used as sources for file upload at Wikimedia Commons. However never blindly upload everything from these pages. Please always double check if the media is really freely licensed and if it is useful for Wikimedia Commons projects.
