New post with artist credit (I’ll add the credits to this post, too, when the event is over)

Hi everyone!

Christmas is in three weeks and I had this fun idea that we (the “furry side” of Lemmy / the Fediverse) could create a Christmas card together. I drew the background and already added my fursona, and now I’d like to ask you to add your own fursona. I’ll keep drawing and improving the background (to the best of my abilities), maybe add some more light and other small stuff, but if you want to add something, you’re welcome to do so, too! The goal is to have a furry Christmas card by the 25th of December.

How to add your fursona to the drawing:

  1. First, you download the “base” drawing from this post and add your fursona on a separate layer; make sure the layer with your sona is the same size as the base, 4000x2000 pixels.

  2. Then, you remove the base and export only the layer with your sona on a transparent background as a PNG. There’ll be lots of empty space because of the layer size, but that’s intentional!

  3. You can either insert the PNG yourself (see below), or reply to this post with your image in the comment and I’ll add it to the drawing.

  • How to insert it yourself: Go to this website. In the top right corner, there’s a little cog. Click on that and then on “Create Team”. A team is basically your user account. Copy the login details the website gives you in case you need to change your image later. Once you’ve done that, click on the little picture frame in the top left corner and then on “Add Image”. Add a description (e.g. your username for image credit) and upload your image file. Because the layer with your sona is the same size as the base, it’ll be exactly where you drew it on your device.

The advantage of doing it yourself is that you’re in full control and can replace or completely remove your image without waiting for me to do it for you. If you don’t want to do it yourself or have tech trouble, I can help you or just insert it for you. The website is a tool built by @green_copper@kbin.earth, who says that the website doesn’t save anything beyond what you upload and non-identifying debug logs on errors. The source code can be found here.

Note: If you make your image the size of the base, you won’t need to change the x/y coordinates. If you want to move your image around a bit or use a smaller-sized image, however, you’ll need to change those values; there is no drag-and-drop. The website may also be a bit buggy, but a reload usually helps. You most likely won’t need to change the z-value, unless your character is behind something they shouldn’t be behind.

Base file with layers (if you wish to use it instead of the image in the post; Dropbox links because I don’t know what else to use, I know it sucks, I’m sorry): .xcf (GIMP) file and .psd (Photoshop) file. The PS file looks like it works in Krita. I don’t have PS, but it should work with that, too.

To avoid conflicts, it’d be cool if you could comment where you are going to draw your sona. Moving standing sonas (like mine) around is easy, but if too many people want to peek out from behind the tree, for example, there won’t be enough space. That way, you can also coordinate your drawing with others (and even hold hands!). If you don’t care about positioning, you can also just reply with your sona and I’ll put it in a nice spot for you.

If you don’t want to or can’t draw your fursona, you can copy-paste an existing drawing of your sona, too. If you have absolutely no idea how to do that, I can help you! But I’d still like to encourage everybody to give drawing their fursona a shot. There’s no pressure, though. This is all fun and games.

Regarding licencing, unless further discussion leads to something else, CC-BY will be used. This means that you can do whatever you want with the image as long as you credit the artists, who I’ll add to this post for your convenience.

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. I just hope this doesn’t flop tbh :3c

  • cally [he/they]@pawb.socialEnglish
    5·
    13 days ago

    He is not in his usual outfit, as he had to get warmer pants due to underestimating what a winter Christmas is like.

    My fursona leaning on a wall (background is transparent so there is no wall visible in the image)

    • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
      4·
      13 days ago

      What a cool cat! I added them to the drawing. There might be a change in how to add characters because green_copper might have the perfect online solution, but no worries. If we pivot to that, you won’t need to add them again :3

  • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
    5·
    14 days ago

    Ooh a collaborative project huh, sounds fun! A couple things I want to ask though. First, what is the time frame for this event? Second—as this is a collaborative project—would you consider publically providing the source file? I feel that having an updating source file would be best for making adjustments, especially for ones who choose to interact with the background on their drawing. Static PNGs could of course be included and appended too, and this post could have the image updated so it’s clear what real estate is still available as others submit. Third, what do you intend the licensing to be for this image? Just want to make sure it’s clear and something permissive before I participate. Either something like anyone who submits can do as they please with the image, or something like CC-BY where I list all involved artists each time would be cool too. Thanks for your time, the art, and the event!

    • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
      3·
      13 days ago

      The time frame is until Christmas because it’d be nice to have the final image on the 25th, but I’m not a government employee, so if you’re a day late, I can still add you.

      I can provide the source file, I just don’t know the best way to do it. Here’s a dropbox link to the GIMP file. I also exported it as a Photoshop file, though I can’t confirm if everything will look right in Photoshop. Dropbox may not be the best solution from a privacy point of view, though.

      I haven’t thought about licencing, to be honest. My attitude towards things I post online is that others can do with them what they want, but now that others’ OCs are involved, CC-BY might be a good idea to make sure everybody gets credit for their art. Both sound good to me. You sound like you know a bit about licencing, so which one would you recommend?

      Edit: And may I just add how anxiety-inducing doing this is. It’s fun and exciting, but also asdfjas;fjasd;lfs I’m doing something x3

      • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
        3·
        13 days ago
        1. Thanks, I’ll just consider it as “send a submission by December 24th.”
        2. I appreciate it, I also appreciate you using free software for the project! I largely use Krita, but I can always load up GIMP too. Dropbox isn’t, especially with the AI data processing nonsense they do, but it is serviceable for a fully public project file download. I can offer to mirror the source file on something like catgirlsare.sexy, but that may cause confusion if there are other links you aren’t in control of.
        3. I do a little, though obligatory IANAL here. CC-BY is very permissive and is basically the step above public domain (I.e. do whatever you want, but you have to attribute the artist or license holder(s). It’s usually what I do if I choose to make completed art as a resource, but it’s also good for something messy like this where it will have a lot of hands, and is easy to point to if anyone has questions. The initial thing I said is a more dubious personal licence you’d have to write up and give to all the contributors, which might be more trouble than it’s worth for this sort of thing if you aren’t familiar with stuff.

        I imagine it is, I know the feeling! I’m glad you put yourself out there, I’ll try my best to contribute to the event soon!

        • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
          3·
          13 days ago

          The 24th is perfectly fine, yes!

          I’ll try to find a better alternative to dropbox. I don’t want to use my private Proton account because private and Catbox doesn’t work everywhere, but I’ll sit down this weekend and try to find something.

          Let’s make it CC-BY, then! That’s easier and less confusing than writing up a custom licence. That way, people can do what they want with it as long as credit is given when it’s shared. I’ll add all artists’ names in the post body every time I update it, then they can just be copy-pasted.

          Thank you! And like I said in the post body, there’s no pressure, but I’m still excited to see what everybody is gonna draw :3

  • green_copper@kbin.earth
    3·
    14 days ago

    This is a great project.

    If you know a better way to do this, please do tell me. Maybe there’s a cool, safe website where everybody can upload a PNG of their sona as a separate layer and arrange them around the tree, but I couldn’t find one that worked that way.

    Maybe we can use my tool for the Canvas project. It has exactly the purpose to collaboratively combine images. Currently your base image is about the sizelimit, but I could adjust that.

    • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
      3·
      13 days ago

      That would be rad! An online solution would be much easier to handle than stitching everything together manually. Do you have a link to that tool to check it out? Is there some privacy policy that one should be aware of?