Edit
Samples are compressed and/or resized versions of their original image, frequently used by sites to load images faster, to preserve bandwidth, or to prevent non-logged in users from seeing the full image. These images are sometimes if not often marred with small but visible artifacts. Uploading samples can almost always be avoided by using the danbooru bookmarklet or the upload page given a proper URL.
Note that image samples are not to be confused with samples, which are promotional images that usually come heavily watermarked or lack dialogue. Neither should they be confused with md5 mismatches that have revisions, which occurs when an artist decides to revise a work and keep the URL of his or her work the same.
It is Danbooru policy to either replace samples or delete them if the full-size is already available.
Types of samples
- pixiv sample
- twitter sample
- nicoseiga sample
- tinami sample
- tumblr sample
- pawoo sample None yet observed
- deviantart sample
- artstation sample
- drawcrowd sample
- yandere sample
- hentai-foundry sample
- md5 mismatches that are resized (typically downscaled, and sometimes upscaled with resizing artifacts) versions of an existing image. There should not be revisions.
- downscaled duplicates that are unsourced (source:none).
What to do when finding an image sample
If the post is active and the superior image has not been uploaded in a separate post yet, tag it with replaceme, or post in topic #14156. If the superior post has already been uploaded, flag the sample for deletion (forum #133063).
If you have uploaded an image sample
You may either upload the full image in a separate post or tag it replaceme and hope that an approver sees your image. Doing the former will guarantee you a deletion, however, as there currently exists no feature to merge posts yet. This will lower your upload limit if you do not have the unrestricted uploads permission.
In the case that another user happens to upload the full size image for your image sample in brief time, whether that be from the same or a different source, the deletion goes to your upload and not theirs.
Understand that it is not the approvers' complete responsibility to cover for your mistakes -- it is simply for providing grace. Make sure you have read howto:upload and the relevant howto pages for the site you are uploading from. Knowing how to upload images properly is one of the key traits of being a good uploader.
Things to note
- Filesize is by no means an indicator of a post's bit-by-bit quality. A sample may have a higher filesize than its original, but it may still exhibit artifacting, for example (forum #125858, post #2559416).
- The full version of an image should not be any visibly different from its sampled image aside from artifacting or resolution.
- Beware of upscales, as the largest version isn’t automatically the original. If you find a larger image on a third party site, such as another image board, and it looks visibly blurry or exhibits other resizing artifacts, it is most likely an upscale. Try to find the original image from the artist’s site instead.
- Be especially careful with the imageboard yande.re, as it has a history of having many upscales and wasteful PNG versions of JPEGs.
- Do not upload images processed with waifu2x either, even if they are not blurry. Upload the original image.
- Be careful around md5 mismatches. Many sites allow artists to revise images in place, thus keeping the URL of their work the same: pixiv, nicoseiga, nijie, tumblr, artstation, and DeviantArt among others. md5 mismatches from these sites should be treated with care and carefully revised before flagging the suspected image, as they may have such a revision.
- On pixiv and other sites that Danbooru supports direct linking to the image URL for, if an uploader does not provide the direct URL to an image and it is tagged with md5 mismatch and downscaled, it is most likely a resized sample. In cases like these, flag the sample.
- Twitter images can not be revised in place. The site does not allow users to do that. Twitter uploads tagged with md5 mismatch and downscaled are under almost all circumstances resized samples, unless the source link provided is incorrect. See the relevant wildcard searches below.
- Note that Tumblr images can be revised in place, and typically have some
_r*_
(r1, r2...) in the URL (post #2568503, original).
Useful searches
You can add the search tag parent:any to look for any images that may already have their better version uploaded to these queries.
- image_sample -status:deleted
- pixiv_sample -status:deleted
- twitter_sample -status:deleted
- nicoseiga_sample -status:deleted
- tinami_sample -status:deleted
- tumblr_sample -status:deleted
- deviantart_sample -status:deleted
- artstation_sample -status:deleted
- drawcrowd_sample -status:deleted
- yandere_sample -status:deleted
- md5_mismatch downscaled -status:deleted
- md5_mismatch upscaled -status:deleted -- Some of the sources may be wrong in this search. Others may just be revisions.
- downscaled duplicate -status:deleted
Counts are semi-regularly updated in topic #13646.
Wildcard searches
- source:*twitter.com/ md5_mismatch -upscaled -status:deleted
- source:*pbs.twimg.com/ md5_mismatch -upscaled -status:deleted
See also
- replaceme
- topic #13646: Image Sample Cleanup Project
- howto:upload
- howto:flag
- help:image source
- help:bookmarklet
- help:third-party edit
The following tags implicate this tag: e-hentai_sample, drawcrowd_sample, tumblr_sample, deviantart_sample, artstation_sample, nicoseiga_sample, twitter_sample, pixiv_sample, yandere_sample, and thumbnail (learn more).