create alias artist_signature -> signature

Link to alias

Is it at all necessary to specify that the signature belongs to the artist? The overwhelming majority of the posts tagged signature are tagged for the artist's signature anyway. If it's really so important that we be able to identify the rare cases where a signature belongs to someone else (e.g., a character), it would make more sense to make a tag just for that instead.

The tag alias artist_signature -> signature (alias #14761) has been approved.

+1

This is equivalent to artist name + signature. I have no opinion as to which it should be aliased to, but we should be sure to tag the other before this is aliased.

Ah, the two tags I often abuse (given I can read kanji names). Umm, I would say probably artist_name is the better alias to make it to. Perhaps then people will think "oh but it's also a signature, I guess I'll also tag it signature" since signature is easily a more prominent tag, but artist_signature -> signature would safely imply most signatures are artist signatures anyway (without prior knowledge of the artist name tag).

evazion said:

This is equivalent to artist name + signature. I have no opinion as to which it should be aliased to, but we should be sure to tag the other before this is aliased.

The signature is not always legible as the artist name, so it should only sometimes be tagged both.

chinatsu said:

The signature is not always legible as the artist name, so it should only sometimes be tagged both.

Also, if the artist has signed their twitter username (e.g. post #2784170), that tag should be used instead of artist name.

EB said:

Also, if the artist has signed their twitter username (e.g. post #2784170), that tag should be used instead of artist name.

Twitter username is contextually sometimes also the artist name. If it matches to a twitter URL listed in the artist entry then it should be tagged as artist name as well. A twitter username could represent the artist's circle, the handle of a commissioner or person the image is dedicated to, or so on, but if it's a match to one of the artist's twitter accounts then it's a match.

Since the twitter username in post #2784170 matches to http://twitter.com/franz2171 (artist #112661), twitter username should not be used instead of artist name but in addition to it.

Artist's sometimes sign both their standard name and their twitter username (post #2777426). IMO, the tags should be completely separate to reflect which (or both) names they sign in a tag search.

+1. If not an alias, at the very least it should be an implication.

Bumping this again since nothing happened last time it was bumped and I recently came across the artist signature tag and wondered why it exists.

+1 to either alias or implication.

I just want to note that some artists just put their names on their work by just typing their names on it with a common font. It’s in this cause that I wouldn’t use the signature tag.

tapnek said:

I just want to note that some artists just put their names on their work by just typing their names on it with a common font. It’s in this cause that I wouldn’t use the signature tag.

Yeah, that's how I've seen it too. I don't add signature if it's typed.

On a side note, though, I think it would be beneficial to have a character signature tag. character_name signature is mostly filled with instances where the character name is typed and the artist name is signed. It's harder to find posts where the character's name is the signature, like post #2898007.

As slime said in the OP, the vast majority of signatures are artist name signatures. It makes more sense to create character signature, voice actress signature, whatever else than to tag 40k signature posts with artist signature.

I've started a character signature tag. Feel free to add more examples.

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Do we need all those split tags? Adding character_name should be more than enough.

Chiera said:

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Do we need all those split tags? Adding character_name should be more than enough.

Being fairly strict with the tag's use only around 2% of character_name signature images seem to fit this. Even with a looser definition I doubt it would be more than about 1 in 10. Most stuff that comes up with that search are things like post #2838328.

kuuderes_shadow said:

Being fairly strict with the tag's use only around 2% of character_name signature images seem to fit this. Even with a looser definition I doubt it would be more than about 1 in 10. Most stuff that comes up with that search are things like post #2838328.

I'd still say it's perfectly covered with character name alone.
It shouldn't depend on how it's written but what's written.
If I recall correctly we shouldn't use artist name if it's only an abbreviation or any other thing you could do with a signature.

There is a distinct situation where a character has signed an object like a photo or letter in-universe. For example, photo_(object) signature has some examples, but most of them aren't, which demonstrates the usefulness of a separate tag. IMO that's what a tag like character signature should be for. It's not at all the same as a character name that happens to be in cursive.

The tag alias artist_signature -> signature (alias #14761) has been approved.