Here on DeviantArt, we are given a rare freedom: "unlimited" online space. I put that in quotes because, as much as we like to think there's such thing as infinite server space, there isn't. This has never been more apparent than now, with the recent spike in visitors and new artists. $spyed's journals describe just how much DeviantArt is growing. While growth is widely considered to be a good thing, it's also becoming difficult for the servers to keep up, and we can see this whenever the site runs slowly and inefficiently.

One solution that often comes to mind is to get more; buy more space, which results in higher costs all around. But why do that, when we could make better use of what we already have? It's time for everyone to take a close look at how much filesize their art is using. Here's what we all can do to shave off some megabytes:

-Compress your artwork by scaling it down. According to this article, the most common screen resolution is 1024x768. If the dimensions of your picture are well into the 2000's or 3000's, the majority of people can't view it without scrolling, and it needlessly consumes space. Exceptions to this include textures or stock images where it's necessary to preserve detail, and those can even do better in a zip file. Most art programs like Photoshop or Gimp have the ability to scale a picture smoothly.

-Compress your artwork by changing the format. For instance, a wallpaper saved as a PNG takes up much more space than if it was saved as a JPG. Once again, most art programs are capable of saving pictures into JPG format without losing much quality. I don't recommend mspaint, as it tends to lose alot of that quality. Exceptions to this include pixel art, where gifs or pngs are perfect for small filesize and best quality.

-Focus on quality over quantity. Gallery pieces on dA were defined as finished artworks that you could be proud of. Can you say that for every piece in your gallery? It's up to you to make that call. Remember also that scraps (as well as pieces in storage) take up just as much space, so if you have some scraps that are just sitting there, and nobody else will miss them, consider deleting them. Imagine how much space would be freed if every deviant deleted just one scrap. Keep this in mind as you continue to make art. Think about what people will appreciate more: five quick artworks that you spent one hour on each, or one beautiful artwork that you spent 5 hours on?

While these things may seem obvious to most, they are important to keep in mind, because every kilobyte counts. This space belongs to all of us, so I encourage you to do a little cleanup of your own. It will make a big difference.