You’ve just had a rough day at school - parents and teachers are nagging you, you have so much homework to do and housework to do on top of that, so you decide to pay a visit to deviantART to cool down.

When you log on, you see that you have received twenty notes. Naturally, you assume that it’s from friendly people just dropping by, so you open your inbox merrily.

Strangely enough, they are all from the same person. Devart – who is devart?

Upon opening them, you come to the conclusion that this ‘devart’ person has deleted your entire gallery of Naruto screenshots recolours for no apparent reason whatsoever.

You immediately get infuriated, dive to the Complaints Forum and make an angry journal saying how ‘devart’ is a meanie and has no life. YOU WORKED SO HARD ON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, can we calm down now? This childish behaviour is quite tedious.

To quote the Copyright Policy, ‘Copyright can be a confusing territory for many people’, therefore I am aiming to educate recolour artists who feel that they have been ‘victimised’ by the removal of their screenshot recolours/edits.

To tidy the article up, different sections will be separated via subheadings. To jump to a specific section, press Ctrl + F and enter the specific number of the subheading. The specific numbering is:

1.1 - What is a screenshot recolour/edit?
1.2 – Why are screenshot recolours/edits not allowed?
1.3 – Why fandoms should boycott recolours/edits on deviantART.
1.4 – Screenshot recolours versus tracing – what’s the difference?
1.5 – F.A.Q.s.
1.6 – Recolours – the aftermath.

I hope you enjoy this article – feel free to leave feedback.

1.1 – What is a screenshot recolour/edit?

Screenshot recolours/edits are quite easy to spot. A user may take a screenshot from an anime/game/TV show (although a vast majority of recolours are from animes) found from an external site and edit it using some form of editing software (Paint, Photoshop etc). These edits may include:

_{Changing the colour of any character’s features/clothing. (For example, dying Naruto’s hair pink, changing Sonic’s fur to purple)
‘Slicing’ the character from a screenshot and adding it to a new background. (For example, taking Naruto from a screenshot and placing him into a picture of a forest)
‘Slicing’ a character from one screenshot and adding him/her to another screenshot.
Adding text to the image to point out something awkward in a screenshot. (For example, ‘LAWL LOOK AT DIZ KNUCKLES IZ CLEERLY TUCHING SONIC’S BEHIND’ )
Adding text to an image as a ‘banner’. (For example, ‘Happy 13th birthday Kimmy! This is for you!’ or ‘Thanks for 1,000 hits! ^_^’ )
Adding extra features to characters. (For example, adding fangs to Sonic the Hedgehog. I blame Twilight.)}

This list could go on for decades, but you get the general idea.

1.2 – Why are screenshot edits/recolours not allowed?

Instead of referring to thousands of FAQs about copyright and whatnot, I’ll try to explain this as simple as I can.

Before joining deviantART, users are required to read the Terms of Service. Albeit, a lot of people didn’t read it, but here is one very important line taken from the ToS which makes explaining the problem with screenshot recolours/edits significantly easier.

”Individuals who have posted works to deviantART are either the copyright owners of the component parts of that work or are posting the work under license from a copyright owner or his or her agent or otherwise as permitted by law.”

Allow me to explain the part in bold:
You take a Naruto screenshot from an external website, make your own adjustments to it and post it on deviantART. That’s all fine and dandy, but do you know what you are doing by posting that edited screenshot?

You are claiming to own Naruto.

Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, has currently spanned 44 mangas over a period of nine years. Studio Pierrot, the creators of the anime, have created 315 episodes to this day since 2002.

Now, how do you think they would react if they found out some American teenager is claiming to own the rights to Naruto? Needless to say, they’d be in contact with their lawyers pretty quickly.

deviantART does not allow recolours/edits for one main reason – for your wellbeing and theirs.

Why their wellbeing also? If they allowed this type of activity to happen, they could easily be sued also. Would you want to be responsible for one of your favourite websites losing a lot of money? I don’t think so.

Please note that this breach of copyright only applies on certain websites – deviantART included. Posting recolours on Photobucket, forums etc are perfectly fine.

Also, if you are thinking to yourself that you credited the creator of Naruto/the series you coloured the screenshot from in the Artist’s Comment, please skip to the first question of the F.A.Q.

1.3 - Why fandoms should boycott recolours/edits on deviantART.

As I have just stated, when someone uploads a recolour, they are technically claiming to own Naruto. A real fan will not appreciate this. Therefore, recolours/edits found among fandoms should be reported to dA immediately to support the original creators.

1.4 – Screenshot recolours versus tracing – what’s the difference?

Please note that I hate deviantART’s policy on tracing – mainly because it is ridiculously hard to explain and contradictory. When I try to explain the difference between edits and tracing to a deviant, only 0.5% of them understand the difference and I get very frustrated. Because of this, please bare with me as I try to explain this.

About 70% of the time I inform recolourers that what they are doing is wrong, they automatically link me to a person’s page and say ‘THEY DO RECULURS, BAN THEM!!!!!!!’

A vast majority of the time, the person they link to is a tracer. Thus begins the extremely repetitive task of explaining the difference between the two.

To explain the difference, I will use this screenshot from Bleach of Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki. (Ichigo being the boy and Rukia being the girl for those who are unfamiliar with Bleach)

You have an RPC (Role Playing Character – what many people title their recolours as) based from Rukia Kuchiki called Aukir Iuchikk (see what I did there?), so you have no desire to edit Ichigo. Therefore, you trace over Rukia Kuchiki, adding whichever features make your character different from her. (For example, longer hair, change of clothing) You have traced poor Rukia half to death to make her look like your totally original RPC, so surely that is acceptable?

Wrong.

Ichigo and the background are still untraced, therefore the deviation is still breaking copyright. In short, tracing a certain part of a picture where there are parts that are clearly not traced is not allowed and is considered to be an ‘edit’.
If you trace Rukia to high heaven and simply crop Ichigo out, this is not allowed as you can still see the untraced background and is considered to be an ‘edit’.
If you crop the image so that it only includes Rukia and the background and trace the both (including the edits of Rukia to make her look like Aukir), it is acceptable.*
If you trace the entire image and make the necessary changes to Rukia, it is acceptable.*

* = Okay, this is where explaining gets hard (and I mean really hard). Tracing does not mean outlining something. Let me show you some examples:

_{This would not be allowed as, although it is outlined, you can still see the background/original colouring.
This would not be allowed as, although the clothing/hair and other features (most importantly, the skin – the most important feature in spotting a recolour) are edited, you can clearly see the original background.
This is allowed as there is no trace (pardon my pun) of the original screenshot – the background included has been traced.}

Please note that proper tracing is extremely hard, if not impossible with Paint. All of the legible traces I’ve seen have been done using either Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash or Adobe Illustrator. To ensure that traces are legible, they open up the screenshot, open a new layer, trace the screenshot on the layer, import the layer to a new document and do the colouring via eyeballing the screenshot. This process can take a few hours, wouldn’t you rather do better things with your time than trace existing artwork? Life’s short, darlings.

_{I will make a cup of authentic Irish tea for anyone who didn’t get confused reading this section. Thanks for confusing my brain, dA.}

1.5 – F.A.Q.s

I stated in the Artist’s Comment that the original screenshot belonged to the creators of Naruto/the series used. Surely, that means I’m not breaking any copyright?
I know you mean well, but sadly that’s not the case. These following FAQs will answer this question:
FAQ #306: Does "Crediting" let me use whatever I want?
FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work?
FAQ #193: How do I prove that I had permission to use someone's work?

Why do you only refer to Naruto and Sonic recolours/edits in this article?
Naruto and Sonic recolours/edits are the most commonly found on deviantART.

How come my recolours were removed from deviantART and x’s wasn’t?
There’s a high chance x’s ‘recolours’ are traces and these are allowed on deviantART. However, if you genuinely think that something is a recolour and not a trace, report it to deviantART using the ‘Report Deviation’ button.

Also, please read FAQ #302: Why did I receive some sort of administrative action when someone else did not?.

Okay, I’m reporting the deviation, but what do I report it under?
Report it under Art Theft (General) and select the Other box. I would rather keep actual art theft in the Art Theft box.

Rawrrrrrr imma angreh im gonna keep uploadin ma reculurs evrytim da removes dem.
You, my friend, need a dictionary.
If you keep uploading removed deviations, this will result in a suspension and eventually a ban. Please note that once you are banned from deviantART, you are banned. If you are caught making another account, you will be banned on that account also.

You only reported my recolour because you hate Naruto!11!!1!!!1!
That’s true, I hate Naruto, but that doesn’t mean I want valid fanart of it to be removed also, does it? Don’t be petty and accept that what you are doing is wrong.

I found something that looks like a recolour, but I’m not sure if it is. If I report it and it’s not a recolour, will I get in trouble?
Of course not! dA will just reply to you with a note stating that the report was invalid. However, if you don’t wish to disturb the admins, feel free to note me and I’ll take a look at it.

I love doing recolours, but I accept that they’re not allowed on dA. Where do I upload them?
Photobucket would be an ideal place for recolours. If you feel that your recolours aren’t getting enough publicity, you can always link to your Photobucket album in your journal.

Are recolours allowed in Scraps?
I’m afraid not.

I saw an unedited screenshot of a game/anime, is this allowed?
Just like edited screenshots, unedited screenshots are also not allowed. Report them and they will be removed.

What if someone recolours official art, is this allowed?
Nope. An example of official art is shown here. As you can see, it is clearly not a screenshot, yet would still be against the rules to edit/recolour.

Are recolours/edits of fanart found on deviantART/other websites allowed?
Recolours/edits of fanart are dealt with more severely than screenshot/official art recolours. Include the link to the original image in your report and the image will be removed faster than you can say ‘1337 paint skillz’. However, if you are the owner of the art which is being recoloured, it will be removed even faster thanks to the newly added Theft of MY art section.

I know I’ve seen the base fanart before, but I can’t remember where it comes from. Is there any way to track down the original image using the recoloured/edited version?
Yes, there is. TinEye is a handy website which serves as an image search engine. Sign up to it and you will see what I mean!

1.6 – Recolours – the aftermath.

First of all, kudos to you for being mature in the matter. A lot of recolourers I’ve met don’t stop until they’re banned, so your maturity should be rewarded with cookies.

For the few mature recolourers I’ve met, they are always puzzled about their next step on deviantART. During their time of puzzlement, they always say the same thing:

But I can’t draw!

I’m sorry, this is deviantART, not deviantDRAW. You don’t have to be able to draw to submit.

Here are some tips for those who want to post something other than recolours on their page:

_{Write fanfiction involving your RPC. If you feel that you need critiquing/help, the Literature Workship is there to provide a helping hand to you.
If you still want to colour, you may want to find blank lineart on deviantART and colour it. However, you must: a) Check that the artist allows it – and – b) Link back to the original lineart in the Artist’s Comment. (This isn’t necessary, but it’s a simple courtesy.)
If you want to draw, there are many users and guides devoted to improving artist’s skill. If you want to improve your drawing skills, Artist’s Hospital is a club which gathers tutorials/offers advice.}

There are many more things to do here on deviantART, you just need to find what suits you best.

Other FAQs to note:
FAQ #8: What does deviantART consider to be Art Theft?
FAQ #572: What does deviantART consider "Fan Art" to be?
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?

Thanks for reading this monstrous guide. Favourites and comments are very much appreciated!