This is aninformation page. It is not anencyclopedic article, nor one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels ofconsensus andvetting.

Shortcuts WP:FILEWP:FILE WP:NS6WP:NS6

This page in a nutshell: To use an image or other media file on Wikipedia, you need to upload it, and then edit a Wikipedia page to use the file.

TheFile namespace is anamespace consisting ofadministration pages in which all of Wikipedia's media content resides. On Wikipedia, all media filenames begin with the prefixFile:, including data files forimages, video clips, or audio clips, including document length clips; or MIDI files (a small file of computer music instructions).

Search for files, or upload your own file. (SeeUploading files below.) A search lists every file page containing all the search terms found on the file page. From the search box, enterFile:descriptive terms.  For example, include the termsimage,video, ormidi in the query. Then, discovering thepage name, you canedit thewikitext of any page and insert that media. This is an easy way to significantly improve articles. (SeeUsing files below.) For example, the page title "File:CI 2011 swim 04 jeh.theora.ogv" will appear in the search results forFile: swim video.

There are three semantic differences from the normalwikilink syntax when working with afile page:

• [[File:pagename]] willtransclude the file, inserting the image, video, audio, or MIDI file into the rendered page in afile link. Afile link is a transclusion from theFile namespace, complete with transclusion parameters.
• [[:File:pagename]], with the initial colon, will link the image, video, or audiofile page;
• [[Media:pagename]] will render a link which can activate the image or audio or video of adata file directly, on its own page (separate from the rendered page or thefile page).

For backward compatibility with older pages thealiasImage: (now deprecated) is still available instead ofFile: in wikilinks or in the search box, but "image" will now refer to more types of data files than just images.

The first step in using an image or other media file is tochoose an upload server. Some files must useWikipedia's upload server. Many files can usethe Wikimedia Commons upload server which houses files atWikimedia Commons. (Commons does not allowfair use. If the image isnon-free and meets thenon-free content criteria then you must upload it to Wikipedia.) All files uploaded fromWikimedia Commons aremirrored on toWikipedia and searchable from either one. (SeeSpecial:Filelist.)

The preferred formats

• forimages:SVG,PNG,JPEG, andXCF. TheGIF andTIFF formats are recognized, and other image formats may be too.
• foraudio:MIDI, and alsoOgg withFLAC,Speex, orVorbis codecs.
• forvideo:WebM, and also Ogg with theTheora video codec.

You may have to rename your file for Wikipedia: seeNaming files below. Also, please bear in mind that theExif format of many digital cameras, smartphones, and scanners may embed personal metadata, and that if your media files are handled by unknown persons,steganography can embed hidden information in them.

High resolution images and animated .gif files may pose a problem for performance, but see the problem description in terms of bandwidth and reader's computing power atConsideration of image download size. For photographs in JPEG format, upload the best quality and highest resolution version available; these will be automatically scaled down to low-resolution thumbnails when needed.

Once the file is uploaded, please verify itsfile page image quality and description, considering how its key words help tag it for proper indexing in asearch result. If a file of the same name exists on both Wikipedia and Commons, the Wikipedia file will be displayed.

Files subject to any restrictions on how they may be used (except attribution orcopyleft), such as "for use on Wikipedia only" or "for non-commercial use only",are not free enough and cannot be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia. In case an image isnon-free content, uselow-resolution files so that the use is as minimal as possible.

Search for and find one of many existing image files, or upload your own file. Knowing the file'spage name you can thenedit your page and refer to that file to insert it into your wikitext. You willwikilink the page name, which will in turn include its file (of that name) in the page you edit. Take for exampleFile:Wikipedesketch.png. Use the followingall on one line (with no line breaks). Then the results will be as shown in the image to the right:

[[File:Wikipedesketch.png|thumb|alt=A cartoon centipede ...detailed description.|The Wikipede edits ''[[Myriapoda]]''.]]

The above link contains "fields":

1. the page name, "File:Wikipedesketch.png"
2. "thumb", short forthumbnail and referring here to the reader's default size for images (SeeHelp:User preferences to specify your own thumbnail sizes.)
3. thealt text, such as might read "A cartoon centipede with seven hands reads a book, lifts another, types on a laptop, and holds a bottle".Alt text is intended for visually impaired readers or those with browsers or computers that do not display images. SeeHELP:ALT for examples.
4. thecaption, as "The Wikipede editsMyriapoda." The caption is intended for viewers of the image and explains the meaning while using terms that refer directly to itemsas they appear in the image.

Text and captions need have little text in common. A reader of the article can click on the thumbnail, or on the small double-rectangle icon below it, to go to the correspondingfile page.

By default, the page layout will place the image to the right of the wikitext, one line below where you placed the link. Theextended image syntax provides many options to control how an image is displayed. You can make it "float" to the left, or center it, or place it without text flowing around it. You can force its size (to differ from the default set by the user), or even provide for the reader move around in a panorama. You can avoid image "stackups" in several ways, for example, by alternating left and right images, by aligning images, and if all else fails by forcing a break. You can create a gallery of images arranged into an array by usingtable syntax, with a{{Gallery}} template, and by directly using agallery tag. Gallery tags use|alt= parameters on each line similar to standard images, but the{{Gallery}} template requires enumerated alt text parameters. Also, you can create plain pictures that do not have captions and can be mingled with text and other images; these can use more fine-grained techniques, including borders, vertical alignment with text, and control over links. You can also link to an image without displaying it.

For examples of all these techniques, seePicture tutorial.

File names should be clear and descriptive, without being excessively long. While the image name doesn't matter much to the reader (they can reach thedescription page by simply clicking on the image), it matters for editors. It is helpful to other contributors and for maintenance of the encyclopedia if images have descriptive or at least readable file names. For example,File:Skyline Frankfurt am Main.jpg is more manageable thanFile:14004096 200703230833355477800.jpg.

To avoid accidental overwriting of images or other media, generic filenames should not be used when uploading. For example, a picture of analbum cover should not be given the nameFile:Cover.jpg. Sooner or later someone else will try to do the same thing, and that could overwrite the old image. Then the new image will appear wherever the old one was seen before—an album article would then show the wrong album cover. A better name would beFile:Sabaton The Last Stand cover.jpg

Renaming a file page is different thanrenaming other kinds of pages. Thepage name of afile page is renamed by afile mover. A file mover is a user granted specialrights. Unless you have been granted file mover rights, you must make a request to rename the page.

The request to rename a page is made by adding the followingtemplate to the wikitext file page, anywhere on the page:

{{Rename media|new filename|reason for name change}}

This will add the file page toCategory:Wikipedia files requiring renaming, where a file mover will notice it.

The most common and accepted reasons a file mover will change a name are:

• Uploader request
• Changing from ameaningless to a descriptive title
• Changing from amisleading name to an accurate name
• Correcting importanterrors denoting, for example the spelling of aproper noun, or a false historical date
• Harmonizing file names witha set of related names
• Disambiguating files with very similar names
• Removepejorative,offensive orcrude language

The bolded words are description enough for the reason for a name change.

You can use theSpecial:Search box below to locate Files. SeeHelp:Searching for more information.

• Help:Creation and usage of media files
• Help:Viewing media
• Wikipedia:File names
• Wikipedia:Images – an overview
  • Wikipedia:Image use policy
  • Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images
  • Help:Pictures
  • Wikipedia:Uploading images
  • Wikipedia:Extended image syntax
• mw:Help:Images at MediaWiki
• commons:Allowable file types (STL is only allowed at Commons)

• Wikipedia information pages
• Wikipedia interface help
• Wikipedia sidebar help
• Wikipedia files

• Wikipedia semi-protected project pages
• Wikipedia image help