Proposal for a Mini Editor to Crop Characters from Selected Covers

[Simone Nardi]

Hello,
I noticed that a random thumbnail from the covers is currently displayed in the character profiles.
Unfortunately, as you may have seen, the character is often only partially visible or not the sole subject of the image.

I understand this isn’t an easy task, but I’d like to suggest the implementation of a simple graphic mini-editor — much more lightweight than the one used for full cover editing — that would allow:

• Selecting 1 to 3 meaningful covers directly from the character profile (for example: a portrait, a close-up, and a full-body image).

• Cropping the character from the selected cover using a rectangular shape, or a circular one at least for the face.

I believe such a feature would greatly enhance the visual quality and consistency of the character pages.

Best regards,
Simone Nardi

[Jochen G.]

If we use images for characters, it would be much easier of these were
edited off-line and then uploaded.

Am 13.05.25 um 07:36 schrieb Simone Nardi:

> Hello,
> I noticed that a random thumbnail from the covers is currently displayed
> in the character profiles.
> Unfortunately, as you may have seen, the character is often only
> partially visible or not the sole subject of the image.
>
> I understand this isn’t an easy task, but I’d like to suggest the
> implementation of a simple graphic mini-editor — much more lightweight
> than the one used for full cover editing — that would allow:
>

> *

>
> Selecting 1 to 3 meaningful covers directly from the character
> profile (for example: a portrait, a close-up, and a full-body image).
>

> *

>
> Cropping the character from the selected cover using a rectangular
> shape, or a circular one at least for the face.
>
> I believe such a feature would greatly enhance the visual quality and
> consistency of the character pages.
>
> Best regards,
> Simone Nardi
>

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[Simone Nardi]

You're absolutely right — offline editing is definitely the simplest solution.
My only concern is potential copyright issues — otherwise, we probably would have gone that route already.

However, if we treat the image as a “view” within the database, accompanied by a link to the full cover and proper credits, it might fall within acceptable use.

Simone

[Jochen G.]

Copyright wise I don't see any difference.

For covers we claim fair use, to identify the issue.

Any other view is its own use. Still can claim fair use, for identifying
characters, but there it shouldn't matter where the image stems from.

Am 13.05.25 um 09:35 schrieb Simone Nardi:

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[Flashjay]

There was a big discussion on Main or Policy with many suggestions, possible approaches and possible  pitfalls.

It will be worth a read if you haven't  and if you can find the thread.

[Donald Dale Milne]

    Yes, and I believe we came to no decision because of the many factors involved.  One major problem with characters is which image to choose, as different looks over time or across creators may significantly change a character's image.  We have one possible solution posted as a sample on the Superman page (https://www.comics.org/character/20/ ).  This type of solution also requires off-line, manual editing.

- Don Milne

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[Simone Nardi]

Unfortunately, the link you provided to the Superman page appears to be broken — I receive an error when trying to access it. Could you please verify it or provide an updated version?

I wonder if this might be due to recent automated content takedowns, which are becoming increasingly common as a result of new anti-piracy systems.

Simone

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gcd-tech/ee404bb4-666c-4e49-baf0-eeeb5dc5e992%40att.net.

[Jochen G.]

try to look at
https://docs.comics.org/images/a/a0/Superman_costumes.jpg

and after passing cloudflare look back at the character page.

We have cloudflare on docs, we had a severe slowdown before that. So
images via docs are not a solution

Am 13.05.25 um 20:30 schrieb Simone Nardi:

> Unfortunately, the link you provided to the Superman page appears to be
> broken — I receive an error when trying to access it. Could you please
> verify it or provide an updated version?
>
> I wonder if this might be due to recent automated content takedowns,
> which are becoming increasingly common as a result of new anti-piracy
> systems.
>
> Simone
>
>
> Il mar 13 mag 2025, 18:25 Donald Dale Milne <dond...@att.net

> <mailto:dond...@att.net>> ha scritto:
>
> __

>     Yes, and I believe we came to no decision because of the many
> factors involved.  One major problem with characters is which image
> to choose, as different looks over time or across creators may
> significantly change a character's image.  We have one possible
> solution posted as a sample on the Superman page (https://

> www.comics.org/character/20/ <https://www.comics.org/character/20/

> > ).  This type of solution also requires off-line, manual editing.
>
> - Don Milne
>
> On 5/13/2025 6:09 AM, Flashjay wrote:
>> There was a big discussion on Main or Policy with many
>> suggestions, possible approaches and possible  pitfalls.
>> It will be worth a read if you haven't  and if you can find the
>> thread.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 6:36:15 AM UTC+1 simone...@gmail.com

>> <mailto:simone...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>> I noticed that a random thumbnail from the covers is currently
>> displayed in the character profiles.
>> Unfortunately, as you may have seen, the character is often
>> only partially visible or not the sole subject of the image.
>>
>> I understand this isn’t an easy task, but I’d like to suggest
>> the implementation of a simple graphic mini-editor — much more
>> lightweight than the one used for full cover editing — that
>> would allow:
>>

>> *

>>
>> Selecting 1 to 3 meaningful covers directly from the
>> character profile (for example: a portrait, a close-up,
>> and a full-body image).
>>

>> *

>>
>> Cropping the character from the selected cover using a
>> rectangular shape, or a circular one at least for the face.
>>
>> I believe such a feature would greatly enhance the visual
>> quality and consistency of the character pages.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Simone Nardi
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups "gcd-tech" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
>> send an email to gcd-tech+u...@googlegroups.com

>> <mailto:gcd-tech+u...@googlegroups.com>.

>> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
>> gcd-tech/4909c044-5228-476e-83a8-3407d94fa0c8n%40googlegroups.com

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>> tech/4909c044-5228-476e-83a8-3407d94fa0c8n%40googlegroups.com?
>> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
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[Simone Nardi]

Ok, now it works. Thanks!

The proposed solution doesn’t fully convince me.
For instance, I have no information about the creators of the artworks, the stories they belong to, or the historical period they reference.
Moreover, if I wanted to simply display a small portrait—like the creator icons shown in stories—it wouldn't be possible.

One possible alternative, in my opinion, could be the use of manual tags directly on the covers, similar to how tagging worked on Facebook photos:
Cover → pixel coordinates (x, y) → thumbnail radius (to include the whole body).

 At that point, I could choose to incorporate into the character's profile a randomly selected set of 3 to 5 thumbnails, each enriched with its corresponding information.

Simone

[Donald Dale Milne]

    I don't know: it still works for me.  Even shows a different random cover than last time, so I know it's not reading a cached copy locally.

- Don Milne

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gcd-tech/CAN%2BuuQP0zK20zk4BZ%3DD-UV6ZpLH9cMzPjhRSmXkmzFCvmHQqBQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Donald Dale Milne]

    Right, this is only a sample to view the concept.

- Don Milne

[Simone Nardi]

It would be really nice to have something like that on the page dedicated to each cover.