This thread is dedicated to updating thumbnails for entries that need them in the new, large format! A lot of older content on NG only has a 140x90 thumbnail on file and we are increasingly needing larger ones.

There is a group of thumbnail creators, who have access to upload replacements thumbnails:

@Alexander, @Art3misJinx, @Asandir, @Big-Boss, @byteslinger, @deathink, @EdyKel, @Exedor, @ForNoReason, @HerbieG, @Jolly, @Krahs, @life, @Little-Rena, @Luwano, @PhantomArcade, @reverend, @Sectus, @shunshuu, @simon, @tehslaphappy, @Zachary, @ZJ 

For everyone else, this thread is a place where you can help! If you want to see a new thumbnail for something on the site, create one, upload it to dump (to retain quality) then make a post here with a link to the submission and a link to the thumbnail you created.

Note: Dump has been changed to be a Supporter feature for new accounts moving forward. If you want to help with thumbnails but don't have access to Dump, you can post your example thumbnails directly in this thread and I could gift you with Supporter status for the sake of helping out.

Moderators will be able to upload your thumbnail and we'll likely recruit new mods from the people who help!

Thumbnail Sizes

I tend to upload thumbnails in the 1920x1080 range. The site generates thumbnails that are 720 wide and 360 wide but we hold on to the source image in case we ever need to go bigger. Our new movie and game thumbnails are a 16:9 aspect ratio. We don't need to upload an image with that exact aspect ratio because the site has a cropper tool, so you don't have to worry about being exact there.

If you're making a thumbnail for old Flash content, often the Flash itself is smaller than 720 wide. In these cases I full screen the Flash before taking a screenshot. Sometimes I'll even zoom in, which requires a Flash player (Ruffle doesn't have a zoom in option at the moment).

This week we started displaying thumbnails in front of Flash content loaded via Ruffle and soon will launch the new movie and game hubs, which will utilize larger thumbnails.

Thank you in advance to everyone who helps out here! Thumbnail updates have always been one of the more daunting aspects of long-term NG maintenance. We like even the oldest stuff to look its best!

Let's do this!

Non-Mods: Please PM me if I can help you in any way. I'll try to answer and get your thumbnail up ASAP.

I am ready, this is me, making icons.

Hello! Here's a high quality version of the Punk-O-Matic thumbnail: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/0c15d241d3a77f152f1a0e66e12760ee

Thanks, it's updated now!

Everyone, welcome @CarterSterling, @GoryBlizzard and @HorribleCo to the Thumbnail Crew!

Since you guys are new to the tools, this would be a good place for a quick tutorial.

When you browse content on desktop, in the lower left corner you should see a box like this:

If a large thumbnail already exists, you can view it by clicking that "Large Thumbnail" link - it will show you the largest crop of the image. To actually edit or replace the thumbnail, click that red pencil in the top right corner and you'll go here:

On this page, you will see a "Re-Cut Image" button IF there is a large enough thumbnail that could be re-cropped. More likely, you will be uploading a new thumbnail here, at which point it will take you to the icon cropping tool.

You can ideally upload a full screen grab. When it comes to pixel art, I've been upscaling it using Nearest Neighbor scaling, which prevents it from becoming blurry.

The 140x90 thumbnail you see on the right is an example of how it will be cropped and resized for our old thumbnail format, which isn't 16:9 like the new format. This will be increasingly irrelevant as pages update to use larger / 16:9 thumbnails.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Also when it comes to updating thumbnails, you can try things like browsing by specific date ranges in the hubs. For example here is all featured content from before 2017, starting with December 31st, 2016:

https://www.newgrounds.com/movies/featured?sort=date&genre=0&before=2017-01-01&suitabilities=etm

Things are kind of weird where we've accepted larger thumbnails for several years, but not everyone uploaded ones that were big enough. We have a mix of old entries where the 140x90 thumbnail is just scaled up and blurry, and more recent entries that were processed to make the thumbnail more presentable, with a blurred backdrop behind it. All of these can get updated.

You'll see if I go back further (pre-2012), most of the thumbnails are just blurry, with some that have been updated:

https://www.newgrounds.com/movies/featured?sort=date&genre=0&before=2012-01-01&suitabilities=etm

Thank you so much Tom!! I really appreciate this, I've already updated some icons and I can't wait to update some more ;D

Alright, here's a question: How far from the source material can I be? I made this thumbnail for Super Smash Flash because I feel like the current screenshot from Super Smash Bros Melee as the thumbnail doesn't sum up the game as well as it should.

In general I try to mimic the original thumbnail but sometimes that art isn't available and other times the small version was too cropped and doesn't make sense as a large thumbnail. Using the title screen for Smash Flash feels good in this case!

I should add that usually with games I prefer a good in-game shot that gives a feel for what the game is.

I agree 100%! The last thing I'd ever want to do is misrepresent a game. I've been mimicking the original thumbnails for the most part, I just thought I'd make sure about Super Smash Flash because the original thumbnail didn't appear in the game and I felt like that specific flash has become it's own thing and has grown past the need to use a screenshot from Melee.

Here's another question, and it's a bit of a minor one: For Kill Britney Spears, I currently have it as an in-game screenshot that's as close to the original thumbnail as possible (except not as pixelated since it's a new screenshot). The bad thing is that the in-game picture they used of Britney Spears in the game is pixelated, so it still looks pretty bad.

I could recreate this image with a higher-quality version of the photo they used (like so), but then that wouldn't be as close to the original game.

For old games like this, where they use a low quality in-game photo as the thumbnail, would it be better to find a higher-quality version of the photo and use that? Or would it be better to keep it as close to the original game as possible, even if the image in-game is pixelated and outdated?

You got it. I'm at work right now but this evening I should definitely have time to help.

Also a piece of advice for any other icon mods: If the animation is from 2012 or later, chances are it's also on Youtube. I'd recommend checking that site first and seeing if the author themselves uploaded it onto there, and then use a Youtube thumbnail grabber online to get the thumbnail in high quality.

I'm gonna lean towards sticking with the original in-game photo in these cases, unless the source image is something that was created by someone here on the site and a hi-res version is available.

Thanks, I was wondering what the optimal thumbnail size to upload was. I'll go through my old projects and update them.

Also interested helping out with this effort, cause this kind of busywork is oddly satisfying to me. If I get around to making a few, I'll post em here.

Thanks! City Escape is actually one I had struggled with before because it appeared to have a custom thumbnail. Will be cool to see that get updated properly!

Hi there! Any thumbnail size that's a 16:9 aspect ratio should work fine, I recommend at least 1200x675 though, and I think the best size would be 1920x1080. It is worth mentioning that Newgrounds will crop it for you, if you don't want to be exact.

So far so good. Gotten my feet wet already with a few submissions. Maintaining good quality is always important to me. I'm hoping I have enough free time this weekend to help out not necessarily for the sake of bumping my numbers but because this can occupy me when I've knocked out all of my other tasks, and I am well aware of how many submissions need to be attended to.

I've got a lot going on right now, however I will be sure to put this in the Tribune. Anything of note I should include for those wanting to help out? Anything for any creators out there who need their thumbnails updated?

Could note that it's especially helpful when creators update their own thumbnails! Otherwise, anyone with a discerning eye for good thumbnails can help out.

Can I join?

Hi everyone! I'm currently working mainly on updating the "Most Viewed Games" thumbnails, but I think I need some help. Here are some games that I can't get super close to with the thumbnails, if any of you could help with screenshots or whatever that'd be much appreciated.

Here are my requests, they don't have to be perfect but if any of you could get somewhat close screenshots that'd be much appreciated. If you need to take multiple screenshots of different assets that are present in the thumbnail or whatever that's fine too, I can always edit images together:

Drag Racer 3

Drag Racer v2

Madness interactive

Custom Rides (SM Designs)

Thank you!

Also, @TomFulp I don't know what they're called but do you think you'll ever add one of these preview image things for movies? Something like this, where you can kinda scroll through and look at where you need to be in the movie you're watching.

It's not like it's impossible without it, but it'd make the process of replacing thumbnails for movies on here way easier. Thanks!

Scrubber thumbnails are a wish list item that might get addressed at some point but it's hard to say if/when for sure.

We've also talked about having a moderator / project owner button that can take whatever frame you are paused on and make it the thumbnail - that would be insanely helpful and I hope we can get it going. Feels like a ways out at the moment though.

Those are ones I've continually left alone so far, too! I'm ok if these end up with something different than what is there now, although anything anyone can pull off would be cool.

At 12/23/20 07:00 AM, TomFulp wrote:

I'm ok if these end up with something different than what is there now, although anything anyone can pull off would be cool.

Alright, I was able to give custom thumbnails to Madness Interactive and Custom Rides (SM Designs), but I'll still need help with the Drag Racer games because I honestly don't know how to play those games and I suck at racing games LOL. If any of you are able to help let me know! If not, I guess we could use the title screen as a thumbnail.

I made some thumbs for Drag Racer, they aren't the best but they both feature a Subaru WRX which I have a soft spot for.

I have been working my way through some of the spam submissions over the years, and I might find the odd gem.

Thought I'd share that a whole bunch of the most viewed games on here have gotten their thumbnail updated! I was looking through the list and I thought it was pretty cool that they've all been updated.

If you find a cool one while updating thumbnails you should definitely share it here! I'm a sucker for spam submissions :P

I've updated these, thanks! The thumbnail for Get on My Horse was a lot more blurry than it needed to be, so I made a new one for that. Does the video look that blurry on your screen or is it a result of the software you're using to save the thumbnail? What software are you using?

Imagine the embarrassment of an icon mod having to update their own icons of many older submissions, I would hate to be that person.