Basic Characteristics

• Dimensions: 300x450 pixels
• Format: JPG
• Available on: actors + characters

Image Types

There are two supported image types. Actor Image and Character Image.

• Each person type can have one primary Actor image. It will be the default on a series or movie page in the event that there is no character image uploaded for their specific role.
  
• Character images should be an image of the actor in this specific role.
  • If the character is non-human. e.g. An animated character, puppet or always in costume. The image should be a photo of the character they voice.
  • If an actor image is already set for this actor, uploading a character image will replace the actor image in the series record.

Guidelines

• Images should be headshots. A good headshot...
  
• • Is framed from the chest up.
  • Captures the actor looking directly at the camera.
  • If a headshot cannot be found then the image should stay above the waist
• Images should not be stretched in any way. 
  
• There should be no writing or logos on the actor's images. Examples include...
  • Broadcaster, band, group or series logos.
  • Watermarks
  • Twitter handles, URLs, signatures or character names.
• Photos should not contain decorative overlays.
• Actors should not have hats, glasses (unless they wear them full-time), hands, props, or anything else in their photo. Again, it should just be a clear shot of their face and chest, looking at the camera.
  
• Actors should appear as they do in the present or at their death. I.e. an 80-year-old actor should not have an image of them in their 20s. Character images will depict them as they were at the time of the role.
• Actor images should not be in character. 
• Actor images for sports personalities should not be uniform unless no other images exist.
• Images must take up the entire canvas. Masking bars on the sides, top or bottom are not allowed.

If you can't find high-quality images that meet our requirements, please leave it for someone else to fill in.

The only exception to these rules can occur when a studio has released official artwork for all characters in a movie or series. These images may violate our guidelines, but they are still able to be added. Ex: Captain America: Civil War. This exception is only allowed if every featured character has a photo in this style, and will be up to the sole discretion of TheTVDB's admin team. Please submit a ticket if you'd like to request to upload character photos that may break our current artwork rules.

Examples

These would be considered the images that best meet our rules. They are clean images that feature the actor directly facing the camera, including their shoulders and a portion of their upper torso.

Person	Character	Non-Human Character

Secondary Examples

Below are additional images in styles we regularly find on the site. They include descriptions of their acceptability for inclusion on the site.

Example Image	Acceptability
	Better This image is acceptable. The actor is looking toward the camera, some of their chest is included and it is well-framed. Would not be replaced unless there were exceptional circumstances.
	Good This image is acceptable. The actor is looking toward the camera and it is well-framed. But it is quite a close shot and there is wasted space. Would be replaced if a better image were available.
	Ok Not Good This image is marginally acceptable. It is an overly close shot and the top of the actor's head is cropped off. Would be replaced if a better image were available.
	Not Good This image is not acceptable. There is way too much whitespace. Would probably be deleted by a moderator.
	Red Carpet Image  This image is not acceptable. Images from awards shows, movie premieres, etc have copyrights which are aggressively pursued.  This image would be deleted immediately upon detection.
	Side Profile/Hands Visible This image is largely unacceptable. It is not a straight-on shot and unnecessarily shows the actor's hand.  Most likely would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Very Low Resolution/Pixelated This image is unacceptable. It is a very low resolution. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Not a Photograph This image is unacceptable. No matter how good a painting or drawing is not a photograph. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Image is Distorted/Stretched This image is unacceptable. It is very obviously distorted or vertically stretched to meet the image dimension requirements. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Image is Far Too Closeup This image is unacceptable. It is an extreme closeup and is missing parts of the actor's face. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Masking to Create Larger Image This image is unacceptable. Do not simply place a smaller image on a background to achieve the required image dimension. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Framing an Image This image is unacceptable. Do not place a frame around an image. Either to achieve the required image dimension or for stylistic purposes. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Watermark or Text This image is unacceptable. There should be no text that is not part of a person's clothing. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Decoration This image is unacceptable. The purpose of the image is to clearly see the Actor or Character. Covering their likeness with decoration subverts that goal. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.
	Logo This image is unacceptable. The same as text there should be no logo that is not part of a person's clothing. Would be deleted by a moderator upon detection.