First of all, Just giving a rating without any CC is considered spam! Spamming on Sal's can result in warns, so you should always give CC in your posts.

Rating
Giving ratings is optional. Many people like to give ratings, and if you do here are some guidelines that might help with rating (written by Celtic, revised by Steve):
The easiest thing to do is dont rate the graphics. A rating does really doesn't help say how good the graphic is, as everyone uses their own method. It also is very vague, since no specifics can be given with a simple rating. CC, on the other hand, gives specifics to be worked on that will help the artist improve (below).

Remember: Just giving a rating and no CC is spam!




CCing
CC stands for Constructive Criticism (sometimes Comments and Criticism). It is to help make the artist better at what they do. Here are some tips when CCing:
1. ALWAYS give CC in your post. When a person makes a topic, they always want CC. Without CC, your post is spam.
2. When you point out errors, always give a solution so that the artist knows how to get better at graphics.
3. End on a positive note, even if you dislike the signature. Find something you like and end with that. Using a smiley can also help. (Thanks Codex for these.)
4. Everyone starts somewhere, and starting out can be difficult. So be easier on newer artists so they don't get scared away from making graphics.
5. If you don't like someone's work that is okay, but keep it respectful. Point out what you don't like, and say why. That way the person knows what not to do in the future.
6. Similarly, if you absolutely love someone's work, point out specific parts that you like so the artist knows what to continue doing.

Here are a few examples of what is allowed and what isn't. Alex has posted a sig of his, and Steve is commenting.
This isn't allowed both because it doesn't give any CC to help the artist and because it is extremely rude.
This example is good because Alex now knows how to
This is useless and is spam because Alex now knows that his sig is alright, but doesn't know why or how to make it better.


If you see someone spamming, report their posts so they can be removed. It can be hard to decide what's spam, since some spam-ish posts can actually help, so I'll do my best to leave those that could be considered helpful.

Thanks!

Great guide Steve
I'll sticky and close this just so people can check it out.

EDIT: Opened for discussion. Spam replies will be deleted. -Common Sense

Thanks for opening this Common.

-

Ive noticed lately there has been a bit of disagreement of what should be acceptable CC. Some people have been giving CC that others find a bit harsh. So I think we should have a discussion on what acceptable CC is so nobody's feelings are hurt with our CC. We want everybody to get better and nobody to be sad because someone is harsh with CCing. Here are my views:

I think that the harshness of the CC you give should be based on how good you are. So the people that are pretty good can get a bit harsher CC, because they are used to it and don't mind. I know when I was new to graphics I wasn't happy when somebody kept saying very bad things about my work. I liked the good comments a lot, though. So I think for newer people to graphics CC should be a bit nicer. Ill try to give examples (using my work).


Here is the example of an experienced graphics person who you can give harsher CC to, and an example of the CC that I think would be pretty acceptable:
As you can see, thats pretty harsh. Basically its all bad things until the one good comment about the text. If I got that right now I wouldn't be happy, but I wouldnt be discouraged and stop making graphics because nobody likes my work. I know I can fix things and in the future make better art.



Here is what I would consider an acceptable CC:Notice I say many good comments and I dont focus on the bad points. The artist will notice the bad points and fix them, but won't be discouraged by many bad points because of all the good things I pointed out.


I need to go now, Ill post an example of CC that I would consider unnacceptable and just mean to a newbie later.


These are my opinions, Id like a discussion here, thats why I had this topic reopened. I think everyone's opinions should be heard here.

Please also remember that when people give CC, they are just trying to help you improve. Do not be discouraged and just listen to other's tips on how to improve and try those tips.
Do not reply back yelling at them at how much time you spent on it and such because we're all human: we're not perfect

I second that. When I CC a newb, I generally point out what's good about his sig and give tips about what he can improve on. At that stage, encouragement is just that tad bit more important than bluntness.

I always try to balance my comments with both positive and negative points

Also remember that people have different taste. Just because I say something's bad doesn't mean that it is bad - just that I don't care much for it personally. What other people say about your work are just guidelines.

Uhm...Quite true Red. But maybe add more guidelines on how to CnC?

A scale for help on rating:

10/10 - Perfect, no way that even if Jesus was walking around turning water into wine could this be made any better. (This should never be given)

9/10 - Very Very very good, little or no bad points and has 2 or more outstandingly good features to it (this should be the highest mark ever given)

8/10 - Very good, has at least 1 outstanding point that separates it from the crowd and few negative points.

7-6/10 - Good work, above average and the bad points outweigh the good, there are however a few things that need to be worked on or one major thing.

5/10 - Average work, a lot that has been done well and a lot that hasn't, room for improvement.

4-3/10 - Not so good work, some reasonable points but this has many flaws and needs more work.

2/10 - Bad work, a lot of things that can be done a lot better, many major flaws.

1/10 - Terrible work, little or no work has been done and what has is a step in the wrong direction.





If you feel the urge to rate things use something similar to that but as always CC is a lot better than ratings. As far as you can try and judge everyone on the same scale. Of course don't give new people 2's or 3's but don't give them 10's either.


PREFERABLY STAY AWAY FROM RATING AND JUST CC INSTEAD If you have to rate add CC around it otherwise the rate is useless

thanks Mr.T, ill take it all into account seing as i have rated a 10/10 b4

Im reporting you for bumping a 4 month old topic!!!


Thanks Celtic. I added it to the first post.

A couple things I've picked up on that seems to be one of those "unspoken-because-it's-kinda-dumb-but-still-written-in-"the-book"-things:



1) Appropriate and nice CC must always end in a comment telling the person how good their work otherwise is, or telling them to keep up the good work.



This can even be applied to a negative CC to give the sense that he doesn't completely hate your work:

So be sure to end with how good it otherwise is, else be smitten by the Gods of Negative Constructive Criticism!





2) To create a nice atmosphere in virtually any case, be sure to append a positive smiley to the good comment.



To further stress this, notice how all the "good cc" examples in the above posts end with a smiley, and the negative ones do not. It's necessary too, folks!

thanks i was wondering what cc was

I think many people here will agree that there is an issue in this forum with spam, and has been neglected too long! So I'm hoping that some of the changes I've made to the first post will help the problem here.

Any suggestions on what else to add/change would be appreciated.

Old version:

Spoiler: Click to Toggle the Spoiler.

Ok I really didnt want to do this, I thought of this a while ago but though it would be lame. But I feel I need to. People need to understand how to rate and CC.

Rating
Ill start out with rating. You should rarely rate something 10/10. Ive seen some not-so-good work being rated 10/10 lately. Here is a good rating scale by Celtic:

QUOTE

10/10 - Perfect, no way that even if Jesus was walking around turning water into wine could this be made any better. (This should never be given)
9/10 - Very Very very good, little or no bad points and has 2 or more outstandingly good features to it (this should be the highest mark ever given)
8/10 - Very good, has at least 1 outstanding point that separates it from the crowd and few negative points.
7-6/10 - Good work, above average and the bad points outweigh the good, there are however a few things that need to be worked on or one major thing.
5/10 - Average work, a lot that has been done well and a lot that hasn't, room for improvement.
4-3/10 - Not so good work, some reasonable points but this has many flaws and needs more work.
2/10 - Bad work, a lot of things that can be done a lot better, many major flaws.
1/10 - Terrible work, little or no work has been done and what has is a step in the wrong direction.

The easiest thing to do is dont rate the graphics. A rating does really doesn't help say how good the graphic is. Give CC instead (below).

Remember: Just giving a rating and no CC is spam!




CCing
What is CCing?
CC is Constructive Critisism (sometimes Comments and Critisism). Its meant to help make the artist better at what they do. Make sure that you are nice with your CC. Point out errors that you see, but try to back it up with a suggestion for a solution. If its a specific type of work you are good at, or someone you know is good at, maybe link them to some examples of that person's work.

Unless the person specifically says they dont want CC, that is what theyre looking for. So a topic that just has the image in it still is looking for CC. Sometimes people just say "Rate" or something to that effect, but dont mention that they want CC. That doesnt mean that you can reply with "9/10 I like it." You should still give some CC.

Here are two scenarios. Alex has posted a sig of his, and Steve is commenting.

QUOTE

Alex: <posts sig>
Steve: Wow, thats crap. I cant find a single thing good about it. Never try making graphics again. Ever.

QUOTE

Alex: <posts sig>
Steve: Hmm, Im not too fond of it. Whatever effect you used around the render is really good, but Im not too sure about that background. Its too busy for the render. Maybe try something more metallic? Also, lighten it up a tiny bit. Nice job, you could definitly make it better though.

As you can obviously see, the first example is not CC and isnt acceptable. The second one, however, helps Alex get better at what he is trying to do.




This is just a friendly reminder about rating and CCing. Remember if you dont like someone's art, dont be afraid to tell them so. However, be nice about it. If someone is new to graphics, don't tell them they suck and tell them to make sigs like the pros. Give them CC to help them get better at the level they are currently at. Just make sure to not tell them you love it. Give some negative pints. If everybody loves your work then you cant get better, because you arent being told what to work on.

[Close]

Thanks, Steve. I'm not sure how many people actually read this (no personal offense meant ), but it can't hurt. Spam certainly is the major issue here, and I hope this warning helps.

I'm sure that very few people actually read this, but it is a sticky so everyone should read it and so I think it would be reasonable to punish people for not following the rules outlined here.

Just a note:



Surely it should be good points outweighing the bad in an above average piece of work, especially as the following "however" is negative.

And good guide, by the way.

That went unnoticed for 15 months. I ended up just rewording the whole ratings part.

Aww why you reword it? It had was funny in some parts...Also my names Alex xD

Also nice guide! But i like the older one better...It was funnier..But barely anyone read this...lol

A question about CCing:

I've seen posts where they poster is like "I like the colors," or "Nice blood effect."

Wouldn't that still be considered CC because they're telling the artist what they like about the piece, so they can know that the effect is a good one and that it should be used in other work? I haven't been reporting those, but if they're considered spam too, then I'll report those also.

@ above post ^

I would count that as C&C as the poster has given the graphic designer points on what is good in his work, so he knows what people like and perhaps continue doing that sort of work. If it said "I like it", that isn't a help and is spam.

Hope that helps you a little, though I would recommend saying a little more than "Nice blood effect, 8/10", as that is a little short. Perhaps people could mention why they like the colours, maybe it is the effect? or it could just be their favourite colour.

Here is a good example of a post:



Hope that answers your question

~ Mat Bateman2


EDIT (Steve): Mat pretty much got it right, but just to repeat what he said in a slightly different wording:
"I like the colors" is close to spam, but it helps the artist by telling them that their color choices are good. I know I've had a lot of problems in the past with getting good colors, so something as simple as that could be a huge help. "Nice blood effect" is even better, because it states a specific part of the piece that was done well. The artist then knows that the blood effect they used was good and they could use it again in the future.

good guide, ill be following it o and i got a guide to cc here one sec
i didnt write this, Zhou from gfx-street did:
Here are some things to consider when rating a Signature and giving CnC:

Color: Is it to monotone, meaning one colored? Are the colors too bland, or to contrasted? Do the colors go well together and blend?

Flow: Are the effects clean? Do most of them appear to be going in the same direction?

Focal: Does your character stand out? Is it what draws your eyes the most?

Depth: Does the tag look flat? Does it give the illusion of depth?

Composition: Are things placed well? Do they look good together? Is it just random effects?

Light source: Is the light source too solid? Does it give off enough, too much, or too little light for the tag? Is it in the right area to make it seem the focal's light is actually coming from that spot? Does the light source look too fake/forged?

Lighting: Is the tag too bright or dark?

Concept: (Not a must, but really boosts a tag's rating if you have a good one) Do you have thoughts about a specific thing when looking at the tag?

There are other aspects, but those are for specific types of tags. Just put those in mind when rating a tag. When you mention that something is bad, don't just say it is bad, tell how or why it is bad. Tell them exactly what they did wrong. This system helps the person improve their work and ultimately their overall GFX skill.

dynamism, and wow factor, text are also factors.