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Diikae — Tracing vs. Referencing
Published: 2011-05-07 06:35:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 25593; Favourites: 117; Downloads: 78
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:// Tracing vs. Copying vs. Referencing
:// Warning: If you are tracing/copying someone else's artwork without permission, this is considered plagiarism and you can be sued. Just something to keep in mind.
:// Unless the stock creator explicitly speaks against it, tracing stock is not an issue whatsoever and can be a helpful tool to learn anatomy. When doing this, you need to be honest with yourself and the community about when your talent ends and the tracing begins, however.
I've seen some dispute about these things on dA and I would like to clear some things up as I see them. I hope most will agree, though I know some will not. I will keep comments open for now because I'd love suggestions or questions. This is here as a resource for the community. Comments will become closed if people start harassing me.
But in the end...
Referencing is always okay, of course, if it's not tracing or copying. There is a distinct difference.
I used, with permission, ~Druid-Ulises 's Erin Image .
Also, some further reading courtesy of dA, on using other people's images, and copy/tracing policy:
FAQ #304: Do you remove copies and trace-over art?
FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work?
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?
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Comments: 86
I feel you man, people on Curious Cat and Fanfiction.NET accuse me of tracing, but I wasn't..
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Smart tracing is called Referencing.
Dumb tracing is called Copying.
Everyone cheats from top artists to newbies. If the so called artist is so triggered by someone tracing then perhaps he should stop using digital webcom and use brush and paint instead of cheating with an artificial means
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I'm still confused...I'm not sure the difference really....how do I make my drawigns more dynamic without "copying" poses I see on Google?
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Hey all,
Happened to stumble on this while browsing through DA. Wanted to throw my thoughts in (though this post is very old - time to necro it).
I've done some free lance digital art work for a few companies and I can say with absolute certainty that no one outside these closed online art communities actually cares. If your boss approaches you and says "I need you to concept this character with x, y, and z characteristics - oh and some armor" don't waste your time trying to eyeball a reference. Don't waste your time trying to fiddle with anatomy from memory. Just grab a good basic reference photo of a person standing in a very default position (preferably a t-pose) and trace the anatomy.
You just saved yourself at least 10-15 minutes (maybe 20 for more complex poses). Mind you, all you've traced is the basic outline of the body; no eyes, lips, nose, or anything specific. Just the general shape of that body. From there you can design that character you were asked for...oh and it has to be done in the next hour or your boss will be PISSED.
Now you can sculpt the character into the one you've been asked for. A lot of times I ended up just using the same pose over and over for all the concepts. So I'd get the anatomy traced out, and then save it as a brush. Then I could just stamp it down... saved myself even more time!
However, when I'm drawing in my spare time just for fun...I'll use a reference unless I need something specific (like hands...damn hands) I'll usually drag in a photo of either my own hand or a reference from online and just trace it. Save myself the hassle.
When it comes to this debate of tracing vs referencing... I get why newer artists will want to do things without a reference or without tracing, but there's no reason to needlessly struggle. References exist to help you.
Now tracing something line for line and just adding some extra colors...c'mon man. That's just stealing. But tracing a pose(photo reference), just the outline of the anatomy, because it is exactly the pose you were looking for anyway - is that really so bad? (I feel like tracing a pose from someone else's painting is especially bad - stick to photo references).
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I usually struggle to do human anatomy well, so I always look up human anatomy reference sketches but for ease I put them on another layer of my drawing. I always end up tracing them to an extent though; is this allowed or not allowed?While it's not someone else's character or style or so; it's still tracing, so I'm a bit unsure
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This is really well done. Great job explaining all the differences. I myself, get permission if I want to redraw something. And if I don't get the permission, I don't do it, and I always credit.
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Lets say I copied the pose, but changed the head, and the clothing. Will that still be copying?
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Take a look at a perfect example of tracing: [link]
lol at all the people flooding in defending tracing and taking credit for other's hard work.
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Thanks for posting this information. Children trace; adults draw.
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I'm not an adult yet I've never traced in my life xD
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Thanks for posting this. Children trace; adults draw.
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By that logic any portrait ever (if done in a naturalistic style) is copying.
This: [link] would be copying.
Yet nobody ever complained...
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I would say that portraits that are meant to look exactly like the image they're referenced is a copy, and thus I personally find less artistic merit in them. It's certainly a talent to be able to look at something and make an exact replicate of it, but it feels like there's no life to it since it's basically a pain-staking render of something already in existence.
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Sounds forced to me. Why alter a perfectly good image just for the sake of being "original"?
That would be like, I don't know, somebody painting a beautiful landscape, and someone comes along and says "Why don't you just take a photo?" Or "why do you paint it the way it is? Why not make it more original?"
But you can also make a portrait out of various reference materials and composite them into something new, making it more of an imaginative endeavor.
Well, some people aren't really into cubism, because that's what happens if you take various reference materials and composite them. ._.
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This image was discussing referencing, copying, and tracing other people's artwork and stock, because there was clear confusion about what the problem with tracing and copying other people's works. This was not intended for referencing/copying 'real life'.
The opinions I stated in my previous comment still stand however. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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For some reason I always forget how to draw certain poses, so I have to look around DA for the pose i'm looking for and use it as a reference
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Thanks for making this! It cleared up some fuzzy lines for me- even though I never trace/copy things with the purpose of putting it on DA (I often copy artwork in order to improve), I've always been slightly miffed at the distinction between copying/referencing.
When I create my own characters, I often take ideas (especially in the case of hairstyles) from existing characters all over the place. I alter the hair to my own taste, so it's not identical to the reference/references, but then I always feel bad about using a reference and I feel really guilty...
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I'm glad it could help you a bit. I think as long as you give credit to the original hairstyle (if you feel too guilty about it) I think it's fine. Especially if you alter it how you want. I get inspired by other people's hairstyle creations too sometimes. C:
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If there is no way to tell whether it's a trace or a reference, assume it's a trace because that's not very good referencing.
That's the rule I go by when deciding if the person is an art thief or not.
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Another good way is to study the fandamentals of doodling and art before you try to copy elements from a picture. Using linewires, knowing color coordination, and composition are excellent things for a artist to know. Don't just trace, understand what makes a piece work before submitting a variation on a piece.
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This is wonderful! I always appreciate input and data! 
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I don't really mind bases too much as long as the person credits, but tracing off of people's art which -isn't- stock is definitely not okay, unless they have permission.
And of course, I definitely do not like the idea of people piggy-backing on someone else's hard work.
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Yep, same as me. I hate Tracers with a burning passion, but with bases, it takes a bit more talent to do (which would be ANY) compared to Tracers, so I do have some form of respect for them.
But yeah, make up your own poses and designs. It more fun than just copying someone's stuff anyways
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Blah blah blah you were roughly inspired by this person, you're a thief blah blah I wank to Artistic Nude blah blah.
Man, I hate this website.
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Tracing is not roughly inspired.
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You should see what some people consider tracing, up to and including freehand artwork that resmebles a person they like. That, and apparently satire and plagiarism are treated as one and the same.
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Overlays are important in figuring out tracing accusations for sure. I can understand not wanting your hard work being cast off as someone's own and that's not restricted to this site. There are lawsuits constantly about "idea stealing".
I don't really understand the satire and plagiarism thing though. That seems kind of ridiculous to me. Maybe the initial person is butthurt and that's their best argument?
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It's Kphoria, if you're interested. Apparently, it's illegal to make fun of death-fetishes.
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I think I'm somewhere in between the likes of that huge multi-person convo with *xRedLily . I do some tracing to get the basic layout of my picture, similar to what she did, but then I toss out the ref completely from the situation, and continually change the lines I drew to look more like how I think the horse SHOULD look since in general I actually don't really like natural horse anatomy LOL. Mine tend to be more plush, and rounded than a real horse. Plus my lines aren't as clear or defined as those she showed, more of a wobbly outline, like you might see if someone was drawing with their left hand or something LOL and I only use this process on photos ref, or blank dolls.
I used to draw straight out of my head, but I always hated the result. If you look at the horses in my "old stuff" folder, all of those were ref free, and I REPULSE them LOL. I don't condone genuine tracing, like you showed here, but I do know very well that I'm horrible with coming up with realistic posing, and proportions, but I'm also not ashamed of what I do. I know I ref, and do a touch of tracing, but if I were called out on it, I wouldn't deny it, and if someone thought my pose looked TOO similar I'd redraw it. But happily I've never had the issue come up.
This was a marvelous idea though, and even all the discussion below is very helpful and hopefully with answer alot of peoples questions about what is "stealing" compared to "referencing." This should totally get a Daily Dev. It's something everyone should be aware of in the DA community!.
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:') Magnificent, my friend. I personally dislike any form of tracing, or having things on top, unless I really need it as a direct ref. I like to have to do things myself, otherwise I'd learn nothing and never improve. And also, seeing this totally made my day. 
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Thank you very much. :3 I don't mind tracing from stock photos that much if people are honest about where their talent ends and where the tracing starts. Tracing is a good tool to start to understand the workings of anatomy, but like a crutch, you have to let go of it eventually.
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Too true.
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this is incredible, Ange.
This should be mandatory to read when you become a newbie to dA, seriously. Fantastic!
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Thank you! :] I hope it's useful.
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Hmmm I was wondering if you consider this tracing? [link]
I always use a photo reference but only draw a stick-like figure, and sometimes when I have problems with a bit of anatomie I look at how the horse on the photo looks like.
Also I've noticed that some very populair equine artist trace 
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For the first 3 seconds, yes you are tracing
While the majority of the image is not traced, the base sketch is traced. Any time you are drawing directly on top of another image (even if only a tiny little bit) that is considered tracing.
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Looks like blatant tracing to me.
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WOW hold on! where do you see me tracing from the photo line by line?
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On closer inspection it seems you didn't directly trace (the video look like you do), but I'd still call it a blatant rip off of the photo. True referencing isn't putting the photo under the picture and then checking to make sure they line up perfectly every few minutes.
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Weird ;\ everyone says that the video looks like that.
and I don't want them to line up
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... Yet they line up pretty much exactly.
You asked for what we thought, and we gave it to you. Seems like you just wanted to argue if we didn't necessarily have the same opinion as you.
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Hmm, I do kind of feel that is tracing, because what you don't have explicitly in your stick figure you keep flipping back to and going over. Just saying that you've used a reference is definitely a half-lie because you didn't use your own eye to try to make it similar.
Yes, I see a lot of that too. They make it realistic, they don't add any of themselves onto it. At least you try to keep some sort of style.
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Wow you really think so? But thats what you do when you're using a reference. looking back at the photo example, just cuz I had the picture underneath my sketch doesn't mean when I look back at the picture I completely trace it ~
And yeah you should put a drawing of Boribaby ontop of the reference she used and then lower the opacity of the drawing, pervect fit! why do drawings like that get so much attention
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That's a pretty heavy accusation there :/ Do you have any evidence Bori traces or are you just saying so because you have an issue with her poplarity?
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Oh no no! o - o I didn't ment to offend her or something and I have no issue with her what so ever. but like I said, I had put one of her drawings in photoshop and the reference she used for it and it was a pervect match.
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But then, if you don't have any issues with her why do that? D:
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