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Description
What are plz accounts
A plz account is a regular deviantART account which is made purely for the use of the avatar. By placing an emote or image as the avatar (icon) you can use it around the site wherever a normal icon can be produced. They are called Plz Accounts due to the mass majority of them ending in the 3 letters ‘PLZ’ to not only ensure a usable dA name is not taken, but to also identify their purpose

Finding plz accounts
There isn’t an ‘official’ plz account list supplied on dA. However there are a number of clubs that are created purely as directories of plz accounts. A few of the ones I have discovered are:

HelpPlz
#PlzShare
#plz-addict
#Moar-PLZ-Accounts
#plz-WhosWho
#Anime-Cartoon-PLZs
~Plz-Icon
~icon-listing
~collect-icons
~PlzCollectorz

Some deviants also have personal lists, such as mine can be found here

How to use Plz Accounts
As plz accounts are simply dA accounts you can use there icon around dA by simply typing :iconAccountName: into journals, comments and chatrooms. The account name is different for each icon and the letters 'plz' only need to be included at the end if this is part of the account's name. Not all accounts will end with the 3 letters 'plz'. Other variation exist including 'plx', a number or simply no ending at all.

~TeAmoPlz -> :iconteamoplz: ->
~BalloonsPlz2 -> :iconballoonsplz2: ->
~cakeplx -> :iconcakeplx: ->
~BackHug -> :iconbackhug: ->

Not all emotes will have plz accounts which completely match their name. It is therefore always worth previewing the comment to ensure you have the correct one. For example:

:iconsqueeplz: ->
:iconsqueeeplz: ->

Making Plz Accounts
If you wish to make a plz account using art which you have not created yourself, the first rule is to make sure you have permission from the original artist. Some deviants dislike their work being turned into plz accounts, and some deviations may already have plz accounts and yours would simply be a duplicate. Please do respect an artist’s decision even if they say no and you think it would be the most epic plz account EVAR!

Next thing to do is actually make the account. This is done in the same way as any dA account, so log out of your personal one and then go through the process of choosing the new account name and password. Note that if you want the plz account to have 'plz' at the end (as most do) this needs to be included in the account name. You don't however need the 'icon' part - that is part of dA's avatar code.

:thumb166150182: Under the old dA system you could have multiple accounts on one email address. However, recent policy changes means you need one email address per active account. If you choose to deactivate an account (and wait for the 30 day period so your account is no longer usable) the email address connected to that account can be re-used. You can also re-use the email address if you transfer the account attached to it to another email address. However the email you transfer it to must have no other accounts connected to it (sticking to the 1 active account per email address policy).

If you do not have an available email account simply make a new free account such as gmail or hotmail for the purpose.

When creating the account if you find the plz account name is already taken, stop! Go and check if the account is a plz account for the same emote/image and if so just use the first account. If your image is different then try thinking of a slightly different name.

So you’ve made the dA account an activated it via the email, what’s next? Now you can go and stick the icon image up. This is done in the same way as a normal account. Go to the account's front page then click on the avatar in the top left corner and browse your computer for the image

The size of a dA avatar is 50 x 50 pixels. In the case of emotes and pixel images it is important to make the canvas this size so the pixels aren't stretched or squashed when uploading the avatar. This is less important for regular images where the image has to be resized anyway as dA has tools to edit the image when selecting it as an avatar.

The finished avatar must also be under 15k in file size. If you find your avatar is larger than this, then try using less colours or less frames (in the case of animated). Using gradient emote bases for avatars can often be problematic for this reason.

You should also try and use a transparent background for emote plz accounts where possible (unless the emote has its own background). Whilst using a grey background appears to work, when the plz account is used within other areas of the site or journals with CSS the background will show up and look out of place.

This is where a lot of people stop, and although this is the minimum you have to do there are a few extra steps I suggest.

Credit the artist

I’ve lost track of the number of times I have found an awesome emote on a plz account, but not been able to locate the original. Therefore I always suggest you fave the original emote or image. This places a thumb of the image straight on the plz accounts front page and gives credit to both the original piece of work and the artist.

I also suggest creating a journal stating who created the original image, and who has created the plz account in case someone wishes to contact you (in the case there’s an issue or the emote needs updating)

Don’ts of plz accounts

Don’t submit the original piece of work. If you are not the original creator this is art theft, and even if you are, it encourages people to comment/fave the plz account’s version, not your own. A link on the plz accounts page or in the plz account’s faves is far better

If you are the original artist, don’t submit the original of the emote at avatar size in your gallery, unless it happens to be bang on 50x50. For an average emote of 15x15 pixels that’s a lot of blank space, and if people wish to use it in dAmn its annoying when the canvas is massive for no reason.

Don’t use plz accounts as spam accounts. dA can track the email addresses and IP addresses of the accounts and if you are caught using the account to spam or harass someone it will be banned, and so will you most likely.

You can find all of my other tutorials on this page: [link]

Description
What are plz accounts
A plz account is a regular deviantART account which is made purely for the use of the avatar. By placing an emote or image as the avatar (icon) you can use it around the site wherever a normal icon can be produced. They are called Plz Accounts due to the mass majority of them ending in the 3 letters ‘PLZ’ to not only ensure a usable dA name is not taken, but to also identify their purpose

Finding plz accounts
There isn’t an ‘official’ plz account list supplied on dA. However there are a number of clubs that are created purely as directories of plz accounts. A few of the ones I have discovered are:

HelpPlz
#PlzShare
#plz-addict
#Moar-PLZ-Accounts
#plz-WhosWho
#Anime-Cartoon-PLZs
~Plz-Icon
~icon-listing
~collect-icons
~PlzCollectorz

Some deviants also have personal lists, such as mine can be found here

How to use Plz Accounts
As plz accounts are simply dA accounts you can use there icon around dA by simply typing :iconAccountName: into journals, comments and chatrooms. The account name is different for each icon and the letters 'plz' only need to be included at the end if this is part of the account's name. Not all accounts will end with the 3 letters 'plz'. Other variation exist including 'plx', a number or simply no ending at all.

~TeAmoPlz -> :iconteamoplz: ->
~BalloonsPlz2 -> :iconballoonsplz2: ->
~cakeplx -> :iconcakeplx: ->
~BackHug -> :iconbackhug: ->

Not all emotes will have plz accounts which completely match their name. It is therefore always worth previewing the comment to ensure you have the correct one. For example:

:iconsqueeplz: ->
:iconsqueeeplz: ->

Making Plz Accounts
If you wish to make a plz account using art which you have not created yourself, the first rule is to make sure you have permission from the original artist. Some deviants dislike their work being turned into plz accounts, and some deviations may already have plz accounts and yours would simply be a duplicate. Please do respect an artist’s decision even if they say no and you think it would be the most epic plz account EVAR!

Next thing to do is actually make the account. This is done in the same way as any dA account, so log out of your personal one and then go through the process of choosing the new account name and password. Note that if you want the plz account to have 'plz' at the end (as most do) this needs to be included in the account name. You don't however need the 'icon' part - that is part of dA's avatar code.

:thumb166150182: Under the old dA system you could have multiple accounts on one email address. However, recent policy changes means you need one email address per active account. If you choose to deactivate an account (and wait for the 30 day period so your account is no longer usable) the email address connected to that account can be re-used. You can also re-use the email address if you transfer the account attached to it to another email address. However the email you transfer it to must have no other accounts connected to it (sticking to the 1 active account per email address policy).

If you do not have an available email account simply make a new free account such as gmail or hotmail for the purpose.

When creating the account if you find the plz account name is already taken, stop! Go and check if the account is a plz account for the same emote/image and if so just use the first account. If your image is different then try thinking of a slightly different name.

So you’ve made the dA account an activated it via the email, what’s next? Now you can go and stick the icon image up. This is done in the same way as a normal account. Go to the account's front page then click on the avatar in the top left corner and browse your computer for the image

The size of a dA avatar is 50 x 50 pixels. In the case of emotes and pixel images it is important to make the canvas this size so the pixels aren't stretched or squashed when uploading the avatar. This is less important for regular images where the image has to be resized anyway as dA has tools to edit the image when selecting it as an avatar.

The finished avatar must also be under 15k in file size. If you find your avatar is larger than this, then try using less colours or less frames (in the case of animated). Using gradient emote bases for avatars can often be problematic for this reason.

You should also try and use a transparent background for emote plz accounts where possible (unless the emote has its own background). Whilst using a grey background appears to work, when the plz account is used within other areas of the site or journals with CSS the background will show up and look out of place.

This is where a lot of people stop, and although this is the minimum you have to do there are a few extra steps I suggest.

Credit the artist

I’ve lost track of the number of times I have found an awesome emote on a plz account, but not been able to locate the original. Therefore I always suggest you fave the original emote or image. This places a thumb of the image straight on the plz accounts front page and gives credit to both the original piece of work and the artist.

I also suggest creating a journal stating who created the original image, and who has created the plz account in case someone wishes to contact you (in the case there’s an issue or the emote needs updating)

Don’ts of plz accounts

Don’t submit the original piece of work. If you are not the original creator this is art theft, and even if you are, it encourages people to comment/fave the plz account’s version, not your own. A link on the plz accounts page or in the plz account’s faves is far better

If you are the original artist, don’t submit the original of the emote at avatar size in your gallery, unless it happens to be bang on 50x50. For an average emote of 15x15 pixels that’s a lot of blank space, and if people wish to use it in dAmn its annoying when the canvas is massive for no reason.

Don’t use plz accounts as spam accounts. dA can track the email addresses and IP addresses of the accounts and if you are caught using the account to spam or harass someone it will be banned, and so will you most likely.

You can find all of my other tutorials on this page: [link]