Here is a Guide to Help you understand art images in the Game.
This is for images that you upload such as Avatars, Banners, and Alliance Avatars.
File Types
Only three files types are permitted: gif, png, jpg
You can determine the file type by looking at the name of the file with the file extension.
Each file type has different qualities:
GIF : Can have a transparent background (but usually its wonky), the only file type for animations.Animations produce a very large file that typically won't meet our size requirements. Sorry, but animations are out. They use too much server space and bandwidth.
PNG : Can have a transparent background. Can also produce a very large file size, but you can optimize it to be smaller.
JPG : Cannot have a transparent background, It usually has the smallest file size, and is the recommended file type for our site.
Note: You can only convert an image from one file type to another by using an art program. If you try to rename the file extension, it won't work, because it has internal codes that tell the system what type of file it is supposed to be.
Image Size : This is the dimensions of the image in width and height. Example: 300x300. That is 300 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. You should check what the image size needs to be before creating art.
File Size: This is how large the file size is in bytes. It tells you how much space it takes up on the server.
Example: 100K is 100,000 bytes.
You should check the file size requirements before creating art.
If you don't follow the requirement for File Type, Image Size, or File Size, it will give you an error message.
Just because your image worked before does not mean it will work now because external hosts have different requirements. You should pay attention to the error message and try to fix whatever it is telling you is wrong.
How do I shrink my file size?
Use an art program to convert it to a JPG file.
Use an optimizer to shrink the file size.
There are free online optimizers you can use.
If you are using photoshop, be sure to use ""Save for Web & Devices"", This will give you options for saving a specific File Type and Quality.
If your file has a very large file size, try to save it at a lower Quality.
If you still have problems, make a topic in Art Help, and someone will help you.
Also, there is nothing staff can do to help you with your photobucket issues.
That is a different website and is beyond our control. Photobucket is cracking down on how much bandwidth they allow you to use.
If you go over their limit they will give an error message. So if you have the photobucket error message then you need to use a different host, or upload to the WP server.
Good Luck!
Extra Helpful Tips:
If you don't feel like going through the hassle of downloading your avatar and finding it in your computer, just paste the link into the Filename box:
Fall Month: 1 
Day Weather: 
Hurricane
